DJ Foster Stays a Sun Devil

Change is good they say. Change helps people move on from a situation in life they say. Moving on from a particular place in life is sometimes not the best thing to do for a person. In the case of DJ Foster of Arizona State and his choice of staying in school or moving onto the professional ranks he chose to stay in school and get some more experience and what some people would call "seasoning".


Foster made the correct choice in my opinion by deciding to stay at ASU. He had a lot of publicity when he came out of Saguaro High School in Scottsdale. He was one of the biggest recruits that the state of Arizona has seen in recent history. He chose to come to Arizona State in part to stay at home and have family and friends be able to see him play on a consistent basis. His high school coach was also put in charge of high school relations with ASU and that helped as well. However, the biggest reason I believe he stayed was that his parents are ASU alumni and having his parents watch him play was a big deal for him. That reason may seem a bit cliché, but for many athletes that is a deciding factor in terms of where they go to school.


As far as this particular choice of staying in school it was a sound choice because as much as DJ Foster thought he might be ready to make the jump to the NFL. He's not there yet and his draft position is not where he would want it. At best he may have been a fourth round pick this years draft. He rushed for over a 1,000 yards, he caught 62 passes for 688 yards this past year. Good stats, but not stats that he wants if he wants to be a higher draft pick, and I am sure that Foster wants to maximize his draft potential when he does go pro.


Part of him maximizing his potential is possibly taking a bigger leadership role with the team and putting in the time in the weight room and learning everything he can to take advantage of a spread offense that can and has showed how good of a player he can be. There have been whispers of Foster not being as dedicated to his craft as he should be, but that is simply conjecture at this point because after all he still is a college kid and when has anybody during their college years been as dedicated to their craft as they should be? People who are out of college and have their careers going know what it really takes to keep that career going. Foster doesn't have that experience yet, but he will. I guarantee he will figure it out as he matures.


The other aspect of him maxing out his talent is for the coaching staff to use him a little better. Even though he ran for over 1,000 yards, it could have been a lot better for him if he wasn't asked to try and go between the tackles as much. He's not a guy that does great going between the tackles. He is most effective in space because he has phenomenal speed and he can't do that if he trying to dodge the nose tackle on every play. I also think he needs to be put into the slot position more often and he may just be better as a slot receiver than as a back in the Sun Devil attack.


There are personal reasons why he may have stayed too. I know that his desire to graduate and obtain his degree is a goal that he has had for a long time. His family has stressed that there is more out there in life than sports and that life is about starting and ending chapters in his life. Being a Sun Devil is a chapter in his life that he is not ready to end and so he is coming back for his senior season. I don't think that this was the sole reason for him coming back though.


I respect his choice for coming back, but I am not disillusioned by him saying that he wants his degree as that one reason. If he was going to be a higher draft pick, I could have easily seen this press conference going in the opposite direction and we would all be talking about DJ Foster jumping to the NFL. Fortunately, we are not talking about this today. We get to enjoy watching Foster run and catch his way around Sun Devil Stadium and other Pac-12 stadiums. I, for one, am happy that change did not happen in this case. Forks Up Sun Devil fans!

Oregon Title Thoughts

You don't hear anybody talking about it at all. The coaches are talking about it, the fans are only whispering it, and the players don't want to say anything publicly. What is that thing? The Ducks and their chances for a National Championship in the college football playoff. Can Oregon win the playoff, absolutely. Are they the newcomers to the National Championship talk? Yes they are. How do they get rid of the newcomer title...?


Read the entire column at www.cfbroundtable.com.  


Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson@cfbroundtable.com

Sun Devils Make Plays

I told people that this Sun Bowl game between Arizona State and Duke would be an entertaining game and I believe it lived up to that kind of billing. There were great things done by the Sun Devils, some horrible things done by the Devils, but in the end the only thing that matters is that Arizona State has more points on the board than the Duke Blue Devils.


This was a very good win for the Sun Devils because it gives them back to back 10 win seasons to build off of and gives them a good jump off point for the 2015 season. One of the points that I made earlier in the week was that the match up to watch was the Sun Devil defense and the Duke offense and that was what it came down to in the end. After the Sun Devils got up by 13 going into the third quarter, Duke rallied to take a lead late in the game and it looked like ASU wasn't going to be able to stop the Blue Devils from scoring every time they touched the ball in the fourth quarter. However, the lead the for Duke lasted only a few moments.


The ensuing kickoff was ran back by Kalen Ballage 96 yards to the Duke four yard line where the Arizona State scored and took the lead back 36-31. The ASU two point conversion try was no good. By no good, I mean a horrible play call and it failed miserably.


This is when the game got even more interesting. Duke took the ball and marched down the field to Sun Devil 14 and had a lot of momentum. It felt like Duke just may finish the comeback and score. A score would have just crushed the Devils and their emotions about this 2014 season. Instead, the Sun Devils defense made a play when they absolutely needed to. Duke goes to their best player, Jamison Crowder, and the ball was a bit underthrown by the quarterback. The underthrown ball was intercepted by the Devils defensive back, Kweishi Brown with 45 seconds left and that was the ballgame right there. The aspect of the game that I wondered about was if the ASU defense could make a stop when they needed to. They answered that question, it took most of the second half to do it, but they did it.


Now, it's onto the offseason and start wondering about the 2015 season. There are many positives that the Sun Devils will have when they return to practice for next season. They will have a good quarterback, with experience in Mike Bercovici. They will have an experienced offensive line and pretty much everybody coming back on the defensive side of the ball. All of that experience that the defense had this year will be invaluable for the program next year and it should show on the field. The question marks will be who replaces Jaelen Strong, their stud receiver and possibly who takes over for DJ Foster if he decides to leave early. The question for the Foster replacement may have been on display today as Demario Richard had four touchdowns for the Sun Devils, but there is a lot of talent in the ASU backfield, so Coach Graham will have some decisions to be made before the start of next season.


All in all, things in Sun Devil land are certainly looking up and very positive. Nothing to be ashamed of for the Devils for 2014. Forks up Sun Devil fans!


Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion

Season of Change

Being a teacher, a coach, writer, and sometime advice giver I have seen many things change in schools and many things stay the same.  While I could talk about the changes I see, I will stick with things that never have really changed. Those things are kids, students, players, or whatever the context in which you want to call them. Kids are kids I’ve always said and thought. The times change in which the kids grow up in, but kids and their issues they deal with are really no different than the issues I dealt with when I was growing up. Case in point…

Every spring, usually around late April to early May it comes that time around Mesa, Arizona when thoughts turn to spring football practice and the new crop of players emerge into the locker room and onto the practice field. Coaches wonder what kind of athletes they have, who has speed, who has good fundamentals, who has passed their classes to remain eligible, and most importantly which players are coachable. Players wonder what their coaches are like, will we win games, will I be a starter or sub, and hopefully, will I get better to be on varsity in another year? For coaches and players alike, those are legitimate questions for the spring.

This past spring at Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona I and my other coaches got a new crop of players. These are players that are in the latter part of their Freshmen year, so they are heading into their Sophomore year of high school. They are J.V. football players. One year from being a high school varsity player. Spring football is an exciting time because we can finally put the previous season to rest and start concentrating on the new season in front of us and what we have to do as coaches to get these players ready to excel for the upcoming football season.

While some coaches get really fired up for spring practice, my approach, and the approach of the other coaches at our school is fairly tempered. We don’t get to excited over things or to down about things because the players are just in shorts and t-shirts. Anybody can look good in shorts and shirts, it is when we go and put on the pads that we see the separation of the kids who hit and the kids who want to hide under the table when somebody is coming at them full speed.

Spring football came and went without much fanfare because I was really only interested in seeing what we had has far as talent was concerned. One thing was apparent though. There was talent with this group of athletes. The talent was a bit raw and undisciplined, but it was there. Just waiting to be coached up and taken to places they had yet to see.

As any coach would tell you, you can have all the talent in the world, but if they can’t play together and know there role then the season will not be a success. As with any team, there are cliques and when those groups of athletes can’t mesh with the other players, it tends to be a long season of frustration for the team.  The cliques on the team during spring ball were pretty much under control once the team came out onto the field to practice.

When spring turned to summer and the hot weather started, the kids took a little time to adjust to the hot weather. Now, when I say hot weather, I mean Arizona hot. Days of 105 degrees and hotter. We are lucky down here in the Valley of the Sun that there really isn’t much humidity. They say it’s a dry heat and that is exactly what it is. A dry heat. It’s akin to putting your head in a pizza oven for 2 hours a day on the practice field. As coaches, we struggle all the time trying to stay cool, but these kids are running routes, doing drills, or doing some end of practice running. How they do it, I have no idea. I walk off the field sweating profusely. The players are drenched and that is even when we practice in the early evening when the temperature outside is ONLY 100 degrees. That always shows a bit toughness to me when these kids are asked to practice in these kind of conditions. 

It’s through this kind of practice in the heat that lessons on being tough and fighting through pain or exhaustion come into play. My coaches and I preach all the time about “finding that extra something” or “dig down deep to make a play”. We put the scenario in their head about it being the fourth quarter of game and they are the ones that need to make the play. “Will you find a way to make the play or do you give into the pain or exhaustion?” I say to them. Young athletes look at their football coaches with disdain and anger when we say those things. I understand that, but lessons are to be taught when things are not easy for them. Players don’t learn anything when they are easy, makes them lazy in my opinion and when things get tough for them during a football game then they can’t rely on those tough practices to get through the hard game times and make a play. Football is a tough, physical game and you have to be ready for anything that happens.

During the summer we went through a time where we were having great practices. The kids were showing progress with the new offense that they were being asked to understand and they were accepting of the new pressures the coaches were putting on them. As coaches we thought we had a group that was going to mesh together early and we could put more responsibility on them. It’s funny how much of a rollercoaster off-season practice and workouts can be.

July hits and it’s a time of “what are these kids thinking?” in the weight room and on the field. We had more kids not showing up to practice or coming up with excuses as to why they could not be there. I’m not really big on excuses.  Even though summer time practices are not technically mandatory, the kids need to be there to soak in the offensive and defensive schemes we have for them. When I was younger, it didn’t matter the sport, I was act practice. Family vacations were during a limited time when there was not practice or games. Not today. Different times, different ways of thinking for parents of athletes these days. This was the struggle for the coaches during July.

In Valley of the Sun, school starts early. It starts during that first week of August. It’s tough on the kids and coaches. Most of the coaches, like myself, also teach at Mesa High, so it’s combining responsibilities of the classroom and on the field. This is also another time for the players that they have to learn how to balance things in their life. Between home, family, and school they have a full plate of things going on in their life. The other thing that makes our situation unique is that some of the things happening at home is not conducive to maintaining that balance that these young men need to be productive at school. How these players find the will to keep doing what they have to do during the day, I have no idea. That’s a lesson that these kids teach me every single day.

That is what makes coaching high school players rewarding for me. When I say that this was a season of change for the players, it was a season a change for the coaches. These kids appreciate everything that they have because many of them don’t have a lot themselves. These kids give more to others around them than kids who may have everything at their disposal. It shows me a lot about them as young men.

As the season starts, we get out of the gate quick with a victory against the Mustangs of Dobson High. We didn’t play our best, but we win. The next couple of games we win and go to 3-0. The lessons for these kids continue because we, as coaches, had to guard against over confidence and we learned that grades were potentially going to affect who was going to be able to finish the season with us.

I took the team aside and tell them very directly that they need to get themselves into the afterschool tutoring and to bring notes from the teachers confirming that they were in tutoring. I told them that they had let the team and their coaches down by not performing in the classroom. Most of the kids that were affected by their grades took care of that situation. It was a constant and daily reminder to the athletes because they had to understand that without their grades being at a certain level, there was no football. Football is the carrot that keeps some of our athletes in school. We need to dangle that carrot over them as much as we can as coaches. It’s a discipline thing. It takes the same amount of discipline on the field that it takes in the classroom. As adults we know that. As 16 year old JV football players, they don’t. They may say they do, but in reality they don’t fully comprehend that part of it. We know as adults if we don’t perform at our job, we don’t hold that job that long. As teenagers, they have people holding their hand a little too much and telling them that they will be just fine. When in reality, the athletes need to told that everything is not fine and they need to change their ways or things will be taken away from them that they cherish.

We get the grades taken care of and we have a date on the field with a rival school that is literally 10 minutes from our school. It is a school that we consider a rival, but they probably don’t look at us as a rival because they have been dominating our school in football and just about everything else for a long time. As Freshmen, they lost to this team and very much wanted a victory this year. The players were into the game from the opening kickoff. On the opening kickoff we knock the ball loose from the opposition. I keep telling the kids, “Keep it up, don’t let them back in the game!”. As the game wears on, we keep the pressure on and walk away with dominating victory. Mesa High 41 Mountain View High 14. The kids walk off the field overjoyed. I had players coming up to me with tears in their eyes, wanting to hug me or the other coaches, and yelling “We did it!”

There is no greater feeling as a coach of young high school athletes as when the players accomplish something that they wanted. That victory over Mountain View High School will stick with them for a long time. They walked around school the next day with their chests knowing that they had slayed the dragon and it was great see. The coaches and I talked with the players at the following practice that they can play with anybody, that they can compete, and that they are talented enough to do some special things in the future. Lesson communicated, hopefully lesson learned for the players.

In the end, the season ended on a sour note and our team finished the year 4-4. The kids wanted that winning season. Tears were shed, but we told the team that shedding tears is normal. That it’s supposed to hurt when you come up short and it’s supposed to make you want to work harder in the off-season and fix the little things that held you back in the previous season. More lessons to be learned in the next year for these young men.

It was a good season with ups and downs, and most of all, these young men learned more about themselves that will carry over into next year. Carry on Mesa….

Bowl Time for The Sun Devils

With Christmas finally over and the crazy season basically in the rear view mirror, college football fans can concentrate on the bowl games that happen in rapid fashion between now and Jan 12. It's time for the Sun Devils to take to the field against Duke in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. They are going to have to do some things to come home with another 10 win season and a jump start into the 2015 season...


For the entire column go to www.cfbroundtable.com 


Follow me on twitter: @pigskinopinion

DJ Foster Arizona State Football Highlights II ASU

Lets hope DJ Foster stays at ASU and has a huge Sun Bowl Game...

Christmas Wishes in the Pac-12

Every holiday season, people have many wishes for themselves and other people around them. College football is no different. Many teams in the Pac-12 have wishes for themselves as they head into the 2015 season. Those teams alumni are no different, they want big recruits, wins, great facilities, and anything else that puts their school in a more positive light and into the college football playoff...


For the entire column, go to www.cfbroundtable.com..


Follow me on twitter: @pigskinopinion

Las Vegas Bowl: A Great Start for the Pac-12

Many times in the past the Pac-12 has disappointed during the bowl season and it has been frustrating to watch at times because the conference is a great conference for football. This year is not any different for the Pac-12. I think the teams from the conference should do pretty well in their bowl games and it was started off very well on Saturday in Las Vegas.




Utah took to the field against the Rams of Colorado State who have had some turnover with the head coaching position, so the maybe motivation may not have been there for them. However, that is not an excuse for anybody. From what I saw, the Utes simply came to play and the Rams didn't. Travis Wilson played really well in this game and may have put himself into front runners job for the 2015 season with this performance. He finished 17-26 for 158 yards, which in total yards doesn't seem like a great game, but for Wilson it was a game of management going 5-6 for 71 yards and leading Utah to 21 points in the first quarter. Wilson nearly got half of his passing yards in the first quarter.
From there, the Utah defense shut down the Ram offense. The Rams did score ten points early, but were shut out from there for the rest of the game.




The Utes all stud running back Devontae Booker had one touchdown and 162 yards rushing in a game that was but over in the third quarter. This was Booker's 7th one hundred game in the last 10 games for Utah. He has been the model of consistency throughout this surprise season for the Utes and he certainly didn't let Utah fans down on Saturday.




Here is another stat that blew my mind. The difference in rushing yards was 347 yards. Then when you consider that Colorado State averaged 172 yards on the ground and was held to 12 yards for the entire game that is a feat in itself. Nobody wins a game when they let the other team run for 335 yards.




To get the victory in the fashion that Utah did lets every college football fan that may be a casual fan of the Pac-12 that there is some real quality football being played out here in the West. The quality of the teams playing from the conference just gets better as we get further into the bowl season. Lets hope the quality lives up to more wins for the Pac-12.


Follow me on twitter: @pigskinopinion

Pac-12 South Division: Best Division in Pac-12 and the Country

There was a time when many people thought that the Pac-12 was Oregon, Stanford, and any ol' team from the South Division. Times have certainly changed in the conference. Arizona, ASU, USC, UCLA, and Utah are all going to bowl games and have excellent chances to win those bowl games.


Does the Pac-12 South have an argument in terms of being the most competitive in college football? Hell yes they do. Here's how the South was won. Arizona State had control of the division in early November, then they made a trip up to Corvallis. We all know what took place there. Then UCLA had control of the division for a bit, Arizona and the Arizona State still had an outside chance to claim the division if UCLA slipped up against USC or Stanford. The conference tension was thick for a couple of weeks.


The Territorial Cup between Arizona State and Arizona loomed large because the winner of that game would win the division if UCLA lost to Stanford. The Bruins had already beaten the Trojans fairly handily a week before so the division title was on the line in Tucson and Pasadena. Most people thought, myself included, that the Bruins would most likely hold serve at home against a younger, struggling Stanford Cardinal team. However, that is why they play the game people.


As I was in attendance for the Territorial Cup and watching the game from the press box I kept seeing the score in Pasadena get worse for the Bruins and I was in shock quite honestly about what was happening out there at the Rose Bowl. I thought the game might be a little closer than people thought, but in the end, the Bruins would prevail by like 10 points or so. Nope. The blowout was on for the Cardinal. They ran away with the game.


Once we knew as media people that the Bruins were going to lose, we knew the Wildcat/Sun Devil game was for the south division. We had heard that Arizona Head Coach Rich Rodriguez had ordered that no announcement about that game was to be heard or the score put on the scoreboard. I totally understood that because he needed his teams focus to be on the Sun Devils. The Sun Devils made it close towards the end, but the Cats got the stops and turnovers needed to help seal the victory and the south division. Rich Rod was told of the south division title as the field was being taken over by Arizona fans. He said it put a little more bounce in his step when he heard that news.


Utah was a player this year too. They came out of nowhere to make things interesting as well. They had wins over both the L.A. schools, but lost to the Arizona schools in some very tight ballgames. Utah will continue to be a factor in this division. Coach Willingham will recruit like he always does to get some hard, in your face type of players. I almost look at them as a power type of team and not necessarily a spread team which can be a great thing for them. Opposing teams will know that they are in for a long afternoon when they play a physical Utah team.


All in all, the south was won this year by it's teams eating their own. The Pac-12 in general typically does that. The one thing that tells me that this division just may be the toughest in college football is from what I saw this past year and that 5 out of the 6 teams are playing in bowl games. I am not sure there is another conference division that can boast that statistic.


The other aspect of this division that I like is that it helps to raise the awareness of how tough the Pac-12 can be as a conference. In a day where fans like to compare everything, the Pac-12 fan base have a better foot to stand on when their SEC counterparts say that they are in the best conference. The Pac-12 can say, "We are coming for you SEC, be careful or we just might run right past you.." As of right now, the Pac-12 south is leading that charge for being the best conference. I would love to see them charge right by SEC for domination. It would be great for college football...

Bowling with The Pac-12

Bowl season is here and the Pac-12 is well represented with the bowls. Oregon is going for a national championship in the playoff and the Pac-12 South division has 5 out of it's 6 teams in a bowl game. Having the conference this well represented in the post season says something about the quality of football coming out of the this conference.


For the entire column, go to www.cfbroundtable.com...


Follow me on twitter: @pigskinopinion

Onward and Upward for the Arizona Wildcats

As the 2014 season comes to a close in a few weeks, it's time to start looking at 2015 a little bit and seeing what teams have to do to become that "next level" team. Well, one of the surprise teams in the Pac-12 and even the country, the Arizona Wildcats, have some things that they have to work on to keep the upward tick with the program happening. One of those things is defense....


For the entire article go to www.cfbroundtable.com...


Follow me on twitter: @pigskinopinion

D.J. Foster Leaving the Devils?

Sometimes you hear things about somebody possibly leaving early for the NFL and you tell your self "Seriously?". One of those items this year is hearing that D.J. Foster may be thinking of leaving early for the pro's. Not sure if that is a good idea on Foster's end of it.








Watching D.J. in high school and now at Arizona State, I would say that he needs to stay in Tempe for his senior year and get a little more "seasoning" in college before heading for the big payday in the professional ranks. He leads the team in rushing at 1,002 yards and second on the team in receptions with 59 catches which is great, however, he still needs to develop that knack for taking a game over and being that complete game changer. He has great versatility, but he needs to get better in the running game. There were times during the season that he would disappear from the game and the stat sheet. I would look at his numbers and wonder what is going on with him.






Some of that disappearance is due to some good defenses taking Foster out of the game and the offensive coaches not using him as they probably should. He is a very dynamic player, but he's not a first or even second round pick this year. He might not even be a first or second round pick next year, but he needs to stay to get more reps and play because there are not many teams, if any, that are going to draft a "3rd down" running back. They want somebody that they can count on to make a difference on their team and I just don't think Foster is there yet.


D.J. Foster also needs to stay to land on All-Pac 12 teams, first team, or even third team. Even get a little Heisman talk or Doak Walker talk. Put his name out there a little more with some major awards and help drive his team to even more victories next season.


By all accounts this is all preliminary talk. Nothing has been talked about in absolutes or anything close to that. He says he is not worried about this NFL talk right now because he is helping his team prepare for their Sun Bowl game. That's football player talk for: "I don't want to say that I've been thinking about it yet." He's thinking about it for certain in my opinion. Somebody got in his ear and has been whispering things about his pro value. Hopefully somebody close to him and cares for his future will mention that the correct move is to stay in Tempe and help the Sun Devils win the south division of the Pac-12 and then win the Pac-12.


At the end of the day, D.J. Foster is a very good back with a chance to become a great back, but he needs more playing time and more time to showcase his abilities for NFL scouts. He's not a first or second round pick, but he can help his case to get into the third round or early fourth round for next years draft. It'll be interesting to see what his decision is in the next few weeks, but I really hope he stays at Arizona State.

Marcus "Heisman" Mariota

Sometimes it's hard to deny truth and to do the right thing even when it's staring you right in the face. On Saturday night in New York City, people who vote for the Heisman Trophy got it right by giving Marcus Mariota of the University of Oregon that phenomenal individual award. Which is a first for the Duck football program. You won't hear this winner talk about himself or scream "look at me!" like some other winners in the past two years have....


For the entire column, go to www.cfbroundtable.com...

Marcus Mariota Heisman Trophy Speech

Deserving player and better yet, deserving person. He exemplifies what the Heisman is all about...

Gary Andersen Introduced at Oregon State - Part Two

Second part of the Andersen press conference...

Gary Andersen Introduced at Oregon State - Part One

New Beaver Head Coach Gary Andersen and his press conference today.

The Year in The Pac-12

Bowl season is upon us and that means looking back on the season that was in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is a great conference for football and is catching up to the SEC in talent. There were many crazy things this year from Hail Mary endings, to overtime thrillers, unexpected coaching changes, to a conference team getting into the college football playoff. Yep, a great year all around...


For the complete column, go to www.cfbroundtable.com.

BeaverNation: Gary Andersen

Oregon State learned something from the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They lost their long time head coach to the Huskers in the past week. It was a move that caught the entire college football world by surprise. So what do the Beavers do? They do the exact same thing the following week.


In a week that had many people throwing out the names like Scott Frost, Mike Norvell, Jeff Tedford, Jonathan Smith, and Justin Wilcox, the Beavers decide to go about their business quietly like Nebraska did and hire somebody that nobody had on their radar. They go to Madison, Wisconsin and hire away Gary Andersen as their new head coach. A move that made me react with a "Really? Wow." The Beavers went into the Big 10 and took a coach from a Big 10 power school and made him their own coach. That does deserve some high praise for a bold move like that.


On a day when the university announced a $43 million dollar improvement to the facilities around the football program. Adding this announcement of the new coach on top of that made the fan base react with a lot of optimism and hope. This is a fan base that needs something to grab onto because they see what happened 45 minutes to the south of them at University of Oregon. There is a bit of jealously attached with that hope when they see what the Ducks have done in the past few years. Beaver fans want that happening for them as well, I can attest to that being an alumni of that school.


I like the hire of Gary Andersen very much. He's a guy with western roots and has a reputation of recruiting very good players. College football is about recruiting and facilities and now it looks like the Beavers are getting a good dose of both things. One of the things that I have for Andersen is what coaches is he bringing with him or possibly hiring to coach the defense and offense? Andersen is going to have a totally new defense on his hands and that is going to be a major question mark going into the 2015 season. However, lets focus on the good hire that he is for the Beavers.


He obviously liked the pitch from the powers that be at Oregon State and what they said they are trying to do in Corvallis. Many would look at him going from Wisconsin to Oregon State as a step backward, but you never know why coaches do what they sometimes and we may never know the true reason he left Madison for Corvallis, but right now the Beaver fans and alumni don't care about that reason. They know that he is their coach and the next person to help restore the program to level of consistent winning and to do something about that "other" program in the state of Oregon.


It's going to be interesting to hear the press conference on Friday and what his plans are. It's going to be even more interesting to see how he reshapes this program in his image and how the fans react to him. I think Beaver fans are ready for the 2015 season to get started right now. I'll be looking forward to the next season that is for sure.

What Will a Coach Inherit at Oregon State?

In the near future Oregon State will make a decision on who will be the next coach to lead their football program. Many names have started to be thrown around. Some of those names include Jack Del Rio, Mike Norvell, Brady Hoke (please no), Jeff Tedford, and Scott Frost. While some of these names are far fetched and some may be more realistic it is going to be a bit of a sell job to any of these potential coaches as to why Corvallis is a place where they want to come to coach.


A few of these items may be deal breakers for some potential candidates, so the Beaver hierarchy will have to be real diligent in their search and I think they will have to open up their pocketbook to bring in a coach who wants to be here and make a name for themselves in Corvallis.


The football team is 2-12 in the last 14 fourteen Pac-12 games. Some will blame the coaching on this one, some will blame the players, or the talent level that the Beavers have had. However, this is a stat that is hard to take for the fans. They want a winner and this is not showing them that winning is going to happen.


Next, over the course of the last four years the Beavers have a losing record. The record the past four years has been a paltry 29-33 and even worse 19-26 record in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is a highly competitive conference and if you want your program to be taken seriously, seven games below .500 is not going to get it done.


Staying with the struggles of winning over the course of the past few years. They have lost seven straight games to the in state rival Oregon Ducks. Oregon State hasn't won a game in the Civil War since 2007 and it is starting to affect the fan base. They want to beat the Ducks so bad and it is causing Duck jealousy amongst the Beaver fan base. The new coach is going to have deal with this jealousy at the outset of his reign. If the Beavs can take down Oregon in the next few years and maybe take them down a couple of times it will cause the fan base to feel like they can compete on a higher level.


Replacing Sean Mannion. This will be a huge task for any coach that gets hired in Corvallis. He had a magnificent career at Oregon State. As of right now and for the near future, he is the all time passing leader in Pac-12 history. He passed for a record 13,600 yards in his stint for the Beavers. His experience, arm, maturity, and all other intangibles he brought to the field will be sorely missed by his former players, fans, and coaches.


Attendance. Now, Reser Stadium is not a huge stadium by todays standards, but it never was. The sold out attendance is a little over 45,000 people. It gets loud, but it is not the L.A. Coliseum, The Rose Bowl, Husky Stadium, or even Autzen Stadium. The new coach will have to address this issue and make sure that the play on the field maximizes as much noise as the crowd can generate. Attendance has been averaging a little over 42,000 people, so they are not selling out. Once again, the play on the field has had something to do with the non sellouts. The new coach will have to bring that new enthusiasm and provide that reason for the other 3,000 fans to show up and sell out Reser Stadium.


The Beavers are losing nine starters on defense and that is going to be an area of concern because even with those nine starters in there, they still gave up 31 points a game and you will not win many ball games with that kind of statistic. Even in the spread offense happy Pac-12 where defense is an after thought you still have to get stops if you want to win in this tough conference, so this aspect of the team will come down to who the coaches can recruit to Corvallis.


Storm Woods. The returning junior tailback accounted for over 50 percent of the teams offense in the Civil War game. He had 128 yards rushing, 58 passing. This is a great thing that the new coach will inherit. He currently ranks in seventh place in the programs history with 2,183 rushing yards. He is a terrific weapon and is a talent that is game planned against by opposing Pac-12 defensive coaches.


The offensive line will be back. The offensive line will be experienced and hopefully anchored by All-American Center Isaac Seumalo. Seaumalo whose father is also a coach for Oregon State is expected to return, but hasn't made his intentions clear as of yet. This young man returns and the line goes from a very good line, to a phenomenal line. He's that kind of talent and he has been starting since he was true freshman, so that tells you right there what kind of talent he possesses.


Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. This is what college football comes down too many times. You win and it's easier to recruit because kids want to play for somebody that wins. They want to play for a coach who is going to give them a chance to play. Players that come to Corvallis find that opportunity to play and to make a name for themselves. Whoever takes the helm of the football program is going to have to be a great seller. Corvallis is a nice little city, but its not anywhere near the big city lights that a Miami or L.A could provide for a player. Like I said, the new coach is going to have to sell the positives of being at Oregon State and Corvallis. If he can recruit, the sky could be the limit for the program. Winning makes the recruiting part much easier for a coach. Just ask any Oregon coach. It's not that Eugene is any hot bed of night life for young athletes, but they win and look has happened to the program.


In the end, the new coach of the Beavers will have a lot to deal with immediately. They need a coach that will be devoted to bringing the program to a higher level and not looking to use the university as a stepping stone to a bigger, better job. Let's hope the Beaver powers that be realize that this may be the most important hire in the programs history. Just saying...

Bowl Season in the Pac-12

Here we go fans. The regular season in college football is over and we are about to engage in the bowl season and the first ever division one college football playoff. The Pac-12 will have plenty of representation in this years bowl season. We all know where Oregon is heading, but the conference also has Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Washington, USC, UCLA, and Stanford in bowl games...


For the complete story go to www.cfbroundtable.com...

A Heisman Night for Marcus Mariota

Sometimes things are just inevitable in life. Death and taxes right? Well, last night in Santa Clara one thing was made as certain as the sun coming up and that is the Heisman Trophy going to Marcus Mariota of the Oregon Ducks.


Going into this game the Arizona Wildcats had beaten the Ducks the last two times they had played and had essentially put a damper on the season because Oregon looks to play for championships these days. The game had started off rather slow for the Mariota and the Ducks. The first two possessions ended with just field goals for the Ducks and the feeling was that Oregon certainly left points on the board. That was the feeling I had anyways. The other issue that was happening was that Oregon was committing a lot of penalties. More specifically, false starts. It was affecting field position and the ability to put touchdowns on the board. For all of the mistakes by the Ducks, they still had the lead. Enter the difference maker, Marcus Mariota.


Before the halftime break, Mariota scores twice by running the ball in and the score was 23-0 at the break. During those two scores I had the feeling that the Ducks quarterback was starting to find his groove and so were the rest of the team. As the second half started I had the feeling that Mariota would put his team on his back and make this game a blow out and that is exactly what he did. He had a sequence in which the pocket became cluttered and he maneuvered his way out of it and threw a pass on the run to wide receiver Darren Carrington. Carrington to his credit also made a great catch on the other end. A great athletic move to go get the ball and add to the lore of Mariota.


By the end of the third quarter, the only thing that the pro-Duck crowd was wondering was the final score. Marcus Mariota was making all the throws needed to keep drives going, he was making plays with his feet and it was obvious that the Arizona defense was very tired. Anytime you have to chase Mariota and his teammates it will make the best of teams tired.


When it was all over, Mariota had accounted for 313 yards in the air, threw two touchdowns, and ran for another three touchdowns. In total, he scored five touchdowns and left Arizona in his proverbial dust.


On a rainy night in which a team goal was accomplished by 51-13 win over Arizona, Marcus Mariota cemented a little personal glory for himself by claiming the Heisman Trophy. Now the votes are not in officially, but if the Oregon quarterback does not win it, there should be a NCAA investigation into the writers intelligence. It's all over in my opinion. Marcus Mariota is and should be the Heisman winner next week. Just saying...

Riley Reaction

Having the past 24 hours or so to soak in the fact that Mr. Oregon State, Mike Riley won't be pacing the sidelines anymore in Corvallis I have come to one basic thought. It was probably time for him to do or go somewhere else and for the University to inject some new thought and blood into Oregon State Football.


I've always been a Riley "guy". To me, he did a lot with very little. He never had the big time recruits that other schools land, didn't have the budget to do what he probably wanted to do, and wasn't as successful as he wanted to be in terms of wins. He was the master of finding lesser known recruits, such as Jacquiz and James Rodgers and make them successful on the Pac-12 level and on the professional level. He develops players, especially running backs and quarterbacks and will continue to do that in Nebraska.


He has a very calm demeanor and is very approachable to anybody. This is one of the reasons that he is considered "The Nicest Guy in College Football". The reason he was hired in Lincoln is that he is the antithesis to Bo Pelini and his aggressive, antagonistic style of coaching and handling people around the program. It's not because of his winning percentage. If Riley was averaging 9 wins a year in Corvallis, he would still be in Corvallis more than likely.  I believe that the fans of Nebraska and the administration wanted somebody that would be more like legendary Nebraska Head Coach Tom Osborne. Riley fits that criteria exactly. I wonder if he averages 9 wins, how much the fans will put up with that?


Nebraska is a storied program. I will grant people that, but it is not the Nebraska your dad, or even me grew up with. The Huskers were always known for playing tough, rough, physical football and for winning conference titles and National Championships. They don't do that anymore. It's a different program and a different landscape in college football. High school players don't look at Nebraska the same way they did in the 70's and 80's. Lincoln, Nebraska is far from anything for the modern athlete who likes to be around the hustle and bustle of cities. Riley, to his credit is a pretty good recruiter and will try and recapture some of that lost magic and get some of those big recruits to come and play for The Big Red Machine.
As for Mike Riley leaving Corvallis. It's going to be a little weird not seeing him around campus or on the sidelines. The one feeling I've always had is that a coach really shouldn't stay past 10 years. Otherwise his style, both on and off the field get a little stale and in todays climate of college football where you are only as good as your last win, coaches are doomed from the moment they step on campus.
What should the Beavs do? I think they go with a young coach. Riley is 61 and the play calling did get a little predictable. I think they call up Scott Frost (Oregon OC), Mike Norvell (ASU OC), Jonathan Smith (Beaver alum, Washington OC), Justin Wilcox (USC DC), or Fresno State Head Coach Tim DeRuyter. Any one of these guys will infuse some new ideas and enthusiasm into the program and get a fan base excited about the team. I believe a lot of the vocal criticism toward Riley in the past few years is due to fact that the Beavers rival, the Oregon Ducks, have become such a relevant power in college football the last half decade or so. If you want to call that jealousy, go ahead, because to me, that is exactly what it is. Beaver fans want what the Ducks have, but I'm not sure that it will ever get to that level. We shall see.
In the end, I see Oregon State acting relatively quickly with their coaching search. I see them going young and allowing a coach to grow with them and having a coach infuse the program with new ideas and enthusiasm. It's going to be very interesting to watch what happens from Corvallis. The Beavers will make a good choice for their next coach and the program will continue to make positive strides towards becoming a strong Pac-12 North contender.

Mike Riley: Gone to Nebraska

Mike Riley to Nebraska? What? Yep, it's true. Riley is gone from Corvallis and headed to the flat land of Lincoln, Nebraska. No matter what some people say about him and how stale the offense may have become for people it is the end of an era in Corvallis. An era where the program is at a respectable level and fans go to Reser Stadium to watch the Beavers and not the opposing team. I am sad to see him go and Nebraska is lucky to get a man of his stature in Lincoln...


For the complete story go to www.cfbroundtable.com...

Wildcat Dreams

At the beginning of spring ball in Tucson many people thought this would be a year of growing pains for the program because there was uncertainty at many positions. Nobody saw this coming and if they tell you that they did they are completely full of lies. The thing I am talking about is the University of Arizona Wildcats and their chance at achieving a goal that seemed unattainable just a few months ago. The Cats have a good shot at the Pac-12 Championship when they take on the Oregon Ducks at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Friday night.


Head Coach Rich Rodriguez didn't even know that his Wildcats had won the Pac-12 South title on Friday until his wife or son came up to him on the field after their hard fought victory over rival Arizona State and told him. He did not want the players or other coaches to know what the score of the UCLA game was. I am positively sure that the players and coaches may have been wondering during the game, but Rich Rod wanted his coaches and players focused on the task at hand last Friday. When it all came to fruition for the Wildcats, nobody seemed happier than the Cats Head Coach. He said it put more of a bounce in his step walking off the field. I wonder if Stanford will get a Christmas card from the Wildcat football team? Probably not, but the thought was nice wasn't it?


What the Wildcats have in front of them is the monumental task of defeating the same team twice in a year. That is a very difficult thing to do because THAT team is number two ranked team in the nation, the Oregon Ducks. One of the positives that the Cats can rely on is that they have already beat Oregon this year.


The Wildcats went up to Autzen Stadium in October and played very physical with the Ducks. Autzen Stadium can be and arguably is the toughest stadium to play in. Fans are right on top of you, it is loud, and the Ducks play very fast and well on that field. They have the film on that game that shows what they did well and helps them game plan in a more precise manner. The most difficult thing to do is to beat the same team twice in a year. Especially, when that team is the number two ranked team in the country.


Secondly, the Wildcats have grown up quicker than expected and are gaining confidence with every snap of the ball, first down, and win that they get this season. When you have a team that is learning like this, you have a team that doesn't know any better. All they know is that this is the way it is supposed to be for their team, and that can be a very dangerous thing for any opposing team taking on the Arizona Wildcats.


Dreams. The Wildcats are being allowed to think the unthinkable, to dream the impossible. The opportunity in front of them is astounding and so unexpected that most fans do not want to dwell on winning because they probably think that it will jinx the teams chances in some way. As I was leaving Arizona Stadium in Tucson last Friday afternoon, the fans were chanting a phrase I have heard a lot of the course of my lifetime. "Beat the Ducks, beat the Ducks, beat the Ducks" was reverberating through out the stadium and in the streets around campus. It was something to behold and to be in the middle of.


Friday night in Santa Clara will be test of wills and fortitude between these two teams. Arizona is coming into the game with a boat load of confidence and the Ducks will have the same amount of confidence and maybe a bit of revenge on their minds. All I know at this point is that the Wildcats are not scared of Oregon, and they shouldn't be. They deserve the respect that they have earned. Lets ponder one more thing....


What if the Wildcats win? Do they deserve to be in the playoff? The chaos that would follow would be epic... here's to hoping.

Championship Ducks

Growing up, this wasn't even discussed because it wasn't even thought about. To think it was to incur strange looks from family, friends, or whoever was in listening distance. Maybe even a comment saying you may need mental health services, but now it's a totally different discussion. That discussion is about the Oregon Ducks and their National Championship possibilities the last few years. This year is no different.


For the entire story go to www.cfbroundtable.com....