It’s a brave new world order and it’s going to take some getting used to. Quarterbacks that are 6’6, have a cannon on their shoulder, can bust a move like Michael Jackson to elude defender and make a 6’3 240-pound linebacker cringe just before making contact, knowing he might be the worse for wear from taking the hit.
For those that love to wager on college football, it comes in handy to know certain tendencies of the head coach. Though virtually every coach could care less about the point spread on any game they are involved in coaching, word will filter down thru various channels that high-profile alumni with large bank accounts wouldn’t mind if the home team covered a spread against a particular opponent.
The glamour position of football is the quarterback, followed by running backs. These are the players that get all the love (and hate) and pub from the media, fans and football bettors. However, longtime college football announcer Keith Jackson and every football coach that ever walked the sidelines above peewee level knows it all starts up front, as Jackson used to say, with the “Big Uglies”.
Pop quiz: Out the 19 worst rush defenses in the nation, only one comes from a BCS conference. Who is it?
We could be really annoying and make you grind through the rest of the story before giving you the answer. No one wants that, so …
Each week Ben Burns and David Payne scour the non-BCS conferences looking for a hidden gem.
Life is tough in the MWC and WAC. Lose one game, and you go from a potential BCS bowl to the Humanitarian Bowl. That’s a mammoth pay cut, and a lot of pressure on the coaches from the non-BCS conferences.
Each week David Payne and Ben Burns scour the non-BCS conferences, looking for a hidden gem to take advantage of.
This week, they take a look at teams that are set up to fall during the second half of the college football season.
Hawaii: The Warriors laid an egg and lost their quarterback in last week’s 27-6 loss at Louisiana Tech.
The fall shuffle is on.
Beginning this month, teams from across the country will have their schedules turned upside down with Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday games.
Classes will have to be rescheduled, and practice routines will be disrupted. Players and coaches will be traveling late at night. It’s hectic.
Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
(1) NEW HEAD COACHES ARE MONEYBURNERS
For the most part, new coaches are brought into college football programs that are in need of a transfusion. Much like a body that undergoes alterations during a lifestyle change of diet and exercise, it also takes a while before first year coaches turn a program around. In fact, all teams with 1st year head coaches are 1307-1445-45, or 47.4% ATS, since 1990.
