Jobless people love Tim Tebow

"Well, did you see Sentinel sportswriter Chris Harry's interview over the weekend with recently fired Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden?

"I want to learn the spread offense," Gruden said. “This is exciting for me.”

Gruden also said there's "no question" the college spread could work in the NFL and that Tim Tebow can be a stud quarterback at the next level.

"The hard part is, you have to isolate the option," Gruden said of the spread. "That’s why Tim Tebow is so interesting to me. He’s like Brandon Jacobs playing quarterback. He’s 250 pounds. He’s the strongest human being who’s ever played the position. Ever. He will kick the living [expletive] out of a defensive lineman. He’ll fight anybody. He is rare. Tebow is the kind of guy who could revolutionize the game. He’s the ‘wildcat’ who can throw. Most of the teams that have the wildcat back there, it’s Ronnie Brown, it’s Jerious Norwood, it’s whoever you want to say it is. This guy here is 250 pounds of concrete cyanide, man. And he can throw. He throws well enough at any level to play quarterback.

"He can play quarterback in the NFL. When he was a high school senior, they played Armwood in the state championship game. I have tape. He has an 80-yard touchdown run that put them in the lead. When it flipped around, and Armwood had the ball, what position do you think Tebow was playing? He was playing nose guard _ and he disrupted about 10 plays. This guy is totally different. He’s got Rich Gannon, Drew Brees, that kind of makeup as a team guy. What he said after the Ole Miss game, I said ‘That’s my favorite football player I’ve ever seen in my whole life.’ I said, ‘I want Florida to win every game that kid plays from now on.’ ”

Sounds to me like Gruden is sold on the idea of both somebody drafting Tebow and building a spread offense around his talent and toughness."

Gruden, although currently jobless in the No Fun League, get's it. NFL offenses change consistently. If I here another person say that the spread option offense cannot be run in the NFL I'm going to puke. You definitely can do it, and Tebow is the right kind of kid to pull it off, but he's not the one that is going to start the revolution, that position falls to.....

PAT WHITE- for years I wasn't sold on the fact that White could ever play QB in the big show, and the fundamental reason why was because of his lack of arm strength on the deep ball and the fifteen yard out. But then a funny thing happened down in Arkansas. A young offensive genius straight from the high school ranks took over as offensive coordinator in Houston Nutt's Arkansas program. And what did he do, he invented the wildcat formation and put a running back at quarterback. It worked and within two years some NFL teams were even running it with success.

No here's the thing. Someone is going to take a chance on Pat White in the late second round and have him as a new positon in the Football Lexicon- The CATBACK Position.

The Catback is a tweener between QB/RB/Slot Receiver/Scatback. You bring him in on short yardage plays and inside the red zone. He can run, pass or option it out. And next year Pat White is going to lead the revolution and be very, very successful. You heard it here first, straight from The Nudge.

Orlando sentinel

Tebow Fatigue- Friend or Foe?

Is there too much love out there for this kid. CNNSI Sports writer extraordinaire Stewie Mandel hits the nail right on the head when he says that Tebow is college football's Air Michael Jordan. This is the type of player that only comes around every so often, and we as sports fans wind up talking about them for several decades.

Stewart Mandel:

I'll admit it: I'm fully aboard the Tim Tebow bandwagon, and I couldn't be
happier that he's returning for his senior year. In 10 years of covering this
sport, I've never had so much fun watching a guy play -- and I think it's
because of just how much fun he seems to be having.
I don't know whether
Tebow is one of the "greatest" players in history. I wouldn't even know how to
quantify that. In truth, he's probably not even the most talented player on his
own team. (See Harvin, Percy.)
But that won't stop me from saying the
following: Tebow is college football's Michael Jordan.
Never in my lifetime
has a player become the undisputed face of the sport. It's a particularly hard
feat to achieve considering college athletes only have a three-to-four year
window. Much like M.J., Tebow has an aura and personality that enhance his
on-field ability. Much like M.J., he's become a role model for millions of kids.
And just like M.J., he never ceases to amaze with his ability to take over a
game.

So do yourself a favor, if you haven't paid attention to him for the past three years, mark off a couple of games on your calender next season. And read the article here. CNNSI

The Nudge has one year of eligibility left on his Man-Crush

Over the course of the past two years, The Nudge has taken a lot of ribbing from his buddies over the way I wax poetic for hours about Little Timmy Tebow. What most people don't remember however, is that I was talking this kid up when he was a senior at Nease H.S. putting up sick numbers. And that was before he even decided to go play down in Gainesville.

Timmy Tebow told over 40,000 people today that he will use up his last year of eligibility and come back to play for the Florida Gator next year. Supposedly, the word is that Tebow and my man Urban Meyer sat down and discussed what would be the best move for the kid. Urban Meyer ended the discussion in tears after telling Timmy what he's meant to him to personally be able to coach him out on the field.

Alright, so The Nudge has one more year of watching Timmy Tebow play ball in the SEC. Now that's some kind of Christmas present.

Since Tebow has decided to come back next year, Florida should be the pre-season #1 ranked team going into the season. But Vegas already has the odds out for next years National Champs, and the Mighty Men of Troy are the odds on favorites.

There's a lot of surprises in there. Click over to get extended analysis.

Alright, let me stare at these photos of Nudgette Michele Baker and get the Hetero pumping again

Never too Early for a new College Football Poll

Here's an look at next years

Pre-season Poll for 2009 College Football

1) Florida: Remember when the Gators brought back all five starters from their national championship basketball team? We could see the football equivalent. How often does the No. 1 team in the country bring back all 10 or 11 defensive starters? The Gators finished No. 9 nationally in total defense with mostly freshmen and sophomores.

2) Texas: The 'Horns came within a last-second touchdown of playing in Miami. McCoy returns for his senior season after setting an NCAA-record for completion percentage (76.7). So do receivers Jordan Shipley and Malcolm Williams and four starting offensive linemen. Young defensive backs Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas have the makings of potential stars.

3) USC: If quarterback Mark Sanchez returns, the Trojans will bring back 10 starters from the offense that lit up Penn State in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans will have to replace nearly their entire starting defense, but several of the reinforcements -- defensive end Everson Griffin, linebacker Chris Gallipo and defensive backs Shareece Wright and Will Harris -- have already played plenty.

4) Oklahoma: The Sooners won't be scoring 60 points a game next season -- nearly the entire offense will turn over, with or without Sam Bradford. But OU's defense, which played admirably against Florida, should be even better. Nine of its starters against the Gators were underclassmen, led by defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Travis Lewis.

5) Alabama: It's been said that the Tide were a year ahead of schedule in '08. 'Bama was extremely young and, despite losing stalwarts like tackle Andre Smith, center Antoine Caldwell and safety Rashad Johnson, will be more talented across the board. Running backs Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram return, and new quarterback Greg McElroy gets to throw to Julio Jones.

6) Ole Miss: Houston Nutt's Rebels were one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch, providing a glimpse of even better things in '09. Quarterback Jevan Snead will emerge as a potential Heisman candidate, and if Ole Miss can continue developing a defense to complement its explosive offense, the Rebels could have their best season since the '60s.

7) Oklahoma State: The Cowboys proved one of the nation's most dynamic offensive teams in '08, and quarterback Zac Robinson, running back Kendall Hunter and wideouts Dez Bryant and Damian Davis all return. The defense remains under heavy suspicion, but those close to the program expect major improvement with a more experienced front seven.

8) Utah: Don't make the mistake of discounting the Utes just because quarterback Brian Johnson and his receivers are graduating. As you saw in the Sugar Bowl, Utah can play some pretty mean defense. Star pass-rushers Paul Kruger, Stevenson Sylvester and seven other starters return on that side. An experienced line should help the offense rebuild.

9) LSU: The Tigers' slip to the land of five losses should prove to be a one-year aberration. In the Chick-fil-A bowl rout of Georgia Tech, Les Miles found a quarterback he can trust in rising sophomore Jordan Jefferson. Star running back Charles Scott returns as well. The defensive front is still loaded with talent, and a year's experience should help a struggling secondary.

10) Virginia Tech: The Hokies are one of just three teams nationally to post five straight 10-win seasons, and they did it this year despite some major rebuilding. Tech will enter '09 with a solidly entrenched quarterback (Tyrod Taylor), a budding star tailback (Darren Evans) and another typically dominant, Bud Foster-led defense (featuring seven returning starters).

Keep an eye on: Oregon, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Oregon State.

If Superman comes back for his senior season, The Gators are ranked number one. If Tebow get's a sudden head injury and decides to leave school in ten days, then Tex-Ass is definitely the odds on favorite. Check out Ole Miss and Houstone Nutt. I guess their not going to sneak up on anyone next year. Pretty good article, check it out here. CNNSI

Bama, Texas, USC and VaTech are the only teams in this Top Ten that have a legit shot at next years NC. Gators are not repeating and there's no way that LSU and Ole Miss will survive the SEC. Without Brian Johnson, Utah has three losses next year. Oklahoma will be legit, but The Nudge thinks Bradford declares for the draft in the next couple of days. Roll Tide!

If you ain't a Gator, your....

I don't know what The Nudge was happier about, Timmy Tebow and Urban Meyer winning their second National Championship, or me hitting with my six consecutive FIVE STAR pick. With the final game of the 2008 College Football Season, those that have been following my advise have hit on 12 out of 15 FIVE STAR picks. And need I remind you that those three loses came at a combined total of 5 points from covering. Sometimes I even amaze myself.

Look, I've been handicapping college games for the past couple of years. I've never had more than two FIVE STAR losses in one season, so in that regard, I'm a little down on myself. But really, do you know of any other handicapper that is posting

Who's your Daddy Biyatch

The Nudge's last pick of the season

I have to say it, this Holiday bowl season has gone a lot better than even I expected, and I'm an out and out braggart. So far I've hit on five, count'em, five FIVE STAR picks throughout. Now that might not be too good, except I only picked five FIVE STAR games. That equals out to over one hundred percent baby!

By special request, Iranian Nudgette Sarah Shahi, The Nudge is international baby

So rolling into tonights big game with Urban Meyer's Gators giving 4 points, I've held out putting my pick up until now.

The big question mark for the past few weeks has been what is the status of Percy Harvin's bum ankle. So far reports coming out of Florida has put Percy at 90%. I think that not only will he be healthy, but he's going to be a factor. Meyer is not going to give him the ball that much to begin the game. If anything, he'll be used as a decoy on a couple of end arounds. Percy knows that he's not going to get a touch that often so he needs to make the best out of each and every one.

Who's your Ayatollah, Nudgy

The Nudge has been rolling with the Gators ever since that Timmy Tebow press conference after the Ole Miss loss. That combined with the Time Outs in the Gawgia game marked the two biggest highlights of the year for me.

There's no question about it, with the almost loss by Mizzoo to a weak Big Ten opponent and the almost loss by Tex-Ass to a weak slOhio State and the loss by Tex-Ass Tech to the upsurging Ole Miss- The Big Twelve is weak.

I know, in the SEC Bama and the GameCocks lost, but gawgia and The Hat looked pretty damn good. Add Ole Miss in the mix and you really got something for that conference. Comparing the two is apples and oranges, I don't care what anyone says. The SEC and the Pac-10 are way above the Big Twelve and Big Ten. It's like comparing the MAC and Conference USA to the Sun Belt.

Tebow's bringing Sexy Back

The Stiff Arm winner Jason White... errr Sammy Bradford has been all giggles and smiles. Ever since he won the award, all of a sudden he's a hero and a top five NFL pick, while Tebow's forced to listen how everyone thinks he'll be an H-Back up in the big show. The toughest D that Bradford's faced all year is Washington.

You heard it here first, the Oklahoma Sooners are going to bite on the fake option shuffle pass to Aaron Hernandez. That play is going to be good for six.

Chip on his shoulders Timmy Tebow is going to be good for 200 yards passing with three passing TD's and 100 yards rushing with one rushing TD. Look for Jeff Demps to have a big game and Chris Rainey to make a break for it. So the last FIVE STAR pick of the season is........

If you ain't a Gator, your Gator bait

Take Urban, Tebow, The Circus, the kitchen sink, the neighbors oven, your tuition savings, your car payment, diaper fund, IRA, Grandma's secret stash, Leprechauns Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow and anything else that isn't nailed down........and enjoy. It's all about fun, isn't it.

This season has been a blast and I sincerely thank each and every one of you for sharing it with me. I've been able to convert a couple of people over to college football in the past three months and that's better than anything.

I got to go down to the Urban Meyer Headquarters and rig the votes so that he doesn't have to share anything with his old Utes.

See Ya sports fans!

Who will win The Stiff Arm?

The Finalists were announced for the most coveted individual trophy in all of sports. They are:

1) Colt McCoy, QB Texas
2) Sam Bradford, QB BoomerSooners
3) Superman...er, Timmy Tebow, QB Gators


I've said on this site in the past that I think that the award will be handed over to Colt McCoy because the voters feel that Texas had been robbed of their shot at playing Mizzoo in the Big (no pass defense) Twelve conference championship game. For the past two weeks, all the TV college football pundits have been talking about how McCoy has done more with less. So, with this logic, I have predicted Colt to walk away with this thing. But wait.

This would break away from one of my cardinal rules of Nudgedom. With this way of thinking, I'm giving the writers who vote on this award and this sport way too much credit for actually knowing what is going on, and that's something I never do.

So let's look at this thing from another perspective. All previous recipients of the award get a vote. So let's look at how some of the past winners will vote:

Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams will definitely going McCoy's way.

Wuerfful and Tebow will definitely voting Superman's way.

Jason White and Billy Sims will be going for Bradford.

Okay, so maybe that won't work. Let's look at it from another perspective: Stats.
The majority of the voters probably watched about ten college football games this year on average. So they'll probably rely their vote on stone cold stats.

Bradford has 4464 yards passing, 68.3% completion percentage, an unbelievable 48 passing TD's with a rating of 186.
The "Awe shucks" kid from Tuscola Texas has 3445 yards passing, 77% completion percentage, 32 passing TD's with a 179 rating. He does have 576 rushing yards with 10 rushing TD's.


Former Heisman Winner, Timmy Tebow has 2515 yards passing, with a 64.9% completion percentage with 28 passing TD's with a 176 QB rating. He rushed for 564 yards with 12 rushing TD's.


All right, that doesn't predict anything either. So just what do we have that's going to decide this thing. Let's look at it The Nudge Way.

Who has the hotter girlfriend?

This is Colt McCoy's girlfriend on the left. She's a track and field athlete that goes to Baylor. She's studying journalism.

And this is Tim Tebow's girl, according to the Internet. Nice Warlocks!

There is no information about Bradford's love cushion

So, whenever The Nudge doesn't know the answer to a question, I only ask one question:

"What would Tom Cruise do?"

And the answer..... Bradford walks away with the stiff arm. Me and Tom Cruise both think too many voters are going to look at his insane numbers and be blown away with the difference between 48 TD's and 32. Plus, Bradford's playing for the crystal, and that seems to influence the voters since 2003.

The Best uniforms ever, of any sport in history. Army this past week rocked the Camo look. The Nudge thinks that Army should make this look a permanent part of their wardrobe

XP Nudgette 2.0

So The Nudge will leave you off with photo's of the newest Nudgette, Bill Gates's daughter. The Nudgette with a billion dollar smile.

Week Picks

The question this week is whether Tim Tebow can pull some more magic out of his hat and beat the #1 ranked team in the nation? I know, I know, the Gators are the favorites in this game going in with the line moving up a point. This means that so far, the money has been placed on Timmy's left arm.

The other question is whether the high ankle sprain to Percy Harvin is going to be a factor?
A few days ago, I was so sure that the Gators were going to go into this game and destroy the Fighting Sabans. Believe me, I am not a Bama hater. If anything, I am unbelievably impressed with the direction that Saban has this program headed in. Next year, I think that they will be unbelievable tough. The difference between my optimism for their next season and my pessimism for this game--Three words John Parker Wilson. I have no confidence in this guy whatsoever.

Next year, with either McElroy out of Southlake Texas or Star Jackson, whoever wins the job (almost definite to McElroy)
this offense is going to add a new dimension. They'll miss
Top 3 NFL pick Andre Smith no doubt, and Cody's probably
getting an agent already, but they'll still be a threat to throw the ball all over the field.

I think that it's going to be Wilson who'll be the Achilles heal for the Tide. But look out, this game might just be closer than people think. Right now the Tide have a chip on their shoulders being underdogs, and don't think that old St. Nick isn't using that as motivation.

Bama's going to go out and try to control the clock, but if they fall behind by two touchdowns before the end of the third quarter---Their Gator Bait.
If they fall behind, they're gonna have to rely on the only weak part of this whole team-Wilson right arm!
The other question is if Timmy Tebow has a huge day, could he become the next Archie Griffin. I don't think so. The voters are going to be to biased that their going to give the stiff arm to one of the Big twelve
gun slingers.