2018 NCAA Football Thread

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:00 am

Congrats to Fresno State. They should have thumped Minnesota last week. Good to see they learned from that loss.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:43 am

Same old, same old from Utah. Excellent defense, garbage offense that shoots themselves in the foot over and over again. Dropped passes, mental mistakes, penalties, stupid turnovers, baffling play calls, etc. Was absolutely a winnable game tonight, and we just gacked it up again. So frustrating. Only silver lining is that the P12 South is an utter disaster this year, so Utah still has a good a shot as anyone, I suppose. I think this is probably no better than a 6 or 7 win team though, unless they can get their heads on straight offensively.

It’s not the reason we lost, but we got hit with two absolutely ridiculous targeting calls tonight that cost us our two best defenders and were huge momentum swings (one negated an interception). I have no earthly idea what the refs expect defenders to do, other than literally not touch the ball carrier.

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:52 am

Well... Stunned that BYU managed to pull that off. Especially stunned after a loss to Cal. Fun game to watch. BYU still had no passing game which is concerning.

Tough loss Utah. I think BYU is going to get steamrolled by Washington.

Alabama... Wow. They look like they should just take the step up to the NFL at this point and leave college football to the rest of us.

And the PAC, what a nightmare season this is looking like. Three losses to the mwc, basically lost every important matchup. Even if Washington runs the table in conference the South isn't doing them any favors.

As bad as the PAC weekend was... The BIG was even worse this weekend. Ouch. Not only did Wisconsin go down, South Florida, Temple, Troy, Akron, and even Kansas registered wins against BIG teams. Ouch. Good thing OSU won theirs.

Meanwhile outside of a respectable TCU loss the big 12 had a great weekend. Wins over USC, Boise State, Houston, and Oklahoma looking solid.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:58 am

Chrisoc13 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:52 am As bad as the PAC weekend was... The BIG was even worse this weekend. Ouch. Not only did Wisconsin go down, South Florida, Temple, Troy, Akron, and even Kansas registered wins against BIG teams. Ouch. Good thing OSU won theirs.

The Big Ten's overall terrible weekend is helping to overshadow Michigan's bad win against SMU. The offense finally got it going toward the end, but the defense gave up a lot to what had been a terrible offensive team. A lot of that had to do with penalties. Michigan's secondary plays aggressive intentionally, and if refs are going to call it that close throughout, we might have a problem there.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:36 am

Chrisoc13 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:52 am Well... Stunned that BYU managed to pull that off. Especially stunned after a loss to Cal. Fun game to watch. BYU still had no passing game which is concerning.

That game pretty much gave everyone the recipe for playing BYU. Sell out to stop the run, and make Tanner Mangum beat you through the air. That'll be tough against Washington, Boise, USU, and Utah, but he's definitely good enough to get wins over the lower quality teams that are left on the schedule.

I had predicted 6 wins for BYU prior to the season, but think that's likely to be up around 8 or 9 now. Wins over McNeese, NIU, Hawaii, UMASS, and New Mexico State, loss to Washington, then coin flips against USU, Boise, and Utah. That'd be a hell of a turn-around, and I'm happy to see Sitake succeed.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:12 pm

After watching BYU play Cal it is pretty hard to believe they beat Wisconsin. I think that reflects on Wisconsin as much as it does BYU though. But either way, a great win for BYU.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:13 pm

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:19 pm

Yeah agreed on all counts about BYU. It will be interesting to see how the year plays out. I think we matched up well with Wisconsin with a power run game. Washington... Not so much. We haven't put much pressure on the QB yet this year and that is how utah made him look bad. I think BYU loses to Washington. Beats usu. And splits Boise and Utah or loses both, but unlikely to win both and more likely to beat Boise than Utah.

But... I still loved them beating Wisconsin at their own game in their house. Very cool to watch and certainly a great memory to look back on in the future. Those kind of wins are very rare, but still awesome, even if it would be unlikely to happen if played again.

Plus I can always hold out hope that mangum somehow lives up to his recruiting hype and freshman year gusto... Fans can always dream...

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sat Sep 22, 2018 3:12 pm

I'm done trying to figure out what the everloving fuck the refs are looking for in targeting calls. Last week, Utah gets their two best defenders thrown out for extremely questionable (if not outright bullshit) targeting calls. Ones in which nothing was called on the field, but the booth upstairs buzzed the refs to stop the game and do a video review...then they threw the flags and booted Utah's DBs.

During the USC/Wazzu last night, there were four(!) hits that were far more blatant than anything Utah did, and not a single one of them was either called on the field, or buzzed down for review. They just played on.

I give up. It's now just a complete crapshoot whether or not refs are going to throw the flag, and there's little the players can do differently to prevent it.

EDIT: Watching Texas/TCU. Texas lineman leaves his feet and puts the top of his helmet right in the face mask of the TCU QB. They review it...no targeting. I give up.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Sat Sep 22, 2018 5:30 pm

Bama made a long FG! 47 yards with distance to spare!

I cheered more for the FG than for the TDs.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:29 pm

#12 Virginia Tech goes down to 0-3 Old Dominion. Wow.

Guess the season could always be worse.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:05 pm

It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 12:28 am

Stanford/Oregon was nuts. Oregon appeared to score a TD that would have put them up 31-7 in the third. On review, it was marked out at the 1. They fumbled two snaps later, and it was returned for a Stanford TD. That 14 point swing set up Stanford for a comeback, and they won in OT.

Crazy game, the P12 is nutty.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:15 am

msduncan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:05 pm It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!

Who's Denny? Crane?

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:23 pm

Skinypupy wrote:Stanford/Oregon was nuts. Oregon appeared to score a TD that would have put them up 31-7 in the third. On review, it was marked out at the 1. They fumbled two snaps later, and it was returned for a Stanford TD. That 14 point swing set up Stanford for a comeback, and they won in OT.

Crazy game, the P12 is nutty.

Stanford made some amazing half time adjustments, as they were getting crushed in the first half, but still, WTF was up with the Oregon center those two plays?

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:28 pm

msduncan wrote:It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!

Those games are rough. The sunny side of the Rose Bowl can get so hot early in the season that you see a lot of fans being carted off for heat exhaustion, and that's without the humidity.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:53 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:15 am
msduncan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:05 pm It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Who's Denny? Crane?

He was the President of the University from 1912 to 1932

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:54 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:28 pm
msduncan wrote:It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Those games are rough. The sunny side of the Rose Bowl can get so hot early in the season that you see a lot of fans being carted off for heat exhaustion, and that's without the humidity.

Indeed! There were several fans being carted out. The guy I took with me got really hot and decided to go down to the breezeway and watch from there. I didn't make it the entire game.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:13 pm

msduncan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:53 pm
Jaymann wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:15 am
msduncan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:05 pm It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Who's Denny? Crane?
He was the President of the University from 1912 to 1932

His restaurants make good breakfasts and french fries.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:42 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:13 pm
msduncan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:53 pm
Jaymann wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:15 am
msduncan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:05 pm It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Who's Denny? Crane?
He was the President of the University from 1912 to 1932
His restaurants make good breakfasts and french fries.

Yes they do.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:56 pm

msduncan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:54 pm
Pyperkub wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:28 pm
msduncan wrote:It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Those games are rough. The sunny side of the Rose Bowl can get so hot early in the season that you see a lot of fans being carted off for heat exhaustion, and that's without the humidity.
Indeed! There were several fans being carted out. The guy I took with me got really hot and decided to go down to the breezeway and watch from there. I didn't make it the entire game.

yeah, a couple of years ago when UCLA played at Texas A&M on labor day weekend, it was like that in College Station - a huge portion of what appeared to be the student section on the north (sunny) side of the stadium was practically blanketing the breezeways behind the stands in the shade (I did a loop of the stadium just after halftime to get a sense for the place), and some definitely appeared to be in some distress.

It's funny, but I don't seem to remember it being as bad when I was younger. The UCLA student section, as well as the Young Alumni sections were both on the sunny side, yet I don't seem to recall as much heat exhaustion then (pretty much mid-80's-late 90's - I still had my season tickets on the sunny side up until about 5 years ago, I think).

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:27 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:56 pm
msduncan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 7:54 pm
Pyperkub wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:28 pm
msduncan wrote:It was ungodly HOT at Bryant Denny. I couldn't even enjoy the game for the heat. Like 1000% humidity and the sun pounding down on my head.

Ugh!
Those games are rough. The sunny side of the Rose Bowl can get so hot early in the season that you see a lot of fans being carted off for heat exhaustion, and that's without the humidity.
Indeed! There were several fans being carted out. The guy I took with me got really hot and decided to go down to the breezeway and watch from there. I didn't make it the entire game.
yeah, a couple of years ago when UCLA played at Texas A&M on labor day weekend, it was like that in College Station - a huge portion of what appeared to be the student section on the north (sunny) side of the stadium was practically blanketing the breezeways behind the stands in the shade (I did a loop of the stadium just after halftime to get a sense for the place), and some definitely appeared to be in some distress.

It's funny, but I don't seem to remember it being as bad when I was younger. The UCLA student section, as well as the Young Alumni sections were both on the sunny side, yet I don't seem to recall as much heat exhaustion then (pretty much mid-80's-late 90's - I still had my season tickets on the sunny side up until about 5 years ago, I think).

I can tell you that I handle the heat better than people half my age because I get out and go metal detecting on weekends. It acclimates my body to it. The people in my 501st garrison can't be in their armor for longer than an hour without a break (and most of them are in their early to mid 20s) and I'm 44 and can troop for hours in my Sandtrooper armor without any significant break time. (I do need water, but not much in the way of breaks). They seem surprised at my resilience.

So I think people are just not used to being outside in the heat as much as they used to be.

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:50 pm

Having lived in the North my entire life... I'm pretty sure I would melt in the Alabama heat and humidity... I have zero tolerance. And it's gotten worse living in Maine these last few years.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm

P12 commish Larry Scott on targeting:

The hit in question.

In what possible scenario is that NOT targeting?? Just admit that P12 refs #1 job is to protect the conference's "sacred cows", because that's sure as hell what it seems like at this point. For comparison, Utah's best defender was penalized and ejected for this hit a few days prior.

Yes, I'm still bitter about these asinine calls (or lack thereof) and about how shitty P12 refs are in general. Sue me.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 1:24 pm

NFL refs are struggling a lot with it too.

I still think the ejection needs to be less automatic, and more along the lines of yellow/red cards and accumulation.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:19 pm

Redshirt eligibility tracker (for the new 4 game redshirt rule). Just plug in your team and go.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:20 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm In what possible scenario is that NOT targeting?? Just admit that P12 refs #1 job is to protect the conference's "sacred cows", because that's sure as hell what it seems like at this point. For comparison, Utah's best defender was penalized and ejected for this hit a few days prior.

College football officiating is pretty iffy across the board, and the PAC 12 probably has the worst reputation among Power 5 conferences. I'd ascribe it more to general incompetence than to a conspiracy in favor of the jewel programs (which would be really, really hard to cover up).

Michigan has had one of its best defenders ejected in the second half (which means you miss the first half of the next game) for two consecutive weeks now. I'm actually OK with both, but there are people questioning the second hit. It's been not inaccurately described as "targeting roulette" in trying to figure out what will draw the call and what will be allowed.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:23 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:19 pm Redshirt eligibility tracker (for the new 4 game redshirt rule). Just plug in your team and go.

It's funny, because there's been a few high profile seniors who are unhappy with playing time declaring a redshirt after the first four games this year with the intent to transfer for next year. The biggest name is the Clemson QB, but there are others, too. Unintended consequence of the new redshirt rules? Will we see the coaches try to walk this back next year and only allow it for players in the first year?

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:54 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:20 pm
Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm In what possible scenario is that NOT targeting?? Just admit that P12 refs #1 job is to protect the conference's "sacred cows", because that's sure as hell what it seems like at this point. For comparison, Utah's best defender was penalized and ejected for this hit a few days prior.
College football officiating is pretty iffy across the board, and the PAC 12 probably has the worst reputation among Power 5 conferences. I'd ascribe it more to general incompetence than to a conspiracy in favor of the jewel programs (which would be really, really hard to cover up).

Michigan has had one of its best defenders ejected in the second half (which means you miss the first half of the next game) for two consecutive weeks now. I'm actually OK with both, but there are people questioning the second hit. It's been not inaccurately described as "targeting roulette" in trying to figure out what will draw the call and what will be allowed.

I was thinking about this during the DP show's interview with Bruce Smith earlier this week and I thought about Mean Joe Greene. Back when defensive lines were actually scary, rather than trying to avoid the QB and tearing their ACL.

North Texas bringing back MJG's number:

The No. 75 hasn't been worn at North Texas for 50 years. "Mean" Joe Greene, one of the greatest NFL defensive players of all time, made sure of that. His number was retired by the university after he was named a consensus All-American in 1968, before he went on to have a prolific NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:38 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm

In what possible scenario is that NOT targeting?? Just admit that P12 refs #1 job is to protect the conference's "sacred cows", because that's sure as hell what it seems like at this point. For comparison, Utah's best defender was penalized and ejected for this hit a few days prior.

Yes, I'm still bitter about these asinine calls (or lack thereof) and about how shitty P12 refs are in general. Sue me.

The USC hits looks exactly what I would consider a legitimate targeting call, the Utah one, not so much. So, yep, I agree with you.

Apollo · Post by **Apollo** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:43 pm

I would like to see a rule making players delay transfers to other universities until after the season is over. This would remove any incentive for a player to quit in the middle of the season and make them more likely to stick around and see if their fortunes change. I also believe that the student-athlete should be able to transfer to any school that wants them and play right away without restrictions. However, in order to maintain their eligibility, players would be limited to doing this once per sport. For example, you could be the backup QB at Harvard and transfer to play football at Princeton. But if you then later transferred to Yale you would no longer maintain your eligibility to play college football, as you had already previously played for 2 universities. However, you could still play any other sport, unless you also previously played that sport at both Harvard and Princeton.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 11:36 pm

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:43 pm I would like to see a rule making players delay transfers to other universities until after the season is over. This would remove any incentive for a player to quit in the middle of the season and make them more likely to stick around and see if their fortunes change.

I think that's what they're doing now. The new rule says you can play up to four games in a season and still keep open the possibility of a redshirt. So now that four games are over, the players who are not happy are declaring a redshirt for the rest of this season. At the end of the school year, they will transfer to another school and be immediately eligible to play next year as a grad transfer.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:09 am

I have to give heaping amounts of respect to Jalen Hurts who apparently (by continuing to play) has decided to stick with his team through the end of this season. To me it makes sense for him anyway -- he will continue to get the majority of the #2 snaps all week in practice, and Saban has shown that he will play as soon as the score is comfortable. Tua hasn't played a single snap in the 4th this year.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:30 am

msduncan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:09 am I have to give heaping amounts of respect to Jalen Hurts who apparently (by continuing to play) has decided to stick with his team through the end of this season. To me it makes sense for him anyway -- he will continue to get the majority of the #2 snaps all week in practice, and Saban has shown that he will play as soon as the score is comfortable. Tua hasn't played a single snap in the 4th this year.

Is Hurts on track to graduate (or has he already graduated)? Was he ever redshirted previously? Not trying to bring down Hurts, but it's possible he wants to do the grad transfer thing but can't for logistical reasons.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:00 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:30 am
msduncan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:09 am I have to give heaping amounts of respect to Jalen Hurts who apparently (by continuing to play) has decided to stick with his team through the end of this season. To me it makes sense for him anyway -- he will continue to get the majority of the #2 snaps all week in practice, and Saban has shown that he will play as soon as the score is comfortable. Tua hasn't played a single snap in the 4th this year.
Is Hurts on track to graduate (or has he already graduated)? Was he ever redshirted previously? Not trying to bring down Hurts, but it's possible he wants to do the grad transfer thing but can't for logistical reasons.

Per the redshirt tracker, he's eligible (true jr with a redshirt left, appeared in 4 games this year)

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:54 pm

Lassr wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:38 pm
Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm

In what possible scenario is that NOT targeting?? Just admit that P12 refs #1 job is to protect the conference's "sacred cows", because that's sure as hell what it seems like at this point. For comparison, Utah's best defender was penalized and ejected for this hit a few days prior.

Yes, I'm still bitter about these asinine calls (or lack thereof) and about how shitty P12 refs are in general. Sue me.
The USC hits looks exactly what I would consider a legitimate targeting call, the Utah one, not so much. So, yep, I agree with you.

I am with ImLawBoy regarding the Michigan hits being ruled Targetting. That is I was until I saw that hit by USCs player not being called targetting. Now I'm furious and demand they retract those calls against Michigan (

).

That was a horribly dirty pair of hits by that kid. At some point the coaches need to be held accountable too for continuing to play kids that make that type of thing a regular part of their play.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:10 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:30 am
msduncan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:09 am I have to give heaping amounts of respect to Jalen Hurts who apparently (by continuing to play) has decided to stick with his team through the end of this season. To me it makes sense for him anyway -- he will continue to get the majority of the #2 snaps all week in practice, and Saban has shown that he will play as soon as the score is comfortable. Tua hasn't played a single snap in the 4th this year.
Is Hurts on track to graduate (or has he already graduated)? Was he ever redshirted previously? Not trying to bring down Hurts, but it's possible he wants to do the grad transfer thing but can't for logistical reasons.

He will most likely transfer at the end of the season after he graduates in Dec. He will have one year left. If he had redshirted this year he could have transferred and had two years left.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:17 pm

A school rep issued a statement to Cleveland.com after pulling the "Silence" campaign saying, "The message has been interpreted in ways we absolutely did not intend, and we have removed it from our channels."

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:40 pm

Does no one run these things past anyone not in their echo chamber?

GungHo · Post by **GungHo** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:13 pm

That SC hit is unquestionably targeting. Not sure how they can defend that, especially on review.