I know there’s a lot of excitement and hype surrounding redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel, also known by the all-time nickname, Johnny Football, from Texas A&M. Make no mistake he is without question a great young quarterback who will garner plenty of Heisman votes. But I just don’t think he is a more important or more outstanding player than Manti Te’o.
Share on FacebookArchive for the ‘College Football’ Category
Do the Right Thing Heisman Trophy Voters
Posted: 4th December 2012 by DavidBurnett in College Football, Heisman TrophyTags: College Football, do the right thing, Johnny Manziel, Manti Te'o Heisman Trophy, Notre Dame
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Notre Dame Is Back: Will Play for BCS Championship
Posted: 25th November 2012 by DavidBurnett in College Football, NCAATags: Alabama, BCS Championship game, Georgia, Manti T'eo, Notre Dame, Notre Dame is back, USC
You’ve got to be a real hater not to appreciate what Notre Dame has done this season. Saturday night’s win over Southern Cal, punctuated by one of the all-time great goal line stands late in the fourth quarter, completed a dream season for the Fighting Irish.
They are undefeated, 12 – 0. Seriously, no one honestly saw that coming. I certainly didn’t. I’d pretty much come to expect the 4, 5 sometimes even 6 or 7 losses the Irish had started racking up in recent years.
Share on FacebookPenn State Falls to Ohio University: The Post Paterno Era Off to a Slow Start
Posted: 1st September 2012 by DavidBurnett in College Football, NCAA, SuspensionTags: Bill O'Brien, Joe Paterno, loss, Ohio University, opening game, Penn State
A lot of eyes were focused State College, Pennsylvania and Penn State on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions opened the team’s first season in nearly 50 years without Joe Paterno as head coach.
Even more though than the absence of Paterno, most want to know how the school would fare under the weight of some of the most serious sanctions ever levied against a major college football program.
The immediate answer is not very well. Penn State playing at home lost to the Ohio University Bobcats 24-14.
Share on FacebookAllen Pinkett’s Unacceptable Truth About Notre Dame Football
Posted: 30th August 2012 by DavidBurnett in College Football, football, SuspensionTags: Allen Pinkett, analyst, commentator, Fighting Irish, Notre Dame, Suspension, unacceptable truth
The truth is still the truth, but if it is served up too raw, it has a way of upsetting delicate sensibilities and ultimately backfiring on the truthsayer.
That’s what happened this week to Allen Pinkett, the former Notre Dame star running back from the 1980s and now longtime analyst on the Fighting Irish radio broadcasts.
Share on FacebookPenn State’s Punishment: What’s the Real Takeaway?
Posted: 23rd July 2012 by DavidBurnett in College Football, Lessons, SuspensionTags: jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Mark Emmert, NCAA sanctions, Penn State, Penn State's punishment
The fact is, punishment whether of an institution or an individual, never really provides an adequate response to, or compensation for, the wrongdoing and damage that has taken place. And the NCAA weighing in, only serves to satisfy the need to hold someone or something responsible without really fixing anything.
Share on FacebookPenn State’s Most Important Teaching Moment
Posted: 12th November 2011 by DavidBurnett in College FootballTags: child sex abuse, jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Penn State, teaching moment
I’ve been thinking about the plight of vulnerable children, Penn State University, and the firing of Joe Paterno for nearly a week, struggling with the complexity of this story and trying to find the right words to express myself.
But even as I take all of this in, I do know that the ironic benefit of this sad episode, if there can be one, is that the Penn State scandal can be one big, horrifying, teaching moment for all of us.
There are lessons to be learned from the tragic story of child sexual abuse connected to the Penn State campus.
Share on FacebookRussell Wilson: Is He College Football’s Best Quarterback?
Posted: 5th November 2011 by DavidBurnett in College Football, QuarterbackTags: Andrew Luck, college football's best quarterback, Russell Wilson, University of Wisconsin
I got another chance to see University of Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson on Saturday. He starred in the Badger’s 62-17 drubbing of Purdue. Wilson continues to pass my “eyeball-test”. There simply has not been a better college quarterback this year. Based on what I’ve seen he’s been even better than Stanford’s Andrew Luck, who is considered by many to be college football’s top quarterback and the NFL’s next great passer.
Share on FacebookOhio State’s Jim Tressel Steps Down: College Sports Seamy Side Exposed Again
Posted: 31st May 2011 by DavidBurnett in Coaches, College FootballTags: football, Jim Tressel, NCAA sanctions, Ohio State University, quits, Terrelle Pryor
It was Memorial Day around the rest of the country but it likely seemed like Doomsday in central Ohio. The news that beloved, but beleaguered Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was quitting under fire, hit Columbus and the sports world like the worst kind of natural disaster. If in fact any of the allegations against players and the apparent “cover up” by coach Tressel are true, then what this case really exposes is the need for players and dozens, if not hundreds of fans and supporters, to play misguided roles in athletic glory.
Share on FacebookNew Year’s Day Massacre: The Big Ten Takes A Beating
Posted: 2nd January 2011 by DavidBurnett in Bowl Games, College Football, NCAATags: Big Ten, Big Ten Takes a Beating, football, TCU, Wisconsin
I’m a midwestern guy. A Big Ten guy. But right now I’m feeling a little embarrassed. Something is terribly wrong with Big Ten football.
The Big Ten took an absolute beating on New Year’s Day. The Big Ten lost all five games. Losing bowl games is becoming something of a holiday habit for this once powerful league. It has been years since the Big Ten looked strong in the bowls.
All About the Money
Posted: 24th December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Bowl Games, College Football, NCAATags: bowl game, NCAA, Ohio State, penalty, tattoos
By selectively, suspending five Ohio State players this week, the NCAA revealed itself for what it really is, an arrogant, hypocritical, dysfunctional organization.
The crime: Five Ohio State players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, are caught selling awards, souvenirs, autographs and other trinkets in exchange for cash and tattoos.
But how is it that the five-game suspensions of these Ohio State players are postponed until after the upcoming bowl game? The rules are pretty clear – gifts/prizes cannot be sold for profit – or tattoos.
Share on FacebookCam Newton Cleared As NCAA Washes Its Hands
Posted: 3rd December 2010 by DavidBurnett in BCS, College Football, football, Heisman Trophy, NCAATags: BCS, Cam Newton, Heisman Trophy, NCAA
The culture of big-time college sports is poison and corrupt and everyone knows it, most of all the NCAA. To me it appears the decision to clear Cam Newton is basically an admission by the NCAA that hypocrisy, double-standards and cash under the table, have always been a part of college sports, and that there is very little that can be done about it, except in the most obvious of cases.
Share on FacebookToby Gerhart: Busting Stereotypes
Posted: 22nd November 2009 by DavidBurnett in College Football, football, UnderdogTags: College Football, Heisman Trophy, NFL, running back, Stanford, stereotypes, Toby Gerhart
The last couple of weeks I have been watching number 7 from Stanford run the football. He can really play. I’ve got to tell you I’m surprised he’s this good. I just assumed … Anyway, the kid’s name is Toby Gerhart. Not usually the kind of name we hear being called a potential star NFL […]
Share on FacebookBobby Bowden Being Pushed Off the Sideline
Posted: 5th October 2009 by DavidBurnett in Coaches, College FootballTags: Bobby Bowden, Coaches, Florida State, Joe Paterno
The other day I wrote about Joe Paterno, one of the great coaching icons who is still getting it done at Penn State at age 82. But another senior citizen coach is not faring nearly as well. Florida State’s Bobby Bowden is facing the inevitable end of his coaching career. Calls for his ouster are […]
Share on FacebookJoe Paterno: Old Steady
Posted: 3rd October 2009 by DavidBurnett in Coaches, College Football, NCAATags: Illinois, Joe Paterno, old, Penn State
I watched an old-fashioned Big Ten football game Saturday afternoon. Penn State against Illinois. It turned out to be an easy Penn State victory 35 to 17. I decided to sit through this relatively meaningless game as a way to honor the past. Years ago a game like this actually mattered but I also remember […]
Share on FacebookRandy Shannon: The Next One or the Only One?
Posted: 23rd September 2009 by DavidBurnett in Black coaches, Coaches, College FootballTags: Black coaches, national championship, Randy Shannon, University of Miami
I might as well write this now, while Randy Shannon and his Miami Hurricanes are still undefeated. My first impression is that it appears he has a national championship caliber team. It is important that Shannon, the Hurricanes former defensive coordinator do well this season. I believe he has a chance to make a powerful […]
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