Official 2015 College Football Week 13 thread
 

Quite a few match-ups between AP Top 25 teams this week:

Navy at Houston
Baylor at TCU
Ohio State at Michigan
Mississippi at Mississippi State
Florida State at Florida
Notre Dame at Stanford
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State

who will LSU get in that could possibly do better than Les Miles?

I get that sometimes you just need to make a change, but it seems like that's about 3-5 years early here.

LSU fans look at LSU talent on NFL rosters over the last 10 years and wonder if any 4+ loss season is excusable, plus 8 years since the last national title.

Texas proves you can still screw up hiring even a sure thing at a top job, but even the most optimistic LSU fans don't see Miles bringing in another title. Feeling that pessimistic about future chances at a title isn't acceptable for a program that has the access to talent that LSU has. (Or USC, Texas, Florida,, etc)

Dola, and by the way, Les Miles is an awesome human being and it makes me sick that it has come to this point.

Not a matchup of Top 25 teams but UCLA at USC on Saturday will be for the Pac 12 South title.

LSU is a blue blood. I get it. I really do. They expect success and they should.

That said this is one of those situations where a touch of perspective would do all parties well.

LSU won 2 SEC championships in the 30 years before Nick Saban arrived there.
They won 5 total SEC Championships in the 65 years before Saban arrived there.

Saban won 2 in 4 years. Miles has won 2 in 10 years.

Saban is the historical anomaly in LSU's history. Miles is (statistically) better than any coach not named Saban to walk the sidelines in Baton Rouge.

On top of that you are 1 year removed from losing the DC because the administration refused to commit to him. Hiring Kevin Steele was as head scratchingly bad a decision as any I've seen on many levels and if Miles is to be fired for the Steele hire, well I can accept that.

But Les Miles is a recruiting machine.Be careful what you wish for Bayou Bengals, you might get it.

DOLA- LSU has won 3 titles in 122 years of football. Miles owns one of those. Firing him because he hasn't won one in 8 years...that is a heck of a standard to live up to.

That said, I agree with Tigercat that I dont see him winning another anytime soon. With the athletes he has at his disposal he has to move to a spread/HUNH offense. Evolve or die.

If there's a consensus that he's not winning another NC then maybe a 2% chance of hitting a home run is better than standing pat.

OTOH, as CU Tiger basically points out, sometimes you have to accept who you are and go with that.

(I think Nebraska after Tom Osborne is the quintessential case of this)

I know it's been more than a decade but seeing this kind of line, here at FOFC, still makes me smile.

It might be an interesting exercise to consider who LSU really is. Louisiana has consistently had the most NFL players per capita for decades, and Louisiana has only one legit college football program. LSU was just a pretty good football program before the 80s in part because of racial issues. Lots of great African American players went to Grambling or Southern. In the 80s and 90s, LSU never found a coach to build LSU into the recruiting powerhouse it should have always been. It took mediocre recruiter and coach Gerry Dinardo to finally do that in the late 90s. If Gerry Dinardo can recruit multiple top 5ish recruiting classes at a school, nearly anyone can.

When Nick Saban left Michigan State for LSU, most people thought he was making a lateral move. But Saban is not a fool, he knew LSU was a sleeping giant recruiting-wise. LSU is no Nebraska, as long as it is the only major university in a talent rich state, it should be a program that can scare any team in the nation with its talent, and by no means should it lose back to back games to Ole Miss and Arkansas with the offensive talent on the team right now.

WHen Urban Meyer was going to be shown how real football is played?

FWIW, my friends who are big LSU fans think they will get Jimbo Fisher to jump from FSU.

Yes, I'm sure they do. And yet how often do big moves like this actually come to fruition?

I get that LSU fans look at the talent in-state and think they should be doing better than Miles has lately, and that he's falling behind the times. But canning Miles is a risky move.

I agree, but I have to think that LSU wouldn't actually pull the trigger on Miles unless they have something lined up.

For their sake I hope so.

Any rumblings on USC? Is Helton still a candidate? Will they make a big push for Whittingham?

You mean CUM right?

Lots of rumors. Who knows what is true.

This LSU argument reminds me of the argument we had when Houston Nutt was getting fired at Arkansas.

Jimbo wants out of Tallahassee. I KNOW that to be true.
Whether lsu lands him, I've no idea.

That is the rumor I had heard too. LSU makes a lot of sense as a landing spot if they pony up the bucks and I think they must have their guy ready to go before they let go of Miles.

Speaking of coaching rumors, one USC board has John Harbaugh all but coming to Southern Cal, while another is saying Chip Kelly is in negotiations with Southern Cal

LSU wins IN SPITE of Miles.

So I see where the WSU program has said Luke Fall is ready to play. How can they be that irresponsible. Watch the video is the most recent hit, he went full T-Rex arms, that's a horrible concussion. Never mind the game before where he literally tried to crawl off the field.

How can Mike Leach continue to be so irresponsible and get away with it?

Since we are all about being politically incorrect nowadays, it is not his responsibility to decide if the player is healthy enough to play. If the doc says the player is ready to play and the coach believes he is going to help him win (and save his job), the player will be on the field.

This.

Indiana getting rid of Bill Mallory in the mid 90s is another example. Not happy with being a Top 25ish team, they brought in Cam Cameron in an attempt to climb higher. The result? One bowl season since 1993.

Indiana Hoosiers football - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or Michigan after Lloyd Carr left, but before Harbaugh returned like Aragorn!

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Every once in a while programs get really shell shocked by a loss which carries over a while. It happens. However, using the example of what Nick Saban did isn't exactly all that compelling - there is only one Nick Saban. It may all work out if LSU gets Jimbo Fisher, but I can't see him do much better than Miles, esp because a Saban led Alabama is in the SEC West as well. And if LSU doesn't get Fisher, well it may get ugly.

But they were 5-17 in his last two seasons, with only one bowl appearance in his last five. And 8 years removed from being in the top 25.

That's not exactly a short leash.

The irony is Jimbo is Les Miles.
He can recruit his ass off but is seldom the best coach on the field.

Major difference is Jimbo can (supposedly) recruit and develop QBs. Jimbo will stick with a pro-style offense, he is way too conservative in big games (when he doesn't have Jameis Winston at QB even more so), and can't keep a staff together.

Unless the Coach overrules the doctors. There have been reports in the past at WSU of such behavior by Leach.

Iowa travels to Nebraska. This is a rivalry game. The Heroes trophy is on the line. Iowa trying to go 12-0 and Nebby trying to become bowl eligible.

Big game. Im worried. In fact, this one scares me more than MSU.

Go Hawks!!!

Hate to admit it, but Jimbo in LSU is a scary thought.

I have no doubts that LSU will kick our ass on Saturday, putting all the Fire Les talk on the backburner. And he backs into a 12-0 or 11-1 season next year.

If that is the case, I expect to not only see Leach gone but the athletic director and the school chancellor as well in the same way things were handled at Illinois. Correct me if I am wrong, hasn't Leach been investigated and cleared of that sort of behavior at WSU already?

Understand this is not about me thinking the players should be tougher or anything like that. I am just past the point of expecting the football coaches at FBS level (or the NFL for that matter) to give a damn about the health of their players over wins and losses.

Leach was accused of the concussion drama at Texas Tech.

As of this year a coach can't overrule concussion protocol in NCAA. Thats a NCAA disbarment level transgression.

I have a friend who is a JV basketball coach here. Every year the state athletic association requires the coaches to watch a video on concussions and take a test.
So that type of behavior, with all the worry about concussions, should get a coach banned from coaching at any level.

If it was my kid put into this situation, I would own the university.

Is it? Pretty sure the NCAA is not levying any penalties for not following protocols, and said protocols are not standardized across schools - they are each allowed to create their own protocols.

Here's something I didn't know: the recommended concussion protocol also restricts classroom activity (scroll towards the bottom, return-to-learn section)

Concussion guidelines | NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA

Meanwhile, I've seen first hand at the high school level the problems that an overzealous program can cause. Led to the {coughFiringcough} "decision not to renew the long-running contract" with our medical services provider
(local sports medicine clinic(s) contract to various schools for sideline personnel rather than have them added to the full-time payroll)

We ended up with, well, a zealot who actively looked to nuke kids from playing. I mean above & beyond what as many as three doctors independently were clearing kids, trainer was insisting on holding them out. A kid would sprain his ankle, she'd start trying to run the tests against the baselines. It got ridiculous and really created a deep animosity towards the entire subject. I really thought someone would eventually drag her from the sideline & give her a concussion of her own.

Baylor is now down to their 3rd string QB, a guy that played WR most of this season.

Another reason Jimbo has already packed his bags...

FSU official details favorable treatment of players - Yahoo Sports

I would love to have Les Miles at Missouri.

Because of media hatchet jobs?

I'm not a fan of Fisher, nor of FSU for that matter, but I don't see anything particularly new in that story nor anything particularly credible when it's based on statements from someone who had a job primarily because of today's victim culture.

You had one job today Toledo...

Iowa beats Nebraska, 28-20. We go 12-0. First 12 win season in school history.

And they won without converting a 3rd down

I am so excited. Just an unbelievable season


On to the B1G championship game.


GO HAWKS!!!!

Congrats on the great season, I'll be pulling for Iowa in the Championship game for sure.

Ditto! What a fantastic season for Iowa!!

Crazy 1st quarter in Columbia.
Time for my Tigers to settle down.

In a related note got tix from a friend and.... I can high five God on big plays. 1 row behind me in the entire stadium.

Multiple reports that Fuente is going to Virginia Tech.

Rutgers outscored 31-10 in the second half for the 5 pt loss. Give up 660 yards and 4 TD runs of 40+ yards. Maryland (2 wins, no coach) runs 40 times for 400 yards. Flood and Hermann need to be gone.

I don't know enough about what Hermann has or hasn't done and whether she should be fired, but Flood should have been let go months ago. It's not coincidence that the team's best performance of the season was a game Flood wasn't even on the sidelines for.

I think Flood became the first person to ever be outcoached by Mike Locksley today.

And there's still a chance that they don't fire him.

Yes! IU beats Purdue to get the Bucket for 3 straight years. We're bowl eligible! So happy for Coach Wilson and the boys!

Congrats to tarcone and his Hawkeyes too.

Awesome! Congrats!

Foster and Shane Beamer staying on staff.

I would have paid admission to see Foster get the coaching job. Seeing how long it would take him to do/say something stupid and get fired would have been worth it.

I really hate the Egg Bowl the last couple if years. Last year, Ole Miss screwed up Mississippi States bid for the playoff...and this year the Bulldogs are poised to screw up Ole Miss' chance at the SEC title. I would much prefer either team be good rather than both. But....having said that, I hope Alabama wins and Ole Miss loses....just to get them back. Karma and all that. :)

Citadel 41....Coastal Carolina 38 :(

None of the "upper echelon" teams look very impressive today. If thats what Clemson is, my goodness. I know the Cocks royally suck.

I can't really argue with my son's take on things:
"Ole Miss sure knows how to make a hype video" :)

Ole Miss vs MSU 2015 Friday Night Motivational on Vimeo

Good for Indiana. Happy to see them get a bowl bid. That's a good offense they have. Congrats, Kodos.

Yes they do! That was badass. Hopefully the whole Rebel team shot their wad early watching that. :)

Congrats to the SC fans. You guys wanted it more

Ok jas lov :D

Seriously, the way my sporting week is going no way UCLA doesn't win this as time expires

Brian Kelly needs to go to Auburn and kick the shit out of Muschamp:D

44 carries. Alabama doesn't have ANY other RB besides Henry?

Maybe Saban "told" his other running backs to take medical redshirts so he could recruit a dozen more?

Great team effort by USC today to beat UCLA 40-21 and win the Pac12 South Championship. Looking forward to the rematch with Stanford.

Primary backup Kenyan Drake is out with a broken arm, plus Henry is going for a Heisman and the school's single season rushing record.

19 carries in the fourth quarter might have been a tad much but the game was still in doubt for most of those and it did work for taking up over 10 minutes of possession in the final quarter.

So, what happens if Florida loses tonight and then beats Bama next week?

The SEC is stripped of all their football programs and forced to become a basketball conference.

Florida beat Bama? lol.. that isn't going to happen.

Bama drops from the two seed to the three seed.

Lol yeah no shit....so based on the way things are going it looks like the 4 playoff teams are as I suspected a few weeks ago BIG 10 winner , ACC winner if Clemson, SEC winner and Oklahoma.

I hate to say it but even as a ND homer I can't put them ahead of Oklahoma. That is if they can pull it out here against Stanford. Oklahoma looks much more dominant against OSU up thru three quarters.
It will be entertaining when the 5th team is ND that gets left out. When all the old timer ND fanbase goes crazy over not getting in I would say we see the eight team playoff pretty damn soon like 2017 season.

Or they figure out that they'll need to actually legit join a conference to be more than an afterthought.

Honestly, I don't know how much "old timer ND fanbase" is left, not that has any sway or particular relevance. The 70s and 80s are over, Notre Dame is just another program in today's landscape.

Stanford doing everything they can to let ND score with no time left. Doesn't make any sense

edit - didn't look like a TD but that's better for Stanford with 3 TO

Don't have to worry about the Irish taking up a spot in the playoffs.

Blown call by the replay booth in ND favor gave Stanford a chance. Hell of a game.

Clemson, Oklahoma, Alabama makes for an interesting playoff regardless of who gets in from the Big 10.

Yeah it would have been better for ND for the QBs knee have been called down and they could have run more time off the clock. Oh well great season by ND with all the injuries.

Indeed and Stanford already was eliminated.

First I agree and welcome them joining the ACC. They may still be just anther program but they seem to have plenty of money and influence to have their own football tv deal so that is that too.

Sure will. I am not sure Clemson is the top team in that group, but guess that is the point of the playoff.

It's hard to look like the best team for 14 or 15 weeks. Clemson looked like the best team in the nation from mid-October through the first week or two of November. They've looked a little more down to earth the last couple of weeks. Similarly Alabama looked pretty pedestrian in late September and early October. They look like they live up to their hype right now. Oklahoma is probably right there with them at the moment.

Guess those boys took that shit to heart....

In any event, the Bulldogs had a helluva year considering they lost 10 starters last year....including their running back Josh Robinson....and suffered way too many injuries in their secondary. Hopefully recruiting has been kind to them (something I don't follow).

LSU's AD says that Miles will remain the coach.

Either Jimbo said no and they had no plan B or the whole thing was the AD making a power play and getting burned.

Not sure who here follows LSU or has any insight but the word locally is that Jimbo to LSU was all but a done deal until Jimmy Sexton ran the price up to $6MM/yr.

On a totally unrelated note great daay to be a CLEMSON fan.
12-0 for the 2nd time in my life. I wasnt a Tiger fan, nor old enough to remember it, the first time.

Lots of trash to clean up or it will all crash next week, but its good to be 12-0 for today.

I read something similar about Jimbo and LSU.

How in the heck did Texas beat Oklahoma?

Well, if your boosters publicly try to run your coach off like LSU, any coaches agent better ask for the moon.

UGA has apparently fired Mark Richt

Georgia should make a run at the Hat. That would be a hoot.

Not sure who Georgia would hire that is available and really an upgrade from Richt. Mullen seems to be the name people are throwing around. Really? I mean he had a nice year last year and all, but if the reason for firing Richt was that he fell down against good teams, Mullen's SEC wins this year were against teams with a combined 10-22 record.

Smart?
That is the name I keep hearing.

That was going to be my notion as well. Even the CMR backers can't really go all out against Smart since he's an alum.

I can see that, but again, is that really an upgrade? I would think big schools might be a little skeptical of that approach given the Florida/Muschamp experience.

I've said openly around here I wanted Smart as SC, only because I think he is a flop looking for a place to happen.

Smart is an ok recruiter, at Bama. He is a good DC, with Bama talent...and Saban looking over his shoulder.

Anything at least has a chance to be an upgrade, given Richt's proven inability to get them over the hump.

I listened to some early pre-pre-tailgate show stuff yesterday while running errands. The phrase being used was "should consistently be a top five program, this is a top five job". I don't agree with that take but that's a lot of the mindset IMO.

I think the Muschamp scenario is possible but at the same time, look at the job McIlwain has done without a stuffed cupboard. You can find coaches that elevate teams. Georgia doesn't have one, they want one, so they'll try to find one.

Rutgers fires AD Hermann.

Well it's one shoe. Hopefully the other drops relatively soon.