Bleacher Report - Articles by Lucas Jackson Casablancas

The Big 12's College Football Delusions

Lucas Jackson Casablancas — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:10:54 -0500

"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks said Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner, would 'probably be about the fourth-best quarterback' in the Big 12, behind OU's Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy, and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

"Everybody is going to think Tebow should have won the Heisman,” he said. “But the right person won the Heisman, and we going to go out there and show the reason why he won it."

"He was so good that Brown says McCoy out-Tebowed Tim Tebow, Florida's 2007 Heisman winner, who is also one of McCoy's rivals for the award this year.

"He's done for this team what Tim Tebow has done for Florida," Brown said. "I can't imagine a player that means more to his team than Colt does to ours.""

"Tebow overwhelmingly won the Heisman voting in the South region and finished second in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but he was third in the Southwest, Midwest, and Far West. He was left off 154 ballots."

Medical Encyclopedia: Delusions

A delusion is an unshakable belief in something untrue. These irrational beliefs defy normal reasoning, and remain firm even when overwhelming proof is presented to dispute them. Delusions are often accompanied by hallucinations and/or feelings of paranoia, which act to strengthen confidence in the delusion.

Types of delusion

Grandiose

Individuals with grandiose delusional disorder have an over-inflated sense of self-worth. Their delusions center on their own importance, such as believing that they have done something of extreme value.

When did it start? How did it happen?

How did the Big 12 become so incredibly delusional, and seemingly overnight? And no one noticed...

Correct me if I am wrong...but the SEC won the national championship the past couple seasons, not the Big 12.

Don't tell them that though...they seemingly have lost all touch with reality. I am almost afraid to see what happens when they wake up from their delusion in the middle of the beating Oklahoma is sure to receive when they face a real defense.

I saw what happened when Mr. Doback tried to wake the STEPBROTHERS Brennan and Dale...

I suspect waking the Big 12 delusional homers could be equally as dangerous.

The delusion wasn't just confined to the Big 12 though...the disease was so out of control it spread all across the country.

For example, what killed Tebow wasn't really Big 12 homers leaving Tebow off their ballots. What killed Tebow was everyone else filling their ballots with the Big 12's overrated players rather than more deserving but equally handicapped SEC players who had to face brutal competition. So brutal in fact that Tebow's numbers looked pedestrian.

But people need to understand that the SEC teams' offenses aren't subpar compared to Big 12 teams. Far from it.

The Big 12's rapid-fire offenses just aren't used in the SEC, not because the SEC doesn't have the talent, skill, or creativity to run them.

The Big 12's offenses aren't used in the SEC because they simply won't fly there, not unless you happen to have a player like Tebow being used as the catalyst, such as last season when Tebow was breaking all kinds of offensive records.

But it also took the Gators themselves having no defense to rack those numbers up as well. But unlike in the Big 12, you can't get to the championship without a defense in the SEC.

God help us if the Big 12's delusion allows them to beat the Gators though...I can only imagine how out of control the disease will be if that fluke happens by some miracle.

But as Muhammad Ali said when asked by Howard Cosell about losing to less than stellar boxers..."even if you beat me...I'm still the best." And that's no delusion. It's a proven fact. The SEC has the skins on the wall to prove it.

But the scary thing about delusions is that sometimes people believe in them so strongly they are able to accomplish things they have no business doing—such as the lowly Utes beating SEC powerhouse Alabama.

But there is also a physical advantage created when these mental delusions occur in college football.

The same advantage that created that mental delusion in the first place gives these teams an unfair physical advantage. An advantage people don't even realize because the SEC still dominates even with this handicap.

People don't realize how these teams in bad conferences such as the Big 12 teams, USC, and Utah benefit from the reduced wear and tear of facing soft teams and soft defenses, game in and game out, through their entire schedule.

And lord knows the Big 12 players are certainly well rested and healthy due to facing far less resistance game in and game out than SEC teams.

This advantage is reduced greatly with the added preparation time before the National Championship game, but it is still there and still a significant factor.

For example, Percy Harvin is still beat up this season from the beating he took last season trying to carry the Gators through the toughest schedule in football. Tebow too. I honestly find it hard to believe lightweights like McCoy and Bradford would last a couple consecutive games in the SEC.

Just ask Tebow and his two teenage sons...you know...the ones he brought to the Heisman ceremony...

Oh, wait...those aren't Tebow's teenage sons...those teenage boys are Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford! The two Big 12 QBs that beat Tebow in the Heisman voting. I guarantee you, when they saw Tebow's menacing physique, I guarantee you, their delusions were busted! And when the Big 12 homers see him in action, their delusions will be busted too.

Scoop: Proof Tim Tebow Will Stay for His Senior Year

Lucas Jackson Casablancas — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:07:31 -0500

CAUTION: What you are about to read may be the greatest example of investigative journalism ever journalized.

Fact

Multiple sources familiar with the situation said Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler is a strong leading candidate to join Florida's staff after the national championship game.

Loeffler is also a former Michigan quarterbacks coach. Florida coach Urban Meyer has already announced offensive line coach Steve Addazio will become Florida's next offensive coordinator.

Loeffler has already talked to Tebow, who has said Mullen's departure could play a role in deciding if he enters the NFL draft.

Fact: Tebow and Loeffler have a history. This is from an article around the last bowl game in which Florida faced Michigan. Tebow mentions possibly going to Michigan (where Loeffler was the QB coach) rather than Florida.

Michigan, which will try to stop Tebow when it plays Florida in Tuesday's Capital One Bowl, was one of the finalists.

"I actually went up there twice," said Tebow, who praised Michigan's fight song. "But it wasn't the right fit for me. The offense, the place, it just wasn't the right fit. Nothing against Michigan, I'm not saying what was right and what was wrong, it just wasn't the fit for me. I did like the place, I loved the quarterback coach, Scot Loeffler, a lot and thought he was a great quarterback coach. The prestige and the feeling you get when you go to Michigan is a great feeling. It just wasn't the right fit for me."

Fiction that could be fact: I wonder how long this was in the making.

I have thought all season that Urban Meyer was holding Tebow back from throwing the ball.

Why would he do that? Ask yourself this...How much trouble do coaches go through to get a guy like Tebow in the first place?

Do you think Meyer will let Tebow get away when it is so easy to keep him around by putting his passing skills into question? Especially when Tebow has such a big impact on the game you can dominate with him simply by running the ball all game?

I hate to say it, but I have seen this coming for a long time. I have seen Meyer make remarks about Tebow's ability passing the ball since Tebow joined the Gators. Now, coincidentally, in Tebow's potential final year, you see Meyer finally making moves to correct Tebow's supposed throwing mechanics issues?

Why are we seeing this happening this next season rather than last season or the season before?

This also makes me wonder about the timing of Dan Mullen getting a head coaching job. Is this something that had been planned for a while?

Tim Tebow 3rd In Heisman Rankings?

Lucas Jackson Casablancas — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:40:03 -0500

I was just thinking about how ridiculous it is that Tebow isn't the current Heisman favorite. It's totally ludicrous when you think about it.

Tebow won the Heisman last season and was the only person to do it as a sophomore and put up monster numbers doing it. NO one player is game planned for or gunned for as much as Tim Tebow. He plays in the toughest conference with the toughest defense and is the best player on the most unstoppable team in college football.

The ONLY reason Tebow appears to not be the Heisman front runner is because of numbers, and this is due to opposing teams being focused on stopping Tebow more than anyone, which makes the players around Tebow look so incredible at times, such as the last game when it was obvious South Carolina was focused on stopping Tebow which allowed Harvin to explode.

How can you have the most potent team, maybe ever in college football, which just happens to have the only Heisman winner to win it as a sophomore and he isn't the current Heisman favorite?

It is so crazy I really can't express how nutty and completely backwards it is...

For Florida Gators To Win-Out Percy Harvin (Not Tim Tebow) Must Step Up

Lucas Jackson Casablancas — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:23:40 -0400

Who is Percy Harvin? Does anyone know? We know Tim Tebow's every step in life.

I am beginning to know Tim Tebow's face better than my own. I could probably write a pretty lengthy biography about Tebow because the media is so saturated with Tebow hype. Heck, I know more about Tebow's brothers and sisters than I do about anyone else on the Gators team.

But what about Percy Harvin?

Why doesn't he get the love that Tim Tebow gets? Look at Harvin's numbers in the last game.

Harvin had 268 total yards of offense and 2 touchdowns, both rushing and receiving the ball.

In the Capital One Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines, Percy Harvin had 242 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns again.

Yet again, like the Ole MIss game, I barely remember Harvin even being in the game.

At halftime of the Ole Miss game, Mississippi Head Coach Houston Nutt said, "Oh yeah, we're getting some great pressure, our frontline's playing really good. We just gotta contain Harvin a little better."

I remember Michigan's former Head Coach Lloyd Carr paying Harvin the same kind of lip service before and during the game.

But don't believe it...I don't. I think it's a sham.

I think these coaches know exactly what they are doing. In games that Harvin gets 200+ yards the Gators are 2-3. I am sure coaches are well aware of this.

This is why these teams are blitzing Tebow so aggressively. They know that if you take Tebow out of the game, his teammates, including Harvin, are the far lesser evil and much easier to handle than Tebow. And this is proving right.

Against Michigan, the Gators were 2-11 on 3rd down conversions, while Michigan was a whopping 10-15 on third down.

Against the Rebels, the Gators were 1-11 on third down, and Ole Miss was 5-15.

Harvin will hurt you, but not enough that he is going to win the game for the Gators. Not enough that he will get those third down conversions the way Tebow would if the entire defense wasn't focused on stopping him.

And this is why it is so beneficial to take Tebow out of the game and dare Harvin to beat you. Because Tebow is the only guy the Gators have who can get you those yards when you have to have them. Sure, Harvin can hurt you a little bit throughout the game. But he won't kill you.

As I see it, Harvin's stats and the defensive pressure on Tebow are really an indictment of Harvin—it shows how teams will let Harvin get his stats here and there all game, but it isn't enough to force them to change their defensive plan.

If Harvin was to punish these teams on a couple big plays early in every game, it would open things up for Tebow. It would force the defensive pressure off of Tebow and make them have to shade Harvin a little more, and this in turn would open up the entire offense of the Gators because Tebow would have more time to throw and could take more of the running load.

But the worst part of this is that the Gators, and more importantly, Harvin himself, may not even be aware of this.

Harvin is probably perfectly happy to be getting all those stats thinking he is doing his job, while Tebow takes the blame because his stats are suffering so much because of it.

As time has gone on with teams facing the Gators since Tebow has been the starting quarterback, every game teams are realizing more and more how to stop the Gators.

Putting your entire defense on Tebow and daring his teammates to beat you—and they can't. This is the achilles heel of the Gators. The offensive line, the running game, and the defense, just aren't consistent enough.

Tebow is the only constant, and teams know it.

I can tell you how we will know when this changes though, we will know when we finally learn who Parcy Harvin, or anyone on the team outside of Tim Tebow, is.