Now that I am doing play by play for only college football and not the NFL, a lot of people ask me which level of the game I prefer broadcasting. This is the first time in 20 years I am not doing the NFL either for a team or network and the first time its college football only since 1987.  So, I have put together a list of the differences and my feelings about broadcasting college football and the NFL.

1. Game preparation is about the same, but NFL teams are limited to 53 man rosters and only 46 players dress on game day. College football rosters are larger, so it is more time consuming putting together a spotting board for each team and familiarizing yourself with the players that will touch the ball.  For example, in the NFL, a team might dress three or four wide receivers, seven offensive linemen, two or three running backs and maybe two tight ends. In college football, there could be seven or eight wide receivers, five or six running backs, three or four tight ends and up to 12 offensive lineman. As a broadcaster, it helps to see a team a few times – that really helped when I called last Saturday’s meeting between Miami (I had already done four Miami games) and Clemson (one previous contest).

2. Rules are basically the same, but the NFL could take a cue from the college game and change the way it plays overtime. In the college game, both teams get the ball; in the NFL, if you win the toss, take the kick and score, the game is over.  I would like to see the NFL at least give the other team a shot at scoring if the team that first has the ball does get points. The college game is way too long, usually three hours and forty-five minutes or more. The best way to speed things up would be to get rid of the rule that stops the clock to move the chains after a first down. Halftimes are 20 minutes, and I think this time length was established years ago to give both schools’ bands a chance to perform. I would cut it to 15 minutes.  The NFL has a 12 minute halftime.

3. Travel is easier in the NFL because you are going to major cities with plenty of hotel space, restaurants, and highways to get you to and from the stadium in a decent amount of time. If you have ever tried to get out of Clemson after a game, you know why I mention this. I sat for two hours in my car in the parking lot on Labor Day night a couple years ago after a Tiger home game before even getting out to the local streets around the stadium. 

4. Atmosphere is different and there seems to be more passion with college football fans. I think this is because while the players change each year, there are the alumni ties to the school that will never change. There are some NFL fans that have this type of passion, including those in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Buffalo.

5. When I call a college football game, I don’t criticize the players much because they are still students. In the NFL, they are getting paid very good money, and if they drop passes or throw interceptions, they deserve to get pounded by the media. Coaches are fair game at both levels as far as I am concerned.

There you have it – what I consider a few key differences in broadcasting college and pro football.

-Bill Rosinski

Since the start of the season, I have broadcast three Georgia Tech football games: the thriller against Clemson, their loss at Miami and this past weekend’s huge win over Virginia Tech. In the process of covering these games, I have heard and read a number of comments about the spread option offense run by Jackets’ head coach Paul Johnson and the predictions of its long term success in “the Flats”.  The biggest concern I’ve heard voiced is the ability to recruit top players at just about any position on the offensive side of the ball. Right now Johnson is doing it with players who arrived under the Chan Gailey regime.  Would quarterback Josh Nesbitt, running back Jonathan Dwyer and wide receiver Damaryius Thomas have committed to Georgia Tech knowing that they would be put in a wishbone type run-oriented offense?

Johnson has been successful running this type of offense at Georgia Southern and Navy.  The critics wonder if he can do it on a consistent basis in the ACC. Let’s face it, top quality high school athletes go to college with hopes of making it to the NFL. In talking with NFL scouts, they say it is difficult to judge how good offensive linemen are in a wishbone offense because they rarely pass block. Wide receivers might shun going to Atlanta because the Jackets don’t throw it very often and, since they don’t throw it very often, quarterbacks who think they have what it takes to play on Sunday (NFL) would be hard pressed to prove it in the wishbone. There just aren’t many schools that run the type of offense that Georgia Tech runs and you don’t see it at all in the NFL.

This brings me back to my initial question: how successful will Paul Johnson be in the long term? I don’t have the answer, no one does at this point, and it will come down to Johnson’s ability to recruit top quality players to compete against top ranked teams year in and year out.

I give Georgia Tech credit for not scheduling a “cupcake” for homecoming. Virginia Tech was ranked fourth in the country as they came to Atlanta last week. Check out my video blog this week for the sights and sounds of some of the pre-game festivities.

In wrapping up our broadcast last week, I was talking about Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami all having one loss as they battle for the Coastal Division title – and then quickly reminded our listeners that Virginia is 2-0 in the ACC.  Al Groh has quieted the critics and can get everyone’s attention if his team can beat the Yellow Jackets this weekend.

The wild and wacky Atlantic division has four teams with two losses; the other two with three losses and all still have shot at getting to the ACC title game.

This Saturday I am off to Miami for the Canes game against Clemson for ESPN Radio. Check your local listings.

-Bill Rosinski

The 2nd set of winners is in! These lucky folks commented on Raycom Sports’ blogs over the last few weeks and have each won an Original Retro Brand Tee.  Congratulations!

THE WINNERS ARE:

John F
Keoki
Michael
blpack90
dcreilly
Tiki
emily
joseph graham
Todd
jacalcio18
All About Sports
Hartwell Tiger
Jesse Thames
Triple C

What’s up and welcome to another edition of WKWG!

If you want to see my thoughts on the ACC teams 1-12, check out my ACC Power Poll.

Week 6 of ACC Games: What Knowledge We’ve Gained

*The contenders have been narrowed. Here’s the current ACC standings and I’ll give who  I think can win…

(Per the ACC)

Mark it down (right now), for the Coastal (in order of how I think they will finish): Miami, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.

They should end up tied at the end of the season which brings out the calculators for tiebreakers. If it falls to the BCS tiebreaker of who is ranked highest and is not within 5 spots of a team that beat them, Miami takes the cake. They will go undefeated and should be five spots higher than Virginia Tech at the end of the season as that would be their one hang up.

For the Atlantic (in order of how the coin toss worked out): Clemson, Boston College.

I think Clemson goes 5-3 in the ACC. Barring an amazing performance or poor on Miami’s part, Clemson should lose in Land Shark, but they have an easy last 3 ACC games. For BC, they have an easy road too, but from what I’ve seen, I just cannot see BC winning all three games–just not consistent enough for my taste and have not played well on the road at all. Now, you can say that about Clemson too–thus, the coin toss.

***Quick Slants***

*Clemson showed up when they needed too Saturday on Raycom. The Tigers’ defense dominated–and with that kind of performance, there are not many teams that could beat them.

*Wake Forest is done in the Atlantic with losing tiebreakers to the big two in the division. They could get in a Coastal-like three way tie, but probably would not fare well there either.

*BC’s Montel Harris is a beast that should be constantly fed in the Eagles’ remaining 5 games.

*NC State cannot play defense at all. They would be just as good just rolling Russell Wilson out there with his RBs/WRs on defense so they might have a better chance to score defensively.

*I know, I know, where are the ‘Hoos?! I give them props for the wins–hey, they are undefeated, but can anybody tell me from that Maryland game that they are serious contenders? Absolutely no way, but I applaud how they have recovered from the tough start.

*Maryland just is not good.

*We will learn something about the soul of the Tar Heels and ‘Noles this Thursday–neither team has an ACC win and one win probably will not alter a course to a bowl-less season either.

What do you think about the ACC at this point? Leave a comment with your thoughts…

Every weekend college football fans are, more times than not, treated to high scoring, touchdown filled games that beg the question, “Can anyone out here play defense?”  But if we take a closer look at the top teams in the land, Florida and Alabama, we see that while ranked one-two in the latest AP Poll, they are also one-two in total defense. The Gators give up 202 yards per game, the Tide 220 a contest. Where does the ACC fit in this key statistical category?  North Carolina is fifth in the country and obviously number one in the conference in total defense with 237 yards a game; NC State is 19^th in the land at 283 yards per contest. The ACC’s highest ranked team in the latest AP Poll, Virginia Tech, is ranked 35^th in the country with 310 yards allowed per game, but the Hokies are turning things around. Bud Foster’s defense was taken to school by Alabama in their opener, giving the Crimson Tide 498 yards. In fact, in their first three games Virginia Tech allowed an average of 364 yards per game. The next three games have reduced that more than 100 yards to 256 a contest. Another plus for the Hokies and a big reason they are where they are in the polls is they are ranked 26th in the USA in points allowed – 17.7, 15.6 in the last three games. Oh, by the way, the Hokies are number one in the ACC in scoring points with 34.2 per game.

My point in all this is to show that for teams to win consistently against good teams, they have to be able to stop them from scoring a bunch of points. You just can’t win shootouts week in and week out. And while you don’t have to have the best defense in the country to win a national championship, you better have a good one. I think the Hokies right now are starting to put it together and will really be put to the test this weekend by Georgia Tech.

How do I prep for games each week?  First, I am sent plenty of information from the two schools that includes the teams’ releases on lineups, stats and injury updates.  They also send clips from local newspapers that cover the teams with features on the players and coaches. I read all of this and highlight information that I will use once we are on the air.  I also make up my spotting boards early in the week which are key to calling a game.  The spotting board has the offense of one team and the defense of the other on one side based on the two deep depth chart. Flip it over and you get the other team’s offense and the opposing team’s defense.  I am usually included in a conference call with the visiting team on Wednesdays that involves selected players, the offensive and defensive coordinator and the Head Coach. I travel either Thursday night or Friday morning and get to meet with the home team’s players and coaches at their football offices on Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning, the ESPN Radio crew has a production meeting during which we review details of how we will approach our pre-game show and topics we want to get into during the broadcast. Then it’s off to the game, usually 2 ½ to 3 hours before kickoff so we don’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic.

After a weekend in Arkansas, I am back calling ACC action this Saturday for ESPN Radio as Georgia Tech hosts Virginia Tech. Next week it’s more ACC for me as I  broadcast Florida State against North Carolina on Thursday and Clemson at Miami on Saturday.  Check your local listings.

-Bill Rosinski

One of the perks of calling games for ESPN Radio is sitting in on production meetings with the home team coaches the Friday before each game we broadcast. This past Friday, along with the ABC-TV crew, I got to hear what Miami Head Coach Randy Shannon thought about the upcoming game with Oklahoma.  His two coordinators also came for separate interviews: Mark Whipple for the offense, Jon Lovett for the defense. Following the 90 minute session, I had the overwhelming sense that the coaching staff was very confident they could beat the Sooners. While things started out poorly the next night with two turnovers on their first two possessions, the Hurricanes would eventually find their game and dominate Oklahoma on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Trust me, that’s where this game was won. Miami’s offensive line did a decent job of protecting quarterback Jacory Harris and opening holes for running back Javarris James.  This was a huge win not only for the Canes, but for the ACC.

The best thing I saw all night in the Miami victory over Oklahoma was the touchdown catch of the Canes’ Jimmy Graham. The tight end is playing football after using up his basketball eligibility at the “U”. The week before, in a loss at Virginia Tech, Graham dropped two passes in the same series deep in Hokies’ territory that killed what could have been a game changing touchdown drive. After the contest, he owned up to his mistakes and promised the next pass thrown his way he would catch. He did, and it was a big TD against the Sooners.  Graham was greeted by his teammates on the sidelines like he had just caught the winning pass in the national championship game.  It is those moments that make college football something special. By the way, Graham has two receptions this season, both for touchdowns.

By a quirk in my schedule working with both ESPN and ISP Radio, I have done all four of Miami’s games. That string ends this week, but I pick them up again later in the month when they host Clemson.

To make life a little more interesting as we travel each weekend, our ESPN Radio crew has a little competition going in picking the upset of the week. It has to be a Saturday game and the underdog team you pick has to actually win – not just cover the spread.  Looking at last week’s games, I was thinking either Virginia or Maryland would pull off an upset but couldn’t make up my mind which one would do it. As a result, I went with another game. Low and behold, both Virginia and Maryland both, won taking the heat off the respective coaching staffs, at least for a week. The game I did pick? Miami getting 71/2 against the Sooners.

The big story this week in the ACC is the heat on Bobby Bowden, the Florida State head man, to step down.  If there is anyone who deserves to go out on his own terms, it’s Bobby Bowden. I am sure this team will rally around him.  By the way, a tip of the cap to Frank Spaziani, the BC Head Coach whose team is 2-1 in conference play with back to back wins over Wake Forest and Florida State.

I’m out of conference this week, heading to Fayetteville, Arkansas for Auburn at Arkansas for ESPN Radio.  Check your local listings.

-Bill Rosinski