RE: Best College Football Team of All Time
01 Canes had the most raw talent but a few things make them the most overrated of these teams IMO.
1- They had the MOST talent on their 2 deep but the actual players on the 2 deep isn't much farther ahead than teams like 95 Nebraska, 98 Tennessee, 99 FSU, 02 OSU, 04 USC, 05 Texas, 08 Florida, or 09 Bama in terms of # of NFL players. We can nitpick which guys where what caliber of pro player all we want but the net effect is that the other contenders will have enough talent on hand to be head and shoulders above what Miami saw in 2001 and raw talent isn't going to overwhelm them unless scheme is on the Canes side.
People really don't look at who actually played then. Players like Kellen Winslow, Sean Taylor, and Antrel Rolle were backups to some good but not great upperclassmen. Winslow was a 210 pound third string WR/TE that played behind both Shockey and an undrafted senior Robert Williams. Taylor played behind the Reed (who everyone knows) & James Lewis (who few people know). Rolle was MAYBE the 4th best corner after NFL busts Rumph & Buchanon and relative unknown Markese Fitzgerald. Wilfork was a very good freshman but he wasn't the Wilfork he was for his NFL career or else there is no way 6'5 270 Matt Walters would have been in the DT rotation ahead of him.
2- They were unbeaten but had pretty simplistic schemes, a flaw that would get Coker fired later when he didn't have the overwhelming talent advantages he once did. Particularly against spread to run teams they would struggle. They usually played 2 deep man under and teams like 2002 WV and 2002 VT racked up lots of yards from the QB spot with a spread to run approach against the same nickel front 6 that 01 Cane's used. WVU had 363 yards rushing despite Rasheed Marshall having very limited passing capability. If we are pitting the best teams against each other I give Miami very little chance of slowing down 2010 Auburn, 2005 Texas, or 2008 Florida.
3- Special teams- Why were the Miami-VT games always closer than they should have been? Because Miami got it's butt handed to them in the kicking game. VT had big returns and blocked kicks keep them in games where they simply shouldn't have been. The better special teams units in this discussion like 2008 Florida (8 blocked kicks, great at punt returns), 2009 Bama (6 blocked kicks, good return averages), or 2005 Texas (9 blocked kicks, 4 return td's, outstanding coverage teams) would own a consistent field position advantage on them because of it and it would hurt the Canes.
4- Opposition: The Nebraska team they played for the title was questionable on offense (shut down by TCU, OU, ND, and KSU) and had some horrendous moments on defense (Colorado hanging 62 on them with 380 on the ground, outmanned Texas Tech air rading 31 points and 440 yards against that secondary). The Huskers also didn't have near the talent of the other teams in this discussion or the talent the 90's huskers did with only 6 NFL guys. Washington was not a good defensive team and couldn't run the ball consistently, basically dependent on their freshman QB, WR, and freak TE to throw them to victory. VT had NO offense at all. Syracuse had dwight freeney but nobody in the secondary to match up to Johnson or Shockey and an iffy offense. Florida State had a bad defense and a freshman Chris Rix that turned it over 6 times. I do not see elite opposition that I see with most of the other programs here.
Miami would definitely belong but they really would struggle with some of these teams.
|