Hello, dear reader. You may have come to the blog today and noticed that there weren't any new posts for you to read. A discovery that not only angered you, but also made you assume that my fellow bloggers and I were just being incredibly lazy and probably watching college basketball rather than working.

You'd be (sort of) wrong! The truth is that we've been publishing new stories all day, you've just come to the wrong place!

Yes, that's right, the Eye On College Football Blog has moved to a new URL and gotten itself a lovely makeover.

You can find it here: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo
tball/blog/eye-on-college-football

Seriously, go there and look for yourself. And once you get there, bookmark it so you don't get lost again. Then, after you've bookmarked it, read it. Read it every day, every story, every waking minute of your life. Because this is college football, people.

The most important thing that has ever been. 

Thanks for reading,

The Eye On College Football Team 

Posted by Jerry Hinnen

Spring football is in the air, and with our Spring Practice Primers the Eye On College Football Blog gets you up to speed on what to look for on campuses around the country this spring. Today we look at Colorado.

Spring Practice Starts: March 10

Spring Game: April 14

Returning starters: 6 offensive, 6 defensive, 2 specialists

Three Things To Look For:

1. Can the Buffs find a quarterback? After four years as an off-and-on starter, Tyler Hansen has (finally?) graduated and left Jon Embree with the first quarterbacking decision of his young Colorado tenure. The job was expected to be a spring battle -- and possibly a fall one -- between sophomores Connor Wood and Nick Hirschman, but after offseason surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot, Hirschman amazingly broke the same bone in his right foot last weekend and will miss all of spring drills. As the only quarterback on the Buff roster to have taken a collegiate snap, Hirschman might have been the slight favorite, but now that honor falls to Wood as he duels redshirt freshmen John Shrock and Stevie Joe Dorman. From Wood's perspective, spring camp will be a key opportunity to put some distance between himself and Hirschman before the latter returns for fall camp. But for Embree, who winds up winning hte job will be less important than that someone does--and that process starts this weekend.

2. Are there any playmakers out there? If Embree's going to improve on 2011's 92nd-ranked offense, he's going to have to do it the hard way--in addition to Hansen, the Buffs have also lost leading rusher Rodney Stewart and four of their top five receivers, including starting tight end Ryan Deehan. The cupboard isn't bare -- rising junior receiver Paul Richardson and one-time highly regarded tight end recruit Nick Kasa both look poised for breakout seasons -- but it remains to be seen if any of the candidates at running back or any others at receiver or tight end are ready to become serious Pac-12 contributors. Given that whoever wins the quarterback job is going to experience some growing pains along the way, any help Embree can find for his future QB (or QBs) is going to be something valuable indeed.

3. Front seven: same question? The good news for the Colorado defense is that things can't get a lot worse than last year's 114th-place finish in yards per-play allowed (or the 102nd-place finish in total D) no matter what personnel they do or don't return. The bad news is that improvement will nonetheless have to come without their best defensive player in 2011, linebacker Josh Hartigan, who led the team in both sacks and tackles-for-loss on his way to Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors. (No Buff defender made either the league's first or second teams.) As with the offense, there's several promising pieces for Embree to work with: senior nose tackle Will Pericak, junior defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe, and linebacker Jon Major should all be capable of spearheading a step forward. But for the Buffs just to reach respectability in the rushing defense department -- a year after giving up the nation's 112th-worst mark per-carry -- someone (or several someones) will have to be more than "promising," and more like Hartigan.

To check in on the rest of the Pac-12 and other BCS conferences, check out the Spring Practice Schedule. 

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

There's one less linebacker competing for a starting job with the Sooners this spring.

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops confirmed on Thursday that linebacker Kellen Jones was leaving the program and will transfer.

"Kellen leaves the program in good standing, and we wish him the best," said Stoops.

Jones played in 12 games with the Sooners in 2011 as a freshman, playing both as a reserve linebacker and on special teams. He finished the season with 10 tackles.

He was expected to compete for a starting spot with the Sooners this fall alongside Tom Wort and Corey Nelson. Instead it looks like a door has been opened for guys like Joseph Ibiloye, Jaydan Bird and Aaron Franklin.

Jones began his college career at Michigan before transferring to Oklahoma before the season.

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Posted by Chip Patterson

Minnesota wide receiver Ge'Shun Harris has been dismissed from the football team, head coach Jerry Kill announced on Thursday.

The junior wide receiver was charged with financial transaction card fraud for allegedly using a stolen credit card. Police say he took the card from another person's bag at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport. Harris was charged on Monday, and Kill was informed on Thursday.

“We had no idea about this situation until today,” Kill said in an official release. “Based on our team policies and the way we run our program, Ge’Shun Harris was immediately dismissed from our football program. Every member of our team is well-aware of our expectations of them and how we enforce our team policies.”

The junior college transfer only had one catch for 28 yards in 2011, and did not appear in any other games. This is also not the first off-field incident for Harris. He has already pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor theft and also faces an additional shoplifting charge.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

Is J. Darin Darst crazy? Plenty of emailers seem to think so, and that's just one of the topics discussed on the latest episode of The Doddcast. Dennis Dodd joins Darst and Adam Aizer to talk about the latest news in the movement toward a college football playoff, and discuss Temple's move/return to the Big East.

The boys can't escape March Madness, either, as some college basketball talk makes its way into the episode as well.

To listen, click below, pop the podcast player out in a new window, or download the mp3. And remember that all of the CBSSports.com College Football Podcasts can be downloaded for FREE from the iTunes Store. Enjoy:



Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

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Posted by Jerry Hinnen

Spring football is in the air, and with our Spring Practice Primers the Eye On College Football Blog gets you up to speed on what to look for on campuses around the country this spring. Today we look at Alabama.

Spring Practice Starts: March 9

Spring Game: April 14

Returning starters: 7 offensive, 4 defensive, 2 specialists

Three Things To Look For:

1. Motivation level at low Tide? Ask Nick Saban what the difference was between his 2009 and 2011 national titlists on one side and his 2010 disappointments on the other (for a given definition of "disappointment," of course), and he'll tell you that the former teams were driven, focused squads that put everything into their practice time, and the latter was a little too happy with the previous year's championship. We'd argue the bigger difference was the mile-deep rivers of experience that flowed through the Tide defense in '09 and '11, rivers that helped convert Saban's frightening stockpile of talent into two of the better defensive units in college football history ... but that's neither here nor there, really, since that talent is still there in abundance. Even if the experience isn't, if the Tide adopt the work ethic of their recent champions, there's no reason they can't at least approach their success, too. Spring will give us our first glance if that's the case or not. 

2. How well are the defensive holes being plugged? Of course, no matter how many four- and five-star studs are waiting in the wings, losing Mark Barron, Dont'a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Dre Kirkpatrick, Josh Chapman, DeQuan Menzie and Jerrell Harris is still losing Mark Barron, Dont'a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Dre Kirkpatrick, Josh Chapman, DeQuan Menzie and Jerrell Harris; the Tide have their work cut for them. It's time to see if Jesse Williams can fill Chapman's shoes, Adrian Hubbard Upshaw's, Trey DePriest Hightower's, etc. The spotlight will be particularly bright on the secondary, where even the return of Robert Lester may not be able to mask losing players --and leaders -- the caliber of Barron and Kirkpatrick.

3. Is T.J. Yeldon the real deal at running back? While owning the nation's No. 1 recruiting class gives Alabama fans plenty of options when it comes to their favorite newcomer, there's probably an especially soft spot in the heart of the Tide faithful -- and a diamond-hard one in the chest of your average Auburn fan -- for early-enrolling freshman running back Yeldon, a five-star recruit who committed to Auburn early and stuck with the Tigers until mere days were left before his enrollment ... whereupon he switched to the Tide. The neutral observer might not blame him, given the opportunity presented to him: with Trent Richardson on his way to the NFL, de facto starter Eddie Lacy out for spring following surgery for turf toe, and one-time star recruit Dee Hart coming back from an ACL tear in spring 2011, it's possible Yeldon could exit spring as the Tide's No. 1 tailback. And given that the last two guys to hold that honor both wound up attending the Heisman Trophy presentation before their careers were out, that would be a very, very nice place to be.

To check in on the rest of the SEC and other BCS conferences, check out the Spring Practice Schedule. 

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

In 2011 accepting a transfer quarterback from the ACC worked out well for Wisconsin when Russell Wilson helped lead the team to its second consecutive Rose Bowl and a victory in the first Big Ten Championship Game. Now it looks like the Badgers may be looking to take that route once again in 2012.

Former Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien has said already that he'd consider Wisconsin when he transfers.

What is likely to increase Wisconsin's interest in O'Brien, aside from his ability, is that quarterback Jon Budmayr suffered a setback in his recovery from an elbow issue that has been bothering him last summer. An issue that puts Budmayr's future as a quarterback in serious doubt, and leaves the Badgers without a lot of depth at the quarterback position right now.

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

The situation is desperate enough that the Badgers are expected to make a strong push to land O’Brien, who announced he is transferring after the spring semester and has expressed interest in UW.

A UW source indicated the Badgers would like to get O’Brien, but Bielema declined comment when asked about the chance of bringing in an outside quarterback.

O'Brien graduates from Maryland this spring, so just like Russell Wilson, he won't have to sit out a year before being able to suit up with the Badgers. Which is important for Wisconsin as adding O'Brien would make them the clear favorite in the Big Ten's Leaders Division as Ohio State isn't eligible for postseason play in 2012.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

It did not take Adonis Smith long to find a new school. Two weeks after announcing he was transferring from Northwestern, Smith told the Chicago Tribune that he'd be continuing his college football career at UNLV.

“One of my goals will be to help UNLV gain a bowl berth and compete for a conference title in the near future,” Smith told the Tribune.

“I would like to thank all my friends, teammates, fans, faculty and coaching staff for making my stay at Northwestern a great one. Northwestern is a great university with an outstanding community. I will always cherish my memories there and I wish everyone and the team great success in the future."

Smith, who is a northern California native, chose UNLV over unspecified Pac-12 and WAC schools. He'll have to sit out the 2012 season before he can suit up for UNLV.

Smith had 66 carries for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns for Northwestern in 2011.

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