On Monday’s teleconference, the Scripps Legends Poll voters discussed the top of the conference.

Bobby Ross:  Well, I saw them play against Virginia Tech physically and I thought they were a good football team.  But the one thing that has bothered me all the way through has been the number of points that they’ve been giving up.  Even though, when I saw them play against Virginia Tech they only gave up 3, but it was not a good ballgame by Virginia Tech.  Point-wise that concerned me.  Wofford almost beat them 35-27 at home, at Clemson.  And Maryland who is not having a very good year scored a lot of points on them.  So, the game did not surprise me.  I mentioned last week that they only had one week to prepare for Georgia Tech and I, quite honestly, felt that Georgia Tech would win the ballgame even though they had not been playing well.  But I think defensively they’re not of the caliber of what we’re talking about in the way of LSU and Alabama and people like that.  They’re just not of that caliber.  They have good athletes, but they’re not playing that good of defense and I think that’s the difference maker for them.

Moderator:  What about Virginia Tech?  They squeaked by Duke the other day and they’re a one loss team – just that loss to Clemson.  How do you look at them?

Ross:   Well, they’ve been kind of a funny football team.  One week they play fairly well offensively and not so good defensively and the next week it’s the exact opposite.  They haven’t done anything to knock people out of the saddle.  And I think the next three weeks are probably going to tell a lot more about them because they’re at Georgia Tech and they’ve got an open date this week to prepare for Tech.  They’ve got North Carolina and then they’ve got Virginia who appears to be improved – away.  So, I think there’s going to be more to tell.  I’ve kept them kind of right where they were because they continue to win, but again, I don’t see them in the same caliber as what we’ve been talking about with Alabama and LSU.

Moderator:  Bobby Bowden, do you have any comments on Clemson and Virginia Tech?

Bowden:  They’re just one of those teams that if they play a great game you know that they’re going to beat you.  But when you talk about a one loss team playing for the National Championship, the only team with one loss that I would think would be good enough would be whoever loses the Alabama/LSU game.  I mean, that game might be so good that whoever loses they’ve got to play them again.  Oklahoma State looks like they nearly belong.  Oklahoma looks like they do belong but they’ve already had a slip up.  And Stanford, I don’t know if those people play defense like they do down there at LSU and Alabama.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, VTCarter)

Stallings:  Now, let me ask you a question just for my own benefit.  When the computer poll ranks them, does the score have anything to do with the ranking?  In other words, let’s say Oklahoma State beats somebody 20-7 or they beat somebody 70-7, does that affect the ranking?

Richard:  No, Coach, it doesn’t and that’s an interesting point.  The BCS removed the margin of victory beginning in the 2002 season.  So, it really has no bearing on it at all which makes for some really interesting differences sometimes between the computer polls and the human polls.

Ross:  Richard, I had one, too.  Is it able to measure week to week injury situations?

Richard:  No, it’s not and that’s a very strong contention of mine as to why it’s very appropriate to have a human poll in conjunction with a computer poll.  Computer polls measure strength of schedule I believe more accurately than even possibly a human can because it goes to an ‘inth’ of a degree so to speak.  But there’s no way that a computer can measure injuries or weather conditions or penalties at untimely points in the game and that’s why I think it’s very, very important to have a human input.  People find it strange that I say I’ve never been in favor of a computer poll being the sole determining factor for a National Championship race because there are just too many intangibles that only a human can look at and make an accurate determination about.

Stallings:  Richard, if you were going to pick the four top things that determine rank and I understand score is one of them and then the toughness of the schedule has to have something to do with it.  But what are the other two things that have more bearing on the ranking than anything?

Richard:  Well, I do think that just the straight up wins and losses are a factor.  I don’t think it should be the determining factor because I don’t think all 5 and 2 teams are the same or all 4 and 3 teams are the same.  But I also think the side of the game is important.  I think it has some bearing on showing the strength of a team.  I think if you’re playing on the road you deserve a little bit more credit and I also believe that specific venues should give you a little bit more of a bump in your ranking.  Because I really do believe that playing at Tennessee or at Florida or at Oregon or at Alabama, I think that that is a little harder task than playing at Rice or at Kent State.

Stallings:  That’s because of the teams not the place.  You know, it’s a whole lot easier to play Rice anywhere than to play Alabama.  So, what’s that got to do with it?

Richard:  Well, I just think that it may be a little bit more difficult to play in front of 106,000 people screaming Rocky Top than it is playing – well, let’s give a better example perhaps – they’re both SEC venues, but I think it might be harder to play at Tennessee than it would be to play at Mississippi State or at Ole Miss.

Stallings:  Well, you look at Tennessee they’re screaming that Rocky Top right now and they’re not beating anybody.

Richard:  Well, it’s still hard to play there.

Ross:  What I’m hearing you say then is the caliber of the opponent and the site are really kind of a combination of the two, right?

Richard:  It is.  I would say it is.  And you know, Coach, it’s not just the venue itself as much as it is the capacity, I would think, that’s in the crowd.  Because you can have very large stadiums, and I think Rice is a pretty good example of this, and Rice I mean they’ve had their day back in the ‘50’s they played really great football and a couple of years ago – 2 or 3 years ago – Rice had a pretty good football team, but they’ve got a 70,000 seat stadium.  I lived in Houston for 25 years and went to every Rice home game.

Ross:  I coached there.

Richard:  But, you know, when you’ve got 15,000 people in a 70,000 seat stadium it just doesn’t have quite the impact playing there as it does, perhaps, playing at a sold out stadium in Tulsa.

Ross:  When I coached there we’d look over on the other side at A&M and Arkansas and Texas and people like that would have far more many fans in our stadium than we would.

Richard:  Yeah, some of the biggest crowds were probably the Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M crowds who came in from out of town.

Mike Griffith (KnoxNews.com):  So, Richard, am I to understand that the capacity at the game is part of your – I know all the computer formulas are different, but that’s something that factors into your computer formula?

Richard:  It actually does, but you have to remember, guys, it’s such a very, very slight part of the formula.  Every year at the end of the season I re-evaluate the NCAA attendance figures to see what the capacity of a stadium is in a particular season and make a determination at that point according to the capacity that they’re filling as to how many people are actually in the stands and are there to generate excitement and momentum for their home team.  But now you have to remember this is a fraction of a point.

Stallings:  I understand that can be a factor, but there’s something that’s got to weigh heavier than others.  What are the heavy things that you put emphasis on?

Obviously score has got to be something, but what else?  Where they play?  Toughness of schedule?    What are the top things?  That’s my question.

Richard:  The top factor, of course, is the strength of schedule and that weighs in probably 80-85% of a ratings goes into the strength of the opponent that a team is playing.

Stallings:  Okay, that makes sense.

Richard:  The other I would have to say would be the wins and losses.  As I said earlier I don’t gauge it according to just wins and losses because all 5 and 2 teams are not the same.

Moderator:  John Cooper mentioned on our call yesterday that even with Wisconsin with two losses, he still thinks they’re the best team in the Big 10.  You’re the only one that has them rated.  You’ve got them No. 20 in your poll.  None of the other computer polls even have Wisconsin in their Top 25.  There you’ve got that human factor looking at a team and he’s saying it’s the best team in the Big 10 and all the computers have totally dismissed them except yours.

Richard:  Well, I think that Wisconsin and their record may be a pretty good example of what I’m talking about when you gauge teams if you’re looking strictly at wins and losses.  Because when you look at a team like Wisconsin, Michigan State, teams that right now that have two losses, but you look at the conference they’re playing in and then you look at another group of teams like Louisiana Lafayette and Arkansas State and I don’t want to take anything away from their programs, but they have two losses.  But they’re playing in the Sunbelt and I don’t think you can really make a comparison there and say that those teams are equal.  I just don’t believe they’re equal.

Our legendary voting panel has taken notice.

“In my opinion, and I haven’t seen them all, the most explosive football player in America today is that wide receiver at Clemson,” former Auburn coach Pat Dye said. “And I don’t know what kind of accolades that a freshman can get, but he’s a true freshman. To me he’s like a Bo Jackson or Herschel Walker in talent in what he’s displaying and what he’s doing on the field.”

Watkins leads Clemson in nearly every receiving category. Through seven games, Watkins has 46 receptions for 728 yards and eight touchdowns. “I wouldn’t disagree with Pat (Dye),” former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross said.
“I’ve seen him on television and followed him there, as well as looked at some film on him. And he is, in my mind, the most explosive that I’ve seen. He did not, in the actual game that I saw him, play physically against Virginia Tech. He was not that type of player in that particular game, but in the other games that I’ve seen, I don’t know that there would be any other player that could do that. I mean, he’s has a couple of kickoff returns, he’s a great receiver, great leaper, he’s tough, blocks, he does it all. And I wouldn’t disagree with Pat one bit.”

Against Maryland, Watkins set a school record with 345 all-purpose yards, including an 89-yard kickoff return.

“Well, I look at him and he does everything he’s supposed to do, but the thing to me is that you can’t catch him,” Dye said. “I mean, when Bo Jackson broke a long run you couldn’t catch him. And when Hershel broke a long run you couldn’t catch him. This guy, you can’t catch him. You know, your pursuit angles don’t work. And, of course, he’s 6’3” or 6’4” and 210 or 220 or whatever he is and he might be the reason that Clemson goes undefeated if they should happen to do so.”

Florida (4-1, 1-1 SEC) scored on its first play from scrimmage but never found the end zone again thanks to the Crimson Tide defense.

“When you are as great a team as Alabama is, everyone gives you a great shot in the first quarter,” former Washington coach Don James said. “Florida did that at the start, but then Alabama took the steam out of them.”

LSU (5-0, 2-0 SEC) jumped Oklahoma to grab the second spot, giving the SEC West the top two teams in the rankings.

The Sooners fell to No. 3 despite a 62-6 win over Ball State.

Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) remained the highest-ranked Big Ten team at No. 4 after manhandling Nebraska, 48-17, under the lights in Madison on Saturday.

Stanford replaced Boise State at No. 5, knocking the Broncos out of the top 5 for the first time this season.

No. 8 Clemson made another big move this week following a 23-3 road victory over Virginia Tech. The Tigers jumped six more spots, making up 13 spots in two weeks.

“The most impressive part of Clemson’s game was their defensive line play,” said former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross, who was at the game in Blacksburg. “They displayed great speed, which kind of surprised me. They kept Virginia Tech from making any big plays. Everyone has been talking about the Clemson offense, but their defense really stepped up on Saturday.”

No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Texas made top 10 appearances for the first time this season.

No. 11 Michigan jumped seven spots in the rankings and No. 12 Georgia Tech made the biggest move of the week, jumping 10 spots.

Undefeated Kansas State made its first appearance in the Scripps Legends Poll this season at No. 20 after knocking off previously unbeaten Baylor 36-35. Baylor fell to No. 23.

No. 21 Auburn also moved into the top 25 for the first time after shocking South Carolina. The Gamecocks fell one spot behind Auburn at No. 22.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, akmcafee9)

Moderator: Coach Ross, why don’t you tell us what you think is going to happen in the Clemson/Virginia Tech game?

Bobby Ross: Well, I think first of all Clemson’s got to come out and play their game. Sometimes when you get into a situation like that, you may kind of feel a little bit more conservative to start the football game. I don’t think Clemson wants to do that. Right now, they are shooting from the hip. They’re a big play football team. They’re primarily a throwing team and have big play ability. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more mature freshman in this new wide receiver, Sammy Watkins, that they have and the way he’s playing the game.

And the way he’s handling things. He’s their leading receiver, scored numerous touchdowns, all of which have been big plays, but you can tell just from his demeanor in the ball game that he is a very mature young kid. He’s not one to showboat or anything of that nature, he catches the ball, he goes back to the huddle, gets it, puts it on the ground or gives it to the official and he comes over to the bench and sits down, talks to the coaches, talks to the quarterback, etc. and moves on. Watkins is a factor they have not had in the past.

In addition to that, they have an excellent quarterback in Boyd. If there was an example of him I would say that he is very similar in style of play to the Russell Wilson at Wisconsin. He’s not a burner as a runner, but he is an effective runner. He can create things on his own. He has a very live arm. You can see that he plays with great confidence and very solid in that respect. I think that Boyd’s a key factor to them, too.

Moderator: What does Virginia Tech have to do to win?

Ross: I think Virginia Tech has to control the long ball first of all, the big play. I think early in the game is going to be a key for them because – that’s why I say Clemson has got to come out early and be aggressive and attack. At the same time, Virginia Tech’s got to be alert for the big play, the speed, because they haven’t seen the speed that they’re going to see in this game. Now, they’ve seen it, and I’m sure Coach Beamer is talking to them about that very thing. They’ve seen plenty of speed teams in the past, but this is one that is very, very explosive, probably more explosive than I’ve ever seen them in the time that I’ve been around them. And Virginia Tech has a young defense, they give you a lot of different formation type variations, they’re going to have to not only adjust, but then play. And, so, I think that the adjustments and then the speed factor are keys for Clemson as far as establishing the big play and for Virginia Tech for preventing the big play.

Moderator: Richard, what is your take on that game?

Billingsley: Well, I don’t know the x’s and the o’s like Coach does, that’s for sure. I can tell you this, I think the key for Clemson is going to be able to keep the Virginia Tech crowd out of this came. And the only way they can do that is to score points. The very best thing that could happen would be for them to have a long, sustained drive to keep that crowd out of the game. And on the other side of the coin, Virginia Tech needs to play great defense and nothing inspires a crowd like great defense. And if they shut Clemson down early and that crowd stays in the game, it’s going to be a tough, tough night for Clemson.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, techsports)

Richard Billingsley: Your thoughts are exactly parallel with mine. In my rankings neither Arkansas nor Texas A&M suffered from those losses because they both lost to very highly ranked teams. So, at this point in the season Arkansas and A&M can both still go on and have a great season. These are very talented teams. I think the loss for Texas A&M was more devastating and it was because they were expected to win the game. I don’t think a lot of people, perhaps outside the state of Arkansas, felt like Arkansas could actually go into Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama. But a lot of people felt like A&M could beat Oklahoma State. So, to me, my first question would be can Texas A&M emotionally come back from a devastating loss like that and go right into another high profile game.

Moderator: Bobby, what would you say, if you were coaching Arkansas and if you were coaching Texas A&M? What approach would you take for each team in getting them up for this game?

Bobby Ross:  I agree with Richard totally that it’s going to be tougher for A&M to come back from their loss last weekend. I do think this though, Arkansas has one distraction with the injury factor. I think one of their defensive – both defensive ends – one was out last week with a hamstring and then the other one, Wright, I think is his name, he got hurt and broke his arm and he’s going to be out. And I don’t know if the kid is back from the hamstring or not. So, they’re going to be losing two, very, very important players in their system.  Arkansas was the underdog at Alabama and everybody knew that. And, so, the Arkansas approach is to say, okay, put the game behind you and let’s move on. Both teams really have to do that. It’s just going to be harder for A&M to do that in my opinion. The advantage I think A&M has going into the game is that Coach Broyles had said Arkansas can’t run a lick and they did not in that ball game. Everything is depending upon their quarterback who is pretty good. I was surprised at how good he has looked. But A&M can run the ball. They had two backs that were running good and a very strong offensive line. I think they returned something like four starters and they were prepared to run the ball well. And I think they’ve got to hammer the ball. Let’s run the football out. That would be my approach as far as A&M is concerned. And with Arkansas, they’ve got to do what they do best and that’s throw the football. But I would still be wanting to establish some type of running attack, because I’m a great believer in the running game. I don’t ever want to have to coach a team that doesn’t run the ball well. I think once that happens you really have some problems.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, Daaka2)

On Monday’s teleconference, the Legends Coaches discussed why they voted the Tide at the top.

Pat Dye: Well, I picked Alabama No. 1. And somebody’s got to beat them to convince me that they’re not the best football team in the country — primarily because of their defense. You know, they’re not only fast, they’re big and they’re the most physical. And I know LSU, I’ve seen them a couple of times, but I think Alabama’s a more physical football team up front. They may not be quite as quick as LSU, but I think they’re bigger and stronger and the linebackers, in particular, add to the strength of their defensive front. And, of course, they’ve got a great secondary just like LSU. LSU may be a little better in the secondary.

Offensively, they are a running football team, and they have confidence in their passing game. The other thing is, they don’t make any mistakes. They don’t turn the football over, they don’t get stupid penalties and that’s the reason I picked them number 1.

Moderator: Who did you take at No. 2 through No. 5?

Dye: I picked LSU No. 2 primarily for the same reason I picked Alabama No. 1. I just don’t think LSU is quite as good as Alabama. They’ve got to play them in a couple of weeks and I think Alabama will beat them because they’re playing in Tuscaloosa. If they played in Baton Rouge it might be a different ball game. Neither one of them have got great quarterbacks, but they’re efficient and they’re not making mistakes with the football and doing things to get themselves beat and both of them have got great, great defensive football teams.

Now, I took Oklahoma at No. 3. They’re a great offensive football team and, obviously, everybody in the country thinks they are a great football team with talent and so forth, but I don’t believe that Oklahoma could line up and consistently move a football against LSU or Alabama. I don’t think Oklahoma is any better than Arkansas on offense and they may be – and Arkansas had less than 200 yards against Alabama.

The fourth team was Wisconsin. And I’m going a lot, my opinion based on last year – just a big, strong, physical football team on both sides of the football that has always been a good running football team and no different this year and they’re getting great production out of their quarterback. And that kind of sets him apart from everybody in the Big Ten and I just think that they would be a football team that, in my opinion, could match up with any of the three up above and have a chance probably because of their quarterback.

And the fifth team, I picked Florida. And Florida looks like ‘old Florida’ to me. I mean, that’s pretty good. They don’t resemble the football team they had last year. They’re playing together, they’re playing hard, they’re playing great on defense and the same thing is true on offense. They got the quarterback settled down and making plays and got probably a faster overall team speed than Alabama or LSU.

Terry Donahue: Hey, Pat, where did you have Oklahoma State?

Dye: No. 6.

Bill Mallory: I put Oklahoma State in there at fifth. I really like them. I think that’s a team that’s really coming on and I really thought they deserved to be in the top 5 – a good balanced football team.

Bobby Ross: I had Oklahoma State fifth also. I like their speed, their quarterback, them going into Texas A&M and doing what they did I thought was a tremendous accomplishment.

Dye:  The difference, to me, between Oklahoma State and Florida is strictly on the defensive side of the football. I just don’t think Oklahoma State is as good as Florida and there’s not a lot to choose from as far as their offense is concerned.

Who would you put in your top 5? Tell us in the comments.

This week, the legendary voting panel continued the discussion on Monday’s Scripps Legends Poll conference call — only this time, the focus was on defense.

Moderator: Let’s follow up our discussion from last week about the spread offense. What would you say is the best way to contain the spread?

R.C. Slocum: Well, I think the game because of all the high school passing leagues and all that, I think we’re throwing and catching better now. I think the teams, the Stanfords, the Alabamas, Wisconsin, teams like that have something going in terms of having a balanced offense and being able to run the ball I think helps your defense more than anything. So, if I were coaching, of I’m a head coach, I’d be trying to help the defense by having a balanced offense where you have the capability to run the ball more and you look at how the good teams right now have that formula. The things we’ve talked about, Wisconsin, Stanford, Alabama, LSU, even Oklahoma – Oklahoma still tries to run the football. So, I think that’s how you help your defense, the best way to help it, I think. I don’t think there’s some magic scheme out there that you can line up – I don’t know about the schemes, but I think having an offense that controls the ball would be the best way.

Moderator: Well, what about, you know obviously one of the big problems with these hurry up offenses, is there anything that can be possibly done other than what R.C. said, try to give your defense some more rest and keep them off the field so you have your offense on the field?

George Welsh: Here’s what I think and this is based on a couple of years watching Virginia and the ACC. The first thing you do is stop the big plays. Whether you’ve got 7 guys around the ball in that spread or 6, you got to stop the big plays. And don’t let them throw those – all those long runs and long passes. That’s an x’s and o’s thing. The next thing is, I think you’ve got to make them get into the red zone. All that spread and all that, you get them in the red zone and then make them kick field goals. I know that’s easy to say and hard to do but now you got the end zone to protect from the long balls and the big plays. And I don’t think you can play zone. There’s no way that I think you can hold up in – those offenses playing zones so you got to get corners – three corners – recruit them – recruit linebackers to be rush people and that would be what I would do. I just talked to the defensive coordinator here at Virginia this morning after North Carolina. He said, I think we’ve got to start recruiting defense first. So, if you can rush people and corners to cover you got a chance.

John Robinson: I agree with him that it’s recruiting. The wide receivers are all 6’4”, look like NBA small forwards, you know. They’re the big athletic change and there are midgets playing corner. And you got to find a way to get that great athlete, convince him that he’s going to be successful if he plays corner and then match him up. And if you look at LSU’s secondary, now I think it’s the best secondary I’ve seen. I guess Alabama’s probably as good, but they are all guys that are, you know, 6’1”, 6’2” and fast and can run down, so I think that’s the key is in those recruiting. The linebackers and linemen have all, you know, you get big, physical guys there, but the great athlete in space is where the change has to come.

Welsh: I’ll tell you, Virginia hasn’t been very good for awhile, but they have a second round pick at the Vikings and a second round pick with the Patriots and they are playing and they are 6’1” to 6’2” and can run under 4.5. Just got to find them.

Fisher DeBerry:  That’s true with the recruiting part of it, but I tell you that you’ve got to play what you got. So, I don’t know that you can work enough now on open field tackling with the corners and inside linebackers because it’s gotten to be one on one game out in the open field and whoever has got the best overall talent, whether it’s defense or whether it’s offense is going to win the game. Because it’s an open field game now and I tell you, I just think tackling leaves a lot to be desired at times. They’re in position, but the ability to tackle and get them on the ground. I used to hear my coaches talk about ‘get ‘em on the ground, get ‘em on the ground’ well, that’s a pretty good philosophy – it doesn’t make any difference whether you got a shoulder in there or what, you know, just get ‘em on the ground. But the bottom line, I see so many missed tackles and, of course, offenses are smart, they throw the bubble pass, the swing pass, those kind of things that they’re just throwing the ball 5 or 10 yards, you know, and letting the receiver just out manipulate the outside backers or the corners.

Bobby Ross: I agree with Fisher and Coach Robinson and Coach Welsh right down the line, but I think there’s one other element, too, that I think is something that has been taught a lot defensively that maybe they need to give some thought to. And they’re talking about poor tackling in the perimeter elements. What I’m seeing a lot of is people are trying to strip the ball all the time. They’re reaching through with their hands and their arms instead of, you know, putting the hat on the ball and things of that nature that was the old fashioned ways of teaching tackling. And I don’t know that for certain, but maybe the emphasis of forcing turnovers in the way of stripping people in the perimeter elements is having an effect on the tackling.

Welsh: Well, I think you’re right, Bobby. You’re absolutely right. I’ve watched Virginia practice once a week and they’re always trying to strip the balls instead of tackling them.

Moderator: John Cooper, what about the Big Ten or Bill Mallory, you know they’re not facing as much of that spread, you know, offense as some of the other conferences. What are your thoughts on some of this?

Bill Mallory: I’m not saying they’re not seeing it. I think it’s out there. I mean, you’re seeing a mix of offense, too, but you’re seeing a wide-open game in the Big Ten. I don’t see that there’s any – where there isn’t being featured.

John Cooper: Well, these spread offenses make you play in space and everybody’s right, you got to recruit more speed and you got to allocate some of those better athletes on the defensive side of the ball if you’re going to slow them down. Or you better get in a scoring contest with them to try to outscore them. But in this league there’s no – the big difference in the Big Ten, I think, of course, I think you can say this about any league, the big difference in Alabama and LSU and some of those teams – they got those fast defensive linemen that that are all over the quarterbacks for goodness sakes. They got more than 4 or 5 of them – they got about 8 or 10 of them and they keep rotating them and keeping them fresh and I think that’s a big difference in SEC and other football around the country.

Welsh: I tell you what I would do, and I don’t know anything anymore about X’s and O’s. I would, well, I’ve said this before, you got to rush the passer. You know, Tom Brady what I’ve seen in him in years, but he has a pass rush – he’s not – quarterbacks are not as effective. So, and like Bobby Ross said, you’ve got to tackle. What’s happened to the tackling anymore?

Donahue: Yeah, I think that’s a legitimate point. And the other thing about tacking is, as we all remember because we went through it, you used to be able to teach tackling in spring and in two a days and all that and you’d hit at your football team, you’d tackle your team and never thought about going into a game without tackling before the game, you know, before your opening game. But now the coaches are forced not to scrimmage a lot and not to have a lot of contact because they don’t have the same numbers and it’s harder to teach tackling – full speed tackling. It’s just harder to teach it.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, injuneer76)

They are ranked as high as No. 2 in the human polls — No. 3 in the Legends Poll. They have won 21 consecutive games and will likely finish another regular season undefeated.

Still, however, Boise State might be feeling blue.

In the latest BCS standings, Boise State was jumped by TCU and fell to No. 4. If TCU or Utah stays undefeated, then Boise State could be kept out of a BCS bowl altogether, forget the national championship game.

Legends LaVell Edwards and Bobby Ross watched the Broncos last week against Louisiana Tech and discussed how Boise may have suffered a major setback.

Listen to the audio below from Monday’s conference call.

LaVell Edwards and Bobby Ross on Boise State

The Broncos are constantly being ruled out of the National Championship conversation because of the conference they’re in, but the Broncos have all the qualities of a big time school that, in a traditional power conference, could compete for a title. At least that’s what Legend Bobby Ross thinks.

“They have the same type of speed, the same type of physicality and the same type of toughness that any other big time college football program has,” said Ross on Monday’s conference call. “They have skill people who are equivalent to anybody in the entire country.

“The big thing that stood out with me about Boise State, is the way they played Virginia Tech. People of this section of the country have always had a lot of respect for Virginia Tech because of their toughness, their physicality, the way they play the game. Boise state was every bit as physical, if not more.”

The Broncos’ are getting it done both offensively and defensively this year; ranking fifth in total offense and second in total defense nationally, both ahead of No. 1 Ohio State.

The offense is potent at all positions, especially at quarterback.

“In Kellen Moore, they have one of the more accurate passers in the country,” Coach Ross said. “He’s a lot like [Sam] Bradford in Oklahoma. He’s not as big, has about the same type of mobility, but his accuracy is pretty much the same.

“He can throw the football very accurately in any type of pass—it wouldn’t matter if it was the deep out, the come back, the long throw—he can do it all.”

Moore leads the nation in passing efficiency, but he isn’t exactly carrying the team on his shoulders; he gets a lot of help from his teammates.

“In my opinion, they have one of the best wide receivers in the country in Pettis. He’s a big kid. He’s about 6 feet four inches tall. He’s about 210-215 pounds, and he can do it all. He can catch the ball—I’ve even seen him throw one for a touchdown off of a reverse. He’s just an outstanding athlete who gets very little attention, quite honestly,” said Ross.

The offense isn’t exclusively aerial, though.

“They had three backs that could run the football,” added Ross.
A kid named Martin, the tough kid, they had Avery, the speed-type guy, and a bigger type back that they used just some of the time.”

The Boise State running backs are averaging around 225 rushing yards per game, 15th in the NCAA.

“Offensively, I thought there might be a weakness up front, but that wasn’t the case,” Ross said. “They weren’t as big as some football teams might be, and I thought that would probably be the difference-maker in terms of separating. But believe me, they play very well. They’re very well coached, they execute extremely well.”

On the other side of the ball, the Boise State defense is just as dominant as its offense.

“That was as quick of a defensive line that I have seen all year long,” Ross said. “They’re very quick, they’re very physical they have good size, and they get after it. The secondary is the same.”

But at the national level, the doubts about the Broncos persist, despite their unblemished record and their impressive stats.

The coaches and players in the Boise State organization march on towards a second straight season undefeated and stake their claim for the national championship.

“They never seem to have a letdown in the way they play a football game, which I think is another real credit to their coaching staff,” added Ross.

“I think they’re doing everything that they have to do. They don’t have control of [their schedule] right now, and it is a weak one, but they’re doing in that schedule what they are supposed to do.

“They played two teams that have been ranked in the top 10 to top 20, and they’ve beaten them both. One was on a neutral field, which was really a home field for Virginia Tech and the other one was at home against Oregon State. So they’ve done everything that they have to do, and things haven’t changed.”

But every college football season has surprises, and the recent Alabama loss has opened up the national title race. Ross says if the Broncos are able to “do what they’re supposed to do,” then the nation will have to include them in the conversation.