AP
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- On day two of media availability for Thursday's BCS Championship Game, Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks provided the kind of solid-gold bulletin-board material every reporter dreams about.
And he did it on the podium, in front of television cameras, for all to see.
Asked where he would rank Florida QB Tim Tebow compared with the slew of star signal-callers in the Big 12, Franks replied: "I'd say he'd probably be about the fourth-best quarterback in our conference ... [behind] Sam [Bradford], Graham [Harrell] and Colt [McCoy]."
But Franks wasn't done there.
"I really think with those three guys, it's a lot harder to prepare for those guys. We're coming in and facing Tebow, and he wants to run the ball a lot more. He's predominantly a running quarterback. So to me it's going to be a lot easier for us to prepare to stop the run than having to face a quarterback that might throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game."
Where do you begin?
For one, while Franks' opinion is perfectly justifiable -- keep it to yourself, dude. Dodge the question. Have you seen Tebow when he's angry? He's exactly the kind of player who takes perceived slights personally. Furthermore, Franks' comments came early enough in the week that they're now going to be brought up by reporters to nearly every single Florida player between now and game time, giving them a little extra juice, too.
As for the "predominantly a running quarterback" part ... what tape is this guy watching? Yes, Tebow runs more than most QBs, but the last I checked, he was also the nation's fourth-rated passer. (Though in Franks' defense, that is in fact place him lower than No. 1 Bradford and No. 3 McCoy.)
And finally, wouldn't the fact that Tebow runs and passes make it fundamentally harder to prepare for than a guy who solely stands in the pocket? I suppose from a cornerback's perspective, perhaps it's easier that he won't have to cover a receiver downfield 50 times during the game, but it's not like he doesn't have a role in run support.
Asked later about Franks' assessment, OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables put it thusly: "[Franks] hasn't watched enough tape. I mean that."
Guess we know what he'll be doing for the next four days.
A few other nuggets:
• Dan Mullen, Florida's offensive coordinator the past four years, has remained with the Gators despite accepting the Mississippi State head-coaching job, but Urban Meyer made it clear Sunday who his current offensive coordinator is. Mullen's replacement, offensive line coach Steve Addazio, represented Florida at its offensive press conference.
"Nothing has changed," Addazio insisted Sunday, and indeed, Mullen is still expected to call the plays Thursday night. "In terms of transition, there is no transition right now. We're doing exactly what we've done in the past."
• While Oklahoma's defense, like the rest of the Big 12's, doesn't exactly garner a lofty reputation, Venables trotted out some stats Sunday that show just how directly the defense has contributed to those FBS-record 702 points the Sooners have scored thanks to their 32 turnovers gained (ninth-best nationally).
"Our defense has scored or set up 154 points this year, [by giving] 40 yards or less field position for our offense," said Venables. "We take great pride in that."
• Reports have surfaced that former Michigan quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler will be taking Mullen's spot on the staff following Thursday's game. While not specifically confirming said reports, Tebow sure seemed to know a lot about the guy when asked. "I think he did a good job coaching Chad Henne, and he recruited me out of high school, so we got to know each other very well then. He was actually the main reason I took a visit to the University of Michigan ... I think he'll be a good coach."
Dominique Piek
Clair Bidez
College Football Top 25 Review
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Comments (305) Add A Comment
Last time Oklahoma faced a "running" QB they got humiliated by Pat White and CO. Anyway, we all know Timmy can throw with the best of them....I doubt he will have a problem running the ball anyway. This isn't even the national championship... it's the match up that was chosen by the biased east coast media. I would like to see Florida vs USC and watch Tebow try to run up the middle against those guys. USC's defense would put him 6ft under...wonder why Clark didn't run or scramble more?
zY
Pullman, WA
Total Comments (508)
PAC10 5-0 bowls. What happened to the SEC and Big12 teams.. Alabama... lost... South Carolina... Lost....Oklahoma State... Lost... Texas Tech.. Lost.
zY
Pullman, WA
Total Comments (508)
Tebow! GodBless!
BennyBlanco
Little Ferry , NJ
Total Comments (8)
What about Spikes comments about OU's offense? You don't think those will be posted all over the OU locker room? Calling out OU's running backs is not a great idea either.
Spikes made it clear that the SEC running backs the Gators have faced this season were better. "By far," Spikes said with emphasis.
Poor decision . . . for both players . . .
Sooner in Ohio
Streetsboro , OH
Total Comments (8)
Which loss is the worst. Losing at home, Losing on a neutral field or losing on the road?
I would say 1st, losing at home with the home field advantage by 1. (Florida, September 27.)
2nd I would say losing on a neutral field by 10 points. (Oklahoma, October 11.)
3rd I would losing on the road by 6. (USC, September 25)
Oklahoma and Florida were able to climb back to the top based on how "great" their conferences were...USC dropped because of the medias proclaimed "weak" pac10. Look at the bowl records. Its all speculation and biased opinion. USC lost before the other teams to. Usually the earlier you lose, the easier it is to climb back up...but not true, both Florida and Oklahoma jumped USC.
zY
Pullman, WA
Total Comments (508)
Sooner in Ohio,
Your best back is out for the game. I would agree that the SEC has better backs. All this poster board material is blown out of context anyway. Its the national championship game, everyone is going to do all they can to prepare and show up to play football.
You Sooners sure have a lot of confidence that is built on BCS failures of the last few years. I saw Florida by 3 TDs.
zY
Pullman, WA
Total Comments (508)
I think Tebow can hold his own. Time will tell.
southerngrammy
Saint Marys , GA
Total Comments (3)
yes i agree with you..but also OU and FL played BETTER RANKED teams that's why USC got jumped.. strenght of schedule!.. USC was also very unconsistent however u spell that.. OU, Fl scored n scored n scored..
longhornsfan_10
Erwin, TN
Total Comments (62)
I'm sorry, but how did the PAC-10 do against the Mountain West this year? Not very good? Yeah, that's what I thought. Alabama losing, badly, was quite indicative of how the SEC is overhyped, but I would not say that the PAC-10 is better. There is no team in the SEC like Washington State and University of Washington. Those teams are quite pitiful and bring down the whole conference, but to say the PAC-10 is the best because the faced the Big 10 (Penn State), which is the worst conference by far, a Pittsburgh team that was third in a low Big East conference and a MWAC team in BYU who was overhyped all year is overstating it. SEC is the all-around best, but the PAC-10 and Big 12 have better upper tier teams. As far as I can tell, they are all pretty even.
It really is too bad that Texas and USC couldn't face off in a plus one game. Winner faces winner of UF-OU. This whole BCS thing is a shod. Oh well.
TBfan
Naples , FL
Total Comments (19)
Yay! Go Pac-10. The Trojans "earned" their spot in the BCS Title Game by losing to Oregon State?
The team that beat Pittsburgh 3-0.
Yeah, okay. Maybe the Trojans should not lose games to teams that aren't very good. Especially teams that get destroyed by Big 10 teams.
ckah28
Holly Springs , NC
Total Comments (17)
It's the BCS... so of course it isn't the (I-A) national championship--just the BCS title game. One word: playoff. Who wouldn't want to see the BCS bowl game teams in a playoff? Well, I would.
GlennAllen
Richmond , VA
Total Comments (222)
Steward your columns are getting worse and worse, you have been anti-OU since week one...show some respect.
Antagonist
Beverly Hills , CA
Total Comments (1)
You would think someone would have learned not to pull this crap by now. How many times has calling out Tim Tebow worked out?
That said, I'm glad he did, and I hope Tim runs all over those cocky mofos.
drbadass
Total Comments (182)
Lol @ this comment. The Pac 10 only had one team travel further west than Nevada and they could only score 3 points on a god awful Big East team. The Pac 10's signature bowl win this year was...wait for it...USC rolling it up on a Big 10 team in a home game.
Pat3537
Moonville, MT
Total Comments (85)
you should talk. it is FACT USC schedules the best non conference games in the nation. auburn ohio state to name a few...hmm btw where is the defense in the big 12...the last time i checked yeah texas beat usc and sit on it for a while...here is how i saw that...a touchdown for texas should not have counted...young was down...bush and his gamble...and that 4th and 1 by lendale white...im not taking anything away from texas they played hard...but they barley won correct...last i checked a big 12 in the NCS was Oklahoma who got dismantled by USC...usc plays much harder knowing whats on the line...you saw the men of troy and how loose they were...penn state oklahoma ohio state...anyways enuff sed...
Filthy Paws
Total Comments (6)
OU lost to a top five team on a neutral field.
Pat3537
Moonville, MT
Total Comments (85)
TBfan,
Alabama lost to a mountain west team. I agree with you that Washington State & Washington were the worst teams in the country, but they didn't give anyone in the pac10 trouble.(USC shut out both). When, WSU played Oklahoma state, OK ST allowed more points than any of the pac10 teams WSU faced (if it wasn't for 2 dropped TD passes it would have been close too.) Also, the majority of the mountain wests wins came against WSU & UW. It could be possible the mountain west has some great teams this year (ask Alabama)?
ckah,
You make no sense. Florida and Oklahoma had arguably worse losses than USC. That didn't earn them a BCS National Championship bid. I would like to see any of you argue that the pac10 doesn't schedule the hardest non conference teams year in and year out. It is Auburn and Wisconsin who pay 2million by outs to avoid coming to the palouse and playing WSU.
CrimsonandCream,
They like the big12 a lot more than the pac10.
zY
Pullman, WA
Total Comments (508)
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