Feb. 13, 2008

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

TREV ALBERTS
Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CBS College Sports and CSTV.com.
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        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 5/14: The Key Is Manipulation 5/7: No Doubt Tigers Not As Good 4/30: Let's Talk This Over 4/23: Take The Pass Rusher 4/9: Not The 'Same Old Kansas' 4/2: Johnson Can Win At Georgia Tech 3/26: Big East Should Add Somebody 3/20: More To Rodriguez Than His Offense 3/12: Getting Paid Not All It's Cracked Up To Be 3/5: Look Out For The Gators 2/27: Combine Important, But Not Make Or Break 2/20: Show Some Patience 2/13: Good Call By Weis 2/6: Still Comes Down To Coaching 1/30: Changes Spell Bright Future For Bruins 1/23: Cutcliffe Can Be Successful At Duke 1/16: To Each His Own 1/10: Watching Different Games 1/2: Brennan's Sugar Performance Won't Hurt Him 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 12/19: Rodriguez Licking His Chops 12/12: Buckeyes Have A Chip 12/05: Missouri Got Hosed 11/28: Some Coaching Changes Ludicrous 11/21: Love Woodson's Poise 11/14: Dixon Can Be Contained, But Not Stopped 11/7: Pac-10 Far From Overrated 10/31: Appalachian State Loss An Afterthought 10/24: No Halves Off In College Football 10/17: Nebraska In Good Hands With The Doctor 10/10: Trojans Still A Player 10/03: Don't Hate On South Florida 09/26: Hangovers Part of The Game 09/19: Nebraska's Performance Disappointing 09/12: DeSean As Explosive As It Gets 09/05: Tebow Impressive In First Start 08/29: ACC QBs Better Than Advertised 08/24: McFadden Not Quite In Bush's Class 08/17: From Overrated To Underrated 08/10: Florida's Overrated 08/03: Spurrier's Got That Twinkle 07/27: Big East Deserves More Credit 07/20: Badgers Playing For Second, At Best 07/13: Gators Repeat? Not So Fast 07/06: Pac-10 Still Owned By USC 06/29: One Big's Better Than The Other 06/22: WAC Ain't All That 06/15: Text Messaging Ban Excessive 06/08: Fifth Year of Eligibility A Good Idea 05/25: Hot Seat Warming Up For Some Coaches 05/18: Big Ten Falling Behind SEC 05/11: 'Canes, Seminoles Have Ways To Go 05/07: Sleeping Dawgs 04/20: Look Out For South Florida 04/13: Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman 03/30: The Best Atmosphere In College Football Belongs To... 03/23: Tough To Compare QBs With Different Styles 03/16: Top Coaches Need To Be Appreciated 03/9: Woodson Nation's Most Indispensable QB 03/2: Things Just Not The Same At Nebraska 02/23: Rodriguez Does Well With His Chips 02/16: Believe It Or Not, I Don't Have An FSU Agenda 02/09: Yes, I Do Know College Football 02/02: Of Course Huskers Make Adjustments 01/26: Coach Alberts In Lincoln? No Chance 01/19: Can't Begrudge Kids For Leaving Early 01/03: Saban Heads to Alabama 12/29: Some Coaching Changes Come As Surprise 12/22: Too Many Bowl Games Way of Life 12/15: Who Has The Best Talent In The Nation? 12/7: Who's The More Deserving National Title Participant? 12/1: Irish Don't Deserve BCS Bid 11/16: Ohio State the Better Team 11/9: Give the Big East Its Due 11/2: What's Wrong With D at USC? 10/26: Where Will Bowden Be in '07? 10/20: Who Belongs in the Top 20? FOOTBALL 1/8: In Surprise, Ohio State Beats Itself 1/6: Good Start Vital For Buckeyes 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 11/23: LSU Loss A Microcosm Of The Season 11/19: Give It Some Time 10/13: Give Kentucky All The Credit 10/7: USC Loss Sends Shockwaves 9/1: Michigan's Loss Nothing Short of Stunning 6/19: Hoeppner Did Things His Way 4/27: Unexpected Reigned In 1994 02/22: Combine Experience Can Be Eye Opening 02/08: Signing Day Observations 02/07: Walk Down Recruiting Memory Lane 11/17: Remebering Schembechler 9/5: One Week Is Just One Week 8/25: The Return Of Trev

You've got college football questions and CSTV football analyst Trev Alberts has answers and opinions. Each week Alberts will be answering questions and queries on the world of college football. So if you've got a question for Trev, just ask him.

What quarterback battles are you most looking forward to this spring and summer? - Pierre, TN

I think you can always start with programs that are changing head coaches and maybe changing systems.

I think the battle in Lincoln will be an interesting one. Obviously Joe Ganz came in at the end of last season and brought a different element to the game, but it'll be interesting to see who takes the reins for Bo Pelini. I'm not sure how much the offense is going to change, but it should still be a West Coast type of offense because Shawn Watson stayed as the offensive coordinator.

It'll be interesting to see who takes the reins at Michigan. A lot, obviously, depends on Terrelle Pryor and whether he decides to go to Michigan, although everything we've read says he's not leaning that way.  

We'll see if the NCAA sets a precedent with a decision to allow Ryan Mallett to avoid sitting out a year after transferring. If they do, he could battle Casey Dick for the starting spot at Arkansas.

I think you could point to USC. At this time of year, a lot of programs are expecting guys to take over and be the starter, but you never know with a guy like Mitch Mustain on the roster. That could be an interesting battle with Mark Sanchez.

At Miami, there's Robert Marve and Randy Shannon, who just brought in a phenomenal recruiting class so we might see some really young kids get an opportunity.

Louisville has a big hole to fill with Brian Brohm leaving. They've been pretty blessed to have him down there the last few years, with that prolific offensive attack. We'll see who takes over there. Could be Matt Simms.

Tennessee has a big hole to fill with Erik Ainge, who will be respected more after Vols fans realize he's gone. Remember, David Cutcliffe left for Duke and there's going to be increased pressure on Phil Fulmer this season after Tennessee's recruiting class was a little disappointing.

What's interesting about Clemson will be how it handles the Cullen Harper-Willy Korn situation. Harper should be the starter, but when you have someone as gifted as Korn waiting in the wings sometimes there is concern about making a guy happy. Maybe it's not a quarterback battle, but how it's handled will be directly related to its success. Clemson is shaping up to be a really good football team next season.

How big of a deal is Charlie Weis relinquishing play-calling duties? Is Notre Dame really better off having offensive coordinator Michael Haywood calling the plays? - A.A., Indiana

It probably does make some sense. Coach Weis was hired because of his offensive prowess, but there is so much more to running a successful program than just calling the plays. The idea that he's no longer going to have an impact on the offense is probably inaccurate. The one thing if you're a head coach and all you do is spend all your time with the quarterback and offense it does actually affect the defense. It's a positive thing for Notre Dame. He can be more directly involved with the development to the program.

Sometimes you see real benefits. Look at Georgia after Mark Richt let go of play-calling duties and gave them to Mike Bobo. Many times these assistant coaches have a better feel and a better pulse on exactly what needs to happen because they're not involved with all those press conferences and other time-consuming activities.

It might be very beneficial for Weis to take a step back, see the bigger picture so it's a natural transition for Weis and I think Notre Dame will be better off for it.

Do you think steroids are a problem in college football? - Kurt, Florida

I know they are there. I know they are prevalent and even if there is less than 10 percent of the players doing it, it's a problem. The problem is you don't know how to solve it because it's such a competitive landscape.

The one thing I find interesting is that we often throw away these comments by the Jose Cansecos and John Rockers of the world. There are good points to be made from what they've said because if a lot of guys are doing steroids and you're not doing them then the playing field isn't level for you. Some of these guys dream, their whole life is based on getting a scholarship and playing at that level and I remember being told at Nebraska when I was a freshman that I needed to get bigger. Now I never did steroids, but I can tell you there is incredible pressure when you're told you need to gain 35 pounds before you're ready to play. How are you going to gain 35 pounds in a summer?

I think the NCAA and most universities should be applauded for how hard they try to make sure it is a level playing field. I can only tell you that at Nebraska we were tested six to eight times every year and they were random. They could be in the middle of the summer and if you were at home you had to get to Lincoln and take a drug test. I think Coach Osborne instituted that because he was so sincere about having a clean team because I believe Nebraska had a steroid problem in the early 80s. He was concerned about the welfare of his student-athletes and we were inundated with information.

I think the bigger problem is in high school. Some of these high school kids don't undergo the testing in high school, dream of getting a scholarship, see the external benefits of steroids, but don't see the internal destruction they can cause.

So I do think steroids are a problem in college football, they are prevalent. But I applaud major college football because from my experiences I believe they are trying very hard to put a stop to it. But I will say that looking back I think Human Growth Hormone was probably a lot more prevalent in the NFL than I ever knew.