My Top Three Teams in 2009 in College Football.
Let’s be real here, how many of us are craving football right now on a plutonian level? Well, let’s take a look at my top three teams for next year. I’m sure none of these are a surprise, but this is going to be one of those years in college football where the outcome is pretty much pre-determined based on overwhelming talent of a few select teams. I apologize to all you Buckeye fans, but they are not a championship caliber team.. yet. In a power conference like the Big 12 or SEC, they would probably have 2-3 losses each year. Let's face it, 3 yards and a cloud of dust is no longer gonna cut it, and the whole Big Ten needs to bring itself into the new ages of spread attack football.
#1: The Florida Gators
The Gators, obviously, are my unanimous #1 pick. They return the alter boy himself, Tim Tebow, the 07-08 Heisman Trophy winner. He is the conductor of that offensive juggernaut, and being this is his 3rd year starting, they aren’t going to backslide in the least bit. Jeffrey Demps, the world class sprinter, and Chris Rainey, that other super-sophomore, line up in the backfield beside Tebow. I’d say that’s an overkill on speed, but I don’t think that does justice to the word overkill.
Wide receiver is the one area that is going to be a little green. They lost Percy Harvin to the NFL, and Louis Murphy to graduation. Riley Cooper will be the only returning starter at wide receiver, but, oh yeah, Brandon Frazier is a 6-3 sophomore with blazing speed. I don’t expect much drop-off in production, and if there is one they will just spread out the defense with that shotgun option attack and rack up the rushing yardage.
Defensively, they return intact, all 11 starters came back to school including Brandon Spikes, a sure fire top 10 pick in this year’s NFL draft. This unit kept Oklahoma about 30 points under its scoring average in the national championship game. Expect an even more dominant unit!
#2: The Oklahoma Sooners
I really struggled with my #2 pick, but after some decision I had to go with the Sooners. Sam Bradford came back, against all odds, for his junior year after winning the Heisman trophy and putting up mind boggling numbers. He would have been the #1 pick in the draft, hands down. When healthy, RB DeMarco Murray is as explosive a runner as you will see, but he’s found that injury bug quite often in his two years at OU. If the rich get richer, then OU is filthy rich, because their backups would most likely be starters at almost every other NCAA school. Mossis Madu and Chris Brown split time last year in backup/starter duty and they never missed a beat.
The offensive line will have to fill some holes vacated by the seniors. That may be the one area that costs them that elusive undefeated season once again. As Florida proved, the way to stop Bradford was to hit him over and over, and get him off his rhythm.
They lost Manuel Johnson and Juaquin Iglesias outside, but Ryan Broyles played extensively as a freshman, and they have two big time playmakers in Jameel Owens & Dejuan Miller who were red-shirted last year. Did I mention they average 6-4 in height, and run about 4.4 40-yard dashes?
Jermaine Gresham would have been the top TE taken in the draft. He’s got tremendous speed for a 6-6, 260-pound TE, and catches anything you throw in his vicinity. Most tight ends are a quarterback’s security blanket when the coverage downfield on the receivers is tight, it’s completely opposite with Gresham. He’s a first option, Jason Witten/ Tony Gonzalez type of player.
Defensively, they were decimated with injuries last year. They lost their captain Ryan Reynolds, in the Texas game, for the season. In stepped true freshman Travis Lewis, and did an admirable job. The other starter will be Austin Box, so opposing teams can choose the future NFL player they want to TRY and run at.
Oh yeah, that one guy on the defensive line, Gerald McCoy. That was complete sarcasm if you didn’t catch it. Another could-have-been top 10 pick, far and away the best DT that could have been in the draft. He’s Albert Haynesworth in a college uniform. There’s no way they can put up the same kind of numbers they did offensively last year, but don’t expect them to be “Lion”esque.
#3: The Oklahoma State Cowboys
This may surprise a lot of people, unless you watched them last year. You may remember their coach Mike Gundy for his “I’m a man, I’m 40!” rant a few years ago, but don’t be fooled. He’s building a top-notch program down in Stillwater. Their quarterback, Zac Robinson, may be the most gifted of all in college football. He’s blessed with a rocket arm and tremendous speed when he leaves the pocket.
As good as Michael Crabtree was at TTU, Dez Bryant may have been just as skilled, without the fanfare. He is a big target with great speed, and he’s a fearless guy down the middle of the field and can make the spectacular catch look mundane. OSU doesn’t overwhelm you in the backfield with great athletes, or big powerful running backs, but they have hardnosed backs with an eye on the end zone. Keith Toston and Kendall Hunter compliment each other very well in the backfield, and I expect more production from them this year with another year under their belt.
On defense, they need to really step up production. They gave up a lot of points last year, because they were a young defense that was trying to find their identity. They have a favorable schedule with Texas playing in Stillwater. They do have to play at Oklahoma this year, but stayed with them for the majority of the game last year at home.