Post Spring Practice Top 25 by CBS Sports

Submitted by Blues Notes on

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-top-25… Four Big Ten teams in top 25, three in top 10.

 

Edited:

 

Way too damn early to mean anything.

Did not see any of the teams practice and it is way too damn early anyway.

Games are played for a reason (for cliche lovers).

But it is nice to see the Big Ten and in particular the East Division get national respect, meaningless as it is.

 

 

 

 

 

newtopos

May 1st, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^

I haven't watched him, but Miles Sanders was a 5-star recruit, the number one running back in the 2016 class, and has averaged over 7 yards a carry in his limited time behind Barkley (who averaged 5.7 and 5.5 yards per carry the last two years).  I assume Sanders was playing in garbage time, but it is not crazy to think he will perform at a very high level.  Barkley was drafted extremely high (and added a lot in special teams), but I feel like we are already forgetting about Fournette, McCaffrey, etc. just from the past couple years and lionizing Barkley to an unreasonable extent.

The best thing for us is that Moorhead left PSU.      

DrMantisToboggan

May 1st, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^

And why are we to believe that their OL isn't going to be ass again? I keep seeing the "well the OL should be good now" from PSU people and, if they are simply assuming that because the guys on the OL have been around for a while now, boy do I have bad news for them.

newtopos

May 1st, 2018 at 11:52 PM ^

But why does that matter?  Moorehead showed that with his offense, even with that terrible OL, he could score on us at will.  Penn State had a top ten S&P+ offense last year even with that OL.  Give me that offense over any Pep Hamilton/Jim McElwain offense ever.  Hopefully Moorehead's departure has some immediate effects.

newtopos

May 2nd, 2018 at 12:26 AM ^

I hear what you are saying, but the 2016 PSU offense ended up in the top 20 in S&P+ Offense, and went on to hang 41 on Iowa, 45 on Michigan State, 38 on a top-ten Wisconsin, and 49 on a top-ten USC in the Rose Bowl.  We caught PSU in the fourth game of Moorehead's tenure.  The offense he implemented there was remarkable (and likely saved Franklin's job).  (PSU's offense in 2015 was ranked 62nd.)

NittanyFan

May 2nd, 2018 at 2:37 AM ^

sure, that was true in the 2014-2015 era.  That's when Temple was recording 10 sacks a game and PSU linemen were making "Not Top 10" for blocking each other --- and while all that was going on, PSU's then-offensive line coach was also moonlighting as a celebrity chef.

It was a mess, to the amusement of many non-PSU folk.

But time marches on and sometimes the narrative changes with that passage of time.  I thought the OL was fairly good in 2017 as a whole, especially toward the end.  PSU had a lot of success against Washington's vaunted DL in the Fiesta Bowl, for instance.

As a PSU fan, the OL is one of the offensive elements I'm less worried about in 2018.  The bigger issues on offense are (1) replacing Barkley (of course), (2) Juwan Johnson recovering off spring injuries and becoming the new Godwin/Hamilton as a legit possible all-B1G WR (he has the raw talent to reach that level), and (3) running the new scheme with the new offensive coordinator.

DeepBlueC

May 1st, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^

knock yourself out.  How many quotes from last off-season do you want me to call up where people on this board said that McSorely was "lucky" and threw nothing but "arm punts"?  If you were paying attention, you saw them all too.

BigBlue02

May 2nd, 2018 at 11:48 AM ^

Look at your posting history. Literally every post you respond to. You defend PSU and MSU at any chance you get and don’t seem to have any positive things to say about Michigan, then you cry when you’re called out because you’re keeping it real and telling the truth. It is pretty easy to detect a troll like you. I’m not sure why you’re surprised

newtopos

May 2nd, 2018 at 12:18 AM ^

It's not magic, it's recruiting.

PSU signed the nation's top receiver, a 5 star top-10 overall player.  PSU signed the number one ranked all-purpose back, a 5 star top-30 overall player.  They signed the nation's number 4 ranked TE.  They have the top running back (5 star) from the 2016 class.  They had a top 10 offense last year.  Ours was ranked 85th, and we retained Pep Hamilton.  The Shea transfer (and eligibility) was huge, and Moorehead leaving PSU is great, but the idea that their offense will fall off a cliff and ours will rise meteorically seems like wishful thinking.  (I hope it happens, but there are plenty of reasons for being cautious in optimism.)

CLord

May 1st, 2018 at 5:39 PM ^

First time in a while I feel like we're going to be sneaky good, but that schedule is just brutal.  Going to come down to coaching, period.  We'll need some schematic magic on offense akin to PSU's effort against us last year to make it through.  I feel like JH has dug deep and done some soul searching this off season and we should hopefully see some more variety on offense that carries us over the top vs the majority of this insane schedule, but hard to see us run this table.  Go Blue.

LurkingLikeLar…

May 1st, 2018 at 6:16 PM ^

Dennis. Fucking. Dodd. I should’ve known with the 7 SEC teams for the hell of it. Quit trying to sell me Florida and LSU. I ain’t buying. MSU and PSU too high. I’d put both of them just outside the top 10.

BlueChip27

May 1st, 2018 at 6:37 PM ^

The schedule bothers me none.....if you're good enough you need to win no matter where the venue.

Like last year....the OL will be key. Shea will be an upgrade over last year's QB play.

MaizeRager

May 1st, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^

"Mark Dantonio gets back sneaky-good quarterback Brian Lewerke"

So he's not good. He's sneaky-good. So without the "sneak" hes no good.

Mongo

May 1st, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^

we play ND, NU, MSU and OSU on the road and our cross-overs are UW and UN. Beast of a schedule. We have a lot to prove but hopefully Shea is the difference maker on offense. Defense is going to be f-ing good.

NYC Fan3

May 1st, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^

We’re censoring Frey’s comments on Harbaugh? It’s interesting as outside of this blog a lot of people share a similar sentiment. It’s been a nice quiet offseason so far and hopefully that continues until games are won on the field.

blueblue

May 1st, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^

I think we should be higher ranked but it’s hard to know because THERES NO VIDEO! Where is the practice video, coach? You’re killing me over here. I expect Full Submarine in August and then when we come out against ND everybody’s going to be like where did THAT team come from?

Kenpoj

May 1st, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^

stay right where they are so when we do get to the game in EL they are full of piss and vinegar. Then playing like we have all season we beat a highly ranked team at their home and continue that trend all the way to the OSU game. QB play will be the difference we have been waiting on and I feel pretty confident about that. There seems to be an air about this team by just about everyone around it right now and I haven't seen that for a while. Can't wait. Go Blue!!!

TheCool

May 2nd, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^

This is why you're labeled a troll. Most, if not all of your posts are negative and in response to something positive about UM. You'd have to be rather dense to not see it, which I'm not discounting as a possibility.

Boulderine

May 1st, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^

Is garbage. When Michigan basketball was doing well, he somehow found a reason to write a negative article about Harbaugh. Total non sequitur.

I’m not even saying Harbaugh is “the savior” or “the greatest ever”, just pointing out that Dodd is a troll.

mackbru

May 1st, 2018 at 9:25 PM ^

Nothing about the current Sparty squd suggests they will be a Top 10 team. They were mediocre last year and their recruiting has lagged. They just don't have much real talent. Their ceiling is 9-3, their basement is 7-5. They're Alamo-caliber. Will end up ranked in the 20s.