College Football 2008

[richxx87]

http://www.pe.com/sports/college/ucla/s ... 418d4.html

Good article on UCLA thrower Darius Savage, who is now really starting to open some eyes as a starter on the Bruins' O-line.

Savage, a track and field athlete of near-Olympic caliber whose size and strength are overwhelming, ... an offensive guard who coaches believe has the ability to play at the next level. ... he dreams of competing in the 2012 London Olympics, and if money were not an issue, he would choose track and field. ... "I love football, but track and field, it's the greatest accomplishment, knowing you are No. 1 in the world, nothing can beat that.

[26mi235]

Rich, can it possibly matter what anyone at UCLA does this year? 59-0 to a WAC team (well, the WAC does seem to have the number of the Pac-10 outside of USC).

Watching some of the games, you can see that the recruit quality is highly unequally distributed, with the SEC getting a huge number and USC/Ok, etc getting a lot of the rest, especially of the speed players.

I have noticed (because I see the team in particular) that Wisconsin never is in the top 25 in terms of recruits and yet is routinely in the top 25. How do SEC teams perform relative to their recruiting classes? Is Vanderbelt a great coaching success with the 10th best SEC recruits but a top-25 ranking? USC is very good, but if you normalize for their recruiting classes, are they actually doing very well?

[malmo]

I have noticed (because I see the team in particular) that Wisconsin never is in the top 25 in terms of recruits and yet is routinely in the top 25

Better watch out, these guys are the real deal. Coming to a theater near you!

http://gopsusports.cstv.com/sports/m-fo ... sched.html

[richxx87]

Rich, can it possibly matter what anyone at UCLA does this year? 59-0 to a WAC team ...

Actually, I was only highlighting the nice quotes young Darius mentioned about his reverence for T&F and his dream of 2012 Gold.

BTW: UCLA did not lose to a WAC team. However, they did get thoroughly shellacked by a Mountain West team. Alas, they may well lose badly to a WAC team (Fres. St.) in a few days. The Bruins are flat-out awful (even if they did beat a top-tier SEC team), undermanned and in a state of transition. Not to worry, this was somewhat expected, and two years from now, they'll be back in the top 10.

[26mi235]

I have noticed (because I see the team in particular) that Wisconsin never is in the top 25 in terms of recruits and yet is routinely in the top 25

Better watch out, these guys are the real deal. Coming to a theater near you!

http://gopsusports.cstv.com/sports/m-fo ... sched.html

A lot of the Big Ten battles take place in the next few weeks, with Wisconsin playing Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois in succession (after playing a Top-25 team on the road in the previous game). They may be lucky that Michigan is way off form because they might finish that stretch with a losing record overall. Penn State is clearly emerging as a previously under-rated team and should be very highly ranked if they win their next 3.

Where does Penn State end up if they go undefeated -- it might well be (just) the Rose Bowl. The same is the case for Wisconsin, although by starting out more highly ranked and beaten a non-league Top-25 on the road they could play for the marbles if they are one of only two BCS undefeated team (and might still not even then) - I doubt it will happen this year as there are too many holes. Penn State might have a slightly better chance of going undefeated but it will be hard to tell until Saturday night; if they storm Illinois on the road they should jump into the top 10.

[malmo]

Basically Penn State is in control of their own destiny at this point. Reminds me of the 1994 team.

BIG TEN

SCORING OFFENSE
1. Penn State....... 45.3
2. Illinois............ 33.0

SCORING DEFENSE
1. Iowa................ 10.9
2. Penn State........11.0

RUSHING OFFENSE Yds/G
1. Penn State.........256.7
2. Illinois............ 210.8

RUSHING DEFENSE G Yds/G
1. Penn State.....80.2
2. Iowa................ 98.8

PASS OFFENSE Yds/G
1. Illinois............ 281.2
2. Purdue............249.8
3. Penn State......247.0

PASS DEFENSE
1. Ohio State.........165.4
2. Penn State.........169.4

TOTAL OFFENSE rush pass Yds/G
1. Penn State.........1646 1729 482.1
2. Illinois.................1142 1687 471.5

TOTAL DEFENSE Rush Pass Yds/G
1. Penn State........629 1186 259.3
2. Ohio State.........725 1158 269.0


KICKOFF RETURNS Avg
1. Penn State..........29.2
2. Minnesota...........24.6

TURNOVER MARGIN Per/G
1. Minnesota...........1.71
2. Michigan State.....1.43
3. Penn State..........1.14
4. Ohio State.......... 1.00


PASS EFFICIENCY Effic
1. Penn State ...153.3
2. Illinois...........149.8

PASS DEF EFFICIENCY Effic
1. Penn State.......93.9
2. Ohio State....... 97.6

FIRST DOWNS Rush Pass Pen Total
1. Penn State.......78 87 10 175
2. Iowa................86 59 8 153

OPPONENT 1ST DOWNS Rush Pass Pen Total
1. Penn State.......... 41 55 6 14.6
2. Wisconsin........... 31 48 4 16.6
3. Michigan.................36 62 7 17.4

SACKS BY Sacks
1. Penn State.......... 19
2. Northwestern....... 19

PENALTIES No Yds Avg/G
1. Penn State....26 218 31.1
2. Iowa...............26 239 34.1

RED ZONE OFFENSE RedZone Percent TDs
1. Penn State.......... 36-39 92.3 29
2. Ohio State...........18-20 90.0 8

3RD-DN CONVERSIONS Conv Att Pct
1. Penn State......... 46 88 52.3
2. Northwestern............ 47 99 47.5

OPP 3RD-DN CONVERT Conv Att Pct
1. Penn State..........29 105 27.6
2. Iowa.............33 104 31.7

FIELD GOALS Made Att Pct
1. Michigan State...... 15 16 .938
2. Penn State.......... 10 11 .909

[richxx87]

Noticed today that former CA state champ, Jamere Holland, is running in Eugene.... running back kick-offs on the Ducks' special teams, that is.

Very interesting.
He won the CA state 100 and 200 (10.36 and 20.92) a few years ago, went to USC, got injured and went under the radar... And today I saw him returning kicks for the Ducks. I wonder if he'll be running at Hayward as well. Anyone know his T&F situation?

[gh]

Writer suggests that this year's Washington State team might be the worst in Pac-10 history:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 004&sc=670


(speaking of Pac-10 teams with woes, how about Stanford and the collapse of the fan base? Apparently only 15,000 in the stands last weekend... and it was homecoming.)

[Marlow]

how about Stanford and the collapse of the fan base? Apparently only 15,000 in the stands last weekend... and it was homecoming.

I guess I was a good picker in years to attend the Pharm: 69-72 autumns. We packed out the place (back when it was the Big Stadium, 90K!)

[gh]

Well, except that the student body represents only a small portion of those in the stadium; its you alums (and the local citizenry) who must be disappearing.

[malmo]

(speaking of Pac-10 teams with woes, how about Stanford and the collapse of the fan base? Apparently only 15,000 in the stands last weekend... and it was homecoming.)

I would think that Stanford alums were hit particularly hard last week by the market.

[Marlow]

Well, except that the student body represents only a small portion of those in the stadium; its you alums (and the local citizenry) who must be disappearing.

well, I gotta admit, I'm not exactly doing my part, but if I lived in the Bay Area, yes, I would have season tickets (and go). The Admissions Department isn't doing their job either. If you had a 3.2 in a decent HS and 1200 SATs, you could do just fine there. There's enough quality FBers with those credentials to do better than we're doing.

[paulthefan]

well, I gotta admit, I'm not exactly doing my part, but if I lived in the Bay Area, yes, I would have season tickets (and go). The Admissions Department isn't doing their job either. If you had a 3.2 in a decent HS and 1200 SATs, you could do just fine there. There's enough quality FBers with those credentials to do better than we're doing.

how do those numbers compare with ND or Duke ?

[tandfman]

(speaking of Pac-10 teams with woes, how about Stanford and the collapse of the fan base? Apparently only 15,000 in the stands last weekend... and it was homecoming.)

I would think that Stanford alums were hit particularly hard last week by the market.

That wouldn't account for the lack of season's ticket sales. Many Div I college games are pretty much sold out way in advance. The real question is whether the economic downturn will affect attendance at those schools that have not have problems selling tickets in recent years.

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, the CEO of an NBA team was quoted as saying: "We're not just competing for people's entertainment dollars anymore, we're going up against milk and orange juice."

[KevinM]

I would think that pro and high profile college teams will see a hit to their luxury box / premium seat sales as corporate budgets on client entertainment are tightened.