College Football: 2015 Season

[JohnBM01]

The last step en route to a professional career is college. High Schoolers will enter the exciting realm of college football, and those still in college will look to pad their resumé in hopes of going pro and making an impact on the pro game. College football has its own mystique and flair that makes it enjoyable to watch. Insanity can, and will happen especially among the top level teams in NCAA FBS level football. Speaking of which, it will also be the sophomore season of the College Football Playoff. Who'll be playing for a title on New Year's Eve? Let the games begin.

Welcome to the 2015 season thread of college football. Any team, any level, any organization... this is the umbrella college football thread. It's a long way until the games that matter are played, but this is still the place to discuss all goings on in the world of college football. I certainly can't wait for the new season to start. Now that the NFL Draft has passed, I decided to post this thread some time after the NFL Draft.


GTPlanet... time to enroll for a new season of college football. Welcome to the new season's thread.

 

[JohnBM01]

THIS JUST IN...

Former Notre Dame QB E. Golson will transfer to Florida State. You all may remember the controversial finish to the Notre Dame at Florida State game from last season, where Notre Dame's would-be upset of Florida State was denied thanks to an Offensive Pass Interference call. Jameis Winston was the Florida State QB. So I guess for Golson, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Best of luck to Golson at his new school.

 

[tbwhhs]

Multiple people are reporting that UAB will announce the reinstatement of its football program this afternoon at 5pm edt.

 

[JohnBM01]

The whole UAB deal is a sad state to begin with. It would be great to see Alabama-Birmingham reinstate their football after that sad deal from last season.


[UPDATE] It is being said that the UAB football program will be reinstated in 2016. So the University of Alabama-Birmingham will revive its football program next season. I always respected football at UAB. Just have to go one year without UAB Blazers' football.

 

[Manasseh257NSX]

Wait E. Golson transferred? To FSU? That's kinda dumb. Didn't he lose his starting job at Notre Dame due to bad productivity? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

[JohnBM01]

A report indicates that the University of Alabama-Birmingham will have its football program resume in 2017. So no Blazers' football this season or next. UAB will get back to tackling and passing in 2017.

All the college football buzz so far is mostly Media Day coverage.

 

[JohnBM01]

As of July 30, here is the USA Today Preseason Poll for NCAA FBS (source: USA Today, by way of Yahoo! Sports):

1.) Ohio State
2.) TCU
3.) Alabama
4.) Baylor
5.) Oregon
6.) Michigan State
7.) Auburn
8.) Florida State
9.) Georgia
10.) USCal
11.) Notre Dame
12.) Clemson
13.) LSU
14.) UCLA
15.) Mississippi
16.) Arizona State
17.) Georgia Tech
18.) Wisconsin
19.) Oklahoma
20.) Arkansas
21.) Stanford
22.) Arizona
23.) Missouri
24.) Boise State
25.) Tennessee

We'll have to see how many of these teams can be and stay competitive. Some of them may just make the College Football Playoff this upcoming season.

 

[JohnBM01]

Did any of you see "College Football Live" today? Jim Harbaugh (new U. of Michigan coach) was answering questions mostly asked by a bunch of kids at a press conference. It was so cute hearing those questions and the cool responses he gave. It was so cool.

Can not wait for college football to kick off again. Just can't.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here are some key dates in regards to the College Football Playoff for this season:

11/3/15 - first CFP rankings released
12/6/15 - CFP teams announced
12/31/15 - Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl
1/11/16- Nat'l Championship Game

The most common argument in regards to this system is in if the playoff should be expanded to eight teams. To me, it WILL get to eight teams eventually; but, the primary counter is that we just got started with this system. We'll need subsequent seasons to assess and examine making the system better. By this time next week, can you believe it- college football will be back in anger!

 

[JohnBM01]

Can you believe we are only days away from college football being back in session? The collegiate fun for 2015 begins this Thursday with a handful of games. Time to get excited if you're a college football fan.

 

[JohnBM01]

College football is back! I was watching the Little League World Series game when I noted a score for the game between North Dakota State at Montana. And so I'm like, "college football's back, baby!" NDSU currently leads 7-0 with 9:22 left in the 1st Quarter as of this post.

 

[JohnBM01]

If you saw the game earlier today, the insanity of college football just begun. #12 Montana upset #1 North Dakota State at home with an amazing 38-35 victory. The four-time defending NCAA FCS champs failed in a game that really could have gone either way. The Montana Grizzlies were just the better team on this day against the Bison of North Dakota State University.

There's still a lot of season to go. If you ask me, though, if NDSU wins the NCAA FCS Championship this season, I think the Bison should SERIOUSLY consider joining NCAA FBS. I do sort of want to see them in FBS along with (eventually) North Dakota, South Dakota, and South Dakota State. Western Kentucky and Massachusetts were quite solid in FCS before joining the FBS ranks. NDSU would be a great addition to FBS even considering how the Bison defeated various FBS level teams in the past.


College football. She's back. In anger.

 

[JohnBM01]

The daily grind for a college student is mostly to go to class, learn something, do homework, study, and all that. The real fun, however, is when you strap into some pads and a helmet, take to the field, and tackle somebody. That's right- college football is back! There are a handful of games to be played even if many of them are mostly games that should be cakewalks for most teams. This is maybe the best weekend of college football since there's no pro football to try to dilute the college experience. So go enjoy some college football as the 2015 semester (as Kevin Harlan would say) get all dressed up and ready to go. I might try and catch games like Michigan at Utah tonight.


Enjoy college football this weekend, and good luck to all of your teams.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Picks did Michigan in, but they already are playing better now than they were at any point last year. It looks like there is good potential with this team if they keep improving.

 

[LancerEvo7]

We just got trashed by Temple. I literally can't even.

 

[GTPorsche]

Texas is doomed.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

That is so Purdue to throw a Pick 6 to the opposing team (Marshall) on their very first play on offense.
That's also so Purdue to lose the game. They lost 41-31 and managed to give up a second pick 6 as well.

 

[JohnBM01]

*** cue "Monday Night Football" theme ***
Ohio State at Virginia Tech TONIGHT!

Tonight is all about Ohio State and Virginia Tech. Last season, Ohio State's only speed bump towards a perfect season was when they disappointingly lost to Virginia Tech at home. They have a chance tonight to get revenge from last season. That revenge, however, will come at Virginia Tech. Can the Buckeyes take down the Hokies? We'll find out tonight. Oh, and did I mention that Ohio State is the #1 team in the nation?


Good luck to both Ohio State and Virginia Tech.

 

[JohnBM01]

So... how did you like the first weekend of college football? The fun just started. It's time for teams to solidify themselves as contenders with more interesting games than most of the games against weak sauce teams. Maybe the most disappointing loss from this past weekend was South Dakota State beating Kansas in Kansas. Perhaps Texas A&M's victory against Arizona State is perhaps the biggest win of the weekend.

Get ready for another weekend of college football.

 

[JohnBM01]

"It's just one game," as we say. Let me showcase on a few *interesting* wins from this past weekend:


* Kansas lost to NCAA FCS' South Dakota State 41-38 in Lawrence, KS. Yes- the Jackrabbits knocking off the Jayhawks in the Jayhawks' house.

* Fellow FCS school North Dakota defeated Wyoming 24-13 at Wyoming.

* It was a big win for Florida International as the Miami school beat the University of Central Florida 15-14 at UCF.

* Down went the SEC as Vanderbilt lost at home to Western Kentucky 14-12.

* Congratulations to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte on their first FBS level win by beating Georgia State at Georgia State 23-20.

* Fordham beat Army 37-35 at Army. Okay, Army is one of the sorriest football schools in FBS, but you certainly feel like crap when you're on the top level and lose to a non-FBS team.

* Portland State went up to Washington State, and the Cougars of Washington State fell to the Vikings 24-17.

* Temple blew out the Nittany Lions of Penn State 27-10 in Philadelphia.

* "WE... ARE... MARSHALL!" ...and Marshall took down Purdue 41-31 this past Sunday. Sometimes when Marshall says "We Are Marshall," I almost jokingly want to say "Wheel of Fortune!" Yeah, I'm weird. Tell me something I don't know.


Anyhow, any of these early names intrigue you so far? Or are there any other underrated teams so far after just one game?

 

[Brett]

I will be leaving to go to the OU game against Tennessee tomorrow. I am pretty excited about the trip.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Michigan looked good against Oregon State and killed them with a 37-5 victory.
#6 Auburn survived a major upset scare by hanging on to beat FCS team Jacksonville State 27-20 in OT. It's safe to assume that Auburn won't be #6 when the next rankings are announced.

 

[GTPorsche]

ESPN and their fantastic coverage. ND QB goes down with an ankle injury. They show every single angle available and go to commercial. Upon coming back from commercial they make the decision to not show the replay.

They could have done that before...

 

[Brett]

I will be leaving to go to the OU game against Tennessee tomorrow. I am pretty excited about the trip.

Probably needless to say, but the trip was awesome!

 

[tbwhhs]

Probably needless to say, but the trip was awesome!

You guys deserved that one, the 2nd half you outplayed us and outcoached us big time.

 

[Brett]

You guys deserved that one, the 2nd half you outplayed us and outcoached us big time.

Prior to the second half of the fourth quarter and overtime, I was dreading the drive home from Knoxville. OU's offense was playing so poorly. Rough way to lose and all of the Tennessee fans around me were just devastated. I tried to not be too excited at the win.

 

[JohnBM01]

How do you think Oklahoma will do in Big XII play this season, Brett? How do you like Tennessee this season in SEC play, tbwhhs?

 

[Brett]

TCU and Baylor are the two to beat at this point in the Big XII. Oklahoma has a chance to compete with both of them, but they are going to need to improve in a few areas to do so, most notably the offensive line. Unless the offense line matures with more playing experience--they are a young group, the left side of the line now have a combined four starts--and grows as a unit, then the offense is going to struggle.

The receivers, bar Sterling Shepherd, are continuing the trend of having issues catching passes. There were so many dropped passes in Saturday's game. They are also a mostly inexperienced group.

OU's defense looks to have improved quite a bit compared to last year. Though there are probably still some question marks. The secondary need to continue to improve. The defensive line needs to improve. The linebackers have played well.

 

[JohnBM01]

Can you believe the guy from BYU who punched a grounded Boise State player in the man region (or whatever you want to call that specific piece of anatomy) was NOT suspended? College had its own questionable call this past weekend about as much as the NFL incidents involving (respectively) N. Suh and "Pacman" Jones.


Among the *interesting* wins from this past weekend...

* Bowling Green State taking down Maryland 48-27 is probably the biggest disappointment. There is no shame losing to a MAC school, but it feels bad to lose a football by this much at home to a mid-major.

* Another MAC school, Toledo, dropped the #18 Arkansas Razorbacks 16-12 at Arkansas.

* One more MAC school for you. Eastern Michigan is usually pretty sorry, but they beat usually middle-of-the-road Wyoming 48-29 at Wyoming.

* Okay, maybe one more MAC school. But after that, no more. Honest! Western Michigan is usually pretty good themselves, so how did they end up losing to Georgia Southern 43-17 at Georgia Southern?

* The Kentucky Wildcats went into South Carolina and beat the Gamecocks 26-22.

* Temple wasn't "scurred" of Cincinnati. In fact, at Cincinnati, the Owls beat the Bearcats 34-26.

* To stay with the American Athletic Conference, my beloved Houston Cougars went into Louisville and won 34-31 at the U. of Louisville Cardinals. We're 2-0 so far while Louisville is (surprisingly) winless.


Do any of these results surprise you? Were there any other wins that surprised you?

 

[Jahgee]