Adam’s Two Cents

Consider this, there is a player in college football who doesn’t recieve big time accolades, yet has done more at his school than most everyone else in FBS. Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan has never been invited to the Heisman dinner, never been up for big awards like the Maxwell, never played for a National Title, never been the headliner for sports highlight shows or on the front page of the USA Today, or Sports Illustrated, or any other major sporting outlet. Yet I believe that he is the greatest college football player, not only in the nation, but of all time.

That’s right, no National Titles, no Heisman, no major awards, yet I still think he is the greatest of all-time. Stats and game highlights speak for themselves. Central Michigan won 3 MAC titles in the 4 years he was there. Tim Tebow had only 1 conference title while being the starter in Florida, Colt McCoy as well only 1 conference title. Yet they recieve the attention due to the present nature of media and fans into “Big-Conference Bias”. LeFevour in 2007, the same year that Tim Tebow did it and won the Heisman, threw for 20 TD’s and ran for 20 TD’s, joining Tebow as the only 2 to ever do that. The same year, he also became the 2nd player in FBS history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season and rush for 1,000 yards joining Vince Young, another Texas legend. The 3 MAC titles that were won by Central Michigan was one more than the program had in the previous 25 years combined. The three bowl games he led them to is one more than the program had seen previous in it’s entire history.

I know what your saying, well he played for Central Michigan. Yes, but if that was such an advantage, how come no one did that in the MAC or Sun Belt or elsewhere in the lower levels of college football before him?

You don’t need just stats either, look at some of the career games of LeFevour. He had them in games and winning games that the Chippewas had no business being in, or winning. He made everyone around him better. Put a linebacker to spy him, and he beat you with his arm, play great coverage on his receivers and he’ll beat you with his legs. And through it all he has remained the humblest player in FBS. He’ll end up as a better pro than Bradford, McCoy, and Tebow.

I know I’m in the very minority, but it’s time to give LeFevour his accolades, and recognize him as the greatest in college history.

My New Top 25 thru November 14th:

#1 Florida -12-0 heading into the SEC Title Game

#2 Texas -Beware of Texas A&M

#3 Boise State -The BCS should pit them versus TCU

#4 Alabama -Can they take down the Gators this season?

#5 Georgia Tech -Paul Johnson has done a great job in a tough place to win

#6 Pittsburgh -Give Dave some credit!

#7 TCU -Stuck in the mud

#8 Cincinnati -Tony Pike is the better QB

#9 Ohio State -Oregon-Ohio State Rose Bowl? I like it

#10 LSU -Probably the best 2-loss team in the country

#11 Oklahoma State -A Holiday visit to USC?

#12 BYU -I still say Vegas for the Cougars

#13 Virginia Tech -No ACC title game? Ouch!

#14 Houston -Wow, the luck ran out

#15 Penn State -Hello Capital One Bowl

#16 Oregon -Smell the Roses

#17 Temple -What a year for the Owls

#18 Central Michigan -It’ll be a great MAC Title game against Temple

#19 Navy -They could get 10 wins this year again

#20 Utah -2-losses to great teams, the Utes shouldn’t be too disappointed

#21 Wisconsin -Hello Outback

#22 Stanford -Mr. Harbaugh, Ann Arbor is on line 2

#23 Iowa -They deserve a BCS bid

#24 USC -They don’t deserve to be ranked

#25 West Virginia -A tad of a rebuilding year

Right Outside

#26 Nebraska -Do they have something for Texas?

#27 California -How is Jahvid Best’s NFL stock now?

#28 Rutgers -Greg Schiano, South Bend is on line 3

#29 Clemson -C.J. Spiller will be the #1 pick next draft

#30 Boston College -A decent season will end with a decent bowl bid

My New Top 25 thru November 7th:
#1 Florida -Defense showed they’re still good even without Spikes
#2 Texas -Big day for many Longhorns, but come on it was Central Florida
#3 Boise State -Gonna benefit from the Iowa loss
#4 Alabama -Hello Atlanta
#5 Georgia Tech -Staying Alive
#6 Pittsburgh -Setting up to be a great November in the Big East
#7 Houston -Got away with another one
#8 TCU -See Boise State
#9 Cincinnati -See Houston
#10 Utah -Only loss to a good Oregon team
#11 USC -BCS Bowl in sight still
#12 Ohio State -Hello Big 10 Title
#13 West Virginia -Good at home, bad on the road
#14 LSU -Les Miles has a good team, just can’t close
#15 Oklahoma State -A win is a win even if it was Iowa State
#16 BYU -Good, just not TCU good
#17 Arizona -In control of own destiny
#18 Virginia Tech -Well at least they won
#19 Iowa -I was never sold on Iowa, and rightfully so
#20 Penn State -Not the way Daryll Clark wanted to end his career
#21 Oregon -Talk about a hangover
#22 Temple -The best back you never heard of: Bernard Pierce
#23 Central Michigan -They might get a 10-win season
#24 Miami-FL -Picked a great week to get to play Virginia
#25 Navy -Notre Dame’s kryptonite
Right Outside:
#26 Wisconsin -Some how they can still finish 3rd in the Big 10
#27 South Florida -This bye week came at a good time
#28 Stanford -Get ready for the job offers to come flying into Harbaugh’s office
#29 Kansas State -November 21st is going to be great!
#30 Nebraska -See Kansas State

Week 10 in College football gave us plenty of information to digest. Wait…there’s still Nevada-San Jose State tonight for those die-hards, and fans of those schools. The week began back on Tuesday, and didn’t short us of good college football whatsoever.

The best running back in the FBS just might belong to the Temple Owls. Bernard Pierce is unreal, he has 1,211 yards this season, and 14 TD’s. In the last three games he has 657 yards and 8 TD’s, including 178 yards and 3 TD’s against Miami of Ohio. Pierce’s running has the Owls at 7-2 and poised to play Central Michigan for the MAC title. Who would’ve thought that, Temple playing for a conference title in football? Not me I can tell you that much.

This weekend one team was both hurt and then helped by their win. For non-BCS teams, they have to win big and impressively for the voters to even have an inkling of swaying votes in their direction. Something Boise State was unable to do on Friday versus Louisiana Tech. After Friday’s win, one would’ve thought Boise State’s shot was over by having to stave off a come back, but low and behold early Saturday the Iowa Hawkeyes delivered the Broncos a Christmas gift with their 17-10 loss to Northwestern. In the card was the message to Boise State: Win impressively.

Speaking of Iowa, let’s look at the Big 10 from Saturday. Nice to see that Daryll Clark can be an emotional leader in Penn State. Hello?! Daryll? Senior season, and Iowa lost, here’s another shot to go to the Rose Bowl. Obviously the Nittany Lions thought they were still at practice. Michigan lost to Purdue in the Big House, and once again Rich Rodriguez has delivered a Big Flop of a team. Hey Michigan fans Lloyd Carr just called, oh yeah he says he finished 9-4 his last season even with the loss to Appalachian State. Who’s embarrsed now?

Everyone hear that noise? That’s Charlie Weis sizzling on his hot seat after the 23-21 loss to Navy in South Bend. Under Weis the Irish have lost two of the last three to the Midshipmen, both losses being in South Bend. So much for the Jimmy Clausen Heisman hype. Especially when you throw the ball and hit the receiver right in the numbers, oh wait, it hit his back number, oh throwing passes to guys who aren’t looking gets my Heisman vote.

Hangover’s really can last a whole week. Case in point the Oregon Ducks. After taking soul possesion of the Pac 10 race, the Ducks decided to put it on cruise control. Then Jim Harbaugh and his Cardinal crashed the party. Stanford fans write your letters now for Harbaugh to stay, he’s going to receive alot of offers, especially from Ann Arbor.

Landry Jones might have some competition next season for the starting quarterback job. Especially when you don’t secure it with a 5-interception night, and can’t muster your team a touchdown. Congrats to the Baylor Bears for winning at Missouri, even without Robert Griffin.

The most impressive win of the weekend goes to Valdosta State, with their 70-6 win over Edward Waters. It doesn’t get any better than that for the Blazers.

The powers of the ACC have once again disappointed. Aside from the 7-1 start by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the rest of the conferences top teams have fallen into mediocrity that has once again humored the college football fan. Teams that were slated to have a good season have fallen short. The lower teams of the conference are getting wins on the top teams. And to top it off the conference has suffered some bad out of conference losses.

This season was supposed to be the season for the ACC powers to come back of age. Four teams were ranked inside the AP Top 25 to start the season. Miami-FL was not part of those, but got into the Top 25 quickly after beating fellow ACC team Florida State. Since the opening weekend until today, only Georgia Tech and Miami-FL have lost less than two games. Virginia Tech once as high as #4 has lost three times. North Carolina was ranked inside the Top 20, and have slid into the basement of the ACC, and are still there despite they’re 20-17 win over Virginia Tech last night. Florida State has been real unpredictable this season, and are off to their worst start since Bobby Bowden’s first season.

Inside conference play, it has been the teams with the worse records beating the teams with the best records. Clemson lost earlier this season to Maryland, which is the Terps only conference win. Clemson then turned around and knocked off Miami-FL last week when the ‘Canes were #10. Last night it was North Carolina beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the Heels first ACC win of the year. N.C. State was 3-1 in out of conference play, but once in ACC play have been beat by Wake Forest, Duke, and Boston College. If you want to be a great team, you have to prove it by at least winning the conference games that you expect to win.

The out of conference losses have humored the college football fan’s opinion on the ACC even further. TCU beat Clemson and Virginia, both on the road. Not to mention Virginia’s opening week 26-14 loss to FCS William & Mary. While Florida State ended BYU’s BCS hopes early, they also got knocked off by Big East foe South Florida, and the Bulls were starting a freshman at quarterback. Maryland lost to Middle Tennessee State, Duke lost to Richmond, Wake Forest got knocked off by Navy, embarrasing losses by a conference that is trying to prove it belongs with the nations elite.

Virginia Tech’s loss to North Carolina has proven that maybe just one team is deserved this season of some accolades. But, even then with the way the ACC has played this season, it would not surprise me if the Yellow Jackets fell once again. And if that day comes, once again the ACC would have proven the college football world that they’ll never return to the top of the nation’s conferences.

My new Top 25, thru October 24th:

#1 Florida -Still rolling towards Atlanta

#2 Texas -McCoy is now the Heisman front runner

#3 Boise State -They just need to keep winning impressively

#4 Alabama -Ugly, but still a win

#5 USC -Offense looks good, defense is a little suspect

#6 Penn State -This years loss to Iowa is proving more costly

#7 Georgia Tech -ACC Title Bound

#8 LSU -Destiny is in own hands

#9 Pittsburgh -Still have Cincy and West Virginia left

#10 West Virginia -Noel Devine for Heisman

#11 Oklahoma State -They’re the last test for Texas

#12 Virginia Tech -What better than to stay at home, and watch others lose

#13 Houston -Casey Keenum might make the best pro quarterback out of the whole nation

#14 TCU -Talk about statement wins

#15 Cincinnati -They’ll be in good hands once Pike goes to the NFL

#16 Iowa -Lucky..Lucky…Lucky, but they’ll take it

#17 Oklahoma -The best 3-loss team in recent memory

#18 Utah -Destiny is still in own hands

#19 Oregon -See Utah

#20 Central Michigan -MAC Title bound

#21 Ohio State -Nice rebound

#22 BYU -Las Vegas Bowl in future

#23 Arizona -Mike Stoops is cooling his own seat

#24 South Carolina -The Ol’ Ball Coach’s team is decent

#25 Notre Dame -Should be 6-2 after next week

Right Outside:

#26 Kansas State -What a year the Wildcats are having

#27 Navy -The stand a good chance to take down Notre Dame

#28 Temple -Wait, Temple challenging for a Conference Title in football? It’s true

#29 California -They have fallen off the map

#30 Ole Miss -A disappointing early season is giving way to a decent finish

My new Top 25, thru week 7:
#1 Florida -They looked like they were looking past Arkansas
#2 Texas -The tough part of the season is over
#3 Boise State -Same as Texas
#4 Alabama -LSU stands between them and the SEC Title game
#5 USC -Jimmy Who?
#6 Penn State -Getting better and better
#7 Georgia Tech -Power shift in the ACC?
#8 LSU -Destiny is in their hands
#9 Pittsburgh -Same as LSU
#10 BYU -They could beat FSU now
#11 West Virginia -Big East Sleeper
#12 Virginia Tech -I don’t think they are as bad as they looked Saturday
#13 Oklahoma State -They need Dez Bryant back to contend
#14 Houston -The UTEP game was unfortunate, aside from that they beat 2 good Big 12 teams
#15 TCU -Good road wins against Clemson, and Virginia still might not be good enough
#16 Cincinnati -The road thru the Big East will be tough
#17 Iowa -The Hawkeyes need not look past Michigan State
#18 Oklahoma -They are 3-3, but have lost by a combined 5 points
#19 Utah -Good, just over hyped this season
#20 Miami-FL -They need to win a road ACC game outside the state of Florida
#21 Oregon -They’re the only team left that can beat USC in the Pac 10
#22 Central Michigan -Dan LeFevour for Heisman
#23 Nebraska -I doubt they’ll ever be the black shirts again
#24 Idaho -Some how some way they keep winning
#25 Texas Tech -Being a backup is all that bad
Right Outside
#26 Ohio State -You don’t lose to a 1-win team and deserve to be in the Top 25 if you’re Ohio State period!
#27 Notre Dame -They showed that the will fight
#28 Michigan -Does it make you Wolverine fans feel good by hanging 63 on Deleware State?
#29 Kansas -I’m not ready to give up on them after Saturday
#30 Arizona -Getting better little by little

When one is egotistical, and working in a job that is considered by most to be in the limelight, such as that of Paul Krebs, I am under the belief that they are setting themselves up for failure. No, I’m not saying that Paul Krebs is a failure, however, the way he handled the Mike Locksley punching his assistant case was a disaster that could’ve been easily taken care of by Krebs, but instead had to be taken care of by the University of New Mexico’s Human Resource Department.

Krebs for some reason, egotistical objectives more than likely, decided that a verbal reprimand, and a follow-up letter put into Locksley’s file was going to make the situation better. Instead it gave an appearance of Krebs trying to sweep the problem under the rug, rather than dealing with it. Fans assumptions ran wild with the idea of Krebs not wanting to take some sort of heat from fans to the assumption that maybe he’d made a mistake by hiring Locksley. Now, I don’t believe that Locksley should be fired, and the bottom line as to why people are calling for his head has more to do with the 0-6 start, than the incident that took place between he and Gerald.

Krebs would have been better suspending Locksley himself instead of allowing the Human Resources Department to take matters into their own hands. He very well could’ve suspended him for the game at Texas Tech. Yet, he failed to do that. Paul Krebs has done excellent in his work prior to this incident. He had a chance to take care of the situation himself before it got to a hapless problem where someone else had to step in, that shows me that Krebs doesn’t have the skills to properly discipline the people whom he employs.

In the end, Locksley got what was right, a one game suspension, however it was the wrong person who suspended him. Hopefully, Krebs learned from this, and realizes that sweeping things under the rug is not going to make Lobo fans happy at all.

My new Top 25 thru Week 6, last week’s ranking in parentheses:

#1 Florida (1)

#2 Texas (2)

#3 Boise State (3)

#4 Alabama (5)

#5 Virginia Tech (6)

#6 USC (7)

#7 Ohio State (8)

#8 Penn State (9)

#9 Georgia Tech (10)

#10 LSU (4)

#11 Kansas (11)

#12 Pittsburgh (12)

#13 BYU (13)

#14 West Virginia (14)

#15 Oklahoma (17)

#16 Notre Dame (18)

#17 Oklahoma State (19)

#18 Nebraska (20)

#19 Houston (21)

#20 TCU (22)

#21 Cincinnati (23)

#22 Iowa (24)

#23 Missouri (16)

#24 Utah (25)

#25 South Florida (26)

Right Outside

#26 Miami-FL (NR)

#27 Oregon (NR)

#28 Central Michigan (NR)

#29 Rutgers (NR)

#30 Wake Forest (NR)

What did we learn from week 5 in College Football? Well for starters, even with the advancement in how games are officiated, we learned that referees still make mistakes, and conferences still come out and say that officials make bad calls, to the despise of the teams whom the calls go against.

We also learned that Cal, not only isn’t worthy of a Top 10 ranking, but they’re not even worthy of a Top 25 ranking. I’m sorry Bear fans but you can’t be one of the “best 25″ teams in the country and get beat 72-6 combined in two weeks. The teams who get beat by those margins are usually the bottom feeder’s of the FBS. Jahvid Best can also kiss the Heisman dinner goodbye.

The next thing we learned is that Miami-FL can play well at home, it’s the going on the road part that has me scared. Honestly, in the games they played at home, even the one they played on the road but in the state of Florida, they looked comfortable. While when they left the state of Florida, they looked like a bottom of the pack ACC team. Are the ‘Canes worthy of a Top 10 ranking? I say not yet, win a road game outside the state of Florida and then we’ll talk.

I learned an interesting thing Saturday afternoon that had hardly any implecations on the National scene, and that is Mike Leach has no respect for other teams. This may sound like a Lobo fan crying, but at the same time Red Raider fans would be crying if a team pulled what Leach did on Saturday. While leading 42-28 with under 30 seconds left and the ball just been returned on an onside kick to the Lobos 1-yard line by Texas Tech, Leach decides not to take a knee, but rather punch it in one more time. What are you proving Coach Leach? You’ve already won the game. But as I know in College Football karma does catch up with teams, and it will with Texas Tech no doubt.

Finally we learned some interesting things from the Big 10. First, Rich Rodriguez still can’t win a road game in Michigan, and things don’t get easier as the Wolverines go to Iowa this Saturday. This is a definite problem for Michigan, if you can’t win road games, you’ll be settling for Alamo Bowl’s which is a disgrace by Michigan standards. Finally, Iowa plays down to their opponents. Can you believe that when we look back at the 2009 season, and a possibility of a Big 10 Championship for the Hawkeyes, one is going to be having a difficult time believing that Iowa’s two toughest tests came against the two opponents in which they should’ve had an easy time against. Northern Iowa and Arkansas State lost to the Hawkeyes by a combined four points. Basically one play in each game, talk about embarrasing had they lost those. Which just goes to show you that while Iowa might be good, I don’t think they’ve earned that number 12 ranking.