SportsCrack

Sport Crack's College Football Preseason Top 10

What, too early?

While some may look quizzically at this ranking due to LSU’s current quarterback situation, I would respond by suggesting they take a look at the rest of the team. They won the national title last year with Matt Flynn at quarterback and not taking anything away from him, but he was no Joe Montana. Much of the championship team of last year is returning and if the current front runner at QB, Jarrett Lee, can learn to not lose ball games and play conservatively enough, the team will be a BCS contender once more.

With many new faces looking to shore up the offensive line, Clemson’s potentially potent offense could all depend on their play. Luckily for them, they play in a relatively weak ACC and although there’s some tough games on their schedule, the offensive line has a much better chance to get some in game experience against some cupcake teams than say, an SEC or Big 12 team would in a similar situation.

With Colt McCoy with two full seasons leading the Longhorn offense under his belt, the promising young QB looks to lead Texas to the glory land that Vince Young led them to once upon a time. Depending on how the new running back performs will have a lot to do with how much McCoy will have to carry the offense and thus, the Longhorns record this season.

After surprising many with last seasons impressive BCS run, the Tigers of Missouri look to have just a successful 2008 with Heisman hopeful Chase Daniel back under center. Guess who else is back? Daniel’s favorite target and yet another Heisman hopeful (although a bit less so than Daniel) Jeremy Maclin.

Speaking of Heisman hopefuls, Mountaineer quarterback Pat White doesn’t have Steve Slaton in the backfield anymore, but with his skills, he doesn’t need him. With the offense likely to be completely focused around the dual threat QB, all that the team will need in 2008 is a respectable showing from their defense and they should have the Big East on lockdown.

It seems that Oklahoma has a title contending team year in and year out… and with good reason, they had one of the top football programs of the last century. It appears there will be nothing new in 2008 with the Sooners, who despite being in a tough Big 12, should yet again be in the conversation for title teams at the end of the season.

Even though NFL U wasn’t in the BCS title game last year doesn’t mean their not going to be a potential contender this year. The Trojans had somewhat of an off year last year (if you could call it that) going 11-2 with both of their losses coming at the hands of conference rivals. Some have the Trojans ranked higher, but I at least want to wait and see which QB they choose and how he’ll handle the immediate pressure that will be thrust upon him.

Speaking of off seasons, the Gators had 4 losses in 2008 and were out of title contention by mid October. Tim Tebow didn’t let that slow him down though, winning the 2007 Heisman trophy and choosing to return this year to hopefully lead the Gators to their second title in three years. With a cream puff schedule, that very well could be the case.

With the Buckeyes being the unanimous number one in this season’s preseason rankings, I just couldn’t bring myself to rank them ahead of the Bulldogs. With one of the easiest schedules of any team in the country next year, the Buckeyes could very well cruise to an undefeated season and yet another championship title appearance.

Despite playing in the toughest conference in the country, I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t put the Bulldogs at number one. I am so extremely high on this team that I’m very close to putting a large sum of money on them to win the entire thing. Then again, this is college football we’re talking about -- where just one loss can effectively end your entire quest for playing the most important game of the year. Tough schedule aside, the Bulldogs have many familiar faces returning and look to do something they’ve threatened to do in each of the past few season: Win the BCS national title.

Adrian Peterson - A Mini Biography

Adrian Peterson. Who is he? Is he who we think he is? While I think it’s a bit premature to be awarding him the title of the ‘next LaDanian Tomlinson’ or the ‘next Eric Dickerson’ let’s delve into his history a bit and see if we can discover why he’s one of the most talented and exciting rookie running backs we’ve ever seen.

Adrian Peterson was born on March 21st, 1985 in Palestine, Texas. He had a rough childhood, with his father, Nelson Peterson being sentenced to ten years in prison when he was thirteen and his brother Brian being killed at the age of nine by a drunk driver.

Adrian participated in track and field and basketball from early on and up until his high school years. He excelled at both. However, it was his junior and senior years when he played football where people begin to realize he was going to be very, very good.

His senior year in high school, he was voted the Consensus national player of the year after racking up 2,960 yards on 252 carries and 32 touchdowns. This dwarfed even his stellar junior season where he rushed for 2,051 on 246 carries and 22 touchdowns. Suffice it to say, The Oklahoma Sooners were quite excited to have him on board.

They were even more excited when he broke several NCAA rookie rushing records and finished second in the Heisman balloting, all in his freshman year. He finished with 1,925 yards on 339 carries and 15 touchdowns.

A.D. (or ‘All Day’ – his nickname) led the Sooners to the national championship game against the U.S.C. Trojans. The Trojans won however, in a rout, 55-19.

A.D. injured his ankle early in the 2005 season and ended up missing four games. Even so, he rushed for 1,108 yards on 220 carries and 14 touchdowns. He was included on the All-Big 12 Conference team.

Here's Bob Stoops commenting on how Adrian Peterson compared to other running backs he’s seen, as said at a Big 12 media day.

“I can’t compare him to anyone else; I haven’t seen anyone like him. He’s a powerful, explosive back with great speed and great style. He’s a tough, physical runner. Bottom line, until he was hurt, he’s had a lot of success. It’s not his fault that he got hurt. We plan to give him the ball a lot and hopefully he has a great year. He’s incredibly physical. He’s a guy who can run a 4.3 and weighs 220 pounds. He absolutely destroys a weight room.”

Peterson’s final season in 2006 allowed him to play in front of his father, Nelson, for the first time when he was released from prison. He also broke his collar-bone in said game, ending the rest of his regular season.

He returned in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State, needing only 151 yards to pass Billy Sims to be Oklahoma’s all-time leading rusher.

The game, arguably one of the best in Bowl Championship Series history, was eventually won by Boise State in overtime 43-42. Peterson finished with only 77 yards, 74 yards short of Sims school record. For his career, he had 4,045 yards on 648 carries and 41 touchdowns.

Peterson kept mum about his future plans until January 15th, 2007 when he announced he would enter the NFL draft, not returning for his senior season. Mel Kiper Jr. a draft analyst said of Peterson,

"You can make the argument, [Peterson] is the best player in this draft, if not, certainly one of the top three.”

Comparisons were made to Eric Dickerson as well, when coming out of college. Funny, that halfway through his rookie season, it’s being predicted he has a realistic shot at breaking Dickerson’s single season rushing record.

Tragedy struck again when Peterson’s step-brother Chris Paris was shot to death in Houston, Texas a day before the NFL Combine.

Still, he trudged on, becoming a Minnesota Viking when they took him with the 7th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Upon breaking Jamal Lewis’ single game rushing record on November 4th, 2007, many NFL teams who passed on Peterson in the draft wished they hadn’t done so due to his injury concerns. Doing so meant they perhaps passed on what could be the greatest back in NFL history.

We’ll conclude with a quote from Deion Sanders about Peterson:

“He has the vision of a Marshall Faulk, the power of a Terrell Davis, and the speed of an Eric Dickerson. Let’s pray he has the endurance of an Emmitt Smith.”

All day, all day.