College Football Lessons: Week 5

South Florida's Matt Grothe has helped the Bulls crack the top ten.

1. Basketball School or Football School: Who Cares? A few weeks ago, I was perusing some Minnesota message boards and noticed some Gopher fans stating to complain about the fact that you can not win at Minnesota because it is historically a basketball school. Sorry Gophers but the fact that your school isn't a traditional powerhouse in the football department has no merit on whether you will ever be good on the gridiron. As of Sunday, non traditionalists, South Florida, Kentucky, and Boston College, have all appeared in the top fifteen. Their exciting play has proved that the right coach can win at any non-football school.

What these schools have is the right coach. While South Florida did not have a football program eleven years ago, they were able to become a dominant team due to their coach's ability to recruit. The same goes for Kentucky's Rich Brooks and Boston College's Tom O'Brien. For the most part, eighteen year old recruits do not care about whether a school is considered to be a basketball school or a football school. Five-star recruits are interested in playing for a coach and program that offers him the chance to one day play in the National Football League. Whether the school is steeped in tradition does not really play much of the factor. So a word of advice to athletic directors wanting to upstart the football program: hire some coaches that know how to recruit.

2. Notre Dame has a QB debate After Saturday's loss to Purdue it appears as if the Irish have yet again another quarterback controversy. During the third quarter, Jimmy Clausen was forced to leave the game with a bruised rib and Evan Sharpley took his place. The junior quarterback ended up throwing for 208 yards and two touchdowns, while helping to turn a 23-0 halftime deficit into a 33-19 loss. Sharpley's performance will certainly make Charlie Weis consider him for the starting job but expect the Notre Dame coach to mess this one up again. Sharpley clearly looked better than Clausen on Saturday but since the freshman quarterback is considered to be the future, he will likely start.

3. Cal is a force to be reckoned with Prior to the California's road victory against Oregon on Saturday, I was skeptical of the Bears due to a defense that ranked 88th nationally against the pass. However, my doubts were put aside after they held Oregon's prolific offense to just twenty-four points while forcing four turnovers. The Bears were extremely efficient on offense with no turnovers and a strong performance from Nate Longshore. If the defense keeps improving than Cal is truly a national title contender.

4. Illinois is in the mix for the Rose Bowl Illinois's victory over Penn State on Saturday proved to the rest of the Big Ten that the Illini are finally ready to challenge for the conference title. The rest of their Big Ten schedule is certainly winnable with the exception of a November trip to Ohio State. Next week struggling Wisconsin visits Champaign, the week after the Illini will take a trip to 2-3 Iowa, and in three weeks Michigan pays a visit to Memorial Stadium. The Big Ten race is wide open this year and even upstart Illinois could win a trip to the Rose Bowl.

[1] 5. Watch our for Florida State Florida State's victory over Alabama might be the most significant win for the Seminoles. Its not just the fact that they beat a ranked Alabama team, but they finally found their quarterback, Xavier Lee. After offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher sent in Lee to start the second half, the quarterback finished with 283 total yards and two touchdown passes to lead the team to a 21-14 victory. For the first time all season, it appeared as if the Seminoles offense had some life in it. For much of the season they have been conservative and lacking of a big-play threat. Lee brought some excitement to the offense and that should help jump-start the 'Noles. Expect Bobby Bowden's team to be in contention for the ACC crown.

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LASportsblogAAA-er

770 days ago

Score 1

Your dead on about non-football schools, it doesn't matter anymore. Good Coach who is a great recuriter can build a program anywhere these days.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

770 days ago

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Lost in all the upsets was a great Cal-Oregon game, and a great Cal team. I can't wait until they crush USC.

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The BeastAAA-er

696 days ago

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Ya that really happened.

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WoodsmeisterVarsity Captain

770 days ago

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Illinois' victory over Penn State, combined with their previous loss to Michigan, illustrates that Penn State has been way, way overrated since the season began. I think Illinois has some speed and that may be enough to win in the Big Ten when it's clear that most teams aren't fast enough, but I don't think they can hang with the Badgers or Buckeyes.

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WoodsmeisterVarsity Captain

770 days ago

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And, as far as football vs. non-football schools, look at what Bryan Kelly is doing at Cincinnati.

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DonatevoMajor Leaguer

767 days ago

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I can't believe I just edited one of The Beast's pages. Don't worry Beast, I just put the "k" on "took". As in (...Evan Sharpley took his place. I'm starting to feel like all that education is finally starting to pay off. YeeHaa!

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