What Will Happen to Florida Without Urban Meyer?

It was a shock to all of us at the VFA when we heard that Urban Meyer was retiring from his role as the Florida Gators head coach.

Citing family and faith before football, Meyer decided that a possible heart attack and death on the sideline wasn’t worth risking for the gadzillions and the glory.

And you know what? Good on him.

Driven as he is, Meyer didn’t have anything else to prove at the University of Florida. He’d taken Florida from irrelevant to National Champions, helping them to two National Titles in his short stint. People may praise Tim Tebow for his godliness and decency, but I think Urban Meyer’s battles over his health put him right up there for a Gator Sainthood. Urban Meyer Field at Tim Tebow Stadium, anybody?

Anyway, the Florida Gators will be in a rebuilding stage this year. Don’t expect the Gators to win the SEC East—we’ll install Tennessee as favorites for the title, but expect them to be pretty damned handy in years to come. Florida ain’t going anywhere, people.

The next stop is the next coach, who will take over after the Sugar Bowl. His immediate job will to be try and keep some of the junior talent dashing off to the NFL. Here are some candidates on our (and many people’s) lists:

Dan Mullen (Mississippi State)

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Good Luck Brian Kelly

After he basically said he’d entertain offers from big-time schools, Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly seems to have gotten himself the biggest offer of them all—Notre Dame.

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few years, when it comes to college football, Notre Dame and their coaching situations have been a somewhat unsteady business.

You come, you get a few wins, you lose, and you get fired. In recent history, only Lou Holtz can probably hold his head up high, although his ” homerness” on ESPN programs may have raised a few giggles. Holtz hasn’t knowingly picked the Irish to lose—ever—and they’ve done it quite often in recent years.

It’s nothing if not entertaining.

The biggest question for Brian Kelly going in is this—can he take the Fighting Irish back from the college football back-burner and bring them back into national contention year after year after year? That’s what Notre Dame and their all-powerful athletic director and alumni expect.

At Cincinnati, Kelly turned the Bearcats from a football nobody, into a Big East powerhouse, outscoring most of his opponents with accurate quarterbacks and some great wide receivers. The best of these have been this year, with Tony Pike and Zach Collaros proving they can throw the ball, with soon-to-be NFLer Mardy Gilyard and the rest of his receiving corps proving they can catch the rock if it’s thrown their way.

However, we’re not so sure about Kelly’s defensive plaudits. At the end, Cincinnati’s defense proved to be a shambles.

We’ll just have see what happens in the land of Touchdown Jesus, eh?

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Florida Gators: Chomp! Chomp! Florida Hammers Florida State

On the weekend that saw Florida’s BCS rivals Texas and Alabama (nearly) fall to in-state rivals, Florida showed how it was done against Florida State, hammering the Seminoles by the ‘close’ score of 37-10.

Yesterday, we at the VFA made the point that winning rivalry games was often a question of who “wanted it more.”

Now, we’d like to correct ourselves. We’re quite aware that both sides want to win. It’s obvious—college football players don’t exactly go out to lose, do they? But get this: If you impress during a rivalry game, then everyone gives you the thumbs up on Thanksgiving Weekend—even if you were playing a defense as horrific as Florida State’s was.

Florida State’s problem isn’t about speed.

The speed that Florida State (as a team) has—in our view from watching an awful lot of teams this season—is second to none in the country. But defense-wise, it’s second to about everybody. I think that even Indiana would be disappointed with scoring under 30 against the ‘Noles if the two met up.

Mind you, Texas A&M and Auburn’s weren’t great either.

But it was Florida who exploited the weaknesses of Florida State’s—as they did last year—and you have the feeling that had the 2009 matchup been in Doak Campbell, the result would have been exactly the same.

And to make matters worse for the Bowdeners, Florida’s defense was dominant—if you discount the drive in garbage time that gave FSU a spectacular touchdown (worth Youtubing).

And Tim Tebow, was, well, Tim Tebow.

There was one horrible fumble late on in the game that the Tebow-haters enjoyed (and we still can’t believe that the SEC officials didn’t call him for an offensive face mask too), but otherwise, you can hardly complain with 17-21, 221-yard, three-touchdown effort, could you?

We doubt that he’ll put up the same gaudy numbers against Alabama going against a fearsome defensive front, but we think he’ll do pretty well.

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Penn State Makes History: Women’s Volleyball Team Breaks Record

John Wooden…Hollywood sign…Jack Nicholson…Bill Walton…You have company!

Actually, that’s not exactly true—the Penn State Women’s Volleyball team continues to kick ass and take names after posting their 88th straight victory (yes, you read that right!) after whipping the seventh ranked Minnesota Gopherettes (or whatever they are called) 3-0 in State College on Friday night.

That’s right—88. Eighty eight games without a loss. That’s seriously, seriously good.

It ties UCLA’s men’s basketball team of the 1971-74 years, and should have draws dropping around the nation. It won’t, because women’s volleyball doesn’t get the love of ‘bigger sports’, but the VFA knows what good is…..and PSU’s team is just that.

Next up in Stanford’s women tennis team, who posted 89 wins from 2003-07 and are third on the all-time list.

The top? North Carolina’s women’s soccer team (92 in the 1990-94 years) and then the ultimate: Miami’s men’s tennis team, which won an ungodly 137 matches from 1957-64.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is a trip to Mad-town to face Wisconsin, who they beat 3-0 at home. Jump around!

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Penn State destroy Eastern Ilinois

The world is great again. The Penn State Nittany Lions have not had any problems, the defense is great, and we even love the special teams after Penn State beat the crap out of Eastern Illinois by the score of 52-3.

Actually, the special teams – on the offensive end – could do with some work, and we still can’t work out why in God’s name Evan Royster is returning kicks. Seriously.

But the running backs – as you’d expect, were awesome all day, with Evan Royster running for 94 yards and Stephfon Green for 58. Darryl Clark even ran for 11 – and a touchdown – while replacement Kevin Newsome ran for nearly 50 in seven attempts.

Quarterbacking-wise, Clark was nearly perfect, throwing for three touchdowns for 234 yards in a 13-19 effort as Derrick Moye, Chaz Powell and the rest of the receivers outmuscled Eastern Illinois’ much smaller defenders.

Our only complaint in Newsome: we noticed that he fumbled the ball a couple of times on a single drive, which irritated me. So did the fact that he took his helmet off and then argued with Joe Paterno when he was told he wasn’t coming in. The kid needs to learn some manners. Saying that, if he’s passed Michael Robinson for Penn State’s all-time pass record and led us to a couple of National Titles, we might just forgive him this once.

Defensively, the ‘D’ was stifling, giving up 206 total yards – with most of them after half time. London-born Jack Crawford was in good form, and so was Jared Odrick. The ESPN guys said they’ll both be playing on Sundays – as they did with Navarro Bowman – which shows their confidence in the defense.

All in all, a good performance against weak opposition. But now we can go into the Big Ten schedule with good heart.

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College Football’s Week Four Awards

Sorry this is a little late, but we’re going with the Awards Stuff again. No point in doling out the booze, since we’re expecting so much of the damned stuff in Athens, GA when we hit up the LSU-Georgia game on Saturday.

“Wow, That Was Lucky” Award

1. LSU’s goal-line stand against Mississippi

2. Ole Miss—that South Carolina could have been better and beaten them into a pulp.

3. Michigan—once again surviving, this time on a B.S. call against Indiana

The “Don’t Count Us Out” Award

1. Alabama—Florida loses, the Tide should go No. 1. We may well see at the SEC Title game.

2. Ohio State—At your peril.

3. Oregon—Was a very one-sided track meet.

4. Georgia Tech—The performance against the Heels was impressive.

5. TCU—Just when all the talk was about Boise, the Frogs sneak under the radar.

The “Under The Radar” Award

1. Iowa—Who saw them coming? Seriously? Who?

2. South Florida—They showed up. The ‘Noles didn’t.

3. Virginia Tech—Might well be the best team in the ACC.

“The Ooooooooh” Award

1. Tim Tebow getted laid out by Kentucky’s Taylor Wyndham. Wyndham’s got nothing to apologize for. Tebow’s offensive lineman does.

2. A.J. Green’s blocked field goal and stunning catch. Might be the best WR in college football.

3. Georgia’s finish against Arizona State. Classic.

4. Houston vs Texas Tech. An absolute classic. A wee bit low-scoring, too.

“The Overrated” Award

1. Penn State—After losing at home, reality has suddenly returned to Happy Valley. They never were the fourth or fifth-best team in the nation. And not a top 10 one, either.

2. Florida State—How can a team show up for one game and not for another? The Noles were terrible!

3. North Carolina—We told you about Georgia Tech. You should have listened.

4. Florida and Texas—Alabama has played one better team than both of you guys combined….and won.

5. USC—This is a poor USC team, make no mistake about it.

The “Well THAT Sucked” Award

It’s a tie! Miami didn’t show up against Virginia Tech, Cal didn’t at Oregon, and Penn State’s offensive offense didn’t against Iowa!

“The Undercover Heisman” Award (Guys we think have a chance)

1. Jimmy Clausen—He might be one of the best QBs in college football.

2. Case Keenum—Houston QB’s got the tongues waggling.

3. Iowa’s defense—These guys look like the Pittsburgh Steelers…and play like them.

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PSU vs Syracuse: Football Eve Prediction

I spoke to a friend of ours who’s going to the Texas vs. Wyoming game and I asked him if he was excited about the game on Saturday.

His quote? “It’s only Wyoming”. Methinks that a Tennessee fan might have said that on the eve of the Wyoming game last year. Didn’t work too well for his team, did it?

Anyway, onto another team wearing orange: Syracuse, a basketball school with a basketball-playing quarterback who’s now anchoring the Orange team.

The guys at Black Shoe Diaries are predicting that Penn State will rack up 48 points on the Orange, while the Orange will be lucky to rack up over 10.

This may well happen, but PSU has to sort out a few things:

1) The offensive line

It was great when Darryl Clark was passing—helped by Clark’s mobility out of the pocket, but it wasn’t great for Evan Royster with the running game. Syracuse gave up 112 rushing yards against Minnesota, which tells me that they aren’t too shabby against a running game—although Duane Bennett isn’t exactly Beanie Wells. If the offensive line can get better, then Royster can scorch the Orange.

2) Clark, Clark, Clark

By all accounts, Darryl Clark had a dreadful start to the Akron game and then warmed up as things went on. Clark has to start well, and Moye et al should sort out the rest. Syracuse gave up 248 yards against the pass last week—and Clark is better than Adam Weber.

3) Stop Mike Williams

The senior wide receiver can play. The Nittany Lions have to get their secondary sorted out (Astorino, Sukay) to shut down one of the Big East’s best wide receivers. If they manage to do that, I’m not particularly worried.

Prediction: Penn State by 28

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What Happened to Penn State Standout Justin King?

In his first year, Penn State recruit Justin King was like his fellow recruits Derrick Williams, Deion Butler, and Jordan Norwood: Gods on Campus.

To say the new recruits were “much-heralded” in State College would be to say that Joe Paterno is “kinda liked” in that part of the world—a huge understatement.

King doesn’t let us down, pulling some electrifying catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns, as well as putting up over 200 yards rushing. Oh, and he played some defense too, pulling out 11 tackles.

The kids on campus took to the likeable King quickly, wearing No. 7 jerseys with pride—thankfully forgetting the last person who wore the shirt—former QB Zach Mills.

Knowing he might “have something” as a cornerback—and my gosh, he did—he then played his next two seasons on D, rocking out 79 tackles and three interceptions. Unfortunately, the Nittany Lions disappointed, making the Outback and Alamo Bowls.

King then made a decision that I’m still trying to understand: Going to the NFL.

King was a corner who could have been fantastic, given a little more time. During his time at PSU, he was just “great,” but nothing mind-blowing. As a wide receiver, he could have been destructive too—the second coming of former Ohio State player Chris Gamble, perhaps.

He freaked people out, doing a 40 at lightning speed, but then he injured himself before the 2008 season.

Now? He’s working with the St. Louis Rams as a nickelback.

Personally, I’d rather King had forgone the NFL for one more year. Maybe he would have been the key that would have seen the Lions beat Iowa on the road. Maybe he would have kept up with the USC receivers in the Rose Bowl. Maybe he wouldn’t have faced USC—he may have played against Florida.

And a bigger, stronger, faster King would have come to the NFL as an even higher pick, and made more money than a fourth-round player with injuries.

But if King’s a success in 2009 and helps to pull St. Louis out of the mire, then we’ll be seeing King for a ton of Sundays to come.

10 Things You’ll Learn to Hate About the 2009 College Football Season

After writing a heck of a lot about teams we hate, it’s important to acknowledge that 2008 wasn’t such a bad year to hate the teams you hate, either.

It’s OK to be Nice – Sometimes

Listen, we at the VFA haven’t been the most giving and loving types recently. We’ve given lists on teams we hate, we’ve talked rudely about Notre Dame, Tennessee and the BCS (a lot), and most recently, we’ve been happy to point out the foibles of the SEC, and of our other fans in general.

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