Tim Tebow, the most beloved player in Gator football history, will return for his senior season at Florida.
Tebow made his announcement at Florida's national championship celebration in Gainesville, FL, setting up the crowd for a disappointing conclusion as he thanked his coaches and fellow players for, "the amazing time I've had here."
As Tebow began to walk off the stage, he appeared to suddenly remember something and jogged back to the center of the platform. "One more thing. Let's do it all again next year. I'm coming back!"
FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.
Vanderbilt has won their first bowl game in 53 years. On the strength of three field goals and a big special teams play -- which resulted in the their only touchdown -- the 'Dores eked out a 16-14 win over Boston College.
Vandy finishes with a 7-6 record, their first winning season since 1982. It is truly a monumental accomplishment for the tiny school that competes in college football's toughest conference.
Winning in much the same fashion as their first six victories, the Commodores pinned their hopes on their defense. And it was a good thing that the stop squad was as good as advertised: Vandy's offense only managed 200 total yards and was a dismal 1-15 on 3rd down. The difference: being +3 in TO margin, and coming up with big defensive plays when they counted most.
The question -- beyond how crazy Nashville's gonna get tonight -- is whether this is a turning point for Vanderbilt. Can they springboard the surprise success of 2008 into another winning season in 2009?
San Francisco's Emerald Bowl: not known for highlighting college football's best teams. But the bowl has been the lucky recipient of some formerly great ACC programs hitting the skids and adding some marquee value. Florida State won in 2006 against a terrible UCLA team. And in 2008, 7-5 Miami showed up to face a pretty marginal Cal squad led by Nate Longshore, a quarterback with "issues" to say the least.
But unlike FSU, Miami found a way to lose the game. They lost despite Longshore's utter ineffectiveness (10-21, 121 yards). They lost despite getting good play from freshman quarterback Jacory Harris -- the over-enthusiastic ESPN commentors were calling it his 'coming out party' which might warrant an excessive celebration penalty -- and good running from Graig Cooper, who averaged 5.3 YPC, but received only a mystifying 12 carries.
It came down to turnovers and terrible clock management. At the end of the first half, down 14-7, Miami was intercepted at their own 43-yard line; Cal promptly went four and out. Getting the ball back with 1:18 remaining and three timeouts, Shannon appeared to be running out the clock: fair enough, given that his freshman quarterback had just turned the ball over in Hurricane territory. But wait... no! After three passes resulted in a first down, Shannon called a timeout with :04 remaining. Hail Mary time, right? Nope: Harris completed a 3-yard pass to Graig Cooper. Miami walked off the field with two timeouts remaining with the ball on Cal's 49-yard line.
Murray injured his knee in the Big 12 Championship game against Missouri. Oklahoma's medical staff originally diagnosed the injury as a "deep bruise," but now say the sophomore has a "partial rupture of a hamstring tendon" in his left leg. Surgery is the only option now for Murray, but he'll be back next year.
In the meantime, what does this mean for the Big Game?
Looking back on this season, Murray has rushed for 1,002 yards and 14 touchdowns and caught 31 passes for an additional 395 yards and four touchdowns. And that's not counting his 774 yards in kickoff returns. Yeah, dude's good. He'll be missed.
This year's race for the Heisman Trophy has been tight ... very tight. The three finalists -- Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow -- have each made compelling cases to win the award throughout the regular season.
Each have produced more than a handful of Heisman moments. And each has elevated his team: Oklahoma, Texas and Florida have combined records of 36-3, and of course the Sooners and Gators will face each other in the BCS National Championship on Jan. 8, 2009.
As such, it's the closest and most difficult to predict Heisman race in years. Stiffarmtrophy.com, who has correctly predicted the winner of college football's most prestigious individual award for the last six years, has released their final projection on Saturday afternoon. With 249 ballots and 670 votes recorded, they're predicting:
As far as misery goes, it's been a record-setting season for Michigan. The worst part: at eight losses, the pain isn't over yet. Barring a miracle of Walt Disney standards, the block M will log nine losses in Rich Rodriguez's first year -- and that will set a historical mark unlikely to be broken.
What has gone wrong in Ann Arbor? Scenario: legacy coach and staff depart under pressure, but gracefully. Hot, national-stature coach is hired to the delirious joy of the fans. Talk of a difficult rebuilding year commences -- but no one expected the wheels to catch fire, fall off, and the cart to explode into a thousand fiery fragments.
One of the first things to happen upon Rich Rod's arrival: defections. Quarterback Ryan Mallett to Arkansas was understandable; Mallett possessed every possible skill and ability not needed by Rodriguez's spread offense. His departure laid the groundwork for Nick Sheridan and Steven Threet. To say that these two quarterbacks have struggled would be an understatement.
GoVolsXtra has an unnamed source inside the Tennessee football program which has indicated that Cincinnati's Brian Kelly is now the leading candidate to replace outgoing coach Phil Fulmer. Also in the mix: South Florida's Jim Leavitt.
Notably absent? Mike Leach, whose Texas Tech Red Raiders can be found sitting happily in the BCS Top 2. According to Knoxville News Sentinel's Mike Griffith:
Mike Leach still has his name thrown around, but I don't see it. No one is going to come into the SEC and win with Xs and Os - it takes talent, not gadgets.
And, I just don't see Leach (47) being able to handle the level of scrutiny that comes with the UT head football coach job. It's a regal position - hardly a post for someone with erratic and eccentric personality traits.
Erratic? Eccentric? Mike Leach? Really?
Er... yeah. And frankly, it's not a stretch to say that Leach might be a bit of a square peg in a round hole when it comes to Tennessee football. He's an offensive wizard, clearly, but he hasn't recruited at a high level nor is it easy to fathom pirate talk out of UT's press rooms.
Meanwhile, Brian Kelly is a blue-collar candidate that has done well in his coaching career, without necessarily bowling anyone over in the process. Kelly went 19-16 as Central Michigan's head coach from 2004-2006 before accepting the HBC job with the Bearcats. In his first full season there, Cincinnati enjoyed a Top 25 ranking and went 10-3, including a win in the Papajohns.com bowl. But according to our own Chas Rich, Cincinnati doesn't really care about Bearcat football, so maybe Kelly is up for a change.
It's kind of hard not to see a "Phil Fulmer Lite" in Brian Kelly. And we're not sure that's what Vol fans want or need at this point.
After the Gamecocks suffered their latest loss under Steve Spurrier -- this being the worst defeat ever suffered by the Visored One -- rumors have begun to circulate that Steve Spurrier could retire after this season.
We're hearing increasing chatter from our NFL sources that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will retire after the 2008 season.
Spurrier, 63, was thought to be leaning heavily toward retirement before Saturday's 56-6 debacle against Florida. It's unknown whether the 50-point loss will affect Spurrier's thought processes.
We've also heard that Spurrier is upset that South Carolina officials aren't inclined to give the head coaching job to his son, Steve Spurrier, Jr.
CFT also references an article in which a recruit suggests that he might choose Clemson over South Carolina because he "has a feeling" that Spurrier might retire soon.
FanHouse Gut FeelingTM: Not happening.Spurrier is nothing if not a man of his word, and he's said more than once this season that he believes he has another 4-5 years of coaching left -- and that South Carolina is his "last gig." Still, it'd be hard to blame Spurrier if he chose to start focusing more on his golf rather than college football. Since his departure from Florida in 2001, he's gone 12-20 in the NFL and 28-20 at South Carolina, losing more SEC games than he's won (15-17). If anything the SEC has become even more competitive since Spurrier's return; 5 Southeastern Conference teams found themselves ranked among the Top 10 in the early part of the college football season .
Regardless, Steve Spurrier is still the Ole' Ball Coach and is a living legend. South Carolina might be a "hill too far", but we believe Spurrier will continue the fight -- at least for now.
Everyone's raving about Florida's "explosive offense" thanks to their epic beatdowns of SEC opponents these last seven weeks.
And thanks to a 56-6 pounding of Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks, the laudations about the unstoppable Florida Tebows will continue.
But let's take a closer look at the Gators' smashing of the Palmetto State Poultry. What happens when you take away scores provided by Florida's superlative defense and special teams units? South Carolina found themselves in a 21 point hole after three horrible miscues: two Chris Smelley interceptions (one for a touchdown, the other returned to the Gamecocks' 26-yard line) and a botched lateral which gave the Gators another 1-yard scoring drive.
21 points in two minutes, 15 seconds. The offense might have wrapped the bow around two of those early Christmas presents, but in my mind you've got to give those points to the Gator D and kickoff coverage units.
Witness Heisman candidates Mr. Graham Harrell and Mr. Michael Crabtree campaigning for each other... no wait, for themselves... wait... oh, just watch.
Brilliant! Just as quirky and unique as Tech's head coach, Mike Leach.
No one wants the clock to stop, Michael. And footballs most indeedily do not magically fly through the air, Graham. You boys had me at the first throw. You had me at the first throw.
If the Heisman vote was held tomorrow, it'd be a damn tough call. Both players are at the top of their game and hovering in the rare, thin air of college football greatness. But at this juncture we've gotta go with the quarterback, a player whom Steve Spurrier describes as "playing against air." For now, just keep cranking out the highlight reels, fellas, and we'll keep watching. The Heisman will work itself out.
San Francisco's Emerald Bowl: not known for highlighting college football's best teams. But the bowl has been the lucky recipient of some formerly great ACC programs hitting the skids and adding some marquee value. Florida State won in 2006 against a terrible UCLA team. And in 2008, 7-5 Miami showed up to face a pretty marginal Cal squad led by Nate Longshore, a quarterback with "issues" to say the least.
This year's race for the Heisman Trophy has been tight ... very tight. The three finalists -- Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow -- have each made compelling cases to win the award throughout the regular season. 
As far as misery goes, it's been a record-setting season for Michigan. The worst part: at eight losses, the pain isn't over yet. Barring a miracle of Walt Disney standards, the block M will log nine losses in Rich Rodriguez's first year -- and that will set a historical mark unlikely to be broken.
After the Gamecocks suffered their latest loss under Steve Spurrier -- this being the worst defeat ever suffered by the Visored One -- rumors have begun to circulate that Steve Spurrier could retire after this season.
