Feb. 23, 2007

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

	TREV ALBERTS Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CSTV and CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 2/20: Show Some Patience 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.

I am a West Virginia fan, a school that rarely if ever gets a Top 25-rated class. Yet they win consistently and put people in the NFL. I love the underdog, and the teams that play well together, instead of teams like Southern California or Texas that just harvest as many top-rated recruits as they can and throw them together and basically out-athlete other teams. Whatever happened to coaching a team to victory, not recruiting a team of all-stars that can't help but win? - Rob Braswell, Jacksonville, N.C.

I think that is probably one of the more well-written statements/questions that we've had here in the mail bag. Rob, you've hit it on the head.

There is tremendous talent on West Virginia. Rich Rodriguez is secure enough and big enough that he can recruit who he wants. He can get the kind of player he wants. He doesn't have to listen to a list of highly-rated recruits.

Whatever happened to coaches sitting down and watching high school film and saying, "This kid's a football player?" I remember talking to Rodriguez and him talking openly about not necessarily wanting the kid who had been given everything in life. He wants a kid in Morgantown that has a chip on his shoulder. He wants the kids that no one else wanted at that position. It doesn't mean they're not supremely-gifted athletes. The perfect example, of course, is Pat White. White wanted to play quarterback. Most colleges wanted him to play defensive back. So Pat White goes to college with a chip on his shoulder. It's not unlike Tommy Frazier's situation at Nebraska. Most schools wanted him to play defensive back. Nebraska offered him the opportunity to play quarterback and he wound up nearly winning the Heisman.

Kids that have a chip on their shoulder for, some reason, are the kids who are always going to be better than the kids who are comfortable. Is West Virginia as supremely talented as USC? No, but it's talent with a chip on its shoulder and that's why they're consistently good.

Who would you take, JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn?

I was asked this question about 10 years ago when Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf were coming out. It's not an easy question to answer.  

I remember when Leaf was coming out, a lot of people who won't admit to it now--but I'll admit to it--thought Leaf would be the better pick because he had more upside. You had this raw talent with Leaf. Peyton Manning is what he is. Is he going to get any better? He's in a system, he's robotic. He's probably not going to get any faster, his arm strength isn't going to get any stronger. Well, how incredibly wrong those of us who thought Leaf was the better pick. Given different circumstances, Leaf probably would have turned out just fine.

On the surface, you say Brady Quinn is a product of the system. Is he going to get any better? He is who he is. JaMarcus Russell is just a raw talent. He's very good, but he's a little unpolished.

That being said, I'm not trying to make the comparison that JaMarcus Russell is the next Ryan Leaf. I see both sides. I think Russell is a ridiculous talent. I would take Russell simply because of his upside. I think he's proven to be awfully good in college. The guy is just huge. He's going to end up being as big as lot of defensive ends that will be trying to tackle him. He's a lot more nimble than people think. I'm not equating him with Vince Young, but we've seen in the NFL that if you can take a big thrower, and you add dimension of escapability, you're almost unstoppable. Russell has a better arm and he's more accurate than Young. I don't think he's quite as mobile as Young, but the package is pretty comparable. Not quite as mobile.

Quinn, on the other hand, if you're not careful, he's the next Peyton Manning. I know Charlie Weis swears by Quinn and told me point blank that he has all the same qualities as Tom Brady.

You can't go wrong with either one, but if was forced to pick, I'd go with JaMarcus Russell.

It looks like the rule changes to the clock from last year are going back to the old ways, for the most part. Was it a bad move by the NCAA to institute the changes and why did they even bother changing the rules? The game was fine the way it was.

I think on the surface, the easy analysis is to say it was foolish to make those changes. I have criticized the NCAA in the past for being reactionary and consistently just sitting there and waiting. But when they're proactive in trying to improve the game, trying to shorten the length of the game, they have to be given some credit for making the effort.

You can argue that it was doomed strategy from the beginning, but at least they tried to benefit the student-athlete. I would rather the NCAA and its rules committee consistently err on side of being proactive rather than being reactive.

I give them credit for saying, "Look, it didn't work. It changed the integrity of the game. We heard the coaches. You were right, we were wrong."

Did it really ruin college football? No. They made some changes they thought would improve the game. It didn't so they changed it back.

They also made some small changes, moving kickoffs back to the 30-yard line from the 35. That's a good change. I think they handled the rule changes properly and appropriately, and I'm glad they moved the kickoffs back. More returns add to the excitement of the game.