Bleacher Report - Articles by Gail Hall

The Nightmare BCS Scenario That May Not Even Happen

Gail Hall — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:23:50 -0500

Let’s all take a quick recap of the last four weeks of 2007.

AP Top 10: Week 11, 2007

1. LSU

2. Oregon

3. Oklahoma

4. Kansas

5. West Virginia

6. Missouri

7. Ohio State

8. Georgia

9. Arizona State

10. Virginia Tech

AP Top 10: Week 12, 2007

1. LSU
2. Kansas
3. Missouri
4. West Virginia
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. Arizona State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Oregon
10. Oklahoma

AP Top 10: Week 13, 2007

1. Missouri
2. West Virginia
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. LSU
6. Virginia Tech
7. Kansas
8. USC
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida

AP Top 10: Week 14, 2007

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech
6. USC
7. Missouri
8. Kansas
9. Florida
10. Hawaii

Wow. Oh what a difference a week makes, right? So amidst all this talk of three-way ties in the Big 12 South and BCS doomsday scenarios, remember, there are still three weeks of college football left. Three weeks. As 2007 taught us, one week can make all the difference in the world.

Besides, assuming there will be a three-way tie in the Big 12 South and a nightmare scenario makes some very bold assumptions that I’m not ready to make yet.

Assumption 1: Oklahoma beats Texas Tech.

Let’s go over the talking points: “Texas Tech’s defense won’t be able to stop OU’s offense.” “Texas Tech doesn’t have the running game to compete.” “Slow down the Harrell to Crabtree connection, and you’ve won the game.” “OU doesn’t lose at home.” Blah blah blah.

First off, the statement “OU’s defense won’t be able to stop Tech’s offense” would be just as valid in my opinion. Both of these teams have amazing offensive firepower and won’t easily be slowed down.

Then again, no one thought Tech’s defense would slow down the amazing offenses of Kansas, Texas, or Oklahoma State. Kansas has since proved to be less impressive, but it was supposed to be the ultimate shootout.

OU’s defense gives up six more points per game than Tech’s does since conference play has started. That may seem negligible, but that’s the spread right there.

OU’s only loss came to a really good Texas team. Texas’s leading rusher is Colt McCoy. I’ll take Baron Batch and Shannon Woods, please! Tech has nine WRs with double-digit catches and 10 WRs with at least one touchdown catch.

Keeping Crabtree out of the end zone just won’t cut it. That’s how A&M was so sure they could beat Tech in 2007—they lost that game 35-7.

OU doesn’t lose at home. That statement is pretty accurate. But that’s what’s beautiful about college football: Crazy things happen that aren’t supposed to.

Assumption 2: Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State.

If Oklahoma beats Tech and there’s a three-way tie in the Big 12 South, there is still another week of football to be played. Most importantly, Oklahoma still has to go to Stillwater to face a stout Cowboys team that would like nothing more than to knock their archrival right off that high horse.

What’s supposed to happen goes out the window in rivalry games. Don’t be surprised to see the Cowboys pull off the upset.

Assumption 3: Texas beats Texas A&M.

All right, Texas should win this game by at least three scores, but didn’t we all say that last year and the year before that? See above: What’s supposed to happen goes out the window in rivalry games. This would be a much more shocking upset than Oklahoma State over Oklahoma, but certainly isn’t outside of the realm of possibility.

Assumption 4: Texas Tech beats Baylor.

All right, I’m willing to make this assumption, but a lot of people are still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the “Typical Tech” loss. Baylor is a much improved team from the last several seasons, and if Tech beats Oklahoma, they could easily overlook this game as they start preparing for the Tigers.

If Tech beats Oklahoma and loses to Baylor, they’ll still play for the Big 12 title, but it could throw a real monkey wrench into the title game standings.

Other crazy things that could happen: Florida could lose to Florida State, Alabama could lose to Auburn, Penn State could lose to Michigan State, Utah could lose to BYU, and Missouri could knock off the Big 12 South champ.

Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? Definitely not.

Leachisms: Quotes From the Pirate King

Gail Hall — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:13:42 -0500

We all know that Mike Leach is among the best sources for soundbites in college football. He leaves you asking one question after most of his press conferences. "What in the heck is he talking about?" Be it giving dating advice, using coffee as an insecticide, discussin pirate lore, giving a weather forecast or just going off on a tangent, Leach never says anything that typifies a football coach.

His players admit that they have trouble following his locker room antics, but that they just embrace it and go out and play. In addition to all of this wackiness, they guy's actually a pretty good football coach. So I've taken the liberty of compiling a list of some of my favorite Mike Leach quotes, I hope you enjoy the laughs...

NEW ADDITION: On Mike Gundy's "I'm a man...I'm 40!" Rant:
"I'm I'm 47, I still haven't made man"

On players fighting in practice:
"If you get into a fight, don't take your helmet off...We're looking for smart football players, not dumb ones. In the interest of time, don't get into any more fights today."

On the officials in the 2007 Tech-Texas game in Austin:
"It's a little like breakfast; you eat ham and eggs. As coaches and players, we're like the ham. You see, the chicken's involved but the pig's committed. We're like the pig, they're like the chicken. They're involved, but everything we have rides on this."

On his first win with Texas Tech against the New Mexico Lobos:
"It's kind of like doing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel. We had pieces and parts flying everywhere. It turned out in our favor. We've just got to clean it up the next time around."

More on the New Mexico game:
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was an upset wasn't it?"

On beating Texas in 2002, when asked if he regretted not hyping Kliff Kingsbury more:
"I don't even remember what I said. I hope whatever I said was cute and clever, and maybe even a tiny bit humorous. I hope it wasn't mindless babble, and if it was, hopefully everyone will forget about it pretty quick."

On the differences between Lubbock and Wyoming:
''The people are incredibly similar. They're very friendly people here. The weather's nicer here. The mountains are shorter here.''

On his goal of having the defense allow fewer points:
"Well, we're aiming for zero, but I imagine we'll end up somewhere north of that."

On our team's expectations in 2006:
"Well, outside of Lubbock, expectations aren't very high. But it's okay, we play in Lubbock a lot this season"

On Tech fans and Aggie fans (this one seems particularly poignant given all the griping I've heard recently by Texas fans):
"A&M wants to rip on our fans and all that. Our fans are as good as their fans are. One thing our fans don't do is sit around and whine about other teams' fans. A&M spent a significant part of the week whining about what our fans are like."

More on the same:
"It's interesting to me that all these Aggies—whether they're at A&M or here—are sitting around with halos over their heads and they have some divine expertise on fanmanship. I just don't believe that's the case. For the record, I think our fans are better than the Aggie fans."

On the Aggie Corps of Cadets:
"How come they get to pretend they are soldiers? The thing is, they aren't actually in the military. I ought to have Mike's Pirate School. The freshmen, all they get is the bandanna. When you're a senior, you get the sword and skull and crossbones. For homework, we'll work pirate maneuvers and stuff like that."

On "system" quarterbacks:
"If B.J. is a product of the system, then he's not getting any of those touchdown passes and all those yards. That means our coaching staff is," Leach said. "That would also mean we could go down to 7-Eleven and get the clerk behind the counter and let him play quarterback."

On BJ's 661 passing yards against NC State:
"It's better than 660 yards, but not as good as 662 yards."

On the faked field goal against NC State, when asked if it was supposed to be a run or a pass:
"Your guess is as good as mine."

On being asked what bowl game he wanted to go to after his first season at Tech, notching a 7-5 record:
"The Rose Bowl."

On momentum in the first half of the 2001 Alamo Bowl:
"Oh I don't know. We haven't played worth a damn."

On the ninja formation:
"The ninja formation is still lurking around back there, and I would expect to see it sometime in the future. I can't tell you exactly when because that is strictly classified."

On how Tech was going to handle the wind during the 2002 Iowa State game:
"I know that in Ames, Iowa, they fancy themselves being experts on the wind, but in Lubbock, Texas, we'll put our wind up against your wind in Iowa. We practice against it all the time."

On John Harris complementing North Texas:
"I guess so John, but you know...we could tackle somebody and it might make a difference."

On the 2003 team:
"This year's team could beat last year's team's ass."

On upsets:
"Everybody's all surprised every time this stuff happens. It surprises me everybody gets surprised, because it happens every year like this that there are surprises. The most surprising thing would be if there weren't any surprises. So therefore, in the final analysis, none of it's really that surprising."

On running up the score against Nebraska in 2004 (the final as 70-10):
"The interesting thing about football is that football is the only sport where you quit playing when you get a lead. In golf, you keep trying to score well when you’re ahead.

"In basketball, they don’t quit shooting when they’re ahead. In hockey, they don’t quit shooting when they’re ahead. In boxing, you don’t quit punching when you’re ahead. But in football, somehow magically, you’re supposed to quit playing when you’re ahead. Well, I don’t subscribe to that. I don’t do it like that. And you know, the truth of the matter is, Nebraska never has either."

On his strategy against Cal in the 2004 Holiday Bowl:
"Like everybody, you go out there and it’s first down. And you say, 'get 10. Get 10. Yes!' If you get two, you say, 'get eight, get eight, get eight.' Then you get another first down and then you score some points. Defensively, you try to stop them."

On the team's turnaround during the Cal game after trailing 14-7:
"Cal was playing harder than we were, so we sort of had a get-in-touch-with-your-feelings kind of conversation where everybody got kind fuzzy-goosy feelings for each other, and our intensity increased."

On Leach being on the list for other coaching jobs across the country:
"As a head coach, you're on two lists. You're the guy that might get fired, or you're the guy who might go somewhere. Given the two lists, I guess that's the one to be on."

Cheers, Mike!

A Statistical Breakdown of Texas Tech Football So Far

Gail Hall — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:23:25 -0400

Texas Tech is a statistical machine, but here are some of the most intriguing stats accumulated so far this season. Before the Raiders head into their biggest game in years, these are worth looking over.

1,108—That’s the number of rushing yards amassed thus far this season. This stat is more impressive when you consider that the Raiders accumulated a grand total of 737 rushing yards in 2007, including their bowl game. The ability to run the ball proved particularly beneficial at Kansas, because when they would drop eight back, Graham Harrell could simply hand it off.

7.5—That’s how many yards per carry Baron Batch is averaging. That’s first in the Big 12, tied for fifth in the NCAA. When you factor in his 24 receptions for 321 yards, that brings him up to nine yards per touch. And he’s only a sophomore.

3—That’s how many sacks Tech's offensive line has allowed this season. Two of those shouldn’t have happened because Leach should have pulled Graham Harrell before that drive against Kansas, but unfortunately they did. Granted, Tech hasn’t seen a juggernaut of a defensive line yet, but that stat is still very impressive, especially considering that is out of 360 pass attempts.

8—That’s the number of receivers Tech has with double-digit receptions. The list includes Michael Crabtree with 60 (and several of those on a bad ankle), Detron Lewis with 45, Eric Morris with 42, Tramain Swindall with 31, Baron Batch with 24, Edward Britton with 20, Shannon Woods with 15, and Adam James with 11.

9—That’s how many receivers Tech has with at least one touchdown. The list includes Michael Crabtree with 14, Eric Morris with four, Lyle Leong and Edward Britton with three each, and Detron Lewis, Tramain Swindall, Baron Batch, Adam James, and Ryan Hale with one each.

14—That’s the number of times Texas Tech has punted this season. Their opponents have punted 33 times.

29:21—That’s the average time of possession until this point. That includes the Nebraska game where Tech only held the ball for 19:45, which is a testament to how much longer the Raiders have had the ball in all of their other games this season, to bring the average up 10 minutes. Last season, Tech held the ball an average of 27:57.

14—That’s the number of passes the Raiders have picked off this season. Darcel McBath is tied for second in the nation with five interceptions, and Daniel Charbonnet is tied for seventh with four interceptions.

12.2—That’s how many yards per catch Tech is accumulating. That adds up quickly when the Raiders are completing an average of 34 completions per game.

256—That’s how many passes Graham Harrell has completed this season. He’s completed 71.1 percent for 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Living Up to the Hype: Texas Tech Travels to Kansas

Gail Hall — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:59:07 -0400

Texas Tech is 7-0 for the first time since 1976. The Mike Leach system that has received criticism over the years for overemphasis on offense while ignoring defense seems to have finally broken out to contend for the Big 12.

Part of this also may have to do with the fact that Tech has yet to play a ranked team. Their opponents currently sit with a combined record of 22-28...ouch...but that all ends this weekend, when the Raiders begin a series of four games in five weeks, all against ranked teams.

This series kicks off at 11:00 am against the No. 23 Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kansas. This game pits two of the nation’s best QB-WR tandems in the nation against each other with KU’s Reesing-Briscoe (who doesn’t lead the Jayhawks in receptions, but does in yards and TDs) and Tech’s Harrell-Crabtree duo.

It’s safe to say there won’t be a whole lot of defense played, and both teams will probably score at least 40 points. They started the game so early so that it might be over by sundown with all the passing that will be going on.

Of course, now that I’ve said that, watch it be a low-scoring defensive battle with a powerful and conservative running game. Crazier things have happened, but I wouldn’t count on it.

A quick statistical breakdown

Todd Reesing: 195/208 for 2,322 yds and 17 TDs, five INTs

Graham Harrell: 222/318 for 2,761 yds and 23 TDs, five INTs

Dezmon Briscoe: 43 receptions for 705 yds and eight TDs

Michael Crabtree: 51 receptions for 724 yds and 12 TDs

Some defensive stats

KU has the 99th-ranked pass defense in the nation, allowing 250 yards per game.

Tech has the 103rd-ranked pass defense in the nation, allowing 258 yards per game.

KU has the 29th-ranked rushing defense in the nation, allowing 109 yards per game.

Tech has the 12th-ranked rushing defense in the nation, allowing 92 yards per game.

They’re 65th and 58th respectively in total defense and 47th and 43rd respectively in scoring defense.

After Texas Tech’s dismal defensive performances in previous seasons under Mike Leach, the 58th-ranked total defense in the nation looks great. Much of the credit belongs to new defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, who has made some of the best in-game adjustments a Tech coach has made in years this season against Texas A&M, Kansas State, and Nevada.

Texas Tech has caught quite a bit of flak for its last two conference games, both of which were little too close for comfort for most Tech fans. However, 7-0 is still 7-0. That’s more than 110 other Division I-A programs can claim.

The Nebraska game the Raiders needed overtime to win can be compared to the Florida-Ole Miss game. At least the Raiders won their close call game that they almost overlooked.

A&M is an in-state rival school on the road in a very tough environment. The Aggies may not be very good this season, but a win at Kyle is always hard earned, and I can guarantee you that the Aggies were more pumped to play Tech than they were to play Kansas State.

With the defensive adjustments made in the second half, the Ags didn’t get a single offensive point. That, in addition to a Heisman-like game from Harrell (44-for-56 for 450 yards, three TDs, and two INTs), managed to seal an 18-point win. That’s something to be excited about.

Michael Crabtree sprained his ankle against the Aggies but should be back in top shape by Saturday. The ankle was sprained on a 50-yard kickoff return that set up an easy scoring drive for the Raiders.

Whether or not Crabtree can be expected to continue to return kicks is still in question, but he will be in the game. Not that the sprain slowed him down much—he still had a reception for a TD after the return.

Tech will be starting another new kicker this weekend, the third for the season. Matt Williams won a kicking contest a few weeks ago and was offered a walk-on position on the team.

After jumping through some hoops to clear eligibility issues, Williams should be kicking PATs and short yardage FGs on Saturday, though Leach has said that he still hasn’t ruled out the possibility of just going for two on every TD with our current kicking issues.

Historically, the Raiders have never lost at Kansas and are 9-1 against the Jayhawks all time.

Tech will have to put together a complete game from the first snap to the last down—something they have yet to do this season—to pull off the win, but if that happens, they will have justified much of the hype surrounding the program that they’ve worked so hard over the last several seasons to build and set up some great momentum going into the Texas game on Nov. 1.

Tech has the better offense and the better defense—they just have to remember to use them.

How to Fix the BCS

Gail Hall — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:45:24 -0400

Everyone has a theory about playoffs or the BCS or any other system determining the college football postseason, and now it’s my turn.

First off, I should establish that I am in the tiniest of minorities of people who think college football DOES NOT need a playoff. Feel free to post all sorts of outrageous comments about how wrong I am, but read through the end of this blog first.

College football is at its pinnacle of popularity. Every game counts, the regular season is a playoff, insert other various and sundry clichés here. But really, people love college football from Week One to Week 14, and more importantly, every one of those games matters.

Do you realize how unique that is? In the NFL, the best teams rest their starters by the last week or two of the season without a care of winning or losing. How much fun is that to watch?

With the exception of a few die-hard fans, the first few weeks of college basketball are nothing more than glorified exhibition games. Really, there are no ratings until the tournament anyway, and then only because every office in the world has a bracket pool.

The NBA ratings before the playoffs are almost equally dismal, and they’re equally guilty of the starter-resting business as well. There’s also that tanking business in the pros, but that’s another topic for another day.

Can you imagine the day when Jim Tressel benches his quarterback against Michigan because he’s got his playoff berth locked up? Do you want to?

The biggest argument for playoffs is that the current system is unfair. While flawed, the current system probably crowns the best champion more often than any other sport.

The Giants couldn’t even win their own division and lost at home to New England. But in the NFL, the regular season ceases to matter once January rolls around. Is that fair?

In 2005, a 9-2 Notre Dame team or a 9-2 Ohio State team would have had the same shot at the title as an undefeated USC or Texas team. Is that fair?

There’s also the tradition of bowl games and the fact that the season is long enough already, but I didn’t start this blog to defend the BCS. I want to fix it.

THE BCS IS A FLAWED SYSTEM. I’m not the first to admit it, but let’s take a look at how to improve upon it and make college football even better than ever.

First and foremost, dump the "only two teams to a conference" rule. If you’re in the top 10 in the Week 14 BCS poll, you made it. Why punish Missouri in 2007 because they played in the Big 12 Championship game and thus got an extra loss? They deserved to be there.

On the other hand, you can’t leave out a one-loss Kansas team, especially when we know in retrospect that they dominated in the Orange Bowl. Maybe the solution is to ban Oklahoma from BCS games and save the rest of the Big 12 some embarrassment—yet again, another topic for another day.

The same thing happened to Wisconsin in 2006. Michigan and Ohio State had phenomenal regular seasons. Auburn deserved a BCS game in 2006 as well. Funny how the two conferences in the title game had three deserving teams. How can you punish Wisconsin for that?

With that rule gone, it might alleviate the problem I’m going to address in my next point. But either way...

Secondly (and this may seem redundant), if you’re in the top 10, you’re in. No more tie-ins. None of this dipping down to No. 13 just because the Rose Bowl wants a Pac-10-Big Ten matchup business. If they’re both available, then the Rose Bowl can have them, but if not, they have to pick someone else in the top 10.

The championship game gets first pick, then all the other bowls can have their tie-ins if they’re available, and then you have to pick from the remaining top 10 teams. If a conference champ didn’t make it into the top 10 (a la Wake Forest in 2006) they don’t go to a BCS bowl.

The Rose Bowl can have first pick—they’ve got enough clout and history that they deserve that much. That means last year’s Rose Bowl is USC-Missouri. I can guarantee that would be a better game than the shellacking USC gave Illinois.

That means 2006 gets really shaken up: The Sugar Bowl would have been LSU-Wisconsin, and the Orange Bowl is Louisville-Auburn. I don’t care that Wake Forest won the ACC—they won a really bad conference and finished 14th in the BCS poll. Fourteenth. That’s not just one or two removed from the top 10.

Besides, who doesn’t think that Louisville-Auburn would have been a more exciting game?

Thirdly, the BCS formula needs to be tweaked. Computer rankings should be given more weight than human polls. Humans can be (and are) biased. They can be swayed and lobbied; they can be influenced by winning traditions and past accomplishments and dynasties.

None of that sort of thing should matter in the crowning of a champion. The title game should be based on a team’s performance that season. Human polls should still factor in, but to a smaller degree.

Additionally, strength of schedule should play a stronger role. It would encourage better non-conference matchups and create some excitement early on, which would only further increase the popularity of the sport.

Throw in a bylaw that you have to win your conference to play in the title game. There’s no way that Georgia, who didn’t even win their division, let alone their conference, could make a case that they deserved to be in the title game.

And that, ladies and gents, is my very long, wordy, and verbose explanation of what is right and wrong with the BCS, and how it should be fixed. Kudos to those of you who made it through the whole thing, and go Texas Tech!