Topic: College Football 2007: The Thread

[that Baby guy]

Go Gators!
This thread is for the discussion of the 2007 NCAA Football season.  Duh.
Who's your team?  What do you want to happen. What do you think will happen?

For me, I have to say, I, of course, hope for a repeat, but from what I read, that isn't likely.  However, I do believe the Gators will wind up going to at least the SEC Championship, and possibly make it to a BCS bowl.  If they don't make it to the National Championship, I think that out of pure coincidence, they will wind up battling OSU in a bowl.  But that's just a fun guess.

[decoyman]

As you may or may not know, I am from Nebraska.

It's easy to guess that I am a pretty big Cornhusker fan.

We may have been in a... "lull" for a few years now (yes, if we aren't in a BCS game, I consider it a "lull" ), but I still have high hopes that we'll kick some butt this year. Maybe even some Gator butt if we get the chance.  

[Karl Castaneda #2]

NOLES, BABY. First game's at Clemson on Monday night.

[Bloodworth]

Great, all I need is a bunch of alumni in Lexus's and Hummers taking up all the parking in my neighborhood because they're too cheap to park at the stadium.

[that Baby guy]

You have to make them pay for it, Bloodworth.  Earn some cash!

Anyways, a hearty lol for Michigan, ranked #5 in the AP poll, receiving two first place votes, lost to Appalachian State, 34-32, a division I-AA team, though they are the the defending champs of 1-AA, this is completely unprecedented in the world of college football.

Florida won their game, 49-3 against a transitional Western Kentucky.  The offense looked brilliant, the defense seemed decent, so good news there.  Florida expects to move up in the AP to #5 after this victory and Michigan's loss.

Tonight, I'll be rooting for Tennessee over California tonight, and then Clemson over FSU Monday.

I'm going to be a mini-Nebraska fan this season, rooting for them to take down USC.  I'd really like a '95 National Championship rematch with Nebraska, so I'm hoping to see their victory so we can hopefully beat them later.  But, I guess only time will tell.

[Karl Castaneda #2]

My poor 'Noles.

They're getting murdered out there.

[that Baby guy]

You didn't see this coming?  Conveeeerrrrt.  Conveeeerrrrrt!

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Hell no. We've got momentum now, dude.

MOMENTUM.

[that Baby guy]

Cuz that's going to win the game for you.  What do you think Bobby is listening to on those headphones?  Kenny Rodgers?

[ShineGet887]

Huge Buckeye fan here, and I'd just like to post a few predictions:

1.) The National Championship game will feature Oklahoma and Southern California
2.) Ohio State will win the Big Ten
3.) A player from the Pac-10 will win the Heisman.

That's pretty much it, and I hope everybody enjoys this season. I'll pop in every so often when something major happens, and as always, Go Bucks!

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
You didn't see this coming?  Conveeeerrrrt.  Conveeeerrrrrt!

Anyone who wants to see Clemson win over anyone is a Commie!

[that Baby guy]

I wanted Clemson to beat the Noles.  So did every other Gator fan out there.  It's not that we like to root for Clemson.  It's that we all root against FSU.

[decoyman]

Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
I'm going to be a mini-Nebraska fan this season, rooting for them to take down USC.  I'd really like a '95 National Championship rematch with Nebraska, so I'm hoping to see their victory so we can hopefully beat them later.  But, I guess only time will tell.

I'm not sure what our chances are on Saturday... if we play well and execute (ah, yes, the age-old football cliché), we've got a chance. One big thing that's on our side is that it's a home game, and Memorial Stadium is a notably tough place for visiting teams. We also need the ball to bounce our way more often than not – some key takeaways and big plays.

The sad truth is that, after looking at our receiving corps the past few games, I see some deficiencies. For a team that runs all over everybody no matter what they did, like Nebraska used to be, it was fine to have decent receivers. Now, though, in an offense meant to capitalize on whatever the opposing team is weak on, we have to be able to have stellar running backs AND QB/receivers. We've been having WAY too many dropped and over-thrown passes. Wake Forest, solid team that they are, shouldn't have been so close.

On the other hand... when we needed to make plays or have good drives, we responded. That's the x-factor, I guess. I'd rather just blow the other team out though Oh, well, five days and we'll see what happens...

[that Baby guy]

Well, Ceric, I hope you didn't cry too hard yesterday.  The Gators routed Tennessee 59-20.  It was a great game to go to, and it really put the Gators on the map.  UCF nearly defeated Texas, the game ended 35-32, which was something I had predicted, so I feel a little proud of myself for that one.

As for Nebraska, well, they lost.  I was really hoping to see them again in the National Championship to get revenge for 1995, but that's out of the picture.  USC is almost a lock to make it into the game at this point.

[decoyman]

Well, that wasn't what I was hoping would happen... but USC just proved they're a really talented and resilient group of players. Their lines on both sides of the ball basically PWNED us for the second and third quarters (the ones that mattered). Our d-line couldn't protect the run up the middle for the life of them, let alone get pressure to Booty. They opened up holes the size of craters for their guys to jog through, and our guys couldn't respond or adjust for whatever reason. On the other side of the ball, even though we had momentum and were able to hit the quick passes pretty regularly (we had more first downs than USC, and a comparable number of total yards), but we weren't able to establish the running game AT ALL, and their defense was all over Keller nearly every play. If I'd taken out my contacts and let my mind drift a bit, I might've mistaken the Trojans with the "Huskers of Yore" because of what they did on both sides of the ball, making it suck that much more.

Football's truly a game of momentum... we had our chances, and at the beginning, we even took a lead. Then some guy got injured, and the lengthy delay managed to sap our momentum. More importantly, we weren't able to respond to that sapped momentum and get it back, like a true championship-caliber team would do (like USC did). I'm not saying there weren't positives for us on Saturday... but at least our defense – such a proud unit that they have a name for themselves, Blackshirts – has some definite work to do. I look to see how they respond, game-to-game – another mark of a championship-caliber team. I feel like we're building ourselves back, bit by bit, so I'll reserve judgment on that aspect for now. I'm eager to see us take out our frustrations on Ball State (sorry, Ball State) this weekend, and then gain some confidence back heading into Big XII play.

Congrats on the Gators, thatguy. They're looking good out there! We'll have to save our meeting for another year, though