College Football 2013: The Season Begins, Let the Tears Begin to Fall!

[Trebla]

To pick up where we left off.

I love that they shut down the search function after Bilas went nuts! Too classic.

Now they are completely leaving the business. Bilas rocks. http://deadspin.com/hey-look-the-ncaa-is-getting-out-of-the-merchandising-1070139002

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

HvonT - I lol'ed at your last line.

By the way, speaking of that, apparently there's a controversy about Coach Patterson calling Les out. But it's not true - Coach P sent Les the transcript of the interview to clear the air (the two have the same agent and apparently are friends), where it is clear that Patterson was speaking only about Fields and never mentioned Les by name.

Still it was a very nice flash in the pan for the national and regional sports media.

[Suttree]

please delete

[Ded As Ned]

Surprisingly little chatter now that we're only 2 weeks away from football...

and UK still hasn't named a starting QB. Personally thinking it'll be a Smith/Whitlow combo... until Smith gets hurt. I wish they'd redshirt Towles. I see him probably transferring out if he doesn't get PT this year though

[Ferrum Aeternum]

Auburn fans will be happy to hear that Kiehl Frazier has been moved to safety. Maybe he'll be better at picking off passes than he was at throwing them!

[Rhom]

Surprisingly little chatter now that we're only 2 weeks away from football...

and UK still hasn't named a starting QB. Personally thinking it'll be a Smith/Whitlow combo... until Smith gets hurt. I wish they'd redshirt Towles. I see him probably transferring out if he doesn't get PT this year though

Agreed on all counts. Smith is guaranteed to get hurt and I have no confidence that the shoulder he separated has healed. Whitlow might be good enough to play some at receiver, Lord knows we need skill there.

Towles looked good on that one series last year, but just never got it back after his injury. I think Barker coming in will pretty much seal his career at UK shut.

[Ded As Ned]

Agreed on all counts. Smith is guaranteed to get hurt and I have no confidence that the shoulder he separated has healed. Whitlow might be good enough to play some at receiver, Lord knows we need skill there.

Towles looked good on that one series last year, but just never got it back after his injury. I think Barker coming in will pretty much seal his career at UK shut.

Yeah I wrote Smith off as soon as I read his comments last week about how he almost had surgery in the spring... then the bit about how his plan to not re-injure was not to fall on it when he gets tackled. In the SEC. Playing for Kentucky. I wish the kid the best, obviously, but it's just a matter of time.

ETA: Whitlow needs to be on the field whether at QB or another positon. He is too good of an athlete to be on the sidelines. The kid has a few shades of Cobb, and have you seen the muscle he has put on? Put the ball in his hands and see what he can do.

[BLU-RAY]

I've actually become nervous now. High expectations tend to vastly decrease the enjoyment of sports, because there are suddenly more opportunities to fail. The past few years of Stanford football have been great, but at this point, I'm going to be disappointed in the season unless we beat a high-quality opponent (so, SEC, Big 12, maaaaaayyybe a one-loss Ohio State) in a BCS game, and that sucks.

[S John]

Surprisingly little chatter now that we're only 2 weeks away from football...

and UK still hasn't named a starting QB. Personally thinking it'll be a Smith/Whitlow combo... until Smith gets hurt. I wish they'd redshirt Towles. I see him probably transferring out if he doesn't get PT this year though

WVU hasn't named a starter either. 3 guys competing for the job and no idea which one will get it. I bet the coaches have a pretty god idea of who it will be, but no official word yet.

I've actually become nervous now. High expectations tend to vastly decrease the enjoyment of sports, because there are suddenly more opportunities to fail. The past few years of Stanford football have been great, but at this point, I'm going to be disappointed in the season unless we beat a high-quality opponent (so, SEC, Big 12, maaaaaayyybe a one-loss Ohio State) in a BCS game, and that sucks.

Hah, yea that is how I felt last year and it was a pretty hard come down during that 5 game losing streak. And its why I'm pretty excited about this year actually. WVU has been picked by virtually everyone to finish 8th in the Big 12. So low expectations means I'll be happy with anything better than that and will probably enjoy the games more.

[lokisnow]

last year's high expectations hurt my enjoyment of the game as they came crashing down to below my worst case scenarios. for both of my teams.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

TCU technically hasn't named a starter but unless Casey Pachall's problems haven't gone away (and by all accounts he looks better than ever with his head firmly on straight) then the job is his. Pachall for Heisman!

[Kalbear]

I'm still cautiously optimistic about Oregon. But really as a fan I got all I've ever wanted and can die happy. Everything else is gravy.

[MisterOJ]

Reports are starting to trickle out that Jalen Whitlow will be named UK's starter.

Which is really something, considering when Joker Phillips signed him, it was generally understood that he would get a token shot at showing what he could do as quarterback before being moved to wide receiver or some other position to utilize his athleticism.

ETA: Just realized this is my 2000th post. UK football is a pretty good topic to use it on! :thumbsup:

[Rhom]

Reports are starting to trickle out that Jalen Whitlow will be named UK's starter.

Which is really something, considering when Joker Phillips signed him, it was generally understood that he would get a token shot at showing what he could do as quarterback before being moved to wide receiver or some other position to utilize his athleticism.

Interesting considering it was just yesterday that Neal Brown was saying they might not name a starter until the WKU game. I think this is the best possible outcome for the team. We don't have receivers, so having a QB that can create will be important.

Too bad for Max Smith, who is likely done and doesn't have enough eligibility to justify transferring to another FBS school. If I were Towles, I think I'd go ahead and book plans to redshirt this year and use it to gain immediate eligibility next year somewhere.

ETA: Just realized this is my 2000th post. UK football is a pretty good topic to use it on! :thumbsup:

Huzzah!

[MisterOJ]

Interesting considering it was just yesterday that Neal Brown was saying they might not name a starter until the WKU game. I think this is the best possible outcome for the team. We don't have receivers, so having a QB that can create will be important.

Too bad for Max Smith, who is likely done and doesn't have enough eligibility to justify transferring to another FBS school. If I were Towles, I think I'd go ahead and book plans to redshirt this year and use it to gain immediate eligibility next year somewhere.

I should probably clarify that by saying that what I was seeing didn't necessarily mean he'd be named the starter soon or anything. Just that it's looking more and more likely that whenever the starter is named - it'll be Whitlow.

[Rhom]

To paraphrase Tark the Shark:

The NCAA is so mad at North Carolina, they're getting ready to put Weber State on probation.

:lol:

[Kalbear]

I think that Kelly's departure is one of the biggest question marks. Maybe the only one. Maybe replacing some key guys on D too, but they're in great shape.

If I had to bet, I'd bet they don't miss a beat with Hellfrich. But Kelly was so good that it's not unreasonable to want to see it first.

Mariota and a very good O-Line returning. DAT and Lyerla only going to get more touches. Plenty of exciting other position players. Ekpre-Olumu returning at corner.

Like I said, I'm cautiously optimistic. While Kelly was a superb game day and practice coach Helf is by all accounts a significantly better recruiter. And he was the guy who has been the major reason our QBs have been so good despite not being that good at, ya know, QB stuff.

We have a favorable schedule. We miss USC this year, have Tennessee at home (but Virginia on the road), get UCLA at home. There are two scary games: @Stanford and @Washington. Washington is mostly scary because it's the reopening of Montlake stadium and the second year of their DC getting reps. For a new coach that's not the best thing ever. Stanford is simply going to be a hard game for a while, period.

But there's nothing on the schedule that screams 'can't win'. Unlike Kelly's Ducks, however, I can't say that these Ducks will always beat the teams that they're supposed to via multi-TD scores. I don't know how efficient and focused they'll be, and it's possible that they'll lose a game they really should have no business losing.

I'll say that I think 9-3 is a likely outcome, with a loss to Stanford on the road and a couple random ones (Arizona, maybe ASU) along the way.

[sperry]

Two weeks til the season kicks off. Really getting excited. Maybe this makes me pathetic, but I'm having a hard time concentrating at work I'm so pumped. One of my good friends is a 1st grade teacher, and I asked her in early December if she had Christmas decorations up. She told me that she won't put them up until the last week of school, because once the kids see them, no learning will take place amid small child Christmas hysteria.

Well I guess I have mid 20s adult football hysteria. Anyone going to go to their team's season opener? Oklahoma plays ULM, and the game is pay per view only, so it's actually cheaper to buy a ticket than order the game on TV. Will be tailgating bright and early, and trying not to consume too many beers while that first gameday of the year adrenaline is making them go down like water.

After typing this all out, I'm now considering seeking counseling :)

[Rhom]

Saturday Down South has a series going on the College Football Arms Race (facilities upgrades and such).

Behold the Locker Rooms of the Rich and Famous!

Pretty impressive stuff.

[Kalbear]

Let me ask this: If Kelly hadn't left and all else was equal what would you predict?

11-1 or 10-2. Losing Barner hurts a bit more than I think people think; people remember Kelly with LMJ and Barner but forget that before that, we had Blount and our running game was more than a bit up in the air. The linebacker situation is fairly scary.

But Mariota, all the receivers and 3/5ths of the starting linemen should be able to take up the slack...if the coaching is sound. Kelly was a huge part of the Duck success.