NCAA 2014 Season Discussion

it would be great to finally get an oregon-alabama game for the national title would have loved it more a few years ago but its hard to argue that they've been the best two teams over the last few years

Lots of rumours doing the rounds that the Big 12 may bring in Cincinnati after getting jilted from the playoffs because only having 10 teams went against them. I'd love if its true but as a Bearcats fan I'll believe it when I see it. We've got fcuked over plenty in the conference re-alignment shuffle the past few years

I remember when Andrew Luck was being discussed a couple of years back and I was saying that he was a surefire guaranteed to succeed QB in the NFL, I said he would be an elite QB at that level. Its the only time I've ever said that about a QB before he was drafted. I don't think anybody disagreed with me on that.

So on to Mariota, I'm not willing to say that about him. He has questions to answer, he has never been under center to the best of my knowledge. I think he will make it as a starter but I'm now sure how good he will be. He is coming from a very QB friendly system where his first option is what he usually goes to, we don't know how good he is at checking down. He really is just like Manziel or Kaepernick coming out of college.

ya mariota could be a very good quarterback if his coaching staff are patient with him the most important things he has to work on for me are

1. getting past the first read he's coming from a similar situation to rg3 in that both offences where very -if the first read is not there dont look past it just run-
2. he needs to look at how russell wilson gets out of play on run plays. I'm not as big a wilson fan as some others but he does an insane job of avoiding contact this is important for mariota as he's not very big at the moment (although he has a pretty big frame he could probably add weight)
3. keep working on footwork- mariota has done tremendous work improving his footwork it was very very iffy last year but its not been a problem this year with a quicker pass rush in the nfl however its important he keeps improving

i think he can start week 1 but its important that his coaches dont emphasise winning now over his development

to put a lazy comparison on him i think winston is similar to a young big ben albeit more athletic and even more stupid off the field

Yeah it's a very interesting question and I'd largely agree with eagle eye's Manziel and Kaepernick's comparison above, however I believe Mariota is a much smarter QB than both these and you rarely see him make dumb decisions. However the big black mark against him is he's a system QB. The Ducks offence has made countless players look good but they've failed to replicate this in the Pro's. He's hardly ever asked to make tough throws and throw into coverage so how good his accuracy truly is, we don't know. I'm still a huge fan and would love to see him do well but he's by no means the certainty some people are making him out to be.

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

Yeah it's a very interesting question and I'd largely agree with eagle eye's Manziel and Kaepernick's comparison above, however I believe Mariota is a much smarter QB than both these and you rarely see him make dumb decisions. However the big black mark against him is he's a system QB. The Ducks offence has made countless players look good but they've failed to replicate this in the Pro's. He's hardly ever asked to make tough throws and throw into coverage so how good his accuracy truly is, we don't know. I'm still a huge fan and would love to see him do well but he's by no means the certainty some people are making him out to be.

its really tough to judge QBs out of college generally tbh. So much system, shotgun stuff and very little that resembles the pro style game at all.

Yeah Luck was a nailed on cert, even to a blind man, but since then you would be lying if you said you could really gauge how any QB would turn out in the NFL.

For what its worth I thought Bridgewater was the most NFL ready QB from last year but having seen the rookie QBs in action right now Derek Carr is head and shoulders ahead of any of the other rookies.

And coming out of a system in a small school I don't think many would have had that opinion pre draft.

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

The only sketchy thing is the sexual assault allegations and I want to wait and see what the last word on that is before judging him. Having recently been on jury duty for a relatively high profile case over here, I was amazed at the difference between how the media report cases vs what actually happened.

Any of his other controversies have been nothing offences imo, and we wouldn't have heard about them if it was anyone else but a Heisman winning QB for the National Champions, or someone of similar stature. Shooting pellet guns in the park, yelling out crude internet memes, refilling with soda instead of water, not paying for crab legs etc.

its not that they are major but theres always something. Don't forget the autographs controversy too.

now yes its possible it may all be a media manhunt, but it certainly leaves a lot of questions over his maturity and weather he has the character to lead an NFL team.

unfortunately we don't get to sit down and interview him like an NFL team would so we can only go by what we read and form an opinion on that.

Muschamp unveiled as the new Auburn defensive co-ord. Delighted. The idea of Malzahn's offense allied with a solid defense should put a lot of worry in the heads of other SEC West coaches.

Mariota confirmed as Heisman winner.

nerd69 wrote: »

couldn't give a crap about any ncaa player having autograph issues to be honest its insane that a person in any walk of life can get in trouble for that.

either could I in regard to it actually being prohibited the point is from a personality perspective the question mark is around weather the guy is reliable, if he cannot follow the rules what kind of leader will he be ? on its own its not massive but you just add all a lot of little indiscretions together it starts to create a picture that isn't too flattering to him.

I think its a nonsense thing as a rule but its still a rule. There are lots of stupid rules but you follow them regardless.

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

This game is completely nuts and so, so enjoyable. 45-44 BYU with Memphis about to attempt the PAT after a 4th down TD.

45 seconds left, BYU inexplicably use 2 timeouts trying to ice the PAT :eek:

Yeah absolutely bonkers game, the 4th down conversion to tie it was incredible and Elliott is some kicker to nail that 55 yarder. A fight to round it all off seems rather fitting. Man I love college ball

The 12 for BYU got popped himself a minute before that, a few of those lads will have proper big shiners today and to be honest they'll probably be punished so hard it'll detract from the game obviously. The game itself was fantastic though. The OT rules are great fun.

I hope Marshall win tonight, great season for them until the very end. They need to show something tonight to get a better rating for next season. I expect them to win it pretty easily tonight and shock a lot of people.