Enter the Fat Man.

All last year, while we were circling the drain, I was predicting a rebound season for 2014. Lots of interesting pieces in places and we were young as shit last year and riddled with injuries. If we keep everyone healthy, I predict that we're going to be a damn tough out.

Big 12 is shaping up to be the deepest league again, after a hiatus from that status in 2013. Only Kansas will be truly awful, unless West Virginia continues their slide, which I don't think they will. Oklahoma is a national title contender, Texas is getting whipped back into shape and KSU/OSU/TTU/BU are all 8ish win teams. If ISU and TCU can rebound from down years (and I think both will) I think we're looking at 80-90% of the league at bowl eligibility, and OU or Texas in the playoffs with a good chance to win it all.

Iowan wrote:Texas in the playoffs with a good chance to win it all.

huh?

dime in the gutter wrote:

Iowan wrote:Texas in the playoffs with a good chance to win it all.

huh?

Double huh

dime in the gutter wrote:

Iowan wrote:Texas in the playoffs with a good chance to win it all.

huh?

Chuck Strong is going to win there. I think hes one of the games best coaches and now he has access to serious talent.

This year is unlikely to result in that, but I'm going out on a limb and saying they're a dark horse.

So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

4sooner wrote:So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

It's 100% about Saban crying. It's beyond ridiculous

4sooner wrote:So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

Since you're correct that there's no substance to it, the progress or lack thereof of the proposal should provide some insight into political power and back room maneuvering in the NCAA hierarchy.

4sooner wrote:So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

It IS lame.

But I don't think it will pass, or progress much, for that matter.

4sooner wrote:So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

Saban acting like a child. Nothing more.

Don't forget BERT Bielema. That guy sucks left hind tit.

grapico wrote:Don't forget BERT Bielema. That guy sucks left hind tit.

He's just a colossal piece of shit.

grapico wrote:Don't forget BERT Bielema. That guy sucks left hind tit.

His may be bigger than his wife's.

ahhh. fucker.

dime in the gutter wrote:

Better representation.

she's bigger in yours.

The Independence Bowl has a new name/sponsor

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr ... ncaaf.html

Iowan wrote:

4sooner wrote:So what are the thoughts on the proposed rule changes re the hurry up offense? Sounds ridiculous to me. Saban got beat back to back by two no huddle offenses so now he's gonna lead the charge to give the defense time to substitute. Calling it a SAFETY issue????? you gotta be kidding me. I keep thinking this is just too stupid to actually pass, but that guy has a lot of power.

Saban acting like a child. Nothing more.

Not according to Saban: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... er=ya5nbcs

Should we start a poll on whether we believe him?

Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

cortez the killer wrote:Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

I really love the way he will run a play that is working a few times in a row, fast as shit. It seems obvious now, but it's pretty damn inventive.

brstigerfan wrote:

cortez the killer wrote:Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

I really love the way he will run a play that is working a few times in a row, fast as shit. It seems obvious now, but it's pretty damn inventive.

Leach has always been a big fan of this, as well as running the same play over and over out of different formations.

Malzahn definitely has some Pirate influences and it's safe to say he deserves a ton of praise for not only what he's done as the HC at Auburn, but the bulk of credit for 2010 as well.

brstigerfan wrote:

cortez the killer wrote:Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

I really love the way he will run a play that is working a few times in a row, fast as shit. It seems obvious now, but it's pretty damn inventive.

In one of the games, he ran the same play SEVEN times in a row.

cortez the killer wrote:Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

35-21 good tigers.

but, i fear, you are correct.

i was hoping he would flame out and auger in hard.



kinda unrelated.

recent 1/2 assed theory.......high schools have been doing this type stuff stuff for years. certainly not to malzahn's level of creativity, but that's where dude cut his teeth. put your best athlete at qb and kill them with speed and misdirection.

so high school ball is influencing college ball is influencing the nfl. tc is not gonna like this development, at all.

I can't prove it, but I think the recent trend at all levels to punt less/go for it more often and to at least think 2x before automatically always punting comes from high school ball.

dime in the gutter wrote:

cortez the killer wrote:Fuck Saban. I'm obsessed with this guy:


I've watched all Auburn's games from last year multiple times over the past several weeks. Malzahn is truly a football genius. His simplicity masked with the illusion of confusion & complexity (plus amazing athletes put in positions to succeed) is truly impressive. This guy is the fuckin' real deal.

so high school ball is influencing college ball is influencing the nfl. tc is not gonna like this development, at all.

I'd like to hear Cortez's take, but I feel like its worked this way for a loooooooong time.

beantownbubba wrote:I can't prove it, but I think the recent trend at all levels to punt less/go for it more often and to at least think 2x before automatically always punting comes from high school ball.

There's a great Chuck Klosterman essay on football that I feel anyone who loves both football and rock and roll owes it to themselves to read that covers this aspect of the game.

For years, I think football was a trickle-down game. The NFL was the ultimate innovator and everyone wanted to meet with, learn from, and copy the NFL guys. I think we are starting to see a bit of a shift. I know a lot of NFL people are meeting with college coaches to discuss and learn things like zone-read offense & tempo. I don't think the NFL is going to turn into the college game, but a lot of NFL coaches are open to adding some elements of the college game to their repertoire. When Chip Kelly was still at Oregon, Bill Belichick had him come in and clinic the Patriots on how he runs his fast-paced attack. The next year New England incorporated a lot it (the tempo/communication) into their offensive arsenal. I have not really considered the high school angle in all of it, but, considering how Malzahn arrived on the college scene and how successful he has been, I think it needs to be examined. I think a lot of the innovations stem around what the defenses have been built to stop. In most cases, it's a pro-style offense. When you throw a well-built, well-executed offense like what Malzahn runs at them, they struggle to hold up. The defensive coaches and players aren't used to defending those kind of offenses. As that style of offense becomes more common, defensive coaches will spend more time figuring out how to better defend them and then some guy will come along with a different offensive system.

I've always been of the impression that offensive innovation comes from the ground up. Some "whack job" high school or smaller college coach draws up some unusual offensive scheme that defenses haven't seen, and struggle to stop. Then they throw up big numbers and win a bunch of games and it starts to draw attention from the higher levels, who start adopting bits and pieces of it to great success. Eventually defenses figure out how to stop it, and loses popularity. It retreats from the lexicon and re-emerges years later.

I think the use of the Wildcat and zone read in the NFL, as well as the implementation of run-and-shoot concepts back in the 80's/90's and the implementation of spread concepts in the past 10 years (especially by Belichik) evidence this trend.

But I'll defer to someone who knows a hell of a lot more than me about the history of the game, especially from a coaching standpoint. The overall trend may very well be trickle down, and I'm fixated on a handful of examples.