Fear The FCS - 2018 FCS over FBS College Football Upsets - How & Why?

[CircleK47]

Illinois State Beats Colorado State

Illinois State, who we regard as a Top 5 team nationally in our College Football Today FCS Rankings, was able to upset the Rams 35-19 in Fort Collins, CO. We had no question that this would be a contest, but we did not see the Redbirds running away with this game so easily. With over 50 "3-Star" recruits boasted by the Rams and not one on the Illinois State roster, I believe this further proves the severe lack of scouting on a national scale in College Football Today.

https://www.collegefootballtoday.org/collegefbnews/fear-the-fcs-2018-fcs-over-fbs-college-football-upsets-how-why

 

[GatorGraz]

I definitely agree that outside of the top 100-200 ranked recruits, it begins to become less clear as to how talented a player is. But the same can be said about the highly ranked/touted recruits that are evaluated by everyone but end up not living up to expectations. Bryon Cowart (#1 overall recruit by most ratings) is the most recent one that comes to mind mainly because it came down to Florida or Auburn with him deciding to go with the tigers. He made little to no impact with them and recently just transferred from the school. I think Dan Mullen has made a habit at finding the diamonds in the rough that have the potential but just lack the fundamentals and coaching needed to be great. Playing for smaller highschool football teams that don't get a lot of publicity plus the fact that some of these kids simply cant afford to go to big football camps to get exposure. That's why its vital to have a good coaching staff that can evaluate talent and follow the development of kids throughout their highschool careers. That was one of the biggest down fall with McElwain was he would offer or begin the relationship with some of these players way too late in their highschool careers. Most of the big name schools had found, evaluated and developed a relationship with the player and family.

 

[TennesseeGator]

I definitely agree that outside of the top 100-200 ranked recruits, it begins to become less clear as to how talented a player is. But the same can be said about the highly ranked/touted recruits that are evaluated by everyone but end up not living up to expectations. Bryon Cowart (#1 overall recruit by most ratings) is the most recent one that comes to mind mainly because it came down to Florida or Auburn with him deciding to go with the tigers. He made little to no impact with them and recently just transferred from the school. I think Dan Mullen has made a habit at finding the diamonds in the rough that have the potential but just lack the fundamentals and coaching needed to be great. Playing for smaller highschool football teams that don't get a lot of publicity plus the fact that some of these kids simply cant afford to go to big football camps to get exposure. That's why its vital to have a good coaching staff that can evaluate talent and follow the development of kids throughout their highschool careers. That was one of the biggest down fall with McElwain was he would offer or begin the relationship with some of these players way too late in their highschool careers. Most of the big name schools had found, evaluated and developed a relationship with the player and family.

On the McElwain part, I don't believe he could develop much of anything from 1* to a top ranked 5*.

 

[GatorGraz]

Very true haha

 

[Gator Fever]

Hard to say but after the loss to us Colorado State is probably done emotionally for the most part. They will probably end up like 3-9 or 4-8 with Bobo fired after the season.

 

[GatorGraz]

Benny Snell at Kentucky is a prime example being that he was rated as the 876th ranked athlete and 56th ranked RB. He’s widely considered one of the best backs in the SEC currently.

I think Damien Pierce can be a 1000 yard back if he can get more than 4 touches a game. That’s always been the frustrating things for me as a Florida fan. We get some talented backs but we never get their full potential out or never try to.