Saturday, October 09, 2004

New Kids On Campus

If you've been around here at all, and if you have you are probably alone, you may have noted my general disdain for the "freshman can't contribute" line most college coaches hand out. Not that it doesn't prove true, but it's hardly 100% accurate as they make it sound. Coaches would have us believe these first-year kids are just slightly above worthless. Yet, I doubt many want to go back to freshmen ineligibility.

In light of this, I offer the following moderately sarcastic observations from Saturday's big games.

Tennessee beats Georgia? That can't be right. Freshman QB's can't win big games on the road. Yet, Vols' QB Erik Ainge played his first ever road contest, in Georgia no less, and walked out with a win. David Greene, a pre-season Heisman contender and senior, has a lackluster game for UGA, but Ainge guides UT to a huge conference win. Casey Clausen must have played, not Ainge.

Chad Henne continues to improve. Wait, that can't be right, either. Another TRUE freshman quarterback guides his team to a win against a top twenty, conference opponent? Freshman rarely make an impact, especially at the big programs. Henne could not have thrown for over 300 yards versus Minnesota. You can't trust a freshman in a big game, everyone knows that.

Oklahoma runs over Texas, 12-0. Adrian Peterson runs himself into the Heisman race by going over, around and through the Longhorns. Wait, Peterson can't be in the Heisman hunt, he's a true freshman. Freshman aren't supposed to be key contributors. They certainly cannot be considered the best player in the country.

I know the best thing about freshman is that they become sophomores. If that's true, I guess we will have quite a Heisman race in 2005.

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