SuperFan wrote:SuperJon wrote: That was 2008. This is 2009. While I may know what we have to replace the graduated talent, and while I may think we have a chance to be good this year, on a national level, no one has any reason to put us in the top 25.
Then how can polls ever determine a Top 25 for the upcoming season? They have to base it on returning talent, and we have 20+ returning players with significant playing time, multiple 1A transfers, and a stellar recruiting class. With that said, we also finished in the Top 15 last year. If you are trying to say that teams that graduate talent shouldn't be in the top 25, then Southern Cal should never be in the top 25 considering they lose talent every year. We have the pieces in place to have another monumental season, there is NO doubt in my mind that this is a top 25 team.
Once again, you're looking at it as a fan, and not how the national media and people who vote on these things look at it.
They base it on returning players. You tell me a returning running back that rushed for more than 50 yards in a game last year. You tell me a returning quarterback that threw more than ten passes in a game last year. You tell me a returning wide receiver who caught more than four passes in a game last year.
Do I think we have a ton of talent coming back? Abso-frickin-lutely. I know we do. I've seen them on the field. I've seen them working out. Most of them I've seen play in practice for the past two years. I know how good they can be. The fact remains that they haven't had a chance to perform and show how good they can be. If you paid attention during spring ball, you'd know that Coach Rocco spoke a lot about "focus" and "intensity." Let's look at when he said it publicly:
“I just told them here at the end of this evening’s practice, I look at this thing from the big picture. The big picture is that we open up our 2009 season in Morgantown, W.Va., against West Virginia and when we go there, the intensity and the focus must be there in order for us to have a chance to win.”
“To me, toughness is the ability to perform under pressure – it is not talk or take cheap shots, as none of that stuff impresses me. I’m looking for guys who can perform under pressure, before I consider them a tough football player. I’m trying to identify those guys here, as we wrap up spring football, and I see most of my guys who fit that mold on the defensive side of the field.”
“Unfortunately, for the most part, we did not have the focus and intensity that we had on Tuesday evening,” continued Rocco. “I definitely thought Tuesday night was the best practice that we’ve had all spring, and truthfully it was one of the best practices we have had in quite a long time.”
“I just told the guys we didn’t have the focus tonight,” concluded Rocco. “It doesn’t matter who you are playing or what sport you are competing in, if you are not at your best you are going to get beat. We probably would have played well enough to lose a close game tonight.”
If you were at practice during the spring, you could hear when he talked to the team after practice about keeping their focus and their intensity. These players have a ton of talent, and I mean an absolute ton. They just haven't proven it on the field yet in a game. If they keep their focus this summer and in camp, we're all going to be in for a great surprise and we'll eventually be in the polls. For right now though, we don't deserve it. We're not in a power conference. We don't have the reputation of reloading. We don't have the respect of the national media and voters. We're starting to get it, but we don't have it yet.
--Fumble (1961-2009), RIP