For the entire column go to: www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Trojans Trounce Sun Devils
When the big boys of college football come to your town, everything feels different. From the cost of parking, trash talking between fan bases, and the tension in the stadium, the atmosphere surrounding the Arizona State vs USC Trojans was electric...
For the entire column go to: www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to: www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson
Monday, August 24, 2015
Arizona State: Game Prep
It's that time college football fans. Season is about two weeks away, teams are gearing up, game planning for their season openers, and fans are getting on their respective bandwagons. In Tempe, Arizona, Sun Devil fans have a great deal of anticipation for the 2015 season. They have a phenomenal team returning and expectations are high....
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Distraction at Arizona State
Coaches hate distraction in any form whether it's on the field or off the field. Anything that takes away from the coaches ability to properly get his team ready to play is something that a football coach or any coach is not interested in. Well, distraction has reared it's ugly head in Tempe. How does Head Coach Todd Graham handle this?
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com and look in "The Pipeline" section.
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com and look in "The Pipeline" section.
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Pac 12 Media Day Thoughts
Pac-12 Media Days have come and gone for the conference. What did we learn? What didn't we learn? These media days are really nothing more than 2 days of hype and optimism for coaches and the players that they bring with them. We learned that the media likes...
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
Sunday, July 26, 2015
The UCLA Quarterback Will Be...?
In a year of transition for many college football programs in 2015 two of the most interesting reside here in the Pac-12. The changes that have curiosity to them in the conference are at Oregon and UCLA. Oregon has the idea that whenever Vernon Adams makes it to campus that he will be the guy behind center. It's a little different in Westwood. In arguably the toughest division in college football, the Pac-12 South, UCLA appears to like TRUE freshman Josh Rosen to start for them and that could be a great thing or a not so great thing.
Anybody that follows, coaches, or watches football knows that starting young, inexperienced players can be frustrating. They miss blocks, run through the wrong hole, commit penalties, and the list goes on and on. However, the reward is that as they attain that experience through the season they get better and coaches are willing to deal with the mistakes, so that sets them up for the following season with an experienced team. No position on the field is this inexperience more on display than at the quarterback position. It's a dicey proposition, quarterbacks make the calls at the line, shift protections, change the play, and have to read the defense all in the span of about 10-15 seconds. Having freshman quarterbacks can make a coach look real smart or look like he doesn't know what he's doing because he is dealing with a steep learning curve with a young player at quarterback.
Enter Josh Rosen, freshman quarterback at UCLA. He is a true freshman, not a redshirt freshman who has had a year to soak up the play book, learned how to navigate campus and find time to complete their class studies.
At the completion of the 2014 season and seeing long time starter Brett Hundley jump to the NFL most people had the train of thought that Jerry Neuheisel who started in place of Hundley when he was hurt, would be the most logical replacement. Neuheisel certainly has the savvy to take the position, but as they went through spring ball it became apparent that the Bruin coaching staff was going to give Rosen an honest look and reps with the team. If it is indeed Rosen who gets the nod at quarterback, the coaching staff is not giving into the pressure of naming a starting quarterback until the very last minute. Seeing how they are handling Rosen, most people believe it is going to be him.
Rosen wants nothing to do with some big announcement on the topic. He just wants to go out and help his team win. "Honestly, whoever starts, we're all going to be supremely confident in them because if they win the job, they won the job for a reason. They are going to be the best man for the job." Rosen said during spring practices.
The last few years the question about the quarterback position have not been an issue because of the steady play of Brett Hundley. Hundley threw for over 9,000 yards, got the Bruins a south division title, two bowl victories, but could not lead the Bruins to their first Pac-12 title since 1998. The next quarterback, probably Josh Rosen gets that task. A daunting one considering the division that they are in is extremely tough, plus the conference overall is a gauntlet of deadly Saturday afternoons.
One thing about Josh Rosen that is sticking out besides all the physical tools is his mental make-up and how he is handling everything that is being thrown at him by the coaches. If he has this great mentality of handling pressure situations, then the Bruins and their fans could be in for a rebirth, but lets pump the brakes on crowning him the "next coming" of quarterback for right now. He still has to be named a starter and take snaps on a Saturday afternoon with an opposing defense that wants to take his head off.
"For a young guy, he has such great composure of what's going on around him and great understanding of all the moving parts and how they work." Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone commented recently.
With praise like this from the offensive coordinator, it is no wonder why people around the program expect Josh Rosen to be named the starter at some point in the very near future. Rosen is concentrating on feeling more comfortable each and everyday and has even mentioned Brett Hundley in reference to that feeling of trying to feel comfortable.
"Brett was a starter for three years and I bet, each and everyday, he felt more comfortable." Rosen explained.
In Westwood, the fans want a conference title, yesterday. They don't want to feel like the little brother to USC. They want success and they want continued success. For that to happen they need a quarterback that is top level. Is Josh Rosen THAT guy? Is he ready for that responsibility? Time will tell, but by all accounts he wants that pressure on his shoulders. Let's watch and see...
For more Pac-12 columns go to www.campuspressbox.com
Anybody that follows, coaches, or watches football knows that starting young, inexperienced players can be frustrating. They miss blocks, run through the wrong hole, commit penalties, and the list goes on and on. However, the reward is that as they attain that experience through the season they get better and coaches are willing to deal with the mistakes, so that sets them up for the following season with an experienced team. No position on the field is this inexperience more on display than at the quarterback position. It's a dicey proposition, quarterbacks make the calls at the line, shift protections, change the play, and have to read the defense all in the span of about 10-15 seconds. Having freshman quarterbacks can make a coach look real smart or look like he doesn't know what he's doing because he is dealing with a steep learning curve with a young player at quarterback.
Enter Josh Rosen, freshman quarterback at UCLA. He is a true freshman, not a redshirt freshman who has had a year to soak up the play book, learned how to navigate campus and find time to complete their class studies.
At the completion of the 2014 season and seeing long time starter Brett Hundley jump to the NFL most people had the train of thought that Jerry Neuheisel who started in place of Hundley when he was hurt, would be the most logical replacement. Neuheisel certainly has the savvy to take the position, but as they went through spring ball it became apparent that the Bruin coaching staff was going to give Rosen an honest look and reps with the team. If it is indeed Rosen who gets the nod at quarterback, the coaching staff is not giving into the pressure of naming a starting quarterback until the very last minute. Seeing how they are handling Rosen, most people believe it is going to be him.
Rosen wants nothing to do with some big announcement on the topic. He just wants to go out and help his team win. "Honestly, whoever starts, we're all going to be supremely confident in them because if they win the job, they won the job for a reason. They are going to be the best man for the job." Rosen said during spring practices.
The last few years the question about the quarterback position have not been an issue because of the steady play of Brett Hundley. Hundley threw for over 9,000 yards, got the Bruins a south division title, two bowl victories, but could not lead the Bruins to their first Pac-12 title since 1998. The next quarterback, probably Josh Rosen gets that task. A daunting one considering the division that they are in is extremely tough, plus the conference overall is a gauntlet of deadly Saturday afternoons.
One thing about Josh Rosen that is sticking out besides all the physical tools is his mental make-up and how he is handling everything that is being thrown at him by the coaches. If he has this great mentality of handling pressure situations, then the Bruins and their fans could be in for a rebirth, but lets pump the brakes on crowning him the "next coming" of quarterback for right now. He still has to be named a starter and take snaps on a Saturday afternoon with an opposing defense that wants to take his head off.
"For a young guy, he has such great composure of what's going on around him and great understanding of all the moving parts and how they work." Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone commented recently.
With praise like this from the offensive coordinator, it is no wonder why people around the program expect Josh Rosen to be named the starter at some point in the very near future. Rosen is concentrating on feeling more comfortable each and everyday and has even mentioned Brett Hundley in reference to that feeling of trying to feel comfortable.
"Brett was a starter for three years and I bet, each and everyday, he felt more comfortable." Rosen explained.
In Westwood, the fans want a conference title, yesterday. They don't want to feel like the little brother to USC. They want success and they want continued success. For that to happen they need a quarterback that is top level. Is Josh Rosen THAT guy? Is he ready for that responsibility? Time will tell, but by all accounts he wants that pressure on his shoulders. Let's watch and see...
For more Pac-12 columns go to www.campuspressbox.com
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Isaac Seumalo: Best Lineman You May Not Know About
Sometimes when somebody just does their job and does it well, people don't notice. Which is a shame, but for Isaac Seumalo he just may prefer it that way. Playing football in Corvallis for Oregon State tends to hide some of that noticeability. However, people outside of the Beaver football team are taking notice. Ever since Seumalo stepped on campus at Oregon State he has been a big presence, literally...
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter: @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Washington Huskies: Return of The Dawgs?
When I was growing up you could count on a few things in life. First, you could always watch "Looney Tunes" on a Saturday morning, "The Love Boat" on a Friday night, and knowing that the Washington Huskies would be reigning supreme in the Northwest and the Pac-12 in football. The "Dawgs" as everybody in the Northwest called them were the premier program in the region. Rose Bowls after Rose Bowls, conference titles, and even a National Championship were the norm and what was expected. Anything less was viewed as failure. Oh, how have times changed.
The Huskies are not the "team" in the Northwest anymore. To most of the alumni, their rival in Eugene is now the team in the region. That alone drives Husky fans up the wall. They hate the Duck program with a passion and with every win over the Huskies, every Rose Bowl, or National Championship appearance, that hatred grows deeper. What has happened to the once mighty Husky program?
One thing that has happened is that they are not recruiting the type of players it takes to sustain dominance like they had. Don James, the old Husky Head Coach built a fence around the state of Washington and the Northwest and all the great players were coming to him. With his Rose Bowl appearances, Don James could also get his hands on some of Southern California's best talent and that added to the dominance of the program. When you dominate, you win, so the recruits come to you. Now, Chris Peterson, the current Husky Head Coach has to fight very hard to keep the best Washington recruits from leaving the state. Peterson has vowed to put a fence around the state and keep all the talented in-state. He's only entering his second season with the Huskies, so his fence is still in the build stage.
The program has languished in mediocrity for the past 20 years after Don James, "The DawgFather", resigned amid sanctions that found that many of the players at Washington were getting improper benefits. As stated earlier, there was a ton of success in James time as coach. He even had three national coaching honors and a 22 game winning streak to add to the allure of the program. The program had their knees cut from underneath them with these sanctions and they really haven't recovered. Enter Chris Peterson 20 years later.
Let's face facts here. Chris Peterson and all his accolades he got in his tenure at Boise State, needs to come up with some success at Washington in his second year. Husky fans are tired of being average and want the return of fear when the Huskies come to town or when the opponents have to enter into Husky Stadium. Husky Stadium can be a very difficult place to play. When I was youngster, and went to Husky Stadium for a couple of games, it was so loud and the fans were right on top of you. Much like it is at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. I didn't think a stadium could be so loud, but this is something Peterson has to restore to the program as well.
Chris Peterson has his work cut out for him, but I do think he is the guy to restore the honor to the program. To me he's a proven commodity, even though he did the majority of his winning at a smaller school at Boise State. He proved he could beat the bigger schools or at the very least compete with the likes of Oregon, Georgia, and let's not forget the Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. One of the best college football games I have ever seen. It's not like he DOESN'T know how to get the job done. Entering this second season at the helm of the Huskies, fans want results yesterday. The honeymoon is over. Was there ever one?
Peterson needs to do better against ranked opponents too. They were 0-5 against those type of teams and that will also cause some more angst in latte' capital of the world. They also have to win the bowl game they go to as well. They came up short against the Cowboys of Oklahoma State in the Cactus Bowl in Tempe. That didn't sit well with the UW fan base, plus if you factor in the near upsets by the likes of Eastern Washington and Hawaii and you have a thought that Peterson was lucky to finish with the 8 wins that the team had. Peterson nearly had a very dismal opening in season number one.
The facilities and resources at Washington are such that Peterson can just be average in recruiting or any aspect of major college football. He needs to get the top recruits to the school and build those players into a cohesive unite to compete with the likes of Oregon, Stanford, USC, UCLA, ASU, Arizona, and Utah. Sounds pretty tough doesn't? Well, if you are the coach Washington, you can't be scared of a scenario like that in the Pac-12. I don't think Peterson is scared of anything, if anything he likes a challenge because he faced challenges coaching at Boise State, so something like this challenge is nothing for him. It's just on a much bigger scale than normal.
In his second year the Huskies and Peterson need to get a big time win, such as beating Oregon or Stanford, plus make strides to being in contention for the Pac-12 title in future years. If this can be accomplished, Peterson will get more of a leash (no pun intended), but if the program continues to be mired in mediocrity then he may not be around that much longer.
One of things that may make that a little more difficult is the huge amount of change on the defensive side of the ball. They lost probably the best DT in the Pac-12 in Danny Shelton and all-everything Shaq Thompson. With the type of wide open offenses in the conference, replacing talent like that is going to be difficult. Offensively he loses Cyler Miles, a quarterback, who has stepped away from football for personal reasons. There will be questions all around this team, but Peterson knows he won't get any extra leash because his depth chart is shallow. He is known for building programs and he is in the midst of probably his toughest job yet.
The one question I have is.... will Chris Peterson be around long enough to see the success he wants and the success the fans want? I hope so. Go Dawgs!
The Huskies are not the "team" in the Northwest anymore. To most of the alumni, their rival in Eugene is now the team in the region. That alone drives Husky fans up the wall. They hate the Duck program with a passion and with every win over the Huskies, every Rose Bowl, or National Championship appearance, that hatred grows deeper. What has happened to the once mighty Husky program?
One thing that has happened is that they are not recruiting the type of players it takes to sustain dominance like they had. Don James, the old Husky Head Coach built a fence around the state of Washington and the Northwest and all the great players were coming to him. With his Rose Bowl appearances, Don James could also get his hands on some of Southern California's best talent and that added to the dominance of the program. When you dominate, you win, so the recruits come to you. Now, Chris Peterson, the current Husky Head Coach has to fight very hard to keep the best Washington recruits from leaving the state. Peterson has vowed to put a fence around the state and keep all the talented in-state. He's only entering his second season with the Huskies, so his fence is still in the build stage.
The program has languished in mediocrity for the past 20 years after Don James, "The DawgFather", resigned amid sanctions that found that many of the players at Washington were getting improper benefits. As stated earlier, there was a ton of success in James time as coach. He even had three national coaching honors and a 22 game winning streak to add to the allure of the program. The program had their knees cut from underneath them with these sanctions and they really haven't recovered. Enter Chris Peterson 20 years later.
Let's face facts here. Chris Peterson and all his accolades he got in his tenure at Boise State, needs to come up with some success at Washington in his second year. Husky fans are tired of being average and want the return of fear when the Huskies come to town or when the opponents have to enter into Husky Stadium. Husky Stadium can be a very difficult place to play. When I was youngster, and went to Husky Stadium for a couple of games, it was so loud and the fans were right on top of you. Much like it is at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. I didn't think a stadium could be so loud, but this is something Peterson has to restore to the program as well.
Chris Peterson has his work cut out for him, but I do think he is the guy to restore the honor to the program. To me he's a proven commodity, even though he did the majority of his winning at a smaller school at Boise State. He proved he could beat the bigger schools or at the very least compete with the likes of Oregon, Georgia, and let's not forget the Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. One of the best college football games I have ever seen. It's not like he DOESN'T know how to get the job done. Entering this second season at the helm of the Huskies, fans want results yesterday. The honeymoon is over. Was there ever one?
Peterson needs to do better against ranked opponents too. They were 0-5 against those type of teams and that will also cause some more angst in latte' capital of the world. They also have to win the bowl game they go to as well. They came up short against the Cowboys of Oklahoma State in the Cactus Bowl in Tempe. That didn't sit well with the UW fan base, plus if you factor in the near upsets by the likes of Eastern Washington and Hawaii and you have a thought that Peterson was lucky to finish with the 8 wins that the team had. Peterson nearly had a very dismal opening in season number one.
The facilities and resources at Washington are such that Peterson can just be average in recruiting or any aspect of major college football. He needs to get the top recruits to the school and build those players into a cohesive unite to compete with the likes of Oregon, Stanford, USC, UCLA, ASU, Arizona, and Utah. Sounds pretty tough doesn't? Well, if you are the coach Washington, you can't be scared of a scenario like that in the Pac-12. I don't think Peterson is scared of anything, if anything he likes a challenge because he faced challenges coaching at Boise State, so something like this challenge is nothing for him. It's just on a much bigger scale than normal.
In his second year the Huskies and Peterson need to get a big time win, such as beating Oregon or Stanford, plus make strides to being in contention for the Pac-12 title in future years. If this can be accomplished, Peterson will get more of a leash (no pun intended), but if the program continues to be mired in mediocrity then he may not be around that much longer.
One of things that may make that a little more difficult is the huge amount of change on the defensive side of the ball. They lost probably the best DT in the Pac-12 in Danny Shelton and all-everything Shaq Thompson. With the type of wide open offenses in the conference, replacing talent like that is going to be difficult. Offensively he loses Cyler Miles, a quarterback, who has stepped away from football for personal reasons. There will be questions all around this team, but Peterson knows he won't get any extra leash because his depth chart is shallow. He is known for building programs and he is in the midst of probably his toughest job yet.
The one question I have is.... will Chris Peterson be around long enough to see the success he wants and the success the fans want? I hope so. Go Dawgs!
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