FanHouse Pac 10 Football

Have they lost their mind?

Last year's 13-9 victory was exciting and finally ended USC's 7-year victory streak (average score 35-18) over the Bruins. I can understand UCLA feeling good about themselves - they have a ton of guys coming back, It's the offseason when hope springs eternal, they've scored a few recruiting victories ...

But this is just stupid. Take it away, Dennis Dodd.

This is an issue because the Bruins got, uh, well, somehow left out of my first 2007 Top 25 in January. Being the good [Sports Information Director] that he is, Mr. [Marc] Dellins quickly shipped me the galleys of the spring guide. He apologized in advance for the typos (the bound version is coming). I didn't notice any except the bold prediction on Page 3 about beating USC. Again. By 20. To win the Pac-10. Now that's a good [SID].

No, that's an insane SID.

USC didn't need any extra motivation after dropping their championship hopes on the Rose Bowl turf last December, but now they've got it. I can only imagine Pete Carroll hearing about this (and he will), sitting in his office telling anyone within earshot: "For Realz? They aren't this stupid, are they?" with that confused look ironically last seen in last year's game against UCLA.

Anyway, at least we now know in advance - if it wasn't already a given - UCLA's confirmed a woodshed beating heading its way ETA 12/1/07 at the Coliseum. Sadly, there is no novelty in USC maulings of UCLA. See: 66-19, 47-22, 52-21 and 27-0.

Pete Carroll's biggest loss to date was by 11 points against Notre Dame his first year at Troy. That was a rebuilding team. Since then nobody's gotten the Trojans by anything more than seven points. I really just don't see where UCLA comes off not only calling their shot, but by 20 points. Cal might have something to say about their Pac-10 championship talk as well. If UCLA were to have that kind of season it would have made more sense not to draw a huge target on their chest, no? Let everyone gun for USC and stealthily claim the crown.

At least this once again confirms that UCLA defines itself by how it does against USC instead of more contemporary measures like "wins" and "championships". Because really, who would want to be defined by those things?

Previously at the FanHouse:
Cross-Town Rivals Cross in Town
UCLA Wins Battle in Local Recruiting War
It's Time to Let USC and UCLA Party Like its 1969
Top CFB Moments of 2003 #3: Tip, Pick, Chaos
USC vs. UCLA to Rematch December 1, 2007
Video: Rey Maualuga Delivers THE Hit of 2006
UCLA Fans Are Eye-Popping, Violent Fools
Aaaaah! Last Eight Minutes of USC-UCLA Liveblog! Aaah!
Sorry, No Photos

In Part One I named five college football recruits who will make an "impact" in 2007 and beyond. What follows are the top five impact recruits.

Please keep in mind the word impact can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. My rubric is slanted towards guys who people will be talking about early in their careers and not necessarily the best players, period.

• Jahvid Best, Tailback (California) - The "sleeper" out of my ten, if you want to call him that. Best is a little on the light/small side (5'-10"/183 pounds) but the man can scoot (a California high school best 10.39 in the 100-yard dash). There are only a handful of people every year who are that fast and are legitimate football players. Think Ted Ginn, Reggie Bush, those types of zoom zoomers. Best may be the next. Video here and here. Strange video here.

• Joe McKnight, Athlete (USC or LSU or Ole Miss) - McKnight is considered by many to be the best recruit in this year's class. People compare him to Reggie Bush because of his versatility (15 yards/carry, 30 yards/reception) but he's a little slower (10.75 compared to 10.41 in the 100 meter dash). That said McKnight can do it and should start out as a running back. Video here, here, here.
  

• Noel Devine, Running Back (West Virginia) - Many would consider Devine the nation's top recruit but his off-field elusiveness and questionable academics have muted expectations a tad. That said, outside of Reggie Bush there hasn't been a more breathtaking player to come out of the high school ranks. It's useless to give words to his abilities, just watch tape and see for yourself. He just committed to West Virginia and if he miraculously qualifies will be all over SportsCenter every Saturday night for the next three years. Boatloads of videos (~45) here. Noel Devine is a YouTube phenomena and has been since his sophomore year of high school.
  

• Everson Griffen, Defensive End (USC) - If we can return from space and into the relatively elevated stratosphere for a moment, we must talk about the amazing Everson Griffen. Aside from Devine, no other player's tape stands out more this year than Griffen's. He puts on a show running through defensive lineman and past defensive backs as a ball carries and simply blows past offensive tackles and chases down running backs way downfield as a rush end. He reportedly clocked a sub 4.5 second 40-yard-dash at a camp this year at nearly 270 pounds. Griffen is a true physical freak and there's a chance to play at the Leo end spot opposite Lawrence Jackson for the Trojans this year.

• Jimmy Clausen, Quarterback (Notre Dame) - And finally we arrive at the great Jimmy Clausen. Jimmy has been eyeballed since the middle school days as an elite quarterback prospect and so far has lived up to the billing. He'll go to the Mecca of college football, Notre Dame with expectations far beyond those of another ballyhooed prep slinger, Ron Powlus (ironically, his quarterback coach this year). Clausen is the most polished high school quarterback in ages and has a quirky personality and awesomely bad hairdo. Pair that with the hype and the fact that he's at Notre Dame and the guy is college football's biggest lightning rod ... perhaps ever. And that's before ever having taken a snap. People will most definitely be talking about this guy and so he headlines this list of the top 10 impact recruits of 2007. Video here. A few more videos here.

Alright, there it is, my list of the top 10 impact recruits. Who else should have been on this list? Who would you have omitted. Fire away (within reason).

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Previous:

Impact National Recruits Part I

Cal football's scheming and stoic emperor has played a hand, agreeing to a contract extension to be with the Bears until 2013. Nick Saban, Todd Graham and many before them have taught us how meaningless these deals are. But you know what? The ties that bind may be weak but the principle speaks volumes: Tedford's happy at Cal.

In three successive postseasons rumors of imminent departure for better jobs elsewhere have agitated against the Tedford regime like surly Pacific waves crashing against the craggy northern California shoreline. And yet he remains. After five full seasons he has rebuilt the adrift program.

The Bears have never quite met the hype given to them, but if that's all you can say about them you're missing the real story. Tedford's model is as much about scheme and X's and O's as simply fielding a competitive squad through significant turnover. The Bear roster is littered with junior college rentals and three-and-done blue chippers. That's not the easy way to put together a team. It means managing egos and ambitions and rapidly integrating guys into a complex system before they're gone. Lather, rinse, repeat.

In that time the Bears have gone from a one win team to a pair of ten win seasons in the last three years. All of this against the backdrop of playing in the tumultuous Pac-10 with monolithic USC in one of its great runs staring at you annually. All of this against the backdrop of having to recruit a great many rough academic cases into one of America's finest public institutions. All of this against the backdrop of an athletic department in desperate need of funds to renovate a stadium built on a fault line. If Tedford were to leave, Cal's athletic department would be in the most vulnerable of positions.

Pressure? He's got it.

Winning? It's what he does.

Is Cal what everyone thought they'd be? No. But so long as the winning continues they'll have a shot given the right personnel and good fortune. That's the Tedford story.