Seasons I still can’t believe actually happened: Barry Sanders in ‘88

Back in the glorious decade of the 80’s, my friends and I played a computer game by Epyx called “Summer Games.” There’s a clip of the actual game below, but before you start laughing hysterically while watching it, keep in mind it was the friggin’ 80’s.  Back then, this damn thing might as well have been “Halo”:

If you skip to the 1:30 mark of the video, you’ll see the 100 meter dash portion of the game.  It was painful watching that pixelated guy take upwards of 11 or 12 seconds to finish the race when I knew good and well Carl Lewis could do it in 10.

So I devoted an inordinate amount of time to getting this bastard to move faster.  Oh yes, this is what passed for an actual, honest to goodness goal during my wasted youth.  Practice my jump shot?  Get better at math?  Help the elderly?  Nah, those pursuits were of no interest to me, I was much more concerned with doing better at a crappy video game.

After much trial and error, I figured out that I could (try to follow this) bend my knees, force the joystick snugly between the calf and thigh of my left leg (with the stick pointed at my other leg) and then use a rapid up and down motion with my right hand to make the guy run faster…MUCH faster.  If my mom had walked in, she would have thought I had a masturbation problem, but that was still at least two years down the road.

My somewhat vulgar but effective method yielded a 7.37 time (yes, I remember it to the tenth of a second) that the game saved as a world record.  When my friends saw that number on the screen they stared in amazement.  You know that look of awe the nerds had when they saw Molly Ringwald’s underwear in “Sixteen Candles?”  That’s the same reaction that a 7.37 in “Summer Games” generated.

I bring that story up because it’s the only frame of reference I have for the numbers Barry Sanders put up at Oklahoma State in 1988, the year he won the Heisman.  Whenever I come across them in print I get a slack jawed look of wonder.

That season, if you count the bowl game, Sanders ran for 2,850 yards.  TWO THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY YARDS.  He had nearly as many games of 300+ rushing yards (4) as he had games in which he ran for between 150 and 200 yards (5).  The guy gained 1,152 yards in OSU’s last five regular season games alone.

His regular season total of 2,628 yards came in the old days when the only way you got a 12th game on your schedule was to get into the Kickoff Classic in the Meadowlands or play a road game against Hawaii.  Yup, Barry blew it up against the old fashioned 11-game schedule. What he could have done with an extra game or two, as players get these days…

This was the old Big 8, before Bill McCartney got Colorado’s house in order and Nebraska and Oklahoma shared dominion over the league.  Against the Huskers on October 15, Sanders put up 189 yards and 4 scores.  Three weeks later he ran for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Sooners.

Oklahoma State lost both of those contests (their only losses that season), but Sanders sent a message to the league’s power duo.  Not since Gale Sayers had an opposing player in the Big 8’s little six bombarded the Huskers and Sooners that way.

I’ve basically only touched on the yardage to this point, but the number of times Sanders found the end zone was just as impressive.  He broke the single season TD record of 31 in OSU’s ninth game.  He would push that record to 37 once the dust had settled.

Then came five more touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s Holiday Bowl win over a hopelessly outmatched Wyoming team. That’s a total of 42 touchdowns that season.  FORTY FRIGGIN’ TWO.  At this moment, if you don’t look as if you’ve just seen Molly Ringwald’s underwear, then you’re not much of a college football fan.

Here’s Rick Reilly singing Sanders’s praises in October of that year, before most of America realized how special the guy was (that would be Sanders, not Reilly).  You’ll notice in his writing that Reilly hadn’t fully committed to the general douchebaggery that’s come to dominate his persona.

The reference I made to my goofy “Summer Games” obsession is relevant not just because of the impressive nature of the numbers, but also for how unattainable they are.  Back then I taught everyone my pseudo-masturbatory 100-meter method, but try as they might, they couldn’t match that 7.37.  Oh, there were some low 8’s and such generated by others, but they couldn’t quite get to the promised land.

It’s been two plus decades since Sanders ran wild across the heartland, but nobody’s really come close to matching his production.  In the pantheon of sports records, 2,850 yards rushing in a college football season is looking as unbreakable as Rickey Henderson’s 1,406 career stolen bases or Latrell Sprewell’s track record of knuckleheadedness.

Plays I still can’t believe actually happened: Miracle at the Meadowlands

Plays I still can’t believe actually happened: Matt Davison in ‘97

Jimbo Fisher gets a blue chip recruit, then gets feisty

You’re the first year head coach of a big time college football program.  This particular program has lost to its arch rival six straight times by an average score of 34-12.  So how do you approach the season?

If you’re Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, you get right in that rival’s grill, which is exactly what he should do.  Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel provides the particulars:

Just returned from the annual Florida State football kickoff luncheon. Some tidbits:

-So you know how Urban Meyer never refers to Florida State by name? Always calls ‘em that “school out west.” Well, seems like Jimbo Fisher has taken note. While Fisher was breaking down the schedule during his “State of the Seminoles” address, he finally got to the Florida game at the end of the season. But he didn’t mention Florida as “Florida” or even “the Gators.” No, Fisher called Florida “that little team down the road.” (Orlando Sentinel)

What other choice does Fisher have?  He’s been a coach in waiting for a legend who handcuffed the school because he didn’t feel like retiring at a reasonable age.  As a result, Florida State drifted into mediocrity, something a program with its resources, fan base, location and recent history had no business doing.

Florida State is still Florida State, the expectations haven’t dissipated despite a decidedly uninspired product that’s been put on the field the last few years.  Not so long ago, when Florida was wandering in a daze through the last few years of Steve Spurrier’s tenure and the train wreck that was the Ron Zook Era, FSU was the nation’s top program.

So Fisher knows he’s only got a limited amount of time to get the Seminoles at or near that level or else he’s heading to North Alabama to ask Terry Bowden about any potential job openings.  Patience is friggin’ non-existent in Tallahassee these days.

With that in mind, Fisher’s managed to energize the fan base a few weeks before the start of the season not only through his bravado but also by making a nice recruiting splash.  The verbal earlier this week from James Wilder (yes, the son of that James Wilder) out of Tampa not only gained Fisher a high profile recruit, but also one who happened to be very high on Florida’s wish list.

Here’s Mike Bianchi’s take on the commitment:

If you don’t think this was a huge victory for Florida State, I suggest you click on the UF recruiting boards and see all the whining about Wilder’s decision. Gator recruitniks are beside themselves, saying everything from Fisher deceived  Wilder and told him only what he wanted to hear about playing running back … to Wilder really isn’t all that good anyway … to Wilder just wants to be big fish in a small pond (the ACC). (Orlando Sentinel)

C’mon Mike, let’s not get too carried away with the reaction of Gator Nation.  After all, the fan base of any superpower program goes postal when a high profile recruit they thought was theirs ends up with an arch rival.  But the point was made, Florida State is still an extremely formidable recruiting foe for any school that’s angling for top Sunshine State talent, Florida included.

The next step for Fisher is the hardest, and that’s getting it done on the field.  It’s imperative that the Seminoles have a good showing on September 11 when they visit Oklahoma.  If not, then the new head coach will be hearing some heavy duty grumbling a scant two games into his tenure.

Great resemblances in sports history: Nick Saban’s office

After seeing Nick Saban’s office in the glorified Alabama recruiting video, uh, I mean ESPN show “Training Days: Rolling with the Alabama Crimson Tide,” it reminded me of an office I’d seen before. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

I picture Chip Kelly’s desk in his office in the Oregon football complex being some sleek, ultra modern thing paid for with Phil Knight’s money. But Saban looks like he’s sitting at the exact same type of desk as Bear Bryant did. And I can almost guarantee that’s by design.

All that old fashioned wood furnishing sort of gave me a Daniel Plainview vibe, you know, when he was telling poor, deaf H.W. that he was a “bastard from a basket.” Jesus, the last ten minutes of that movie rocked…

But Daniel’s office is a little too dark and menacing in comparison to Saban’s, it’s more of a lair than a place to conduct business. What about the dude Stephen Root played in “No Country For Old Men,” you know, the guy who hires everyone to track down the money, but then gets blasted in his own office by Anton Chigurh:

Nope, it’s another miss, way too bright and airy and significantly less cluttered than Saban’s. Damn thing looks like it was furnished from the J.R. Ewing collection. Well then, what about Dean Wormer’s office, could that have been the resemblance I was thinking of?:

Eh, a little closer, but not quite it. But now that I bring it up, I could definitely see Saban telling a player that fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.

Then it suddenly dawned on me what I was thinking of…Nick Saban’s office looks a lot like Scrooge McDuck’s:

Granted, Saban’s desk doesn’t have bags of gold coins on it, but it might as well.

Great resemblances in sports history: Robert Green’s Goalie Glove
Great resemblances in sports history: Sidney Lowe
Great resemblances in sports history: George Foster

College football’s preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #5 New Mexico State

If you watch the show “Breaking Bad,” you might assume that damn near everyone in the state of New Mexico is either dealing drugs or using them.  But we know that can’t really be the case…can it?

I’m not going to make an assumption on an entire state based on a TV show, that’s just plain goofy.  However, there is something I can say for certain about the Land of Enchantment:  there’s some pretty bad college football being played there right now.

The New Mexico Lobos checked in at #8 on the bottom 10, and coming in at #5 on the list is the state’s other FBS program, New Mexico State (3-10, 1-7 in the WAC in ‘09).

Talk about a program desperately searching for an offensive identity.  Tony Samuel’s option attack gave way to Hal Mumme’s air attack which has now given way to, well, I’m not quite sure what second year head coach DeWayne Walker is cooking up.

In his first season, NMSU finished dead last in the nation in total offense (229.3 ypg).  So out went Timm Rosenbach as offensive coordinator, with the unit now in the hands of Mike Dunbar.  He’ll have a tough chore getting this train wreck of a passing game fixed.

While the tossing the pigskin part of the equation is being addressed, tailback Seth Smith will get plenty of totes.  He cleared the 1,000 yard barrier last season and is the closest thing to a stud that the offense has.

Naturally, when a team has trouble moving the ball, its defense in turn begins to wear down.  And that’s exactly what happened to the Aggies last season.  On third down conversion attempts between 1 and 3 yards, the opposition averaged 6.4 yards a rush on NMSU. That’s SIX POINT FOUR a pop. Ouch.

But I don’t think the news is all bad on that side of the ball.  If the Aggies can achieve ANY kind of offensive success this season, the defense will benefit as a result.  Cornerback Davon House might actually have an NFL future while defensive end Pierre Fils can blossom if he gets more interior help.

Why NMSU is in the bottom 10: There is no quick fix to be found at quarterback.  As a team last season, NMSU failed to complete half its attempts and as a result finished last nationally in passing efficiency.  Junior college transfer Matt Christian might be the answer, but who knows.

How NMSU can avoid the bottom 10: This is a tough one, because the schedule offers little early breathing room. The opener at home against San Diego State isn’t impossible, but that’s followed by trips to UTEP and Kansas and then a home date with Boise State.  Any, and I mean ANY improvement in the passing game could translate into four or five wins…maybe.

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #6 Tulane

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #7 North Texas

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #8 New Mexico

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #9 Washington State

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #10 UL Monroe

In college football, stats don’t lie…but they can stretch the truth

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m often guilty of taking statistics in college football at face value when judging a unit. For example, I’ll glance at passing efficiency defense rankings, see a team putting up solid numbers, and think, “That’s a great team at defending the pass.”

However, I might forget to take into account that the team in question might be marginal in terms of stopping the run. If that’s the case, then the opposition might not even be emphasizing the pass. Hell, why fling it when you can run it? In such a scenario, you have to take stats with a grain of salt.

So I’ve come to have the belief that while stats don’t lie, they can definitely stretch the truth a little bit. A case in point is the Texas Longhorns’ run defense from a season ago.

After the final numbers were compiled, they were the nation’s stingiest run defense, yielding a paltry 72.4 yard per game on the ground. That came on 458 carries by the opposition through 14 games. Next in line was Alabama at 78.1 ypg on 395 carries in 14 contests.

There’s been an emphasis by Mack Brown in recent years to get his various defensive coordinators (Gene Chizik, Duane Akina and Will Muschamp) to get tougher on the run. The trend says that’s exactly what’s been happening:

2009: #1 at 72.4 ypg
2008: #3 at 83.5 ypg
2007: #6 at 93.4 ypg
2006: #3 at 61.2 ypg
2005: #33 at 130.9 ypg
2004: #16 at 107.4 ypg
2003: #58 at 152.5 ypg

It’s interesting to note that the Longhorns’ second worst recent showing in this category came in the national title year of 2005. However, that particular Texas defense ended up finishing 10th nationally against both land and air attack while the offense blew up with Vince Young at the helm.

Here’s an interesting factor concerning the run defense from that championship year: Texas played five teams that finished in the top 25 nationally in rushing (Ohio State, Rice, Missouri, Texas A&M and USC). Against that kind of competition, giving up 130 ypg on the ground was no crime at all.

So using that notion, that a very good defense still has trouble shutting down a very good running team, brings us to an obvious conclusion: the fewer solid ground games you face, the fewer yards you allow.

And as the decade has wore on, the Big 12 has fielded fewer solid ground games because no league in the country has embraced pass heavy spread attacks the way it has.

For example, take 2008, a year in which five Big 12 teams (including Texas) finished in the top ten nationally in passing offense. Total touchdown passes thrown by that quintet of squads? A mindboggling 208. Two hundred and eight.

The league’s shift toward passing didn’t generate quite the same kind of numbers last season, but the emphasis was still there. Big 12 teams in the top 25 in passing? Six. Big 12 teams in the top 25 in rushing? One.

But the dearth of Big 12 teams at the top of last year’s rushing rankings isn’t nearly as fascinating as the glut of teams at the other end of those rankings. Four league members - Kansas, Baylor, Colorado and Texas Tech - finished in the bottom top 25 nationally.

And guess who got to play them all? That would be Texas, and as you can expect, the result was pretty ugly: those opponents were credited with a combined 106 rushes for 89 yards. Yup, less than a yard a pop.

Compare that to the two occasions when Texas got most generous last season, against Texas A&M and Alabama. Those teams ran it a combined 91 times for 395 yards on the Longhorns. In the BCS title game alone Alabama notched four rushing touchdowns, which was one fewer than Texas had allowed going into the contest.

As mentioned earlier, Alabama finished second nationally against the run in 2009, but unlike Texas put those numbers up against running attacks that were statistically superior. The Tide played five teams that finished in the top 25 in rushing and it’s also worth noting that none of Alabama’s SEC compatriots finished in the bottom 25 nationally in this category.

Even with the addition of a grizzled SEC coaching veteran like Tommy Tuberville at a pass happy school like Texas Tech, I don’t expect the nature of the Big 12 to change much this season. This is still a conference full of schools that love to throw the football.

So if the landscape is unchanged, you have to be a little bit weary of Texas’ true ability to stop the run when it counts the most. That’s because the league in which stats are compiled is just as telling as the numbers themselves.

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