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Dodd's Spring Observations
Spring football's a revenue sport?
We might look back on March and April as the months spring football started to make money -- if administrators were smart enough to charge admission. Maybe it's part of the explosion of the sport. As we have noted several times, attendance (for real games) and television ratings have never been higher. One website unofficially compiled the top spring attendances in the country. Not surprisingly, five of the top 15 were SEC schools. Twelve of the 15 were SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 schools.
Here is the top 10:
1. Alabama, 92,138
2. Ohio State, 75,310
3. Penn State, 71,000
4. Nebraska, 54,288
5. Notre Dame, 51,852
6. Florida, 47,500
7. Texas, 42,500
8. South Carolina, 35,153
9. Auburn, 31,757
10. Louisville, 28,000
College football's playoff messiah
In another spring stir facilitated by SportsLine.com, Florida president Dr. Bernie Machen expanded on his call for a college football playoff during the Final Four.
Machen suggested a third party run a playoff (a limited liability company, LLC). A meeting with a high-level NCAA official regarding a playoff was imminent, except that he wouldn't reveal who his meeting was with. He ripped Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, calling him a "homer" for comparing his league to the SEC.
"I was at Michigan (as provost and dean of the school of dentistry)," Machen said. "I know how they get in at Michigan. Don't talk to me about the Nobel laureates at Michigan.
"Just look at Greg Oden's class schedule this semester."
Good stuff. No, great stuff. No president had been more strident in his support of a playoff. The next event on your social calendar should be the SEC meetings in early June. That's where Machen supposedly will make his pitch to conference CEOs.
Meet the players. Get stitches
Try to find The mtn., the Mountain West's network that apparently is available to a few ham radio operators in central Utah. What the MWC couldn't do (get exposure) little Caden Thomas accomplished by walking the Colorado State sideline.
The four-year-old and his parents appeared on the Today Show and set the family up for a nice cash settlement. Has your kid gotten smashed on the sidelines at a spring game? Call the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe at 1-800-CFB-SUIT.
Caden was "wandering along the sideline" (according to the wire story) with his father when CSU receiver George Hill smashed into the kid trying to lay out for a pass. Little Caden's head required 30 stitches and attention from a plastic surgeon. If that's not a lawsuit, I've never read a Grisham book. Especially when you consider the kid's heart-breaking description: "It kind of hurted."
While little Caden is set for life (if his parents play it smart), Rams fans said it was the best hit they'd seen by a Colorado State player in years.
Why Florida won't repeat
The offense will be better, much better, with Tebow and a cast of playmakers. The defense has to replace nine starters. There is a lot of revenge waiting out there in the SEC.
That's nothing to be ashamed of. Florida is still good enough to win the SEC East and get a BCS at-large berth.
Predicitions
BCS national championship: USC vs. LSU
Rose: Michigan vs. Cal
Sugar: Florida vs. Louisville
Orange: West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
Fiesta: Texas vs. Wisconsin
Reshuffled Heisman race
1. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
2. Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers
3. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
4. Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia
5. Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State
6. John David Booty, QB, USC
7. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Spring stars
Boise State quarterback Bush Hamdan -- The Kuwait native is running even with senior Taylor Tharp in the race to replace Jared Zabransky.
Florida receiver Louis Murphy -- Eight catches for 129 yards in the spring game.
LSU tailback Richard Murphy -- Eighty-five yards rushing. The Tigers are suddenly very deep at running back.
Oklahoma tailback DeMarco Murray -- Rushed for 327 yards in three scrimmages.
Louisville receiver Harry Douglas -- The budding All-American caught eight balls for 137 yards in the spring game.
UCLA quarterback Ben Olson -- Won the starting job in a somewhat controversial decision over Patrick Cowan, who beat USC last season.
Texas robs the cradle
How else do you describe Mack Brown having 18 commitments before May 1? That's 18 of an estimated 22 scholarship openings filled for 2008.
The always-hustling Brown usually has that many commits before Jan. 1. May is usually a heavy recruiting month. Brown can be excused if he takes it off and tools around Europe with his wife Sally.
The best offense in the country is ...
With apologies to Florida and Louisville, it just might be Oklahoma State. Call it a spring knee jerk, but to the naked eye, no team had more talent than Oklahoma State at the end of last season (No. 7 overall, 35.2 points per game). Give me quarterback Bobby Reid (29 total touchdowns), tailback Dantrell Savage (6.5 yards per carry), tight end Brandon Pettigrew and receiver Adarius Bowman and I'll take my chances.
Jimbo needs time, and players
The same old problems plagued Florida State in new offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher's first spring game. Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee each threw a pair of interceptions. One of Lee's picks was returned for a touchdown.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not totally disgusted," Fisher said.
For a team that got shut out by Wake Forest at home last season, that has to be interpreted as progress.
Save the date
July 28. That's when Fiesta Bowl engagees Ian Johnson and cheerleader Chrissy Popadics are scheduled to be married. Boise State has gotten a little carried away with itself in the offseason. At least one movie (documentary) is being made about last season. The wedding of the season is so celebrated that Boise State assistant coaches have been briefed so that their wedding gifts aren't considered "extra benefits" by the NCAA.
Much ado about Clausen, er, nothing
God's quarterback finally made his way to the field at Notre Dame. What we know for sure: nada.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis shot down reports that Jimmy Clausen had a sore shoulder. In the spring game, who would know? Clausen completed 3 of 7 passes and was largely unimpressive.
Officially, the quarterback job is wide open. Unofficially, Clausen would have to get into an off-campus fight not to get the starting job.
Funny you should mention that ...
The biggest news this spring out of State College was yet more off-field knuckle-headedness. Six Penn State players were charged over the weekend for their alleged part in barging into an apartment and getting into a violent altercation. All six are charged with at least one felony count of criminal trespass.
To put it in perspective: Pacman Jones is suspended for the year after 10 "incidents." The six Penn State players accused of felonies were not even so much as suspended as of Sunday. Your move, JoePa. You're the boss. This begs some kind of action before the case is played out in court.
What were you thinking?
South Carolina freshman Stephen Garcia had an eventful spring. None of it on the field. Garcia was reinstated in mid-April after being arrested twice in a two-week span. Not a good thing for a quarterback trying to make an impression with Steve Spurrier.
Garcia was charged with drunkenness and failure to stop on Feb. 17. On March 3, he was arrested for "keying" a visiting professor's car. Reinstated six weeks later? At this rate, he'll be starting the season opener.
No one's talking about ...
BYU.
Bronco Mendenhall revived the Cougars last year with an 11-2 record that included a Mountain West title, a Las Vegas Bowl win and -- as the spring guide states -- a state championship (beating Utah).
If you want a Boise State for '07, this might be it. Only 13 starters return but the schedule is such that you could envision the Cougars going 11-1. Games against Arizona, TCU and Utah are at home.
Second-round draft choice John Beck turned out to be the second-most productive BYU quarterback in history (11,021 yards). Arizona State transfer Max Hall won the job in the spring. Hall hasn't taken a snap in a game since 2003 but is Danny White's nephew and hails from Beck's high school.
That leads to the obvious conclusion:
Arizona State is this year's quarterback factory
Dennis Erickson inherits Rudy Carpenter, who caused the transfer of Sam Keller, who is the favorite to start this fall at Nebraska. That's three starting quarterbacks at three schools in three conferences from one program.
Thank you Dirk Koetter, now the Jaguars offensive coordinator.
We might look back on March and April as the months spring football started to make money -- if administrators were smart enough to charge admission. Maybe it's part of the explosion of the sport. As we have noted several times, attendance (for real games) and television ratings have never been higher. One website unofficially compiled the top spring attendances in the country. Not surprisingly, five of the top 15 were SEC schools. Twelve of the 15 were SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 schools.
Here is the top 10:
1. Alabama, 92,138
2. Ohio State, 75,310
3. Penn State, 71,000
4. Nebraska, 54,288
5. Notre Dame, 51,852
6. Florida, 47,500
7. Texas, 42,500
8. South Carolina, 35,153
9. Auburn, 31,757
10. Louisville, 28,000
College football's playoff messiah
In another spring stir facilitated by SportsLine.com, Florida president Dr. Bernie Machen expanded on his call for a college football playoff during the Final Four.
Machen suggested a third party run a playoff (a limited liability company, LLC). A meeting with a high-level NCAA official regarding a playoff was imminent, except that he wouldn't reveal who his meeting was with. He ripped Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, calling him a "homer" for comparing his league to the SEC.
"I was at Michigan (as provost and dean of the school of dentistry)," Machen said. "I know how they get in at Michigan. Don't talk to me about the Nobel laureates at Michigan.
"Just look at Greg Oden's class schedule this semester."
Good stuff. No, great stuff. No president had been more strident in his support of a playoff. The next event on your social calendar should be the SEC meetings in early June. That's where Machen supposedly will make his pitch to conference CEOs.
Meet the players. Get stitches
Try to find The mtn., the Mountain West's network that apparently is available to a few ham radio operators in central Utah. What the MWC couldn't do (get exposure) little Caden Thomas accomplished by walking the Colorado State sideline.
The four-year-old and his parents appeared on the Today Show and set the family up for a nice cash settlement. Has your kid gotten smashed on the sidelines at a spring game? Call the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe at 1-800-CFB-SUIT.
Caden was "wandering along the sideline" (according to the wire story) with his father when CSU receiver George Hill smashed into the kid trying to lay out for a pass. Little Caden's head required 30 stitches and attention from a plastic surgeon. If that's not a lawsuit, I've never read a Grisham book. Especially when you consider the kid's heart-breaking description: "It kind of hurted."
While little Caden is set for life (if his parents play it smart), Rams fans said it was the best hit they'd seen by a Colorado State player in years.
Why Florida won't repeat
The offense will be better, much better, with Tebow and a cast of playmakers. The defense has to replace nine starters. There is a lot of revenge waiting out there in the SEC.
That's nothing to be ashamed of. Florida is still good enough to win the SEC East and get a BCS at-large berth.
Predicitions
BCS national championship: USC vs. LSU
Rose: Michigan vs. Cal
Sugar: Florida vs. Louisville
Orange: West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
Fiesta: Texas vs. Wisconsin
Reshuffled Heisman race
1. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
2. Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers
3. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
4. Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia
5. Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State
6. John David Booty, QB, USC
7. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Spring stars
Boise State quarterback Bush Hamdan -- The Kuwait native is running even with senior Taylor Tharp in the race to replace Jared Zabransky.
Florida receiver Louis Murphy -- Eight catches for 129 yards in the spring game.
LSU tailback Richard Murphy -- Eighty-five yards rushing. The Tigers are suddenly very deep at running back.
Oklahoma tailback DeMarco Murray -- Rushed for 327 yards in three scrimmages.
Louisville receiver Harry Douglas -- The budding All-American caught eight balls for 137 yards in the spring game.
UCLA quarterback Ben Olson -- Won the starting job in a somewhat controversial decision over Patrick Cowan, who beat USC last season.
Texas robs the cradle
How else do you describe Mack Brown having 18 commitments before May 1? That's 18 of an estimated 22 scholarship openings filled for 2008.
The always-hustling Brown usually has that many commits before Jan. 1. May is usually a heavy recruiting month. Brown can be excused if he takes it off and tools around Europe with his wife Sally.
The best offense in the country is ...
With apologies to Florida and Louisville, it just might be Oklahoma State. Call it a spring knee jerk, but to the naked eye, no team had more talent than Oklahoma State at the end of last season (No. 7 overall, 35.2 points per game). Give me quarterback Bobby Reid (29 total touchdowns), tailback Dantrell Savage (6.5 yards per carry), tight end Brandon Pettigrew and receiver Adarius Bowman and I'll take my chances.
Jimbo needs time, and players
The same old problems plagued Florida State in new offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher's first spring game. Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee each threw a pair of interceptions. One of Lee's picks was returned for a touchdown.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not totally disgusted," Fisher said.
For a team that got shut out by Wake Forest at home last season, that has to be interpreted as progress.
Save the date
July 28. That's when Fiesta Bowl engagees Ian Johnson and cheerleader Chrissy Popadics are scheduled to be married. Boise State has gotten a little carried away with itself in the offseason. At least one movie (documentary) is being made about last season. The wedding of the season is so celebrated that Boise State assistant coaches have been briefed so that their wedding gifts aren't considered "extra benefits" by the NCAA.
Much ado about Clausen, er, nothing
God's quarterback finally made his way to the field at Notre Dame. What we know for sure: nada.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis shot down reports that Jimmy Clausen had a sore shoulder. In the spring game, who would know? Clausen completed 3 of 7 passes and was largely unimpressive.
Officially, the quarterback job is wide open. Unofficially, Clausen would have to get into an off-campus fight not to get the starting job.
Funny you should mention that ...
The biggest news this spring out of State College was yet more off-field knuckle-headedness. Six Penn State players were charged over the weekend for their alleged part in barging into an apartment and getting into a violent altercation. All six are charged with at least one felony count of criminal trespass.
To put it in perspective: Pacman Jones is suspended for the year after 10 "incidents." The six Penn State players accused of felonies were not even so much as suspended as of Sunday. Your move, JoePa. You're the boss. This begs some kind of action before the case is played out in court.
What were you thinking?
South Carolina freshman Stephen Garcia had an eventful spring. None of it on the field. Garcia was reinstated in mid-April after being arrested twice in a two-week span. Not a good thing for a quarterback trying to make an impression with Steve Spurrier.
Garcia was charged with drunkenness and failure to stop on Feb. 17. On March 3, he was arrested for "keying" a visiting professor's car. Reinstated six weeks later? At this rate, he'll be starting the season opener.
No one's talking about ...
BYU.
Bronco Mendenhall revived the Cougars last year with an 11-2 record that included a Mountain West title, a Las Vegas Bowl win and -- as the spring guide states -- a state championship (beating Utah).
If you want a Boise State for '07, this might be it. Only 13 starters return but the schedule is such that you could envision the Cougars going 11-1. Games against Arizona, TCU and Utah are at home.
Second-round draft choice John Beck turned out to be the second-most productive BYU quarterback in history (11,021 yards). Arizona State transfer Max Hall won the job in the spring. Hall hasn't taken a snap in a game since 2003 but is Danny White's nephew and hails from Beck's high school.
That leads to the obvious conclusion:
Arizona State is this year's quarterback factory
Dennis Erickson inherits Rudy Carpenter, who caused the transfer of Sam Keller, who is the favorite to start this fall at Nebraska. That's three starting quarterbacks at three schools in three conferences from one program.
Thank you Dirk Koetter, now the Jaguars offensive coordinator.