2023 Miscellaneous College News

[Jim French Stepstool]

Can anyone who's seen their games tell me how Graham Mertz has looked for Florida? I noticed the guy had completed about 75% of his throws on the season. Only was able to see some of their game vs Kentucky, and the 'cats looked like they could've beaten everybody that day.

[wildcat83]

The Georgia sideline holding up that sheet behind the coaches is pretty annoying.  Surprised it’s allowed, it has to obstruct fan view at times.

[nate82]

If Notre Dame has another disappointing finish this year do they fire their HC and go with JL? 

[Fear The Chorizo]

I don't think the Gophers are any good...but it's a blessing that Bucky doesn't have Michigan on their schedule until a potential big ten title game matchup.  That team is crazy loaded, to the point they seem to sleepwalk through the game and still have backups playing in the 4th quarter each week.

 

[wildcat83]

22 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Can anyone who's seen their games tell me how Graham Mertz has looked for Florida? I noticed the guy had completed about 75% of his throws on the season. Only was able to see some of their game vs Kentucky, and the 'cats looked like they could've beaten everybody that day.

He looked good today.  They scheme him some easy throws, but he has arm talent.  His accuracy is noticeably better than in his time with WI.

[Jim French Stepstool]

39 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

I don't think the Gophers are any good...

 Today, Northwestern hung on late to win, 23-20, against the mighty Howard Bison of the MEAC. The same Northwestern that defeated Minnesota recently.

I don't think that's a boat I'd want to be rowing right now.

[LouisEly]

Ohio State has a really good defense, but Wisconsin's QBs and WRs look better than Penn  State's. 

[yourout]

I love the way Utah plays the game.

A blend of old school toughness and new school offense.

[homer]

The whole Connor Stallions Michigan saga is going to make a hilarious movie someday. It keeps getting weirder and funnier every day:

 

 

[young guns]

That intentional grounding call for the safety for Michigan is borderline.

[yourout]

12 minutes ago, young guns said:

That intentional grounding call for the safety for Michigan is borderline.

Was thinking the same thing. I seriously doubt if that's in Michigan and the roles are reversed that that's getting called.

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 11/18/2023 at 2:52 PM, yourout said:

Was thinking the same thing. I seriously doubt if that's in Michigan and the roles are reversed that that's getting called.

I was at a game at Camp Randall years ago & someone mentioned to me about the % of refs doing B10 games that were graduates of colleges in the state of Michigan. You'd hate to think that referees would be slanted, but thinking about some of the crap that went on with Schembechler over the years, and then Lloyd Carr & beyond...............from "roughing the snapper", which I've never seen called anywhere else, to the good old days of "Gee, I can't hear the signals, the crowd is too loud"...........I remember once in Madison Michigan had a first-and-goal situation, and the QB kept refusing to snap the ball due to crowd noise. UW kept getting penalized half the distance, which would up after awhile being a matter of inches because the ball was so close to the goal line anyway.

Certainly makes it easy to despise anyone wearing yellow pants.

[CheezWizHed]

On 10/6/2023 at 11:38 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

Can anyone who's seen their games tell me how Graham Mertz has looked for Florida? I noticed the guy had completed about 75% of his throws on the season. Only was able to see some of their game vs Kentucky, and the 'cats looked like they could've beaten everybody that day.

 

On 10/7/2023 at 10:17 PM, wildcat83 said:

He looked good today.  They scheme him some easy throws, but he has arm talent.  His accuracy is noticeably better than in his time with WI.

I remember in the offseason seeing a ranking of transfer QBs where Mertz and Mordecai were ranked fairly close together.  It disturbed me at the time as I was expecting a big upgrade.  I think this season just proves the lack of quality WR/TEs we've had recently.  Mertz looked really good initially, so I'm guessing the last couple years wasn't so much about his arm talent as it was the talent around him.

[nate82]

19 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

 

I remember in the offseason seeing a ranking of transfer QBs where Mertz and Mordecai were ranked fairly close together.  It disturbed me at the time as I was expecting a big upgrade.  I think this season just proves the lack of quality WR/TEs we've had recently.  Mertz looked really good initially, so I'm guessing the last couple years wasn't so much about his arm talent as it was the talent around him.

Mertz looks a lot closer to his freshman year than any other year at UW.  He did get injured and looks like he will miss the remainder of the season.  He definitely looks a lot better in Florida than he did at UW.

I think the talent around him plus having bad coaching at UW was the issue.  Mertz had problems at UW but he also had no one to throw to and a very poor coaching staff who had checked out years ago.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

Mertz looks a lot closer to his freshman year than any other year at UW.  He did get injured and looks like he will miss the remainder of the season.  He definitely looks a lot better in Florida than he did at UW.

I think the talent around him plus having bad coaching at UW was the issue.  Mertz had problems at UW but he also had no one to throw to and a very poor coaching staff who had checked out years ago.

Yeah, not only at WR, but the running game that made life easier for so many UW QBs over the years wasn't at the same level. Nor was the offensive line as dominant. So the ability of the QB to beat you with his legs becomes a necessity more than a luxury, and Mertz was quite the statue in the pocket. Mordecai gives you the added dimension, which they'll need if they want to finish strong.

[Jimbo]

20 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

 "Gee, I can't hear the signals, the crowd is too loud"...........I remember once in Madison Michigan had a first-and-goal situation, and the QB kept refusing to snap the ball due to crowd noise. UW kept getting penalized half the distance, which would up after awhile being a matter of inches because the ball was so close to the goal line anyway.

Certainly makes it easy to despise anyone wearing yellow pants.

And the Michigan QB that day was.........Jim Harbaugh.

[nate82]

Could Leonhard be the next Ohio State HC?  With Day losing his third game to Michigan his seat has started to get a bit warm.

I don’t think Ohio State will fire Day but this would really hurt if Leonhard goes to Ohio State.  

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

Could Leonhard be the next Ohio State HC?  With Day losing his third game to Michigan his seat has started to get a bit warm.

I don’t think Ohio State will fire Day but this would really hurt if Leonhard goes to Ohio State.  

I like Jimmy. I was hoping against all odds he'd somehow stick with Fickell. But I don't think there's any way he'd have a shot at the OSU job if it opened. Maybe DC there, if the right guy was hired as head man?

If I had to guess I'd say Day is OK for now.

[LouisEly]

I sure as hell wouldn't want to be the Auburn or Kansas State DCs today

[yourout]

56 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

I sure as hell wouldn't want to be the Auburn or Kansas State DCs today

Yea that will cost someone their job.

[CheezWizHed]

On 11/25/2023 at 9:04 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

I like Jimmy. I was hoping against all odds he'd somehow stick with Fickell. But I don't think there's any way he'd have a shot at the OSU job if it opened. Maybe DC there, if the right guy was hired as head man?

If I had to guess I'd say Day is OK for now.

Agreed.  I don't see Ohio State going with a rookie HC.  And I don't see Day leaving.  Yes, they've lost to MI 3x in a row, but they are still top 5 in the nation.  Would be a massive overreaction to dump him just because of MI - no matter how big of a rivalry that is...

[owbc]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

Agreed.  I don't see Ohio State going with a rookie HC.  And I don't see Day leaving.  Yes, they've lost to MI 3x in a row, but they are still top 5 in the nation.  Would be a massive overreaction to dump him just because of MI - no matter how big of a rivalry that is...

Michigan fired Carr because he lost a few in a row to Ohio State...then Michigan went 1-10 in the next 11 matchups after firing him. 

And then Michigan nearly fired Harbaugh for the same reason. 

Pure insanity. 

[Team Canada]

Carr retired, he was not fired.

[BrewerFan]

On 10/21/2023 at 2:46 PM, LouisEly said:

Ohio State has a really good defense, but Wisconsin's QBs and WRs look better than Penn  State's. 

I do not think we have a QB that looks better than Allar. 

He's got a very real chance to go 1-1 next year. 

[BrewerFan]

On 11/25/2023 at 9:04 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

I like Jimmy. I was hoping against all odds he'd somehow stick with Fickell. But I don't think there's any way he'd have a shot at the OSU job if it opened. Maybe DC there, if the right guy was hired as head man?

If I had to guess I'd say Day is OK for now.

I think the biggest thing he'd have going against him is that he's a defensive coach and OSU likes offensive minded coaches. 

Beyond that, I think Leonhard is one of the top young coaches in CFB and could easily get a job as a DC for any of the elite programs looking or for multiple NFL teams.

His scheme is proven, he can relate to kids and he had a long and successful NFL career. But I'm still hoping for a Wisconsin reunion.