Bruce Feldman of the Athletic recently released his “freaks” list, which is always a fun read. No. 1 on the list is Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye, which I found striking particularly in light of how much talent has been passing through Ann Arbor since Jim Harbaugh took over. I noted as much on Twitter: … [Read more…]
Washington Post columnist Barry Svrluga recently made a fairly bold proclamation, setting forth the argument that the best move for the Washington Redskins with the no. 2 pick of the 2020 draft is NOT to take Ohio State superstar Chase Young. It’s like the opposite scenario from Kevin Costner’s “Draft day,” where he (spoiler alert) … [Read more…]
Today’s largely accepted wisdom is that you build a National Champion by recruiting the best players in the country, regardless of their location, and assembling your team out of the best of the best. Alabama started to employ that model as the Nick Saban program got going, Ohio State got there as well, and Clemson … [Read more…]
Once Deshaun Watson dethroned Alabama in 2016, I began to develop my theory that spread passing wins championships these days at the college level. I then began to look around at the 2017 rosters for teams that could mimic Clemson’s method and take down Alabama, settling on the Sam Darnold USC Trojans who were returning … [Read more…]
One of the reasons Ohio State was a favorite (not with Vegas but with many commentators) was the awesome power and ability they had in the run game. J.K. Dobbins had 301 carries this season for 2003 yards at 6.7 ypc with 21 touchdowns, amazing production. While not as densely packed with “blue chip” talent … [Read more…]
Brent Venables’ Clemson Tigers defense got themselves into quite a hole against Ohio State in the playoff semifinal. The score was 16-0 midway through the second quarter and the Tiger offense was struggling to find room to breathe against the Buckeyes between a sudden rash of injuries at receiver and Ohio State’s amazing athleticism. The … [Read more…]
My recent book, Flyover Football… …begins with Clemson’s victory over Alabama in the 2018 National Championship game. It explains why Clemson’s emphasis on spread passing allowed them to win the day over Alabama with their own powerhouse offense and NFL talents. From there I told the story of how and why the spread offense really … [Read more…]
Who’s making the playoffs in 2019? I’ve been pretty bad at prognosticating this over the years. Usually I’m pretty dialed in on a handful of potential teams. Last year I nixed Ohio State amidst concerns over program distractions but I elevated Michigan and committed the error for the second consecutive year of overlooking problems at … [Read more…]
They released them the other night I think. Me and the wife have been watching “Stranger Things” recently so we aren’t super up to date on the World Series or this playoff show. The whole goal of these weekly rankings is to amp up the anticipation and talk around the sport and maintain the entertainment … [Read more…]
My chronicling of the Sooner defense over the offseason was fairly detailed as it seemed to me likely that Lincoln Riley would figure out how to build another top offense around Baker Mayfield and a loaded OL, but the defense was very much in question. The spring game showed a team that was very young … [Read more…]