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Other Games: Championship Weekend

I think Michigan has this, but McNamara’s play is disconcerting. He will have to be much better vs Georgia (that’s my prediction)
He’s been terrible. The best pass came from a RB. The other touchdown came when he was on the bench.
 
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And then there's that weird USC v. Cal game for those who just can't get enough.
 
I was listening to the Michigan radio call (on THE VARSITY NETWORK app) during the review. Wolverines color man Dan Dierdorf (!) was straight outraged that this was even considered to be a targeting call, and then it seems he was even more outraged even after the call went in Michigan’s favor. We even got an aside about “well we know how the game’s going” criticism of the existence of the targeting rules.

I figured it looked different to more objective eyes.

(As an aside, I think that targeting is generally applied consistently and fairly, and that enforcement has gotten more efficient over time. It’s made football better.)
It seemed a very straightforward targeting to me. Not malicious but still one that I’ve seen called plenty of times against us, especially since it was against a QB. Head down tackle, crown of helmet hitting QB’s facemask. Iowa is not going to get many calls today with a playoff spot at stake.
 
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CFP Predictions:

1. Alabama (again…)
2. Michigan
3. Georgia
4. Cincinnati

National championship: Bama vs. UGA (again…)
 
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My god…. does anyone show more commercials than a FOX college football game?? Ridiculous.
 
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Michigan looks awesome. It would be nice if they could beat these stupid SEC teams.
 
I hope FItz and Bajakian are watching the Big Ten Championship game so that they can watch and learn about these wide open, creative, modern offenses that I hear we so desperately need to win the Big Ten Championship. I am sure they are taking notes like I am !

I hope they watched the ACC Championship game for some offensive ideas.
 
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I hope FItz and Bajakian are watching the Big Ten Championship game so that they can watch and learn about these wide open, creative, modern offenses that I hear we so desperately need to win the Big Ten Championship. I am sure they are taking notes like I am !
Those dynamic offenses lead me to watch Leinster v Connaught replay rather than the second half.
 
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I hope they watched the ACC Championship game for some offensive ideas.
How about the fake slide that led to a 58 yard TD for Pitt? Pretty brilliant & athletic.

Does anyone else think Fitz might bench a QB for doing something similar? Or would he be a fan?

 
That is crazy no foul for targeting.
Had it happened in the second half and been called targeting would it carry over to the first half of the bowl game? I am guessing no exception would be made just because the next game is a post season game.
 
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My god…. does anyone show more commercials than a FOX college football game?? Ridiculous.
Holy Shit you are right. It seemed like an eternity to get back to the game. The last two or three breaks seemed like over 10 minutes if not a tad more.
 
The Mountain West Championship Game mirrored the one-sided scoring of the Big Ten Championship Game. The winner (Utah State) kept scoring and San Diego State couldn't get more than 3 points until garbage time.

MWC Champion Utah State (10-3) will play Oregon State (7-5) in the LA Bowl on December 18 at 7:30 PM ET on ABC. It will be preceded that Saturday afternoon by the Independence Bowl featuring #12 BYU (10-2) at 3:30 PM playing UAB (8-4).

Interesting that #10 Utah ended up ranking above BYU considering that #12 BYU (10-2) had less losses and beat Utah (10-3) who gets to play in a New Year's Six Game at the Rose Bowl while BYU is relegated to the lower tier game.
 
I hope FItz and Bajakian are watching the Big Ten Championship game so that they can watch and learn about these wide open, creative, modern offenses that I hear we so desperately need to win the Big Ten Championship. I am sure they are taking notes like I am !
Thing is Michigan has a five star line that weighs about 150 lbs more than ours, so they can afford to do what they want. My uncle had that same thing going for him at OSU. He usually had at least one All American and a couple all BIG offensive line men to block for the tanks he had for tailbacks(Spencer and Byars). I know you are joking, but until Fitz and co raise the bar with recruits, we are screwed. Our boy Hull is average until he has a decent line. Porter will fare better, but not enough to win against the better teams. We need a QB real bad. The continuity of the program is at stake. It is pretty hard to really come up with a game plan when nothing works. That is where we are at now. Fitz has to quit trying to fit square pegs into round holes and come up with a system that works with what he has. Going toe to toe with a much larger, faster opponent isn't a good strategy if you are severely outgunned.
 
Thing is Michigan has a five star line that weighs about 150 lbs more than ours, so they can afford to do what they want. My uncle had that same thing going for him at OSU. He usually had at least one All American and a couple all BIG offensive line men to block for the tanks he had for tailbacks(Spencer and Byars). I know you are joking, but until Fitz and co raise the bar with recruits, we are screwed. Our boy Hull is average until he has a decent line. Porter will fare better, but not enough to win against the better teams. We need a QB real bad. The continuity of the program is at stake. It is pretty hard to really come up with a game plan when nothing works. That is where we are at now. Fitz has to quit trying to fit square pegs into round holes and come up with a system that works with what he has. Going toe to toe with a much larger, faster opponent isn't a good strategy if you are severely outgunned.
The undersized Utah State Aggies did quite well in their Mountain West Championship game Saturday against the much bigger and more physical San Diego State players. Might be worth a look at that tape. Final score was Utah State 46, San Diego State 13.
 
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The undersized Utah State Aggies did quite well in their Mountain West Championship game Saturday against the much bigger and more physical San Diego State players. Might be worth a look at that tape. Final score was Utah State 46, San Diego State 13.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the amount of fight in the dog"......
 
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Thing is Michigan has a five star line that weighs about 150 lbs more than ours, so they can afford to do what they want. My uncle had that same thing going for him at OSU. He usually had at least one All American and a couple all BIG offensive line men to block for the tanks he had for tailbacks(Spencer and Byars). I know you are joking, but until Fitz and co raise the bar with recruits, we are screwed. Our boy Hull is average until he has a decent line. Porter will fare better, but not enough to win against the better teams. We need a QB real bad. The continuity of the program is at stake. It is pretty hard to really come up with a game plan when nothing works. That is where we are at now. Fitz has to quit trying to fit square pegs into round holes and come up with a system that works with what he has. Going toe to toe with a much larger, faster opponent isn't a good strategy if you are severely outgunned.
Holy cow that's a lot of cliches packed into one paragraph.
 

Interesting read from a longtime Hawkeyes guy. On the Iowa offensive coordinator, who happens to be Brian Ferentz. Reads very similar to the situation with NU and Fitz.

“The common denominator between all three men remains an offense that, despite wrinkles and finger prints here and there, was never truly theirs to begin with. From the onset of their hires O’Keefe, Davis and Brian Ferentz have been tasked with implementing and executing Kirk Ferentz’s offensive philosophy.

This is where the idea of change for the sake of change hits a snag.

Even if Kirk Ferentz were to announce a change in offensive coordinators, whoever would replace Brian Ferentz would be given the exact same parameters within which to work as the other men who have held the thankless position.”

And…
“ Iowa’s issues go beyond the starting quarterback and, quite frankly, beyond the position of offensive coordinator.

Can Kirk Ferentz, in the twilight of his career, see that?”
 
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i think you know I couldn’t care less about recruiting rankings. They mean very little. They have a much better team than we do this year. What I do know is that Wake Forest would gladly switch places with NU when it comes to football program achievements over the last ten years.

It's not as drastic as you may think.

Over the past decade, 2 division championships and 2nd place finishes for the Cats.

For Wake, it's 1 division championship and 2 3rd place finishes (only 8 of the 10 seasons being under Clawson); have to keep in mind that Wake has to contend with Clemson and FSU and not Wisky and Iowa.

Going back to 2006 (Fitz's 1st yr as HC) can add a conference championship for Wake and 2 2nd place finishes.

Which program do you think is in better shape to continue having success going forward?


I hope FItz and Bajakian are watching the Big Ten Championship game so that they can watch and learn about these wide open, creative, modern offenses that I hear we so desperately need to win the Big Ten Championship. I am sure they are taking notes like I am !

Having a modern O doesn't mean not running the ball or having the QB throw a lot of picks.

OU under Riley typically rushed 45-47% of the time, and it's not like their QBs were throwing picks.

The thing is, Fitz doesn't have and hasn't been able to get the horses to run the kind of O he wants successfully, and even if he were able to finally change things and get the horses, it'll just be another B1GW champion not being able to keep up with the B1GE champ.
 
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