His decision to pull Lambert and play the third string QB smacks of burnout to me. I thought he really had something up his sleeve but as the game wore on I realized how lame that decision really was. He needs to go in the TV booth for a year like Meyer did.
Why would ANYONE want Strong? What has he proven? That he can win with Petrino's QB in a weak conference? When he moved to a more competitive environment, he has sucked. Good luck to any school that signs up for more of that... :roll:
Well I think you under estimate Strong's reputation. I think most of the college football world give him a lot of credit for what he did at Louisville. It might be that Texas was too big a job or not the right fit or something. Doesn't mean he can't coach. There are a lot of places he'd succeed. On to the new rankings. I'm more than a little surprised at how highly ranked the Irish are, and with Alabama are ahead of a bunch of undefeated teams. I figured us for around #10 give or take a few. But in the top 4 from the first week last year only FSU made the final top 4, eventual NC Ohio State was where FSU is right now..#16.
It's ND's SOS that makes the difference. Doesn't mean we'll be in the final four with one loss IF we end the season with one loss, but it's nice to be respected for the schedule we play.
A lot of discussion about all that committee love for the Tide especially considering that Florida is at #10 with a similar resume except that UF destroyed the only team to beat Bama.... Ole Miss. It doesn't worry me a lick because if Florida wins out the Gators are in and if they lose one they are not.
Since the committee has Clemson as it's top team they have to give ND credit for a 2 pt. loss on the road to them. The game was played in a drenching downpour and ended with the Irish less than 2 yds. from tying the game. Now if Clemson drops in the polls they will take the Irish with them.
Difficult to say how the final CFP ranking will end. One thing for certain, any losses during November are going to be critical for all participants.
There's a lot of confusion how they came by the rankings, but I can say with certainty, that I am glad the panty-waist scheduling of Baylor and TCU didn't get them into the top 4. At least for now. Baylor's current schedule includes out of conference wins against SMU (1-7, G5), Lamar (FCS), Rice (4-4, G5). You look at that, and gotta believe their conference slate was tougher, right? Well, TT, KU, WV, and ISU are a combined 11-21. Of those 11 games, ISU has wins over UNI (FCS), KU, and tu. KU has wins over, well, nobody. TT has wins over SHSU (FCS), UTEP, Arky, ISU, and KU. WV has wins over GASO (6-2, Sun Belt), Liberty (FCS), and UMD. Not counting Lamar, Baylor’s DIA opponents are 16-32. Taking out the rest of the FCS games of their opponents, Baylor’s DIA opponents are 13-29. TT has two respectable non-con wins (UTEP and Arky) and WV has two respectable non-con wins (GASO and UMD). November is when the top of the B12 start playing each other, so the opponent records (and resumes) will start to look better. At which point, combined with a loss from either LSU or Bama, will likely allow an undefeated B12 (if one ends up winning out) to slip into the top 4. I'm not pleased that both LSU and Bama are both in the top 4, but we still have a month of games to go, so I won't be too incensed yet.
Any losses in November this season and you're out. That goes for everybody. So.... if you're ND or in a Power Five conference just keep winning and there is nothing to get upset about. If you're Memphis etc. you still might have reason to fret.
As I said in the other topic I just can't see Memphis or Houston getting into the playoffs even if they win out. I guess it could happen. Both have solid schedules in Nov and a Conf Championship game against a pretty salty Temple Squad. Both have to play Navy though, and it won't be easy for either of them. BTW: Watch Baylor on Thursday night, they are starting highly recruited freshman Jared Stidham who Briles has naturally been really talking up this week. He has played this year, maybe not as much as he should have in some of those blowout games the Bears have had, but he's gotten some licks in and should be ready to go. He's a 6'3" around 200lbs and considered a dual threat, not like Kyler Murray but still a kid who can make you pay with his feet if you don't pay attention. I have to wonder if he does well down the stretch and leads Baylor to an undefeated season if the other guy will ever get his job back. At ND DeShone Kizers play since Malik Zaire has made it likely that Zaire will never get his job back except in the case of injury and you have to believe that if Kyler Murray plays well the rest of the season Kyle Allen will never get his job back either. If the Gators win out with Harris at QB, does Will Grier get his job back next year?
I would say that if Grier wins his appeal and is available to start the year in the first game then the Qb competition will be re-opened. If not..... Harris is the man and could remain so depending on what happens.
Grier's suspension goes into the 2016 season? I didn't know that, can he even practice with the team during his suspension?
Kesley, Like I said above, the committee gets a total redo next week because at least one of the top 4 is guaranteed to have a(nother) loss. I think they may have done that on purpose. :?
Scott.. What do you think will happen if Murray plays well again this week and finishes the year as the starter? Do you think it'll be like Ohio State where both he and Allen come back and compete next year or do you think Allen might be in the wind? Also recent poll on InsideTexas has 52% of Texas fans not wanting to play A&M again, is it similar on A&M sites?
Terry, I'd say if he finishes out the year successfully (plays well, not necessarily wins 'em all) he's probably the guy going forward. They can say there will be a competition, and there probably will be one, but this offense works best when the defense has to account for the QB running. Allen doesn't bring that dimension. Actually, I'd say the percentage that don't want to play Texas again is higher, more like 75%. There are some old Ags who hate the idea of any tradition going away, but ALL of my friends have moved on. We love the SEC and if we're going to have a big non-con game each year, we like spreading it around (PAC12 for the next few years). If what you say is true, then the only ones clamoring for the series to start up again are the media folks who keep writing and talking about it.