As the spring semester is already four weeks in and new year's resolutions are making their last stand, the early enrollees are getting their first taste of collegiate exams. This year alone marks the largest class of early enrollments in Penn State's history, as seven commits have decided to graduate high school early to get a head up on their competition by taking part in spring practice.
The seven players already enrolled include the likes of Kyle Baublitz, Khairi Fortt, Evan Hailes, Kevin Haplea, Paul (PJ) Jones, Silas Redd, and Dakota Royer. Some of you may be suprised to not see Robert Bolden on this list, but to be frank, this does not mean that he doesnt stand a chance to win the starting quarterback position for next fall. So now that you see the early enrollments, you wonder why some players enroll early and why others wait until the summer to enroll. The truth is that the transition that these players have to make coming into college is very challenging and can be exhausting.
Now the challenges these seven players face are not just limited to the field and the depth chart, but to the mid-year adjustment that they have to make from high school seniors to relatively unknown freshman on a big campus. I love the fact that these guys have made this move to graduate early and come to campus, but not simply because I think it is beneficial for the football program. I think that it is a great move for these freshman because they are not launched into a heavy workload, the burden of football practice at full speed, and football season all at once.
I know, you can argue that they start in the summer where they can also ease into the program, but the truth is that a summer on a campus like Penn State is not enough to ease a young man into the true student life. The advantage these guys get in the spring is a true workload, that teaches them and prepares them for managing their schedules in the fall. It also introduces them into the social aspect of college, where they can actually find community beyond the football team and get connected somewhere else on campus. Finally, what every sports fan loves to hear, is that it helps them transition into collegiate level football, adjust to the speed of the game, and learn the system at their respective programs.
Joepa, on the other hand, would completely disagree with me. As he is a firm believer that these kids should be able to finish their time as a "kid". That they should be able to graduate with their friends, have their senior weeks, and attend their prom. Fortunately for most of these students, the spring semester will long be over before their high school graduations, senior weeks, and their prom. So I say let them in early because they still have plenty of time to "walk" with their friends, dance at prom, and enjoy their senior weeks.
Say what you want about early enrollees, but we got seven of them. And expect that trend to continue to grow as competition at the collegiate level gets more and more intense. As for our early enrollments, I am going to start introducing you guys to them each and every week, until the Blue and White game. We will see which commits already possess the abilities and tools to compete at the collegiate level immediately, the commits who will most likely redshirt but have great potential, and where exactly on the field they will most likely contribute.
Next Post will introduce you to Kyle Baublitz............
WE ARE..................
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Offseason
With signing day officially over, I am now going to officially focus on the offseason. The next month we are going to focus on some of our incoming commitments and slowly transition into spring ball. I will go ahead and keep you, the Lions faithful, updated on position battles, the transition of our early enrollments, and paint a picture for you of what we should expect next year.
A few of the items on the docket for this series include settling the nerves of the always doubtful Nittany Lions fans, provide you with truthful facts, and prepare you guys for a tough road schedule next season. The games at Iowa, Ohio State, and Alabama already have you guys frantic and lowering your expectations. My hope is that through this series you are able to open your eyes and remain optimistic for the season to come.
Remember, this past year was a rebuilding year, as we ushered in an entirely new secondary, and offensive line. The success of great programs is always based on the line play, defense, and a few playmakers on offense. With Royster returning, a proven receiving corps, and new players coming in on the offensive side of the ball, Penn State will make some noise next year. Remember, it was just two years ago when we a brand new quarterback took the reins of the program and almost led us to an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl berth.
I'm not trying to tell you to hold your chin up high and hope for the best, I'm telling you to expect a great year next year. Expectations should be high, as we have three great quarterbacks officially on the roster. We have the difference makers, we have the chemistry on the line, and a more experienced team in general. I will break down the specifics as the spring progresses, but for now enjoy your weekend, enjoy the snow, and enjoy our top ten recruiting class!
WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!
A few of the items on the docket for this series include settling the nerves of the always doubtful Nittany Lions fans, provide you with truthful facts, and prepare you guys for a tough road schedule next season. The games at Iowa, Ohio State, and Alabama already have you guys frantic and lowering your expectations. My hope is that through this series you are able to open your eyes and remain optimistic for the season to come.
Remember, this past year was a rebuilding year, as we ushered in an entirely new secondary, and offensive line. The success of great programs is always based on the line play, defense, and a few playmakers on offense. With Royster returning, a proven receiving corps, and new players coming in on the offensive side of the ball, Penn State will make some noise next year. Remember, it was just two years ago when we a brand new quarterback took the reins of the program and almost led us to an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl berth.
I'm not trying to tell you to hold your chin up high and hope for the best, I'm telling you to expect a great year next year. Expectations should be high, as we have three great quarterbacks officially on the roster. We have the difference makers, we have the chemistry on the line, and a more experienced team in general. I will break down the specifics as the spring progresses, but for now enjoy your weekend, enjoy the snow, and enjoy our top ten recruiting class!
WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
BCS, Heisman, and Capital One
So for the next few weeks, we are going to have our hands full. The BCS picture is complete, the Heisman is not really the Heisman, and a big match-up in the Capital One Bowl. So for the next few weeks we are going to focus on these items and possibly break down some of the BCS match-ups. As for a little side project, as bowl season progresses, I am going to keep a tab with each conferences bowl record, I will update it every few days throughout bowl season.
As for today, we are solely going to focus on the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman trophy historically, is presented to college football's best player each year. This year has been a little bit difficult because no one contender has separated themselves from the rest of the pack, but the truth is that college football is becoming more and more competitive and this is a great problem for the sport of college football. However, this problem does have a terrible effect on the significance of the Heisman trophy.
This year, the winner of the Heisman trophy, and even some of the most recent winners of the Heisman trophies are not even going to be the best player in college football. So by definition, they are not deserving of the crown. The truth is that this generation is ruining the reputation of the Heisman and actually redefining its significance. The Heisman now stands for the best player on the best team, in college football for that year.
Take last year for example, when there were three cut throat candidates for the Heisman trophy in Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford. Last year, they all put up ridiculous numbers, but the voters from the Southwestern region of the country wanted a representative from one of their region's teams to win the Heisman. They believed that Texas and Oklahoma were the best teams in the country and some intentionally left Tebow off of their ballot in order to ensure that one of those guys would win. In the end, Sam Bradford won the Heisman trophy, and Tim Tebow became the first Heisman candidate to receive the most first place votes but lose the Heisman trophy. (Don't believe me, take a look for yourself at the bottom of this page for the voting breakdown http://www.heisman.com/winners/s-bradford-08.php)
By the way, how can Bradford be the best player in his conference if McCoy beat him head to head? Yes, Bradford threw for 4800 yards and 50 touchdowns, but the best player in college football last year was Colt McCoy. He was the most well rounded player running and passing the ball. He passed for 3900 yards and 34 touchdowns with a 77% completion rate, but also ran for 560 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bradford simply got the nod because his team was playing in the National Championship.
This trend is going to continue into this year, I would be strongly suprised if it doesn't. This year, the Heisman finalists include:
Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
1736 yards rushing, 26 rushing TD, 5.6 yard average, 150 yards receiving, and 1 passing TD.
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
1542 yards rushing, 15 TD, 6.2 yard average, 322 yards receiving w/3 TD.
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
2413 yards passing, 18 TD, 859 yards rushing, 12 TD
Colt McCoy, QB, Florida
3512 yards passing, 27 TD, 348 yards rushing, 3 TD
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
82 tackles, 23 tfl, 12 sacks, 1 int, 10 pass breakups, 1 Forced fumble, 3 blocked kicks, and 24 quarterback hurries.
The top player left off of the list of finalists:
CJ Spiller, RB, Clemson
1145 yards rushing, 5.7 average, 11 TD, 445 yards receiving w/4 TD, 1 passing TD, 918 combined return yards w/5 TD. Approximately 200 all purpose yards per game.
Take a look at the statistics yourself, see if any of the players standout statistically. Take into consideration their position, the impacts they have had on big games, and look for yourself as to which player was truly college football's best player this past year.
Now all of these players listed above are game changers, but there are three that stand above the rest, but neither will win the Heisman this year. The Heisman this year will go to Mark Ingram, simply because he is the best player on the best team in college football according to the rankings.
The truth is that the three that deserve the Heisman above the rest are Spiller, Suh, and Toby Gerhart. Each of their teams have four or more losses, but that has nothing to do with them being the best player in the country. The media needs to stop with their input and stick to the foundation of the Heisman trophy, which is ultimately the best player. For these players to put up those numbers on four loss teams should be even more impressive, as it shows that they had little to no support, hence the fact that they were gamebreakers.
Either way, my Heisman winner is CJ Spiller with Suh coming close in second. By the media's standards my opinion does not really matter, but Spiller deserves a shout out for his historical performance in college football this year. Last time there was a player that was as great of an all purpose threat and put up similiar numbers to Spiller, Reggie Bush, and he won with flying colors. Either way, CJ Spiller, you are the best player in college football today, enjoy the offseason and good luck in the draft.
WE ARE..................
As for today, we are solely going to focus on the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman trophy historically, is presented to college football's best player each year. This year has been a little bit difficult because no one contender has separated themselves from the rest of the pack, but the truth is that college football is becoming more and more competitive and this is a great problem for the sport of college football. However, this problem does have a terrible effect on the significance of the Heisman trophy.
This year, the winner of the Heisman trophy, and even some of the most recent winners of the Heisman trophies are not even going to be the best player in college football. So by definition, they are not deserving of the crown. The truth is that this generation is ruining the reputation of the Heisman and actually redefining its significance. The Heisman now stands for the best player on the best team, in college football for that year.
Take last year for example, when there were three cut throat candidates for the Heisman trophy in Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford. Last year, they all put up ridiculous numbers, but the voters from the Southwestern region of the country wanted a representative from one of their region's teams to win the Heisman. They believed that Texas and Oklahoma were the best teams in the country and some intentionally left Tebow off of their ballot in order to ensure that one of those guys would win. In the end, Sam Bradford won the Heisman trophy, and Tim Tebow became the first Heisman candidate to receive the most first place votes but lose the Heisman trophy. (Don't believe me, take a look for yourself at the bottom of this page for the voting breakdown http://www.heisman.com/winners/s-bradford-08.php)
By the way, how can Bradford be the best player in his conference if McCoy beat him head to head? Yes, Bradford threw for 4800 yards and 50 touchdowns, but the best player in college football last year was Colt McCoy. He was the most well rounded player running and passing the ball. He passed for 3900 yards and 34 touchdowns with a 77% completion rate, but also ran for 560 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bradford simply got the nod because his team was playing in the National Championship.
This trend is going to continue into this year, I would be strongly suprised if it doesn't. This year, the Heisman finalists include:
Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
1736 yards rushing, 26 rushing TD, 5.6 yard average, 150 yards receiving, and 1 passing TD.
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
1542 yards rushing, 15 TD, 6.2 yard average, 322 yards receiving w/3 TD.
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
2413 yards passing, 18 TD, 859 yards rushing, 12 TD
Colt McCoy, QB, Florida
3512 yards passing, 27 TD, 348 yards rushing, 3 TD
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
82 tackles, 23 tfl, 12 sacks, 1 int, 10 pass breakups, 1 Forced fumble, 3 blocked kicks, and 24 quarterback hurries.
The top player left off of the list of finalists:
CJ Spiller, RB, Clemson
1145 yards rushing, 5.7 average, 11 TD, 445 yards receiving w/4 TD, 1 passing TD, 918 combined return yards w/5 TD. Approximately 200 all purpose yards per game.
Take a look at the statistics yourself, see if any of the players standout statistically. Take into consideration their position, the impacts they have had on big games, and look for yourself as to which player was truly college football's best player this past year.
Now all of these players listed above are game changers, but there are three that stand above the rest, but neither will win the Heisman this year. The Heisman this year will go to Mark Ingram, simply because he is the best player on the best team in college football according to the rankings.
The truth is that the three that deserve the Heisman above the rest are Spiller, Suh, and Toby Gerhart. Each of their teams have four or more losses, but that has nothing to do with them being the best player in the country. The media needs to stop with their input and stick to the foundation of the Heisman trophy, which is ultimately the best player. For these players to put up those numbers on four loss teams should be even more impressive, as it shows that they had little to no support, hence the fact that they were gamebreakers.
Either way, my Heisman winner is CJ Spiller with Suh coming close in second. By the media's standards my opinion does not really matter, but Spiller deserves a shout out for his historical performance in college football this year. Last time there was a player that was as great of an all purpose threat and put up similiar numbers to Spiller, Reggie Bush, and he won with flying colors. Either way, CJ Spiller, you are the best player in college football today, enjoy the offseason and good luck in the draft.
WE ARE..................
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
BCS Picture still a little blurry
Here we go again, the season is coming to a close, and we still will have to wait until selection Sunday to find out what bowls are going to be the most anticipated. Throughout this article, I am just going to lay out what the selection process is going to look like, and what our chances are of going to a BCS Bowl game.
To start off, to be eligible for a BCS bowl game, you have to satisfy three requirements. The three requirements include being ranked in the Top 14 of the final BCS standings at the end of the season, win your conferences automatic bid, and have no more than two losses to be considered for an at large selection (you may however have more than two losses and automatically qualify for a BCS bowl if your conference has an automatic bid).
After that, the breakdown of automatic bids includes that each of the Big Six(Big East, ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Pac Ten, and Big 12) conferences receives an automatic bid. If you are not a member of one of the Big Six, than one of your conference champions is guaranteed an automatic bid only if they are ranked higher than one of the Big Six conference champions in the final BCS standings.
So with that being said, what does the BCS picture currently look like? We're going to first start off with the 5 BCS bowls, and they consist of the National Championship Game(NCG), Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. So overall there are ten positions available to participate in a BCS bowl. The NCG is automatically decided by the final BCS standings, with number one playing number two. As for the rest, the pick their conference affiliates which I have listed below:
Orange Bowl: ACC vs. At Large
Rose Bowl: Pac Ten vs. Big Ten
Sugar: SEC vs. At- Large
Fiesta: Big 12 vs. At-Large
***With the exception that one of those at-large bids is actually the Big East Champion.
Should one of the conferences affiliate champions be chosen to play in the NCG, then they will be granted with a replacement pick or what we call an at large selection. Below I have also listed the current BCS standings, and based on that I am going to lay out
Based on the current standings and current conference champions alread crowned, I am going to list what the BCS games are going to look like. Following that I am going to break down the three scenarios that would most likely affect the Nittany Lions chances of getting into a BCS bowl game, and the final BCS picture is solely dictated on the following situations. The selection process is also listed in order that they bowls would get to choose their matchups this year.
Once again, these are the most probable situation based on the following scenarios, not exactly whats going to happen if those scenarios are satisfied.
If Texas wins:
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Iowa (65%)/Penn State (35%)
Sugar Bowl: Florida/Bama loser vs. Cincy
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Boise State
Left Out: Penn State
If Texas loses/Cincy wins and moves past TCU in standings.
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. Cincy
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Texas vs. Florida/Bama loser
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs. TCU
Left Out: Boise State and Iowa
If Texas loses/Pitt Wins or Cincy wins and remains behind TCU in standings:
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. TCU
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Florida/Bama loser vs. Texas
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs. Cincy
Left out: Boise State and Iowa
That should give you quite an idea on how things will shape up for the remainder of the season. I believe our best chances of going to a BCS bowl game are in the Orange bowl gets to satisfy its selection first; however, we still stand a chance for the Fiesta bowl if Texas goes to play for the NCG. But for the time being, just keep your fingers crossed and hope that we don't get looked over by the selection committee as we have been looked over by the computers the past couple of weeks.
WE ARE....................
To start off, to be eligible for a BCS bowl game, you have to satisfy three requirements. The three requirements include being ranked in the Top 14 of the final BCS standings at the end of the season, win your conferences automatic bid, and have no more than two losses to be considered for an at large selection (you may however have more than two losses and automatically qualify for a BCS bowl if your conference has an automatic bid).
After that, the breakdown of automatic bids includes that each of the Big Six(Big East, ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Pac Ten, and Big 12) conferences receives an automatic bid. If you are not a member of one of the Big Six, than one of your conference champions is guaranteed an automatic bid only if they are ranked higher than one of the Big Six conference champions in the final BCS standings.
So with that being said, what does the BCS picture currently look like? We're going to first start off with the 5 BCS bowls, and they consist of the National Championship Game(NCG), Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. So overall there are ten positions available to participate in a BCS bowl. The NCG is automatically decided by the final BCS standings, with number one playing number two. As for the rest, the pick their conference affiliates which I have listed below:
Orange Bowl: ACC vs. At Large
Rose Bowl: Pac Ten vs. Big Ten
Sugar: SEC vs. At- Large
Fiesta: Big 12 vs. At-Large
***With the exception that one of those at-large bids is actually the Big East Champion.
Should one of the conferences affiliate champions be chosen to play in the NCG, then they will be granted with a replacement pick or what we call an at large selection. Below I have also listed the current BCS standings, and based on that I am going to lay out
| 1. | Florida | 12-0 | ||||||||||
| 2. | Alabama | 12-0 | ||||||||||
| 3. | Texas | 12-0 | ||||||||||
| 4. | TCU | 12-0 | ||||||||||
| 5. | Cincinnati | 11-0 | ||||||||||
| 6. | Boise St. | 12-0 | ||||||||||
| 7. | Oregon | 9-2 | ||||||||||
| 8. | Ohio St. | 10-2 | ||||||||||
| 9. | Iowa | 10-2 | ||||||||||
| 10. | Georgia Tech | 10-2 | ||||||||||
| 11. | Penn St. | 10-2 | ||||||||||
| 12. | Virginia Tech | 9-3 | ||||||||||
| 13. | LSU | 9-3 | ||||||||||
| 14. | BYU | 10-2 |
Based on the current standings and current conference champions alread crowned, I am going to list what the BCS games are going to look like. Following that I am going to break down the three scenarios that would most likely affect the Nittany Lions chances of getting into a BCS bowl game, and the final BCS picture is solely dictated on the following situations. The selection process is also listed in order that they bowls would get to choose their matchups this year.
Once again, these are the most probable situation based on the following scenarios, not exactly whats going to happen if those scenarios are satisfied.
If Texas wins:
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. Texas
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Iowa (65%)/Penn State (35%)
Sugar Bowl: Florida/Bama loser vs. Cincy
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Boise State
Left Out: Penn State
If Texas loses/Cincy wins and moves past TCU in standings.
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. Cincy
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Texas vs. Florida/Bama loser
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs. TCU
Left Out: Boise State and Iowa
If Texas loses/Pitt Wins or Cincy wins and remains behind TCU in standings:
NCG: Florida/Bama winner vs. TCU
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Florida/Bama loser vs. Texas
Orange Bowl: GT/Clemson winner vs. Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs. Cincy
Left out: Boise State and Iowa
That should give you quite an idea on how things will shape up for the remainder of the season. I believe our best chances of going to a BCS bowl game are in the Orange bowl gets to satisfy its selection first; however, we still stand a chance for the Fiesta bowl if Texas goes to play for the NCG. But for the time being, just keep your fingers crossed and hope that we don't get looked over by the selection committee as we have been looked over by the computers the past couple of weeks.
WE ARE....................
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)