At the beginning of this 2007 college football season the polls were set and every talking head in the Nation had thoughts that the Top 5 might have 2 upsets this year maybe 3 maximum.

But what has transpired in the last few week is beyond words. Astonishing might would be one way to describe it, but even that wouldn't be considered "In the Ballpark", let alone, on it's way to the park at all.

It all started with Appalachian State knocking off Michigan in the Stadium known as the "Big House".
Many thought that would be the biggest surprise of the year in college football. But out of a little regarded nook on the West Coast rose a school known more for their academics and ability to groom future Congressmen than for their football prowess. Who would of thought it even possible that the war of words between Harbaugh and Carroll would turn into more than just a laughable incident?

A coach from a school that is far more devoted to graduating scholars than top line athletes against a coach from a school known for producing top of the line athletes, scholars...not so much.
This was a drop in the bucket, so to speak, with a can't miss point spread. Funny how that makes a bunch of so called underachievers rise to more than the occasion, isn't it?

They have no business being here! Shouldn't even try and compete. Just roll over and play dead. These, and many more lines were drilled into the craniums of the players from Appalachian State and Stanford in the week leading up to their games. Oh how we all would've loved to be there and witness these things in person, but with todays technology we get to see the game changing plays, the joy, the despair, heartache and triumphant jubilation over and over again. some of us are even lucky enough to see the tears and laughter in High Definition, which only makes the moment of these young players lives freeze in time, forever immortalized in NCAA history.

Hold your heads high Appalachian State and Stanford! To the rest of the country you're both "feel good" stories, but to every David waiting in the wings for their shot at glory, you have slayed Goliath. You have shown that there is more to perception than what the eye tells us.
You have become an inspiration and heroes for all those "little guys" that were told they never could or never would. You have turned the NCAA college football world upside down, not once, but twice. Here's a salute to your heart, determination and whatever else you guys used to snatch victory from the jaws of a certain defeat.

Thanks to you, it is fresh in all of our minds why we stayed glued to our televisions not wanting to miss a waking moment. Thanks to you for reminding us why we are all College football fans!

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article by 2*2*2

Labels: 2*2*2, Appalachian State, college football, Michigan, NCAA, Stanford, upsets, USC

Where to begin with the Trojans? It's hard to find a place as it seems that their reign will never end barring a Carroll exit. To look at a team up and down that should have been playing for the National Championship for an unprecedented fourth straight year and not find any holes is frightening in the least. If not for a late season stumble against their hated crosstown rivals UCLA and an earlier hiccup against Oregon State these Trojans were headed for an NCAA record 3 championships in 4 seasons.

The Trojans will be returning 18 of 22 seasoned starters from that '06 team combined with the best recruiting class for a fourth straight year that includes the Nations prize recruit Joe McKnight. There was controversy surrounding that recruitment as allegations of tampering floated around the AP news wires. Those voices have now fell silent and have added up to nothing more than the rest of the NCAA lamenting another dominate Trojan team.

Many pundits have speculated at the loss of two starters from the receiving core may have crippled the mighty Trojans for another year, but reports out of Spring practices seem to indicate otherwise. Junior Patrick Turner(6'5"), red shirt freshman David Ausberry(6'5") team up with 6'3" sophomore Vidal Hazelton to hopefully become HUGE red zone targets for John David Booty. Red shirt freshman Travon Patterson is going to be Booty's "speed" target at the wide out position.

At running back however there remains questions that have yet to be answered. The Trojans have seven 1st and 2nd year running backs who have earned HS All-American honors.
With this bottleneck at RB comes the possibility of transfers to other programs, but who is the front runner to start for the powerhouse Trojans? So far this question remains unanswered, but three have become front runners for the spot. Former starter Hershel Dennis is trying to come back from a knee injury suffered last spring. Before that injury he started ahead of Reggie Bush and LenDale White in 2003.

Chauncey Washington was the leading rusher last year, but is once again struggling academically after sitting out the '04 and '05 seasons for the same reasons. Sophomore Stafon Johnson is nursing a shoulder injury this spring that required an operation. The recruitment of McKnight, who is slated to share some of those carries, should help alleviate whatever concerns that the Trojan faithful might have.

The Trojans did however lose out on the 5 star offensive guard James Wilson who commited to Florida instead. Derek Simmons and Alex Parsons are rumored to be two players who could make the transition to o-line with the athleticism that they posses. Although it isn't a guarantee, there could be some shuffling of the o-line positions as the big men beat each other up during spring practices for the coveted title of blocking for the next potential Heisman winner. For 2008, USC has gotten a commitment from 6'7" 275lb Tackle Matt Kalil for o-line help in the future.

So you can now see that whatever holes in the Trojan armor that were evident are more than covered by a swath of talent. Of course, if all else fails, the USC Trojans could stoop down to the level of everyone else and plug in a 4 star recruit and hope that gets them by.

authored by 2*2*2


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Labels: 2*2*2, NCAA, PAC-10, spring football, Trojans, USC

Spring is in the air! The rains have come to wash anew and you can just smell the fresh cut grass, roasted peanuts and the vendor calling out that he indeed has every guilty pleasure that you could need. He can even airmail it 25 rows directly into your waiting hand!

The pleasures of Spring have arrived, but I'm not here to talk about baseball. We still have 2 weeks before we have to fill our lives with talk of popping leather, the crack of a bat or an incredible leap up the outfield wall to make an out.

This article is directed at Spring Football ladies and gentlemen! Can you hear it? Smell it? Taste it? In a world immersed in March Madness at the moment, there is a whole different ballgame going on behind the scenes. We haven't quite made it to the watercooler discussions yet or maybe just a word or two here and there, but there are questions of depth charts, walk-ons and starting QB's to be answered.

In the UW circles the talk is of who will be the best starting quarterback for the Dawgs. Bonnell or Locker? Savior vs. Senior! What will the O-Line shape up like and who will come out of the wash as the playmaking WR's?

In the WSU camp the questions are abound on if Bill Doba really is the man to take the Cougs back to a Bowl game and what effect will Akey's departure have on the Defense? Who is going to play on that defense and where? The Coug D-line resembled a walking M*A*S*H unit last year and there are serious hole to fill with the departure of Mkristo Bruce as a defensive leader.

How about USC? The demon of the PAC-10! How many 5 star recruits do you really need on one team? I have to give them credit though. When you establish a program that gets players that hardly got a snap in collegiate ball drafted into the NFL, you're doing one helluva job!

Hey! What about team NIKE? They do after all have the finest facilities in the PAC-10 if not the country. As a matter of fact, their facilities might even put some NFL teams to shame!

So many questions abound and as of today they won't be answered, but that flickering image in the mud puddle at midfield will become clearer in just two weeks. Ah,,, yes. We still have 15 more days to talk, dream and live football before the crack of oak on leather consumes us. Let us have our time and let the discussion fly!

Authored by 2*2*2

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Labels: 2*2*2, PAC-10, spring football