Pyle of List

Who do you think is going to be hoisting the crystal football in January? This is the culmination of Pyle of List’s three day college football preview: The Contenders. The following teams have the best chance to run the table this year.

The Field

Texas Longhorns

People are feeling pretty optimistic about the upcoming season in Austin. Texas has quarterback Colt McCoy who had a 29/7 TD/INT ratio last year…just an NCAA record for a freshman. No big deal. Three of those interceptions came against Texas A&M last year when he was noticeably hobbled by a neck injury he’d suffered the previous week against K State. He should only improve on those numbers this year. The Longhorns running back, Jamaal Charles will be the featured back this year, and he has put on 12 pounds of muscle over the offseason to help prepare physically for the increased load. Mack Brown just signed a big, fat new contract extension recently which will earn him over $3 million a year (increasing every year) through 2016.

I hear there’s some inexperience on the offensive line, which is probably the teams biggest liability leading into the season. After looking at the team’s schedule, they could conceivably win every game. The thing is, I don’t think they will be able to play at their top form every game. I still need Mack Brown to convince me that he is a great coach. I know he’s a great recruiter based on the talent he has attracted to the roster. Their national championship season can be chalked up to the physical dominance of Vince Young. He could have won most of his games with one hand tied behind his back. Coach Brown needs to show that he can win big without VY now that he’s got a monster contract. No pressure…

LSU Tigers

Before I say anything about the team’s chances, I just need to say one thing. LSU has the ugliest uniforms, well, ever. They are hideous.

These guys have a defense that makes their opponents’ offensive coordinators wet their pants. (They intercepted 6 passes in their opening game last night!) Along the defensive line, Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson will wreak havoc this year and then most likely join each other in the draft next year. This crew will keep the Tigers in any game.

Their offense is the question mark. The team lost it’s quarterback and two top receivers in the first round of the NFL draft this year. Fifth-year senior Matt Flynn had only one previous start at quarterback before the season. It just happened to be a start in the 2005 Peach Bowl, where he received MVP honors. Early Doucette (awesome name) is the primary receiving target in the revamped Tigers receiving corps. Tigers fans believe this is Les Miles’ year, that the Tigers will bring home the crystal football again this year. Then, and only then, will their broken hearts be mended from when Nick Saban dumped them all. They’ll be a great team, but not the best. The offense has too many pieces missing.

Florida Gators

Let the Tim Tebow era reign in Gainesville. Urban Meyer won a national championship last year with Ron Zook’s players. Now he has his players in his system and that will create some great gimmicky plays. This team’s offense is based on speed and misdirection. The offense is not a problem…big surprise for an Urban Meyer team. Percy Harvin runs circles around defenders. Tim Tebow runs through defenders when he’s not passing the ball. Plus, Meyer made Alex Smith look like the best player available in the NFL draft three years ago. Well, he fooled the 49ers into believing that anyway. Meyer is a smart coach that knows how to exploit opponents’ weaknesses.

The problem is that the SEC is, by most accounts, a defensive conference. You always hear the good ol’ boys (and my friend Brian) saying that a 7-3 football game is a thing of beauty. They just want to make excuses because they still haven’t perfected the forward pass down there yet. Anyway, the Florida defense is a HUGE liability right now. They lost their top four linemen, their three starting linebackers, both cornerbacks, and their top safety. Boy, by my count that leaves a single returning starter on defense. I guess we’ll find out the answer to the SEC’s version of the “chicken and the egg” quandary this year. Are SEC offenses so bad because they are just bad or is it because the other defenses are great?

West Virginia ‘Eers

Speed kills. That will be written on many a sign at games in Morgantown this year. Welcome to the Steve and Pat Spectacular! Choreographed by Rich Rodriguez. Steve Slaton is one of the best running backs in the college game. Pat White is arguably the best dual-threat quarterback in the college game. The Mountaineers will be putting up points in droves this season. They have a great chance to run the table through the Little East. The toughest game will be against the Louisville. I’m picking the ‘Eers to win this game because they are the home team. If it was in Louisville, the Cardinals would win.

The problem here is the defense. It’s the worst defense of the top teams. They’d be hard pressed to shut out a Pop Warner team. As the old cliché goes, “Defense wins championships.” You don’t need the best defense, but you do need a defense. That’s the rub. West Virginia will probably make the BCS title game, but they won’t win it all because they are only half of a football team.

The Champ

USC Trojans

USC, on the other hand, has one of the best defenses in the country. It will be the strength of a well balanced team this year. The Trojans are ridiculous this year. They won the Rose Bowl last year while they were “rebuilding”. I still can’t exactly describe how Pete Carroll does it, but he knows what he is doing. If you look hard for something to complain about, you cold talk about the receiving corps. But Patrick Turner and Co. should be just fine by the time the Trojans have to play any serious competition. USC is my pick to win it all this year.

Since it seems like everyone has written and will write ad nauseum about USC this year, I’m just going to tell you some stories about the team instead.

• Hershel Dennis is in his sixth year at USC. I think one of his kids is a freshman this year actually. Hershel’s knees are worse than Hakeem Olajuwon’s at the tail end of his career. He won’t be doing much of anything for the team this year. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say about him. A few years ago, one of my friends used to have house parties that the USC football players would show up to. Well one night Hershel was there. He was hitting on said friend but she was giggling and laughing the whole time. Couldn’t take him seriously. Why, you ask? Well, this particular night, Hersh chose to wear a sweater with the American flag knitted across its entirety. It was like a flag made into a shirt. When he asked why she couldn’t keep a straight face, she told him. He stormed off. The next day when she was cleaning up, she found the sweater in the kitchen garbage can. I guess football players have feelings too.
• At another of these infamous parties, or maybe the same party, former USC tight end Alex Holmes was in attendance. Now, Alex was a big boy. One of those guys who NFL scouts will look at and then say, “I like his fundamentals, but I’m worried that he might have weight issues in the League.” Alex was right at the tipping point where one more trip to Chano’s for late night Mexican food would tip him right over into the offensive lineman category. Anyway, he disappeared from the party into the bathroom at one point with two USC volleyball players. I don’t know exactly what they did in there, but I know they did it in the shower and they did it rough. I know this because the next day the shower curtain was torn down and the shower head had been pulled out of the wall. I’ll leave the details up to your imagination.
• My favorite story about USC football players comes from the 2003 season. Shortly after Matt Leinart’s first start, a 23-0 whupping of Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium, I was walking through the USC neighborhood one night with some friends going from one party to another. We turned the corner and there was Matt and a couple friends sitting on the corner with an ice chest enjoying some beers and just hanging out. No one really knew who he was yet. The celbri-douche he’s become was just a twinkle in the eye. He’d only started a single game and he was just a normal guy having a beer. I crossed the street to say hello and told him how great he’d played in the opener. He was kind of bashful actually and said thanks, and then offered me a beer. That’s the Matt Leinart I like to remember.

Fight On Trojans!

Part II

Part III