"Steveo's Salvos" - February 2010 Edition

"Salvos" is presented as the editorial content of CollegeFootballFan.com focusing on current issues surrounding college football and news about some of the teams on the CFF schedule this year.  Originally from a newsletter, this web site, CollegeFootballFan.com, has evolved. 

We knew them when... - Perusing the rosters of the two NFL teams playing the Super Bowl this year, the Colts and the Saints, the names bring us down memory lane.  Here are some memorable highlights of some of the players on each team when we saw them play at the collegiate level over the years:

Saints -

QB Drew Brees,  Purdue - In '98, he set Beaver Stadium records versus Penn State completing 39 passes for 361 yards.  However, he wasn't good enough with his one TD pass as his Boilermakers fell, 31-13.  Two years later, he tied the Big Ten record for career TD passes at 74 in State College, but lost to a bowl-less PSU that season, 22-20.

P Thomas Morstad , SMU - He doubled as PK and punter for the Ponies averaging 44 yards per punt in '06. Growing up as a rugby player, he impressed his coaches the first day of practice with a 50-yard drop-kick for a FG.  SMU upset Tulsa, 34-24, that day, and we learned The Boulevard out in Dallas is a great place to party.

QB Daniel Chase, Missouri - Brees's back-up had a less than stellar day the 2008 Cotton Bowl, but the Tigers whipped Arkansas, 38-7.

FB Kyle Eckel, Navy -  Played FB for Paul Johnson's triple option the first year when the coach came to Annapolis in 2002.  The Navy offense started to turn  things up, but still the team struggled at home in a 49-40 loss to Northwestern.

S Darren Sharper, William and Mary  - In '94, Sharper started at FS for the Tribe in a 38-17 win at Rhode Island.

LB Jonathan Vilma, Miami - The SR led the Hurricane defense in a 28-14 win at Pitt in '03, his school's last game in the Big East Conference.

LB Scott Fujita, California - In '01, the Bears came out east with a record of 0-10 to win their last and only game of the season over 2-10 Rutgers, 20-10.  Fujita was a senior.

OG Jahari Evans, Bloomsburg - In '06, Rich Williams and I watched eventual D-2 No. 3 Bloomsburg edge West Chester State, 30-27, from a table top on a hill by a backstop overlooking Bloomsburg's packed Robert B. Redman Stadium.

Colts -

WR Hank Baskett, New Mexico - The tall WR caught three TD passes at Missouri in an exciting  45-35 win on a night when Mizzou QB Brad Smith (NY Jets) set career rushing and passing records at his school .

LB Gary Brackett, Rutgers - Started as a JR LB in the same game against Cal that Scott Fujita started in.

RB Donald Brown, UConn - Ran for 189 yards last year in his teams 34-17 loss to Pitt on the final game of the season.  Finished leading the nation with 1,822 yards in rushing.

DE Eric Foster, Rutgers -  Played a key role as a defender in '06 beating frosh RB Brown and UConn, 24-13, on the way to RU's first 11-2 season.

DE Dwight Freeney, Syracuse - Recorded two sacks in the 2001 Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands where his team lost to Georgia Tech, 13-7.

WR Pierre Garcon, Mt. Union - Caught a4 6-yard TD and an 11-yard TD diving over at the goal line in the 2006 D-3 national championship when the Purple Raiders defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater, 35-16.

QB Curtis Painter, Purdue - Peyton Manning's back-up and his team looked lethargic in teh 2006 Champs Sports Bowl losing to Maryland, 24-7.

Legality of BCS - We have more important issues in this country right now, but I don't think we have to spend a lot of time on resolving the legality of the current BCS system.  The BCS set-up is an unfair business practice shutting out teams from competing for the big dollars that the system shells out to only teams from specific conferences among all teams all meeting FBS criteria.  It's a "no-brainer".  Let the play-offs begin!  All college football fans will be happy.  Click on to our Playoff Proposal written several years ago.  I read variations about our original idea y more and more every day!

Tebow scrutiny - All the "experts" say Tebow won't make it as QB.  One post-season All-Star game and they've witten him off.  These are the same guys who judge everything on paper.  I'm not a big Tebow fan, but I admire the guy's fortitude and his persistence.  I think he'll work hard on what needs to be done and will earn himself a quarterbacking spot somewhere in the NFL, and if he doesn't, he's tough enough to play another position.  One problem with the nay-sayers is these are the same "experts" who like to pick national champions based on hyping up only two teams for a "mythical"  national championship and pick potential future champs based on reviewing all the stats and hearsay on high school kids.   In our book, it's a bunch of bull.  Stop the conjecture and let the results be decided on the practice and on the game fields.

Kiffin strikes again - Lane Kiffin takes over at USC and offers a 13-year old QB from a middle school in Delaware, David Sills, a scholarship.  What a joke!  The kid hasn't even played in a high school game yet no less taken Algebra I (as if that matters to anyone at USC).  We love the University of Delaware football program, but the state isn't known for its wealth of football talent either. It's a publicity stunt.  The kid is smart though.  He only wants to make a verbal commitment.  That will allow him to go elsewhere when USC is on probation or coming off by then.  If that's the case, Kiffin won't be there any way.  He'll probably be back in the pros by that time avoiding the penalties assessed against his former team.

Concussions - We hear a lot more about these at every level of football than ever before. Quarterbacks seemed to be the most susceptible, but now most positions seem affected.  We alwo see a lot of helmets flying off than we used to?  Any correlation?

Scheduling conflicts -  We thought we had a nice Baltimore/D.C. Labor Day planned with Navy and Maryland battling at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Sept 4 and Boise and VA Tech slugging it out on Monday, Sept 6 at FEDEX Field.  However, the Navy-Maryland game got moved to 4 pm on the 6th as well.  The Boise-VA Tech game starts at 8pm.  Despite the difference that seems too tight to make both.  We'd prefer the former.  We'd prefer to see Boise on the "Smurf Turf" some day any way.  We're still waiting for a Saturday game somewhere though that weekend.  Most games are openers that feature lower division schools meeting FBS schools to finance their seasons.  We're looking for some competitive D-2 games to be scheduled, but not much has been announced yet.  With high school games figuring into our mix, our fingers are cross that this year's bowl schedule will work out better than last year so can make up for what's starting to look like a sparse regular season for us.