It's DejaVu All Over Again

They call him Shoelaces up in Ann Arbor. His game is shifty and sleek and if you listen to those who root for the maize and blue, Denard Robinson is the epitome of all things good in college football.

In two games as a starter for the University of Michigan this year, Robinson has thrown for 430 yards and 2 touchdowns while racking up a whopping 455 yards and 3 scores on the ground. His performance thus far has even drawn the praise of former Rich Rodriguez quarterback Pat White who has called Robinson a “Beast.”

Shoelaces is single-handedly resurrecting the Wolverine tradition and proving Rich Rod to be the genius he was hired to be. The more this young signal caller improves his quarterback rating, the more his legend and fan t-shirt tributes will grow.

Believe it or not, Robinson’s emergence as a star also coincides perfectly with Michigan’s return to the Top 25. A feat made even more impressive considering it was done in serendipitous fashion by beating Notre Dame in South Bend on national television.

Now, before we assume this story has the fairy-tale ending that sees everyone yelling “Go Blue” in Pasadena, let’ read the rest of this story, for some reason it sounds very  familiar.

There you go, if you look closer at the writing on the page, you’ll notice every time this story mentions Robinson, you see another name that has been scribbled out. The reason this story sounds so familiar is because it’s the exact same tale we watched unfold with former Wolverine golden boy, Tate Forcier.

In consecutive years, Michigan has opened the season with the same question marks surrounding the team and its coach. They have a new starting QB that is supposed to be a prototypical fit in the Rich Rod offense. Rodriguez is again mired in turmoil and his system has yet to stick with his players.

They opened the season at home with a very winnable game against an inferior opponent. For the second straight year, a win against the Fighting Irish all but guaranteed the U of M a spot in the AP rankings. Feel free to stop me if this is beginning to sound like a replay of last season.

Now, sitting at number 20 in the nation, Shoelaces will rack up another 1,000 all purpose yards while smacking around UMass and Bowling Green. Then, in his most impressive game of the year, Robinson will lead Michigan to a victory against the Big Ten’s perennial bottom feeder, Indiana.

By the time Michigan State rolls around, Robinson will have the Wolverines undefeated and pushing for a spot in the Top 10. But again, this is almost exactly what happened last year with Forcier under center.

This story is not intended to be a declaration that the Wolverines will finish the season below .500 and miss a bowl game for the third straight year but it’s also important to recognize the underlying factors in Robinson’s performance.

Credit is due to Michigan for beating UConn and Notre Dame and starting the season 2-0, but wins over these two programs is hardly something to boast. UConn is the third best team in a conference that has failed to achieve a single marquee win this season, unless you consider Syracuse beating Akron a big win.

As for Notre Dame, they may finally have a coach that will lead them back to respectability in a few years, but it’s a team that is both rebuilding and learning a new scheme that is hardly known for its defensive stoutness. Not to mention they are breaking in two new safeties, a new quarterback and three new starters on the offensive line.

It is also true that Robinson has been much more effective than Forcier in his ability to run the ball, but Robinson is also averaging 20 more rushing attempts per game compared to his predecessor. This may be due to the loss of Brandon Minor and the Wolverines inability to find a suitable number one back, but the reason Robinson is putting up the statistics two people would is because he’s performing the roles of two players each game.

This may be a fine strategy for the Wolverines to employ at the start of the season, but what happens when they get into the heart of the conference schedule. Five of the final seven teams Michigan faces this year will be in contention for a New Year’s Day bowl game and will bring a little more defensive ferocity than the Colonial Athletic Association can provide.

Robinson may prove me wrong and go on to be the second Rich Rod quarterback to fail miserably in the NFL, but without a few compliments in the offense to limit the hits Robinson has to take each game, one has to imagine his durability may become an issue. After all, isn’t that what happened with Tate Forcier last year?

Twas the Week of Kickoff 2010

Twas the first week of the NFL season,
 and fans throughout the league,

Are eagerly awaiting kickoff,
 while girlfriends force them to watch reruns of Glee;

We’ll spend Thursday night in NOLa,
where the Saints will hoist the crown,

And plan to make the Vikes,
 find an ambulance to carry ole’ man Favre out of town;

On Sunday we’ll be in Chicago,
where Lovie’s at risk of being fired,

Facing a Lions team that has a 20 game road losing streak,
they want to see expired;

In upstate New York,
the Bills will host the Dolphins,

Just a few days after the Big Tuna
decided he’d rather be golfin’;

Jason Campbell will be under center
 when the Raiders invade Tennessee,

Where V.Y. hopes to get the Heisman
they’re going to take from Reggie;

The Panthers play the Giants
 in a game the G-Men really need to win,

Because losing at New Meadowlands Stadium
 will be a 1.6 billion dollar sin;

Batman and Robin head to New England
 where the Pats want a freshly inked QB,

An extension that has Randy Moss crying,
when are you going to resign me?

The Falcons get their running game back
 with the return of Michael Turner,

Against the Steelers Dennis Dixon
 whose filling in for a suspended Roethlisberger;

The Broncos meet the Jaguars,
each team hoping to settle a score,

Over which of these two pretenders
wasted their first round draft pick more;

Cleveland and Tampa are in Florida
 squaring off at the New Sombrero,

To see which team has the advantage
 of paying a first round draft pick more dinero;

Houston’s secondary is suspect
and Peyton Manning should have a field day,

Even better for the Texans,
this is the only game Bob Sanders is guaranteed to play;

Arizona travels to St. Louis
 for the weekend’s first afternoon game,

Both teams wish they still had Kurt Warner,
who’s waiting on the hall of fame;

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers
 are in Philly for a fight,

Where Eagle fans are liquored up,
enjoying Adios to McNabb Night

Donovan’s now in Washington,
he’s Mike Shanahan’s new toy,

While all of Texas is shouting
“How Bout Them Cowboys;”

Pete Carroll’s coaching in Seattle;
 he left L.A. to get out of dodge,

And for some reason Mike Singletary
 is mooning co-eds on the USF quad;

The Chargers play the Chiefs
 in a divisional showdown on ESPN,
While Baltimore tries to wreck the party
 when they pay a visit to the Jets new den;

Rex Ryan doesn’t seemed to worried
now that Revis Island is back in sight,

Which leaves all football fans screaming,
THANK GOD IT’S MONDAY NIGHT.

A Mid-Majors BCS Championship Dream

We're officially one week away from the kick-off of the College Football season and ESPN is already calling it a "September to Remember."   The NCAA has graced us with a non-conference slate that includes 12 games between pre-season Top 25 teams in the first four weeks alone.  And if you aren't salivating yet, 5 of those 12 games feature a Top 5 program.

But what we'll remember up here in the Bleachers is not how many elite games we had the privilege of watching while Bama's Roll Tiding over the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship, if you prefer to listen to the pundits.  No, we'll remember the little guy catching a break for once.

As it stands right now, the five best teams in college football, according to the AP Top 25, are Alabama, Ohio State, Boise State, Florida and Texas in that order.  For those of you that just did a double take there's no need to adjust your screen, you read it right, Boise State is ranked number 3 in the nation.  The same Bronco football team that is best known for playing on "Smurf Turf", the hook and ladder and that running back who proposed to a cheerleader after beating Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

I'll be the first to say it, seeing the WAC's finest near the top of college footballs biggest poll seems a little odd, and I've been singing the praises of Little Brother U for quite some time.  No more than a decade ago the thought of a mid-major earning pre-season recognition was still considered laughable, hell, prior to this year no mid-major had even started a season higher than number 14.

Here we are however, theoretically just one Bama/Buckeye loss away from witnessing our first small school playing for a National Championship in the modern era.  And that's the beauty of it, with just that one loss the Bronco's are in complete and total control over their future.  Some might argue that an undefeated Florida or Texas would leap frog an undefeated BSU, but Boise's athletic department did one hell of a job setting up a schedule to help steer off the naysayers.

The Broncos start off the season at a not so neutral site against 10th ranked Virginia Tech and then host 24th ranked Oregon State two weeks later with a breather game against Wyoming between them.  Assuming Boise enters October with a 3-0 record, their chances of running the table are better than excellent.

As for that one loss needed from Alabama or Ohio State, the Tide face a beast of a schedule that includes 5 games against the preseason Top 25 and a trip to the SEC Championship en route to an undefeated season.  Ohio State must face 4 ranked opponents (all in the Top 20) and a potentially dangerous rivalry game to the end season.  Although I am very confident Alabama can run the table, I just don't see Ohio St. making it through a schedule that features Miami, Wisconsin, Iowa and Penn State with a clean record, they normally have trouble if they have to face two ranked teams.

This leaves one lose end that could make things a little unsettling for Bronco fans come bowl season, the teams just behind Boise in the rankings.  Florida can't leap frog BSU without beating Alabama, and if Florida beats Alabama, the Gators would just assume the position they knocked the Tide out of.  Then there's the Big XII.  Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska are all in the Top 10.  In order for Texas to leap frog Boise they will have to beat Oklahoma and Nebraska in consecutive weeks plus win the conference championship while replacing their record setting quarterback and five other picks taken in the first four rounds of this years draft.

Oklahoma will have to beat Florida State, Texas and win the Big XII championship game with a still inexperienced QB, a new LT and defense that lost a vast majority of its starters from 2010.  Nebraska will have to go undefeated and possibly beat Texas twice in the same year without Ndamukong Suh to make up for a lack luster offense.  At best, one team will make it through the Big XII undefeated, and that is a tall feat considering no other conference lost so many key difference makers to the NFL.

Now, this isn't a guarantee that we'll be watching Boise play for the Sears trophy come January, but don't be surprised to see it happen either.  In the end, an undefeated BSU will probably do just enough to earn a shot at the title should Alabama and Ohio State not go a combined 25-0.  And if Boise does end up losing a game this year the dream of a mid-major champion isn't completely dead, after all, TCU is ranked number 6.

Is this Heaven? No, it's College Football

On a glorious fall afternoon on September 13, 2009, the Football gods decided to bless us with an amazing gift, NFL Red Zone. 

The intro rolled and there stood Scott Hanson, the face that would forever change Sunday afternoons.  One man offering football fans "Every Touchdown From Every Game."  It was to be a station like none other; no commercials, every score and live look-ins decided entirely by what games are the most intriguing at that moment.  No longer were football fans throughout the midwest forced to watch the St. Louis Rams get the business when they would have much rather been watching the Texans and Titans dual it out in an offensive slobber knocker.

And as myself and a few of my friends sat down on that glorious September afternoon with our jaws dropped in awe, you could just hear John Kinsella ask his son Ray, "Is this Heaven?"

We weren't in Iowa nor did we go have a catch, but for once, the corn field in Central Illinois this writer calls home seemed a little more tolerable. 

Now, with a new season under way and the Red Zone just a week away from it's triumphant return, everything seems right in the world.  But what about the NFL's younger brother, the NCAA.  The college game goes hand in hand with its professional version, after all, you can't have a football weekend with out college Saturday.

Games are being aired all day on the ESPN family of networks, Fox Sports has it's Big 12 and Pac 10 games of the week, the SEC and BigTen networks air every game the conference plays that week while the major networks show the weeks premiere match ups and, for some reason beyond me, still shows Notre Dame.

As a college purist, I find myself spending my entire Saturday glued in front of my television.  From the second College Gameday starts until the final whistle blows on the last west coast game I am riveted.  But what if the NCAA were to take a page from the NFL's book and start its own Red Zonesque station(s).

Imagine the possibilities. The NCAA "College Ticket," every college game as it's happening.   One second you could be watching Terrelle Pryor roll out in a naked boot for another Buckeye touchdown and then instantly be sent down to North Carolina where Robert Quinn and the bruising Tar Heel defense slam the door on a goal line stand.  Most importantly, you'll never again have to miss a stunning upset because you figured there was no reason to waste your time watching Michigan vs. Appalachian State.

And if that all seems to overwhelming to watch at one time, it can be easily broken down as well.  Break the games up and show them on regional stations.  Could conference sponsorships bar separation of certain teams in different regions?  Possibly, but that can be over worked by simply breaking the games up into a BCS Station and a Mid-Major Station.
 
As far as this writer is concerned, the only problem facing the college game is that it's just too big.  There's entirely way too much to watch without devoting your entire day to the game.  And trust me, you are still left catching up on everything you just weren't able to watch.  Imagine knowing who Ndamukong Suh was prior to the Big 12 championship game or being able to catch the rise of UCLA and Oregon State without having to see them play USC.
 
It's a problem the NFL realized and did an amazing job fixing and it would serve the NCAA well to figure out how to harness in the potential of a "College Ticket"

We're Off and Running

I'd like to thank you for swinging on by and checking out Back To The Bleachers. What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to take a semi-serious and hopefully satirical look at the world of sports. I'll cover major events when they occur but will also take some time to enjoy and talk about the many things that make sports as enjoyable as they are. Feel free to comment with your own views and opinions or shoot me an email (backtothebleachers@hotmail.com) if you have a subject that you think readers would like to enjoy.

Have fun, comment often and in the immortal words of embattled University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez, "Let's be positive."