In The Trenches: Two for No. 2, Heisman repeat, recruiting
Dennis Dodd and J. Darin Darst of CBSSports.com provide analysis on weekly college football topics.
| Dennis Dodd | J. Darin Darst |
| We all know Florida will be preseason No. 1 next season, who you got No. 2? | |
| This isn't exactly going to peel the paint off your '63 Dodge Valiant, ol' buddy but I have to go with Oklahoma. For the same reason Florida is No. 1, OU has to be No. 2. The Sooners are loaded. Start with a returning Heisman Trophy winner. Add two 1,000-yard rushers (DeMarco Murray, Chris Brown). There are three All-America-worthy defensive linemen (Gerald McCoy, Auston English and DeMarcus Granger). The pass defense was 99th nationally but look where that got them last season. Two All-Americans leave the offensive line but tackle Trent Williams returns. I have a feeling Bob Stoops can rebuild an offensive line in time to get revenge on Texas and prove that '08 was no tiebreaker fluke. | It's early, but I have to go with Texas. The Longhorns should be loaded for 2009, returning most of the offense, including Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy. He'll lose Quan Cosby, but the receiving corps will still be strong with the return of Malcolm Williams and Brandon Collins and now getting Jordan Shipley back with a sixth year of eligibility. The defensive line will need some improvement with the loss of Brian Orakpo and Roy Miller, but the linebackers will be strong with Sergio Kindle. Most people will look to the usual Red River Rivalry with Oklahoma, but mark down Oct. 31 at Oklahoma State as the game that will determine whether the Longhorns play for the national title or not. |
| Could the 2009 Heisman race be the best ever, beating out the 2008 Heisman race -- which was the best ever? Is there a sleeper[s] out there who could crash the party? | |
| All three finalists return but there's something that tells me Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy can't all possibly get back to New York. Tebow's numbers should decline with the emergence of Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. Bradford can't throw 50 touchdowns again, can he? Texas will develop a better running game to take the pressure off McCoy. Watch out for these guys: Tailbacks -- Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers, Cal's Jahvid Best and Oklahoma State's Kendall Hunter. At receiver, Alabama's Julio Jones, Kansas' Dezmon Briscoe and Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant are absolute freaks. It could be a great race, just with different names. Now if we can just keep Billy Sims off the stage in New York ... | I didn't think we'd ever see a closer Heisman race between three players again after this year, but with all three returning, we are in a for another down-to-the-wire race. Funny thing is Bradford and Tebow already got their Heismans, so let's go ahead and give McCoy his, so we can have three different winners playing in the same season. Will the voters be sick of these three guys in 2009? I doubt it, especially since all three of their teams will be near the top of the preseason poll. The one guy I'm looking at to crash this party is California's Jahvid Best. After rushing for 1,580 yards in 2008, including 186 in the bowl game, he has the best chance to bust through the quarterback trio. |
| The spread offense was the subject du jour in '08. What's your No. 1 talking point going into 2009? | |
| Anybody notice the SEC has never been stronger? No, I mean, really, really strong. Those of you outside the Waffle House region have been beaten over the head with the SEC's greatness. Well, get ready to file more assault charges. Florida has won two of the past three titles. The SEC has won three titles in a row and four of the past seven. And commissioner Mike Slive wants a plus-one? Mike, you rule the world. Don't ruin a good thing. Some congressmen want to look into the antitrust underpinnings of the BCS. They ought to check into the SEC's monopoly. Florida and Alabama should start in the top five. LSU won't be down for long. Ole Miss is on the rise. Gene Chizik and Lane Kiffin have shown they get it with their assistant coach hires. It's recruiting, recruiting, recruiting! | I have to agree with Dodd, can we please get somebody to challenge the SEC for the national title? In the past three BCS titles games, we've seen Ohio State and Oklahoma go down to the SEC champion. Maybe if Southern California can stop stumbling in the regular season we might actually see the best from the east take on the best out west. As for my other talking point, it's going to continue to be the reliability of the BCS. A majority of the nation doesn't like this system, but we still use it and are basically forced to live with it. It has to be the only sport in America where an undefeated team finishes No. 2, while a one-loss team is No. 1. We shouldn't be subjected to a national-title game that is based on coaches' opinions about who they think should be in it. Thankfully the NFL doesn't use this system, because if they did the Arizona Cardinals wouldn't be in the Super Bowl. |
| Does it matter to you who "wins" the recruiting battle next month? | |
| Yes. I wrote two years ago that the top 10 in recruiting matters. After that, it's a crapshoot. You see the same names at the top of the recruiting rankings -- and the polls. USC, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, etc. There's a reason those schools are on top on the field too. It's simple. The best players go to the best schools. The fun is, for example, seeing where a Utah came from. The seniors in 2008 were part of a recruiting class in 2005 that was tied for 59th at rivals.com. You wonder what Oregon State saw in Rodgers that everyone in Texas didn't. There are so many good quarterbacks in the Lone Star State that Texas and Texas Tech can't possibly take them all. That's why you've seen the rise of Kansas and Missouri. Utah, BYU and other schools have used players of Polynesian heritage as the backbone of their programs. The big dogs will eat every year. I love watching the underdogs try to scrape together a meal. | It depends on how you look at it. If you look at it from Florida's angle, which had one of the best classes of 2006 -- Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Brandon Spikes, Riley Cooper, etc. -- recruiting rankings are pretty important. USC always has one of the top classes in the country and it transforms into great seasons too. Meanwhile, Auburn and Notre Dame have supposedly had great recruiting classes, but it doesn't mean anything in the real world. I always love to go back a few years to see if some of these great high school kids have turned out to be superstars in college and most of the time it's hit or miss. So it doesn't really matter right now that LSU, Ohio State, Texas, USC are getting the best recruits, let's reanalyze in 2011. |
