Before I get into too much detail, I want to start off by saying that the movie ’300′ is in my Top 5 favorite flicks of all-time and King Leonidas might be the best character ever featured on the big screen. Period. As for Michigan State redshirt freshman running back Nick Hill, he just might have the illest tattoo on planet earth ..

From Graham Watson of Dr. Saturday:

Hill’s design is simple. It’s a Spartan straight out of the movie “300″ and runs the length of Hill’s right oblique. The menacing Spartan has a helmet, cape, spear, shield and loin armor. It even has clouds as a bit of an accent to make the whole thing look quite artistic. The thing had to cost a fortune because the detail is immaculate right down to the adornments on the loin armor. It also had to be unbelievably painful.

I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

This is exactly why he won the Heisman this year and why he’ll be a first-round draft pick in 2012.

Nike Football does it AGAIN! Oregon will be playing Wisconsin in some sick new Nike Pro Combat uniforms for this year’s BCS Rose Bowl Game. The new uniform provides enhanced thermoregulation and more durability with the inclusion of Nike Chain Maille Mesh – a lightweight ultra-breathable material – used in both the jersey and pant. Check out more pictures after the jump and read more about Nike Football and Oregon’s relationship here.

Either the UNC Football program is DESPERATE or someone has pulled off one of the greatest hoax of all time. As the program is constantly overlooked by their more popular men’s basketball team, the football team needs new leadership in the form of a new Head Coach. Instead of going the typical route of promoting an assistant coach or even hitting up unemployed Head Coaches, the University of North Carolina listed a job opening on their school’s job board for potential applicants to apply to become the UNC Head Football Coach.  I might even apply just for the fun of it to see if I get a phone interview at the very least! Check out some of the job’s details below and make sure to apply quick because the job starts 1/1/12!

Position Summary:
Manage and administer the UNC Football Program within University, ACC and NCAA rules and regulations. Promote academic progress of student-athletes. On and off-field coaching responsibilities to include but not limited to: recruiting, coaching, mentoring, and administrative responsibilities for the Football Program. A strong commitment and ability to motivate, teach, counsel, and recruit academically qualified student-athletes focused on both academics and athletics. All functions of the position will be performed in compliance with the rules, regulations, policies and guidelines of the NCAA, ACC, The University and the Athletic Department, and will be conducted with integrity and high ethical and moral standards.
Education Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree required.
Qualifications and Experience:
Two years of successful intercollegiate coaching and recruiting experience at the NCAA Division I level preferred. Strong organizational and communication skills required.

You know, when I first heard this, my jaw dropped to the floor. As a born Gator’ fan, I’ve had the privilege to watch my team beat Ohio State — twice — in every championship game they’ve gone up against each other. I’ve never liked their school. I always thought they were a bunch of cheaters and after the whole Jim Tressell scandal, turns out I was right. People can say what they want about Urban; “Oh, he let his players get away with everything” and whatnot, but the guy was a winner at every school he coached. He turned Utah into a powerhouse with the Spread Offense and made now 49ers quarterback Alex Smith look like Peyton Manning. And he did the same thing during his five years (2005-2010) at Florida. He helped turn Tim Tebow into a public icon while Tim proved he was the King of the Spread and brought home two national championships in a three-year span.

After Meyer resigned due to health issues and wanting to spend more time with his family, it took about 6 months before rumors — although they’re probably the truth — starting swirling around. Announced today on WKMG-TV in Orlando, sources reportedly told the radio station that Meyer recently signed a 7-year, $40 million deal to become the newest head coach at Ohio State (I won’t lie, I was calling everyone that I thought had inside word on the situation, unfortunately none did). Not too long after the announcement, ESPN came out with reports via Meyer’s agent, that the rumors were false.

Words from Meyer himself:

“I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place,” Meyer said in a statement. “I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further.”

That right there makes me believe he will be the new head coach at the school once Thanksgiving weekend passes. Although I won’t like it, it makes perfect sense. He’s from the state of Ohio, he graduated from — and was  — an assistant at Ohio State and has made it more than clear that he’s a fan of the Big 10. As for OSU, it makes perfect sense. They get a still, rather young coach who has two rings on his finger and will be able to generate a lot of recruits and produce a lot of NFL talent in the long run. But just because I believe it’s true, doesn’t mean it is. Especially after reading his interview on Monday with the Gainesville Sun.

“The concerns are still there,” Meyer told the paper. “No. 1: My health. No. 2: My family. No. 3: The state of college football. I’ve done some research into the second one. I’ve found that it is possible to have balance between your job and your family, that there are coaches out there who are doing it. I’m in a good place right now mentally and physically. So if something happens with Ohio State, I’ll have a decision to make. But there has been no interview. There has been no offer to make a decision about.”

“If there is a decision to be made concerning Ohio State, there will be a lot that will go into it. But right now, there is no decision to be made. I love football. It’s what I am. I miss it.”

Please, try and convince me that Ohio State fans — and recruits — aren’t praying and walking everywhere with their fingers cross that this happens. It’s not easy to revive a tarnished school, but if there’s one guy who can make people forget about it for the time being; it’s Urban Meyer.

I’ve seen an immense amount of hits throughout my years of watching football, but after seeing this hit during the Miami/Florida State game on Saturday, it makes me wonder if I’ve seen any harder than this one. With FSU up 23-19 over the Hurricanes, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris tried to make one last run before time expired and threw a pass across the middle to the homie LaRon Byrd, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Linebacker Nigel Bradham — although it happened very fast — nailed Byrd, who had left his feet to catch the ball, in the chest with his helmet/shoulder area. The hit resulted in an immediate rejection from the game and is now being reviewed by the ACC. I’ve watch this hit over and over and it definitely wasn’t helmet-to-helmet but referees are starting to crack down on the big hits whether it’s with the helmet or not. The only problem with that is that us fans love big hits and contact during football, that’s what the sport was built on.

Watch the replay for yourself and decide if the hit was illegal or not.

As for Clemson, there has been plenty of good athletes to walk through those halls, play on those fields, and I’m not just talking about football; I’m talking about baseball, basketball, ect. Before leaving for the NFL at the end of the 2009 season, you could say that former Clemson running back/kick returner C.J. Spiller was the best player they’ve ever seen in South Carolina. He broke numerous records and was also the only player in the FBS to score a touchdown in every game during the ’09 season. That’s just ridiculous. He had world-class speed, but unfortunately hasn’t lived up to the potential in the NFL.

Now two years removed from The Tigers, many believed they’d never find another replacement player, that was until true freshman Sammy Watkins stepped foot on campus. He’s 18 years old and acts like a grown man, he’s 6-foot-2 and weighs 205 pounds and runs a 4.3 40-yard dash. Sounds like a lot of college players, right? Wrong. He’s a major reason why the Tigers are 7-0 in the ACC and could get a taste of national title hopes.

through those seven games, Watkins has broken 11 freshman school records and with five games left on the season, it’s safe to say that he’s going to shatter plenty more when his career is all said and done. Oh, lets not forget that he already broke Spiller’s all-purpose yards in a game with 345. He has 45 receptions for 728 yards and 8 touchdowns while averaging nearly 16 yards (15.8) every time he touches the football. He’s extremely quick, has molasses for hands, can line up anywhere on the field and changes the dynamic of the game with a single bound. He’s one of those players whom you’d give an inch to, and he ends up throwing it back in your face as he takes a mile.

He’s already my favorite college football player this season and will probably remain that until he leaves for the NFL. It’s not just me who is starstruck at watching this kid, his teammate Dwayne Allen can’t believe how good he is, either.

“Sammy steps on campus at 6-2, 205-210 — he’s put together, now — and I’m just like, ‘Let’s see what he does in our first summer workouts,’” Allen said. “We go out for summer workouts and he burns by people. I’m like, ‘OK, that’s going to stop in fall camp when we put the pads on.’ We put the pads on, and we were going through blocking drills, Sammy was running full speed, low, running through guys, blocking his tail off, and I’m like, ‘Does he catch every pass, too?’ I just keep looking for holes, and I tell you, there are none.”

Awesome, the kid beasted on Clemson’s ENTIRE roster during summer workouts. I never thought I’d really see another player quite similar to Percy Harvin, but barring any kind of injuries — that was Percy’s problem throughout his career as a Gator, he couldn’t stay healthy. Had he done so, he’d be the best in school history — he will blow Percy out of the water. There’s only 5 games left on the season, folks, so if you haven’t watched the homie, I suggest you do so. Hell, I’ll even help you out.

Although he did have one interception, Brantley completed 11 of 16 passes for 190 yards before he left late in the second quarter after he twisted his knee and ankle during a sack by Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw. At that moment, we lost our composure. I knew it, the fans knew it, and most of all coach Will Muschamp knew it.

“When we lost John, that took the wind out of our sails,” Muschamp said after the game.

You have to feel for Brantley; he took a lot of criticism last season — and even during the summer — for struggling in Urban Meyer’s spread offense. Even with improvements made under new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and in a pro-style offense, Brantley’s lack of consistent downfield passing drew more negative attention. The problem is that we don’t really have a legitimate deep threat on this team. Debose showed his ability to get down field with his speed, but he’s far from consistent. Deonte Thompson is our “true” receiver, but he has the tendency to drop a lot of passes. It’s safe to say that we’ve relied on the legs of Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey to get us through these last four games until we hit a brick wall against ‘Bama.

True freshman and former No. 1 high school quarterback, Jeff Driskel, replaced Brantley during the game and the offense instantly regressed. He looked lost, confused and out-of-place; the same way John did the year before. ESPN announced today that Brantley will not be playing in the LSU game this upcoming Saturday due to a high-ankle sprain, which means that the Gators will be starting a true freshman against the best defense in the nation, on the road and in arguably the toughest stadium in football. Weis will do everything he can to simplify things for Driskel but I have a feeling this game is going to turn ugly. We had the No. 5 ranked defense against the run before the played Alabama and got ran over. Our inexperienced secondary is going to have to be on point through four quarters or we’re going to see the same results like we did last week.

Over the weekend, Oregon put a trumping on Arizona State with a convincing 56-31 win at Arizona. The most impressive stat was yet again put up by the 5-foot-9 cannonball James. On just 23 carries, James ran a career-high 288 rushing yards and scored twice. He also caught two passes for 15 yards and returned three punts for 51 yards. The breakaway threat for the Ducks set all kinds of records last Saturday; he broke the school’s record for all-purpose yardage with 363. His two touchdown runs brought his career total to 43 rushing touchdowns and broke the Ducks’ record of 42, and he moved into sixth place on the Pac-12 all-time list with 3,890 career rushing yards.

The fourth-year junior decided to return to school because he felt he had some unfinished business, which is true. It’s also a blessing because he might come away with the Heisman Trophy this year and will be a big reason why Oregon tries to get back in contention for a national title. Through four games thus far, James’ has carried the ball 65 times for 613 yards (9.4 YPC) and 7 touchdowns. His longest run of the season was for 90 yards, which came against the Missouri State Bears.