Official 2023 College Football Thread

[SirFozzie]

It must be ironic to Jon that Deion Sanders is the adult in the room when it comes to the response to the late hit by that Colorado State player:

https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/s...85327504568384

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by bob

Copied this from reddit. Buchner has a really weird career arc:

• As a freshman in high school he only threw 37 passes and had 20 carries for 274 yards and 4 TDs.
  
• He tore his ACL his sophomore year on the 4th play of the season and missed the whole year.
  
• His junior year (over 13 games) he had 4474 passing yards on 66 completion % with 53 TDs and 6 INTs along with 128 carries for 1610 rushing yards and 28 rushing TDs.
  
• He missed all of his senior year in 2020 due to COVID.
  
• He was the backup in 2021 at ND behind senior Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan.
  
• In 2022 he beat out Drew Payne to be the starter but injured his shoulder in game 2 against Marshall and missed the rest of the regular season. He started in the bowl game against South Carolina but only because Payne (now the backup QB at Arizona State) entered the transfer portal.
  
• He lost the QB competition at Alabama to Milroe despite having the advantage of knowing the offense Rees runs ahead of time since they had been together at ND.
  
• In his now third season of college he is 70-123 (56.9%) for 976 yards with 6 TDs and 8 INTs over 14 games with 3 starts. Also, is 83 for 468 with 8 TDs rushing.

So he has thrown 562 passes in games since 2017 (freshman year of high school) until now. 402/562 (71.5%) of those passes came when he was a junior in high school in 2019.

I was surprised that he went with Rees given he wasn't guaranteed the starter job. If he had stayed at ND, he would have been clear option #1 for next season and would have graduated with a ND degree.

Even easier to say now but I think it was more likely ND would have brought in another Sam Hartman (/Jack Coan) instead of starting Buchner. Or maybe even Minchey had passed him... idk, I don't know what happened after that Sophomore year of HS and whether it was injuries or the missed COVID reps but Buchner was always terrible. Decent athlete but not nearly as good as he thought he was combined with horribly inaccurate, I was very glad Pyne took over and he's not a real Power 5 QB either but at least he could hit Mikey Mayer when he was open.

We'll see what happens Saturday but I've loved Hartman so far, and not too surprised after seeing him at Wake. He's a little old, a little short, and not as dynamic as others he's just super accurate, reads defenses very well, and doesn't make a lot of throwing mistakes. (Pocket presence/ball security does need a bit of work.) I watched the guy the last two years losing the rare game at Wake when they'd score 45 or 55 vs Clemson or UNC, just really wish we still had a Mayer or elite WR with how good he's making also rans like Holden Staes look.

[bob]

I don't really pay attention to recruiting, but I did read somewhere that during the missed covid year he worked with some coach to rework his throwing motion and he has never been the same since.

[Thomkal]

Coastal Carolina gets a head start on this week's action with a game tonight against Georgia State at 7:30 on ESPN. Probably a good thing because the weather may be iffy all weekend. Interstingly enough they have never beaten them at home and never lost on the road. QB McCall has also never faced them at home, and looks to be healthy for tonight's game.

[bob]

Again, stolen from reddit, but pretty well describes my thoughts:

"I love how this all started with "why shouldn't athletes be allowed to have twitch streams/be paid for NCAA video games/be able to do ads" etc. And it INSTANTLY (like within the first week) turned into pay-for-play, collectives etc. with some actual NIL compensation sprinkled in here and there. Now, a few years later, the (wealthy) institutions are ready to just do away with the NIL fiction and start paying them directly (courtesy of FOX et al).

Regardless of how you feel about player compensation, those NIL chicken littles concerned about NIL giving way to a slippery slope of direct pay-for-play were 100% correct."

[Ksyrup]

The NCAA treated NIL the same way record companies treated streaming. Ignored it until it was too late.

[GrantDawg]

Yup. The ball was in their court for years, and they could have made moves to have control of how things went for a couple of decades. Instead, they buried their heads in the sand while the sky came down on them.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[GrantDawg]

Dola: and it was the deep pocket boosters that stopped them for doing anything all that time, and whose money is now pouring in to the NIL's.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Solecismic]

It's always funny seeing people complain on the Michigan board whenever an SEC school makes an NIL splash, then (and I don't know if it's the same people - I hate that claim) it goes unchallenged when people want to promote Michigan's efforts to put together an NIL factory.

I've felt from the beginning that this is a transition period. NIL as it stands now is easily corrupted and organized gambling is heavily involved, whether it's showing up on the field yet or not.

Too much money out there. And when nine million people tune into a late-night game on ESPN to see Colorado/Colorado State, that money is justified. We are a football country and major college football is second to the NFL.

These kids probably should be employees. Contracts, health care, even pension of a sort because health care for athletes is a long-term issue. The NCAA can't do this because major college football is 1% of its business and what works for major college football most certainly doesn't work anywhere else.

I get why they've buried their heads in the sand. Once the kids are employees, it's no long rah-rah-rah for the alma mater. It's something else. Maybe that transition works, too. Maybe it doesn't.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I get why they've buried their heads in the sand. Once the kids are employees, it's no long rah-rah-rah for the alma mater. It's something else. Maybe that transition works, too. Maybe it doesn't.

You could almost certainly go back quite a few years and find me here repeatedly saying some variation of "y'know what? screw it, just make them employees of the marketing department since that's what they really are anyway"

Tax 'em, drug test 'em, give them only the discounts that other employees would get for taking classes, treat them same as any other marketing department employee.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Coastal Carolina gets a head start on this week's action with a game tonight against Georgia State at 7:30 on ESPN. Probably a good thing because the weather may be iffy all weekend. Interstingly enough they have never beaten them at home and never lost on the road. QB McCall has also never faced them at home, and looks to be healthy for tonight's game.

Sadly the magic wasn't there for them last night and they lost pretty badly. McCall was good,but he doesn't have enough playmakers around him. The defense was bad giving up 36 points.

[Ksyrup]

I glanced at the stats and would never have guessed the final score. Not that they clearly should have won, but the stats suggested a closer score, maybe even a win. +1 on TOs, +30 on yards, 3rd/4th down efficiency was in GSU's favor but only 8-15 to 6-15 (hardly fatal), both teams punted 3 times, and despite being out-rushed, CCU actually had the edge in TOP (although 3 fewer 1st downs). Definitely doesn't scream 30-17 loss.

[bob]

I have a bad feeling that Georgia State is going to beat Tech to start next season.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by bob

I have a bad feeling that Georgia State is going to beat Tech to start next season.

Go Sun Belt!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bob

I have a bad feeling that Georgia State is going to beat Tech to start next season.

Seeing Tech play football is a leading cause of those sorts of feelings.

[Ksyrup]

All I have to say is, as good a job as Norvell did this offseason in upgrading with transfers and some coaching moves (like upgrading the DB coach who was let go to Arkansas), his insistence on keeping Adam Fuller was going to sink this season for FSU. And that is proving true yet again. His loyalty to that guy is going to end up in this being a really good season instead of an ACC/NC-contending season. This is playing out exactly like I thought. Only positive I see is that FSU has proven to be a decent 2nd half team so they can still dig out of this. But Fuller sucks as a DC. He is the weak link.

[GrantDawg]

Too many games this week. Need more eyes.

[tarcone]

Iowa wearing alternate Unis tonight. Well, wearing black pants instead of gold.

If you can legally bet I would bet Iowa plus the points and the under.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Too many games this week. Need more eyes.

Im already flipping and its the light part of the schedule.

[GrantDawg]

Ummmmm.....I think that is a sideline penalty?

So THAT’s what the 12th man means https://t.co/ncK7QrMIo5

— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) September 23, 2023

[bob]

End of that game was something. FSU play calling was like a 12 year old that only runs bombs in Madden. Clemson - not sure what that was.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by bob

End of that game was something. FSU play calling was like a 12 year old that only runs bombs in Madden. Clemson - not sure what that was.

Bad. It was bad.

[Ksyrup]

I will take it.

But Jordan Travis is clearly not right. I know he's got a left shoulder issue, but he didn't put himself on the line at any point, even when it was needed. And we still won.

This is why I like being the noon game. Win or lose, I can enjoy the rest of the games without stressing about the late game. It was a win-win for me today.

[GrantDawg]

I like the Oregon black helmets. It made me contrast the other game I'm watching, and made me ask the question "has Alabama ever wore an alternate uniform?"

[GrantDawg]

Ole Miss just carved up the Bama defense. If they don't shore things up, this is going to be a bad day for them.

[Kodos]

Go Oregon. Crush Prime!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I like the Oregon black helmets. It made me contrast the other game I'm watching, and made me ask the question "has Alabama ever wore an alternate uniform?"

from al dot com

Alabama wore slightly different “pro combat” uniforms for a 2010 game with Mississippi State. Unlike other Nike alternates that season, Bama didn't change much at all. The uniforms featured an American flag on the right shoulder pad and faint houndstooth pattern inside the front numbers.

[Atocep]

Texas Tech QB just went down with what appeared to be a non contact broken ankle on his front leg when planting to pass. I've never seen anything like it. He got popped pretty hard on the previous play while running and got up a little slow, but nothing would indicate the ankle would just snap like that 1 play later.

[GrantDawg]

This Oregon game might get out of hand.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

This Oregon game might get out of hand.

From your mouth to God's ear

[Kodos]

Colorado looks like they learned how to tackle from Deion.

[bob]

I’ve always thought that it’s odd that as long as you touch the ball, you are allowed to absolutely destroy the punter.

[bob]

"They're fighting for clicks, we're fighting for wins"

[GrantDawg]

The Ole Miss QB needs to get a better strap for that helmet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oregon leads Colorado 35-21 at the half

That'd be points versus yards.

[Kodos]

[bronconick]

Portland State had 200 yards and 7 points vs. Oregon in their 81-7 loss.

Can Colorado match them?

[Ksyrup]

Something tells me Milroe is going to end up transferring to a G5.

EDIT: Although that was a nice throw.

[Ghost Econ]

Shadeur Sanders has 32 yards of offense through 3 quarters

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Shadeur Sanders has 32 yards of offense through 3 quarters

The game gets an asterisk I'm sure since T. Hunter isn't playing

[sovereignstar v2]

.

[Ksyrup]

The cherry on top for Oregon is they get credit for a top 20 win.

[Ksyrup]

Meanwhile on Fox, a commercial for next week's "biggest game of the year, Colorado against USC!"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bama is beyond ripe to have been picked ... but there may not be many (LSU perhaps) who can actually pick 'em

I'm honestly not sure they could get across the 50 against Georgia

[Edward64]

I guess no more Heisman hype for Sanders?

[bronconick]

Oh look. Alabama is leaning on the defense and has a 39-21 run pass ratio.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bronconick

Oh look. Alabama is leaning on the defense and has a 39-21 run pass ratio.

That was really all they had to figure out in the 2nd half, stop trying to throw the damned ball & run it right at an overmatched (even against a subpar OL) OM defense.

And bless him, Jaxon Dart doesn't lack for trying, he just lacks for ability.
But he ain't him.

[Ksyrup]

What an amazing catch. And it looked like targeting on top of it.

OH MY!!!! WHAT A CATCH @S1ickSzn ��

�� ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/4zzupSxOfJ

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 23, 2023

[GrantDawg]

Wow. He was able to palm that while getting nailed.

[Ksyrup]

This is such a great Twitter follow.

The Oregon mascot with the girlfriends of all the Colorado players tonight pic.twitter.com/i3pjyqi9Uq

— Hubie Talks Hoops (@HubieTalksHoops) September 23, 2023