http://www.yardbarker.com/content/school/32 Recent Yardbarker Articles: Florida State Seminoles en-us Welcome to the beginning of the hype, where each and every type of poll will come out to find out who is the best in one conference or another. Yes, this is the beginning of we fans/bloggers/lovers of the college gridiron begin to come out of the summer shell and develop that good feeling about our football team once again. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:56:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294300 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294300 I want to make it clear that every list you'll see regarding the most difficult schedule for the 2008 college football season is entirely subjective. I took into account where those tough games take place - at home or on the road. Ultimately, I ranked the teams based on the total number of pre-season Top 25 games on the schedule and how many of those games are at home or on the road. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:47:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294169 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294169 With a pair of 7-6 seasons the once mighty Florida State Seminoles are under a close watch. Bobby Bowden the 79 year old wonder coach is nearing the end of his lif... career in the eyes of most fans. While he did lead them to the promised land on numerous occasions many just feel his time has come. Bowden feels differently. He is "not interested in getting out" and he believes the team is "heading in the right direction." This report comes just a day after Seminoles QB, Drew Weatherford spoke about his team. Weatherford believes that the team had an "identity crisis." He feels that the became cocky and believed that having Florida State on their jerseys meant that they would be handed wins. There is no doubt that Florida State is not living up to their potential. They have had top 10 recruiting classes pretty much every year. Somewhere along the way their talent is falling through the cracks. College football is much more than just getting the players onto the campus. Those players need to translate the hype into trophies. When players of such a high caliber fails to succeed on the field the blame usually falls on the head coach. A number of behavior issues, such as the cheating scandal last spring, over the last few seasons have also put Bowden on the hot seat. This is going to be a critical year for the 'noles. They are losing their recruiting edge as they move further and further away from the glory days. Jimbo Fisher, the offensive coordinator, is waiting in the wings. Unless Bowden shows he still has it than hes going to be hitting the old dusty trail very soon. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:50:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293822 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293822 When it comes to college football, we really are just rooting for laundry. Players come and go (unless they're like Riley Skinner, who's seemingly been at Wake Forest since the dawn of time) but it's the uniforms that make college football. In that spirit, The Señior is putting the players to the wayside and ranking the game's top 10 helmets. Without further ado ... Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:14:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293581 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293581 Here is my list of the top ten mascots in college football. I have ranked them from ten down to one, and you can view a picture of each by clicking on the team name. www.rawsportsblog.com Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:35:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293455 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293455 There is not much of a buzz at the ACC Football Kickoff this year. The chances an ACC team will be in the BCS Championship Game is remote which tones down the hype but the big buzz kill is lack of star power. The most recognized quarterbacks here are Drew Weatherford of Florida State and Virginia Tech's Sean Glennon - QB's like the economy right now, up and down with rumors of recession. (More about ACC Football Kick-off, Day One...) Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:43:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292995 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292995 College Football season begins this weekend for me. Sunday the ACC Football Kickoff begins and the College Football pre-season hype goes full speed. I am heading over to Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, which is hosting the ACC media event to get my share of coach speak and over used cliches. I'm sure they all going to play as a team and take it one game at a time, blah, blah, blah. Same ole' well, you know what I mean. This is an interesting year for the ACC because 5 years after expanding the league really hasn't made an impression on the national scene. The ACC finds itself 5th or 6th when the BCS leagues are ranked. I don't think I have all the answers but here are a few issues the ACC has... (more...) Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:30:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292000 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292000 Whether you believe he's a legend in the making or a liar, Urban Meyer stokes passions on all sides. Legend advocates will cite his second-year National Championship and a sophomore Heisman Trophy winner. Liar advocates are lining up against Meyer as stories continue to build, just as bridges linking Meyer to other coaches continue to burn. Consider these recent stories from other sites and sources on Meyer's recruiting tactics. It's unlikely the following schools have Meyer on their Christmas card list. LSU: Florida was ready to take all-star corner Patrick Johnson with what they thought was a bogus test score, but he committed to LSU. How did Florida respond? "Florida flagged my scores," Johnson said. "They called the compliance office." "I'm not upset," Johnson said. "Florida made an issue about the ACT score. They're cowards. They had to go behind my back. But that's OK. We play them this year (on Oct. 11 at Florida)." FSU (posted on noledigest.com): "While Gator fans will sit and give excuses or spin the details of what is going on, there is no denying that it seems like the UF staff flat-out lies to these kids. "Here is a quote from Trent Pupello (a player they initially compared to Jeremy Shockey), who is looking to leave the program this year: 'Coach (Steve) Addazio (UF tight ends coach) told me to work on my speed,' Pupello said. 'He didn't say that my speed was slow or anything. He just said that everything (at this level) is faster. "'I need to work on speed and getting stronger, which is pretty much what we all need to work on. He said that they need me at tight end, that I'll have an early chance to play and that all of the tight ends will play on the special teams.'" Michigan site (on the recruitment of Daryl Stonum): The University of Florida stayed on the four star pass-catcher well all the way through. Things crescendoed recently after a conversation with Urban Meyer. According to Stonum, Meyer had a compelling reason why he should become a Gator. "He told me that he talked to Coach Carr and Coach Soup and that they told him that I would be a much better fit in the Florida offense than I would be in the one at Michigan," Stonum recalled. "I thought, wow, my coaches are selling me out? I confronted them about it. I asked Coach Carr and Coach Soup about it, and they said they never talked to that guy and that there was no way they ever said anything like that and that they think I should be a Wolverine. I believed them. Right then, I knew just how Florida rolled." Just Funny: You can't tell the story about Jevan Snead enough (recounted in the book Meat Market). The funniest thing I read in it concerned what Urban Meyer told Jevan Snead. Snead had watched the Outside the Lines special on Tebow, which showed Meyer and OC Dan Mullen in the stands. Problem was, Meyer had told Snead, committed at the time, that he was the only quarterback they were going after. When Snead asked Meyer about it, Meyer responded, "We are recruiting him for linebacker." I had heard that before, but got a big kick out of reading it in the book straight from Snead. More LSU from Fox 26 in Houston: "Hempstead's Terrance Toliver, one of the nation's top high school football recruits, says negative recruiting tactics by the University of Florida first had him confused and bewildered. But in an unusual move, two Hempstead High School employees went above and beyond the call of duty to help Toliver make the biggest decision of his life. "After a vigorous early recruiting rush, it came down to LSU and Florida for Toliver, considered by many the No. 1 high school recruit in Texas and the best wide receiver in the nation. He ended up signing a letter-of-intent with LSU on National Signing Day Wednesday, but not before Florida coaches took several shots at LSU, leaving Toliver unsure what to do next. "'Every time (Florida recruiters) came, they just said LSU doesn't qualify their players,' Toliver told FOX 26's Mark Berman Wednesday. 'About (how) their academics are not all that. It kind of had me confused.'" "Eventually a bewildered Toliver asked his football coach Rick Sargent and Hempstead instructional coordinator Tina Johnson to go to Baton Rouge to find out the truth about LSU. The two went last weekend. 'They went and checked (LSU's) academics out and their facilities,' Toliver said. 'They just came back and told me whatever Florida was saying about the academics wasn't true.'" Notre Dame Blog: When Meyer recruited Justin Trattou he did so by the cover of night. Not that it's illegal, but he told Trattou not to tell anyone he was talking with Florida. Keep in mind that Trattou was committed to Notre Dame at the time. Amongst other things, Coach Meyer talked to Trattou about how the 3-4 defense was not a good fit for him and his football future (read: NFL, which is garbage—the Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers all use the 3-4). Former Gators assistant coach Greg Mattison's favorite topics about Notre Dame (with several recruits), despite his previous love for the school, included how the weather sucked and the social life suffered. Case in point No. 2: Omar Hunter, same deal as before. Omar was snookered into lying to everyone from Notre Dame coaches and players to likely even his parents, especially his father, who wanted him at Notre Dame due to the academics. Hunter said that he was not talking to other schools, when in fact he was—Florida included—while being a Notre Dame commitment. In the end, Hunter was a fraud himself, but he was not the one who was truly taken for a ride. Coach Mattison recruited Hunter. He had an ax to grind with Notre Dame after leaving South Bend on not so good terms, and he definitely took it to another level with Hunter. Mattison, you see, had an assistant coaching job lined up with the Baltimore Ravens long before this past National Signing Day came around. So when Hunter switched his commitment to UF after initially deciding to attend Notre Dame, Mattison and Meyer did what came naturally. They lied to Hunter about the entire situation, telling Hunter that Mattison was not leaving Gainesville. Just by complete and total coincidence, Mattison ended up taking a job with the Ravens right after National Signing Day. Shocking! And oh yes, Notre Dame assistant coach Bill Lewis, who recently retired as a football coach, told Hunter what was about to happen. Hunter did not listen and signed with the Gators. Urban continues to build the best talent base not located in Southern California. Success certainly breeds enemies, but so does recruiting. Urban Legend or Urban Liar? Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:09:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291802 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291802 Every once in awhile you hear someone talk about the coaching fraternity. Now we have actual proof that there is indeed one in the college football ranks. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:24:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291090 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291090 Alright, It's time for Rusty to weigh in on this here little argument. Seems some nut over at an unnamed national sports news web site, posted a bonehead list of stadiums in the ACC ranked by toughness. As you can imagine, several REAL ACC fans took umbrage with that list. Those responses are below. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:10:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291079 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291079 Is college football getting worse? What happened to these guys being respectable young men? Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:45:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288053 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288053 As I begin to prepare for the all out football preview that I'm going to do for the Tar Heels, I figured I would start by talking about the head coaches in the conference and tell all of you who I think is the top of the list and who is on the bottom. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:33:42 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286976 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286976 The ACC isn't deep in fantasy options for 2008, but fantasy owners should be able to find solid starting options at the top of each position. AthlonSports.com kicks off the college fantasy conference previews with a look quarterback battles, sleepers and freshmen to watch. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:27:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286461 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286461 City Vehicles Painted with Anti-Obama Sayings: The person or persons left a business card with political ramblings and other phrases such as 'How 'Bout them Gators' and 'Legalize Marijuana/ Stop Building Prisons'. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:10:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283860 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283860 The ACC isn't a deep conference for fantasy options, but Clemson owns four solid options - including receiver Aaron Kelly. Kelly had a solid 2007 season, and the return of Cullen Harper at quarterback should give him a chance to post career-best numbers. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:57:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280978 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280978