Big week for football
Two key events in the football world this week:
1) Superbowl XLIV – Obviously, the Superbowl is center stage this week as the Colts and Saints prepare to take on one another in what figures to be a great game Sunday. The two longest undefeated teams this season, both #1 seeds in their respective conferences and two great quarterbacks matching up in Manning and Brees. I like the Colts in a close one, I think Peyton Manning is the best all around quarterback in the game and that will be the difference.
2) National Signing Day – yesterday in the college football world, thousands of football players nationwide signed national letters of intent to enroll at various universities and colleges and with that join the football programs at those schools.
It’s funny how much hype the media puts into this, ranking each position and each class for every school. Being in Colorado, I’ve been reading all about the Buffs and the media is already all over coach Dan Hawkins calling the class a poor effort and that he missed the boat on several marquee players.
I have several problems with their criticisms – Firstly, the college game is much different from high school so I think rankings mean very little. I’m sure if you look at the Alabama and Texas squads from this year, very few players were ranked highly in their high school classes. I like to compare this with the way college players are in the pros. It’s the same idea.
I also think the media is looking for reasons to jump on Hawkins to get the negative atmosphere going. I have my doubts about the man’s ability to produce a winning team at CU, but like it or not we have him for another year at least and so criticizing him prematurely isn’t going to help anyone and in fact it could distract the players.
In my mind it’s becoming clear the key to CU’s season this fall will be the offensive line. All of the o-line starters will be returning from last season. If they greatly improve CU will have a better running game, a more balanced attack and keep the defense off of the field more. All of these things are recipes for success. Last year, CU’s team ranked #11 in the Big 12 in rushing, had far too many sacks on the QB and many stalled drives. While it’s safe to say CU will not be contending for a national championship this season and maybe not even a Big 12 championship, I do think 7-8 wins is possible if the team improves — and that starts with the O-line.