Fjoinkay
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Thank you again to Tim Lester for recruiting Eric Dungey out of Lake Oswego, Oregon. That was an amazing find. Even in Dungey's true Freshman season he was clearly special, and as a fan of SU football and an alumnus I am pleased beyond words to have watched Dungey put on the SU jersey and compete all 4 years. That would not have happed without Tim Lester.
Lester has had heaps of unfortunate luck when it comes to coaching offensive in the Dome, and yesterday was no exception. D'wayne Eskridge going down early in the first quarter was a massive loss for his squad, but they battled on. I am really happy SU came away with the W, but I am also happy that Lester's offense even without it's stud Eskridge moved the ball around and put up 557 total yards. When Lester was OC at SU he had to deal with so many injuries at QB and pretty much all over the offense that he never really had a chance. Also, the competition in the ACC during those 2 seasons was up and more fierce than what we are seeing the past year or so. The thing I liked most about Lester during those hard times- and man did he take heat and criticism on this board- is that he NEVER made an excuse, not once. He is a class act all the way, and I hope he can continue to flourish in coaching.
The SEC isn't as deep as the PRE-SEASON modeling and predictions told us. Go figure. I read an article on ESPN's site a week before the season started that told everyone that the SEC this season is strong top to bottom with basically no weak teams. This was after the SEC's less than dominating performance in the bowl games just months earlier. Well, if you print it and it praises the SEC then the SEC homers will surely agree.
So far this season Tennessee has lost at home to Georgia State AND Brigham Young University. Yesterday Washington went to Provo, Utah and beat BYU 45-19. South Carolina lost at home to North Carolina. Missouri lost to Wyoming. Vanderbilt lost to Purdue and Purdue's record now is 1-2 with losses to Nevada and TCU. Yesterday TCU lost to SMU 41-38 at home.
And in the SEC West Mississippi State lost at home to Kansas State. Arkansas lost San Jose State at home. And Ole Miss lost to Memphis to open the season AND then yesterday they lost at home to Cal.
That is 7 SEC teams with losses to teams OOC, and most of those losses were at home. So why is it that every SEC team schedules at least one game against an FCS school? I think Florida has scheduled 2 FCS schools this season.
And then maybe you noticed the hype before the game last night in Athens. The SEC faithful all over the tv were licking their chops expecting Georgia to run all over ND. Didn't happen. Why did the SEC faithful have such lofty expectations? Well of course, Georgia ran all over Vandy (lost to Purdue), Murray State and Arkansas State?!? I mean last night Brad Nessler kept talking about the Georgia RBs and their gaudy numbers as if they came against real competition.
Remember Kirby Smarts comments last season after losing to Alabama in the SEC championship? He said Georgia was one of the 4 best teams asking whether the committee would put the 4 best teams in the Playoff. Then he promised everyone that Alabama did not want Georgia to make the playoff because Alabama did not want to play Georgia again. He was pleading his case to make the playoff. Georgia did not make the playoff and SEC nation was not happy either. Then Georgia goes to the Sugar Bowl and loses to Texas and Texas looked like the better team in that game. And of course everyone remembers the national championship game where Clemson destroyed Alabama. It begs the question what were the 4 best team last season anyway? What ever you do don't ask Kirby Smart. Last night Notre Dame more than held it's own against Georgia in Athens, and by the end of first half the air had been let out of Brad Nessler's balloon and whole lot of other SEC Nation balloons too.
Unfortunately there are too many people who think the way Brad Nessler does not only on television covering college football but also voting to rank college football teams. In a better college football world there would be no pre-season rankings at all. In fact there wouldn't be any team rankings until after 5 or 6 weeks. That way every team could be evaluated, and we could avoid blind rankings at the beginning of the season that usually end up helping make some conferences seem stronger than they really are.
Have you seen Urban Meyer on air? Meyer is killing it in the studio for Fox and also the B1G network. Every week he drops more absolute gems in his analysis, and he is stock full of fun and interesting anecdotes about his experiences and relationships with people in the game. When Meyer took the job at Ohio State before the 2012 season OSU was mired in controversy, and he straightened it out. In 7 seasons at OSU he went 83-9 and won a National Championship in the initial college football playoff. On top of that he was a catalyst for change across the entire B1G football conference. When he arrived the B1G was behind the times and sinking fast among the other power football conferences. He gave the conference instant credibility and led the way each year of his tenure.
One thing I know for sure is that Urban Meyer is not a marriage counselor and he is not a corporate executive or CEO and he never received any training for either of those professions, but he is one of the best college football coaches in the history of the game.
He deserves much more praise than he receives. I wish he hadn't left coaching, but I am happy that he is healthy. It looks like OSU may be in good hands and Meyer appears to be involved there still, but the B1G lost a giant and it will be interesting to see how that plays out for that conference going forward. Urban Meyer will be missed.
Lester has had heaps of unfortunate luck when it comes to coaching offensive in the Dome, and yesterday was no exception. D'wayne Eskridge going down early in the first quarter was a massive loss for his squad, but they battled on. I am really happy SU came away with the W, but I am also happy that Lester's offense even without it's stud Eskridge moved the ball around and put up 557 total yards. When Lester was OC at SU he had to deal with so many injuries at QB and pretty much all over the offense that he never really had a chance. Also, the competition in the ACC during those 2 seasons was up and more fierce than what we are seeing the past year or so. The thing I liked most about Lester during those hard times- and man did he take heat and criticism on this board- is that he NEVER made an excuse, not once. He is a class act all the way, and I hope he can continue to flourish in coaching.
The SEC isn't as deep as the PRE-SEASON modeling and predictions told us. Go figure. I read an article on ESPN's site a week before the season started that told everyone that the SEC this season is strong top to bottom with basically no weak teams. This was after the SEC's less than dominating performance in the bowl games just months earlier. Well, if you print it and it praises the SEC then the SEC homers will surely agree.
So far this season Tennessee has lost at home to Georgia State AND Brigham Young University. Yesterday Washington went to Provo, Utah and beat BYU 45-19. South Carolina lost at home to North Carolina. Missouri lost to Wyoming. Vanderbilt lost to Purdue and Purdue's record now is 1-2 with losses to Nevada and TCU. Yesterday TCU lost to SMU 41-38 at home.
And in the SEC West Mississippi State lost at home to Kansas State. Arkansas lost San Jose State at home. And Ole Miss lost to Memphis to open the season AND then yesterday they lost at home to Cal.
That is 7 SEC teams with losses to teams OOC, and most of those losses were at home. So why is it that every SEC team schedules at least one game against an FCS school? I think Florida has scheduled 2 FCS schools this season.
And then maybe you noticed the hype before the game last night in Athens. The SEC faithful all over the tv were licking their chops expecting Georgia to run all over ND. Didn't happen. Why did the SEC faithful have such lofty expectations? Well of course, Georgia ran all over Vandy (lost to Purdue), Murray State and Arkansas State?!? I mean last night Brad Nessler kept talking about the Georgia RBs and their gaudy numbers as if they came against real competition.
Remember Kirby Smarts comments last season after losing to Alabama in the SEC championship? He said Georgia was one of the 4 best teams asking whether the committee would put the 4 best teams in the Playoff. Then he promised everyone that Alabama did not want Georgia to make the playoff because Alabama did not want to play Georgia again. He was pleading his case to make the playoff. Georgia did not make the playoff and SEC nation was not happy either. Then Georgia goes to the Sugar Bowl and loses to Texas and Texas looked like the better team in that game. And of course everyone remembers the national championship game where Clemson destroyed Alabama. It begs the question what were the 4 best team last season anyway? What ever you do don't ask Kirby Smart. Last night Notre Dame more than held it's own against Georgia in Athens, and by the end of first half the air had been let out of Brad Nessler's balloon and whole lot of other SEC Nation balloons too.
Unfortunately there are too many people who think the way Brad Nessler does not only on television covering college football but also voting to rank college football teams. In a better college football world there would be no pre-season rankings at all. In fact there wouldn't be any team rankings until after 5 or 6 weeks. That way every team could be evaluated, and we could avoid blind rankings at the beginning of the season that usually end up helping make some conferences seem stronger than they really are.
Have you seen Urban Meyer on air? Meyer is killing it in the studio for Fox and also the B1G network. Every week he drops more absolute gems in his analysis, and he is stock full of fun and interesting anecdotes about his experiences and relationships with people in the game. When Meyer took the job at Ohio State before the 2012 season OSU was mired in controversy, and he straightened it out. In 7 seasons at OSU he went 83-9 and won a National Championship in the initial college football playoff. On top of that he was a catalyst for change across the entire B1G football conference. When he arrived the B1G was behind the times and sinking fast among the other power football conferences. He gave the conference instant credibility and led the way each year of his tenure.
One thing I know for sure is that Urban Meyer is not a marriage counselor and he is not a corporate executive or CEO and he never received any training for either of those professions, but he is one of the best college football coaches in the history of the game.
He deserves much more praise than he receives. I wish he hadn't left coaching, but I am happy that he is healthy. It looks like OSU may be in good hands and Meyer appears to be involved there still, but the B1G lost a giant and it will be interesting to see how that plays out for that conference going forward. Urban Meyer will be missed.
