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2019 CFB Season Catch All Thread

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49318

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FCB....   

https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Texas-Longhorns-Football-Big-12-Media-Days-takeaways-Les-Miles-Lincoln-Riley-Matt-Campbell-Matt-Wells-Mike-Gundy-Gary-Patterson-Tom-Herman-Chris-Klieman-Matt-Rhule-Neal-Brown-133772876  

12 things I learned about the conference at Big 12 Media Days

By  CHIP BROWN 

No. 1 … Oklahoma defensive players believe in new coordinator Alex Grinch.  No one was more frustrated last season than Oklahoma LB Kenneth Murray, who had 155 tackles for a defense that ranked dead-last in the Big 12 in points allowed and No. 101 nationally (of 129), giving up 33.3 points per game.  But Murray said Grinch is much more attack-oriented than last year’s scheme under Mike Stoops, who was fired after a 48-45 loss to Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

“We’re attacking gaps now and trying to dictate to the offense as opposed to reacting,” Murray said. “I think you’ll see a lot of improvement.”  At Washington State, Grinch helped turn things around for Mike Leach, taking over a Cougars' defense that gave up 38.6 points per game in 2014 and allowed only 27.7 points per game in 2015; 26.4 points per game in 2016; and 25.5 points per game in 2017.

No. 2 … Texas Tech coach Matt Wells hired Todd Orlando as his defensive coordinator at Utah State from 2013-14 and all but guaranteed that Tom Herman would hire Orlando as his defensive coordinator at Houston when Herman called to interview Orlando before the 2015 season.  “Tom said, ‘I’m going to interview a couple other guys, too,’ and I said, ‘That’s fine. I’m just telling you, you’re going to hire T.O.,’” Wells recalled. “After about an hour interview, Tom hired T.O., because T.O. is one of the best defensive minds in the country.” 

Herman smiled and nodded yes when asked to recall those details. “Sounds about right,” Herman said.  Wells, who nicknamed Orlando’s daughter “Berzerker” and added that the nickname also fit Orlando, is still very close to Orlando and talks to him often.   “I’d imagine that might change a bit now that we’re in the same league,” Wells smiled. “But there are three kids in the Wells household who will want ‘Uncle Todd’ to go 11-1 every year.”

No. 3 … Matt Wells was a quarterback at Utah State when Gary Patterson was the safeties coach there in 1993 and 1994.  “He was really high-energy, just like he is now. We had really good safety play. I remember that. And I’ve been listening to Coach Patterson strum his guitar and sing a lot longer than you all,” Wells said laughing to reporters.

No. 4 … Mike Gundy was the receivers coach at Oklahoma State under Pat Jones when he recruited Matt Wells as a quarterback prospect.   “Coach Gundy called me every Wednesday night at 9 pm,” Wells said. “Oklahoma State ended up not offering me, and I respect the way Coach Gundy handled that call with me. That’s a tough call to make. I know, because I’ve made it several times myself as a coach. And I respect how Coach Gundy handled it with me.”

No. 5 … Iowa State coach Matt Campbell credits the turnaround that has led to back-to-back, eight-win seasons by the Cyclones for the first time in program history to the moment former ISU quarterback Joel Lanning agreed to move from quarterback to middle linebacker in the 2017 season.  Campbell, who won three Division III national titles as a star defensive lineman at Mount Union in Ohio, said he asked Lanning to make the switch because “he played quarterback like a linebacker.  “He was so physical. And we couldn’t afford to have that good of a football player on the sidelines,” Campbell said. Lanning went on to finish fourth in the Big 12 in tackles (114, 8.8 per game) and helped ISU upset both of that season’s Big 12 title game competitors - Oklahoma (in Norman) and TCU (in Ames).  “I really do credit that buy-in by Joel with turning things around for us as a program,” Campbell said.

No. 6 … Iowa State had the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big 12 last season and has featured a 3-8 “cloud” scheme designed to use the eight defenders off the line of scrimmage to flood passing lanes and slow down the prolific aerial attacks in the Big 12.  Campbell said defensive coordinator Jon Heacock deserves credit for changing from a 4-3 guy to a 3-4 guy after ISU coaches realized they didn’t have the personnel to execute a 4-3 scheme in their first season in Ames in 2016.  “Coach Heacock was willing to work with some of our defensive assistant coaches who had expertise in a three-man front to retool the defense to fit our personnel,” Campbell said.  “It’s a total credit to him being egoless in that endeavor. Since then, our coaches have tweaked and improved the scheme as we’ve gone on.” 

No. 7 … TCU was riddled with injuries in a 7-6 season last year, none bigger (literally) than the season-ending Achilles injury by monster nose tackleRoss Blacklock in fall camp last year.  With Blacklock back in the lineup this season, Patterson said he expects his defensive line to be better than in 2018, when TCU had Ben Banogu (8.5 sacks) and L.J. Collier (6 sacks), both of whom were NFL draft picks.

No. 8 … New Kansas coach Les Miles showed up at Big 12 Media Day wearing the 2007 national championship ring he won as head coach at LSU.  Asked why and when he wears the ring, Miles said, “It’s about the achievement and letting our guys know what’s attainable.”  Miles added he probably wouldn’t wear the ring during the upcoming season.

No. 9 … Baylor receiver Marques Jones, a former walk-on with 4.38 speed in the 40 (at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds), is also the top engineering student at Baylor and has accepted a two-year scholarship with the Navy to conduct research after graduation and one day wants to work for Tesla.  Baylor coach Matt Rhule said he couldn’t be more proud of Jones’ academic achievements but is also trying to get Jones to realize he has the talent to be an NFL player. “A lot of recruits see themselves as an NFL players from the time they enter college,” Rhule said. “With Marques it’s the opposite. We’re trying to get him to see how talented he is.”

No. 10 … BU coach Matt Rhule said he felt obligated to bench Charlie Brewer briefly last year because he believed Brewer was trying to do too much on his own and was taking too many hits by breaking the pocket and running. So Rhule inserted senior QB Jalan McClendon.  “That gave Charlie a chance to watch the game with me and see what we needed him to do,” Rhule said.  When Rhule re-inserted Brewer into the lineup, Brewer’s play took off, resulting in victories over Texas Tech and an inspired victory over Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl.  Rhule said 6-foot-3, 221-pound redshirt freshman quarterback Gerry Bohanon needs to be on the field in some capacity in 2019 while backing up Brewer at QB.  Rhule said at Big 12 Media Days his players should expect to be in the hunt for the Big 12 title this November.  “That’s where we’re setting the target, and we’re going to give it our best shot,” said Rhule, who took over a program in shambles in the wake of the Art Briles’ scandal and went 1-11 in 2017 before going 7-6 last season.

No. 11 ... West Virginia is going to struggle this season.  New coach Neal Brown didn’t inherit much talent from former coach Dana Holgorsen after losing quarterback Will Grier, receivers David Sills and Gary Jennings Jr. and All-Big 12 linebacker David Long.  “We’re going to have a young team,” Brown said.  Code for WVU is going to struggle.

No. 12 ... New Kansas State coach Chris Klieman laughs when people say it will be difficult to recruit to Kansas State after winning seven national titles at North Dakota State. “We recruited Carson Wentz at quarterback when he had no stars next to his name,” Klieman laughed. “He turned out pretty good.  “You always have to do a great job of evaluating and developing talent. No matter where you are.”

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49318

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Thx @Goodman for finding anInteresting article on 2019 CFB schedules....

https://sports.yahoo.com/40-things-to-know-about-the-2019-college-football-schedule-035935239.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvL3N4RzVzbGZPaG0&guce_referrer_cs=LgAchWpb1aJRgaHViYgfKg

 

Interesting points on OOC games....

3. Fans gearing up for the annual fight about schedule strength will want the following information. Power Five conference percentages of true road games, from most to fewest: Big 12, 30 percent; Pac-12, 27.8 percent; ACC, 26.8 percent; Big Ten, 19.1 percent; SEC, 10.7 percent.

True road games against other Power Five opponents:

ACC 11 (Clemson at South Carolina, Florida State at Florida, Syracuse at Maryland, North Carolina State at West Virginia, Boston College at Rutgers, Boston College at Notre Dame, Louisville at Kentucky, Virginia Tech at Notre Dame, Virginia at Notre Dame, Pittsburgh at Penn State, North Carolina at Wake Forest — yes, it is a designated non-league game this year).

Big 12 nine (Oklahoma at UCLA, TCU at Purdue, Oklahoma State at Oregon State, Texas Tech at Arizona, Kansas State at Mississippi State, West Virginia at Missouri, Kansas at Boston College).

SEC four (LSU at Texas, Texas A&M at Clemson, Georgia at Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt at Purdue).

Pac-12 three (USC at Notre Dame, Arizona State at Michigan State, California at Mississippi).

Big Ten three (Nebraska at Colorado, Iowa at Iowa State, Northwestern at Stanford).

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LTtxfan

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Let the debates begin.....

Position U: Which schools produce the most talent at each position

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27207990/position-u-which-schools-produce-most-talent-position# 

QB:  4. Texas
Notable players: Major Applewhite, Chris Simms, Vince Young, Colt McCoy

RB:  7. Texas
Notable players: Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson, Jamaal Charles

OL:  9. Texas
Notable players: Jay Humphrey, Leonard Davis, Mike Williams, Derrick Dockery, Justin Blalock, Connor Williams

DB:  6. Texas
Notable players: Kenny Vaccaro, Earl Thomas, Quentin Jammer

DL:  7. Texas
Notable players: Shaun Rogers, Casey Hampton, Cory Redding, Marcus Tubbs, Tim Crowder, Brian Orakpo, Lamar Houston, Malcolm BrownThomas

 
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LTtxfan

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https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27046211/how-top-cfb-contender-win-national-title#Texas

How each top CFB contender can win the national title

(Article has the 17 teams with title odds better than +10000 per Caesars Sportsbook, sorted by the number of "ifs" it takes to make each a true title contender.)

 

Below is an excerpt from 3 teams in the ESPN article:

251.png?w=110&h=110&transparent=true     TEXAS   (+2000)

 If ... Texas can figure out how to run the ball without getting Sam Ehlinger hit so much.  In Texas' most impressive wins of 2018 -- 37-14 against USC, 48-45 against Oklahoma and 28-21 against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl -- Ehlinger was a battering ram, rushing more than 17 times per game, not including sacks. Basically every third down was "Hey, Sam, get to the sticks." In the other 11 games on the schedule, however, he rushed under eight times per game. Head coach Tom Herman knew he couldn't let his QB take that many hits over a potential 14-game schedule.

The problem: When Ehlinger wasn't running, Texas' run game was poor -- average efficiency with no big plays whatsoever. Can that change?

If ... big-play blue-chippers can actually make big plays. Texas gained 30-plus yards just 26 times, tied for 77th in FBS with offenses like Boston College's and Navy's, both of which played fewer games. Worse yet, the Horns didn't make a single 50-yard gain all year. You know what else would allow Ehlinger to avoid taking hits and wearing down? Easy points.

If ... a super-young secondary is ready to not only hold the fort, but improve. Continuity in the secondary correlates pretty strongly with year-to-year improvement and regression, and Texas has to replace three DB mainstays in nickel P.J. Locke III and corners Kris Boyd and Davonte Davis.  With last year's top three pass-rushers gone, as well, there's a lot of pressure on high-upside sophomores like safeties Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster and corners Anthony Cook and Kobe Boyce to play like grizzled veterans. Can they?

If ... a Tom Herman team can play every game as an underdog. Herman is the ultimate big-game coach. In four years as a head coach, he is 10-6 straight-up as an underdog and 13-2-1 against the spread. As a one-possession favorite, he's 9-2 straight-up and 7-3-1 against the spread. As a healthy favorite, however? He's 21-5 straight-up (a worse win percentage than as a one-score favorite) and 8-17-1 against the spread.  Just last year, Texas beat Oklahoma and Georgia, lost to Maryland, and thought hard about losing to Kansas and Tulsa. Title teams don't play like title teams only three or four times a year, or only when their QB is the entire run game.

 

201.png?w=110&h=110&transparent=true   Oklahoma.   (+1200)

 If ... the secondary gets more aggressive.  Over the past three years, OU has fallen from 17th in Def. S&P+, to 31st, to 43rd, to 84th. Lincoln Riley fired coordinator Mike Stoops in mid-2018, and interim coordinator Ruffin McNeill failed to stop the bleeding. Now it's Alex Grinch's turn to give it a shot.  It starts with the secondary. OU allowed a 65 percent completion rate last year (118th in FBS) and ranked 128th in passing marginal efficiency. That's not bad, it's horrible. It was at least partially driven by youth -- five of the secondary's top seven tacklers were freshmen or sophomores -- and some of those youngsters held their own at times (corner Tre Brown had six tackles for loss and 12 pass breakups). But the need for improvement is obvious.

If ... the defensive front gets more disruptive.The secondary wasn't the only problem, obviously. OU just couldn't do anything to knock opponents off script. The secondary was overwhelmed, and the front six wasn't much better: The Sooners ranked 99th in sack rate and 106th in stuff rate (run stops at or behind the line). Riley has upgraded recruiting of late, and there are plenty of young former blue-chippers roaming in that front six. But senior linebacker Kenneth Murray and sophomore end Ronnie Perkins are the only known playmakers. That must change.

If ... Jalen Hurts shows he can go off script occasionally. OU has ranked No. 1 in Off. S&P+ for three years running. The Sooners' offense has had to be amazing to continue winning with a rapidly regressing defense.  After brilliant performances from Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, it's now time for a third transfer QB to come up big in Riley's offense: Alabama's Jalen Hurts. Hurts was ultra-efficient in Tuscaloosa, but he was a bit of an automaton. Since he always made the right choice, based on his reads, good defenses always knew what choice he would make in given situations. And if they had the athleticism to deal with it -- as Clemson did in 2016 and Auburn and Georgia did in 2017 -- they could render Hurts inefficient.

Riley's system will do most of the work, and Hurts' short-pass accuracy and legs will move the ball against most teams. But an athletic defense like Texas' could hem him in if he doesn't have the same type of playmaker spark Murray and Mayfield possessed.

 

245.png?w=110&h=110&transparent=true  Texas A&M   (+5000)

If ... the newbies provide immediate, quality depth.  Jimbo Fisher signed ESPN's No. 3 class in the country in 2019, with at least one new blue-chipper in nearly every unit on the field. If there's truly a title run in the cards, Fisher will need an infinite number of immediate, strong contributors -- his Aggies need depth more than any team has ever needed it before.

A&M has one of the most ridiculous schedules you'll ever see. In terms of S&P+ projections, the Aggies play each of the top four teams in the country, three away from home. They play all the West heavyweights, they draw Georgia and South Carolina (which also plays each of the top four) in cross-division play, and they visit defending national champion Clemson in nonconference play. They play two top-10 teams in September, two in October and two in November. An excellent team would go 8-4 against this schedule. Giving A&M +5000 odds is a massive compliment.

If ... the passing game produces more easy points. The Aggies produced only 15 passes of 30-plus yards in 2018. This created a need for sustained drives and solid red zone execution, but A&M averaged just 4.5 points per scoring opportunity (80th in FBS). Sure, "better red zone execution" is also on the to-do list, but while receivers like Quartney Davis and Camron Buckley flashed big-play potential, and there's a boatload of speedy blue-chippers on the way, someone needs to stretch the field.

If ... the Crew stops getting Wrecked. The A&M defense was aggressive and efficient, but when opponents did win a given play, they didn't do it with a mere 7-yard gain. The Aggies were 120th in marginal explosiveness allowed and allowed 31 gains of 30-plus yards (84th). And that was with starting safeties Donovan Wilson and Deshawn Capers-Smith, both of whom are now gone.

If ... a new front seven doesn't mean a loss of havoc. Defensive coordinator Mike Elko's first A&M defense ranked fifth in overall havoc rate; seven different Aggies defenders recorded at least seven tackles for loss. Unfortunately, six are gone. Plenty of raw talent remains, and even more is on the way. But not only do the Aggies need solid contributions from sophomores (end Tyree Johnson, tackle Bobby Brown III) and returnees from injury (end Micheal Clemons, linebacker Anthony Hines III), they need those guys to be downright awesome.

 

* - Havoc rate is a team's total tackles for loss, passes defensed (interceptions and breakups), and forced fumbles divided by total plays. You can break a team's havoc rate out by unit, too, to get an idea of where disruption is coming from. A&M ranked 13th in defensive line havoc rate, 61st at linebacker, and 13th in the secondary.

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TreatyOak

TreatyOak 16383

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Watched a CFB commercial shoot yesterday at Westlake's stadium. Weird to see Chaparral Stadium outfitted to look like Clemson's stadium and all the extras outfitted as Tiger fans. Herbstreit  was here for it, as well. Pretty fun, actually.  

Screen-Shot-2019-07-30-at-10-51-54-AM.pn 

Screen-Shot-2019-07-30-at-10-08-38-AM.pn

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49318

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5 minutes ago, TreatyOak said:

Watched a CFB commercial shoot yesterday at Westlake's stadium. Weird to see Chaparral Stadium outfitted to look like Clemson's stadium and all the extras outfitted as Tiger fans. Herbstreit  was here for it, as well. Pretty fun, actually.  

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IMG-2422.png

 

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LTtxfan

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https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2846972-projecting-college-footballs-2019-all-breakout-team#slide0

"Projecting College Football's 2019 All-Breakout Team"

While returning stars typically offer the foundation for college football teams, breakout players can boost a team from simple bowl qualifier to conference or national title threat.  Identifying those players prior to the season is always a satisfying task.  Analysts have been wrong before and will be again, but we're confident in this group.

The following 10 players enter 2019 with varying levels—but always a minor amount—of previous production.  The list features five potential standouts on both sides of the ball and is ordered from the offensive backfield to defensive secondary.

A Longhorn made their all-breakout- team list:

Joseph Ossai, LB, Texas

Joseph Ossai (46)
Joseph Ossai (46)Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

2018 stats: 20 tackles (one TFL, one sack)

Joseph Ossai truly announced his presence with an eight-tackle showing in the Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, and expectations for his sophomore campaign have only climbed since then.

Like, really climbed.

"What people don't understand is Joseph Ossai is not coming off the field," a team source told chip Brown of 247Sports.

Ossai has been heralded as an ideal B-backer in Todd Orlando's defense, but the versatility to shift inside is what may vault him from contributor to key breakout player. 

 

Also an LSU player made the list:

K'Lavon Chaisson, OLB, LSU

6ed4972c3703e2598560c726a733d223_crop_ex
Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

2018 stats: Five tackles (one TFL, one sack)

Although this ascent was supposed to happen in 2018, a torn left ACL in the opener halted K'Lavon Chaisson's rise.

But heading into the fall, Chaisson is ready to obliterate backfields again. He provided 27 tackles with 4.5 for loss as a freshman in 2017. Chaisson has some coverage responsibilities as an outside linebacker, but there's no question what his primary value will be.

"The more that we can free him up to rush and not have him drop, the better we'll be," defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said, per Brandon Adam of the Daily Reveille.

LSU will afford Chaisson every opportunity to get around the football, and few SEC linemen will stop him consistently.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49318

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17 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

"From Ohio State to Kansas, what to expect from every first-year coach"

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27329146/from-ohio-state-kansas-expect-every-first-year-coach.

 

Which coach is ready to make the Year 2 leap?

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27346872/which-coach-ready-make-year-2-leap

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ztejas

ztejas 43524

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16 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Interesting approach from Dartmouth to fall practices.

 

Actually a pretty damn good article. It's obvious that the game is changing and practice will of course change with it. 

You have to take it with a grain of salt since Dartmouth doesn't actually play anyone worth a shit, but we're already seeing less full contact/full pads practices across the board. As long as tackling is still tackling in games, though, it will still be a thing that gets practiced - especially at the highest levels of the sport (which Dartmouth does not participate in). 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49318

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4 minutes ago, Magus Ossis said:

I'm comforted to know that the B12/SWC footprint representation is (Iowa, depending on how you draw the map,) Castiglione from OU, and Slocum from aggy. 2 votes from our neck of the woods will help ensure Texas gets a fair shake.

Not sure a blOU guy and an aggy increases the chances that TEXAS gets "a fair shake" ??

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PittsburghTiger

PittsburghTiger 6192

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https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/08/penn-state-football-coach-james-franklin-pressured-me-to-clear-injured-players-to-play-ousted-team-doctor-claims.html

 

A former team doctor for Penn State is suing the university and football Coach James Franklin, claiming Franklin pressured him about clearing injured players to return to the gridiron.

Dr. Scott A. Lynch claims in a lawsuit filed in Dauphin County Court that Franklin repeatedly tried to influence his decisions regarding whether hurt players were fit to play.

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Doc Sam Beckett

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2 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/08/penn-state-football-coach-james-franklin-pressured-me-to-clear-injured-players-to-play-ousted-team-doctor-claims.html

 

A former team doctor for Penn State is suing the university and football Coach James Franklin, claiming Franklin pressured him about clearing injured players to return to the gridiron.

Dr. Scott A. Lynch claims in a lawsuit filed in Dauphin County Court that Franklin repeatedly tried to influence his decisions regarding whether hurt players were fit to play.

 

Just so hard to believe that PedoState would do something like this. I'm inclined to side with Franklin on this one. 

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