A couple weeks back, quarterbacking guru Patrick Johnston of InTheBleachers.net informed us that contrary to conventional wisdom, college quarterbacks generally don't improve as they get older. Based on Pat's innovative Positive Impact Factor (PIF) measure for evaluating QB performance, he concludes that what you see early on is likely what you're going to get.

Had the Oklahoma Sooners seen the same Landry Jones in 2010 as the one who took the field a year before, Bob Stoops might have had more to think about when Florida came calling in January. Fortunately for Sooner Nation, The 'Stache proved to be the exception to the rule.

Another promising sign: Jones made those strides playing against some tough defenses. Brian Fremeau of Football Outsiders noted recently that when adjusting for quality of competition, Jones' passer efficiency ranking for 2010 climbs from 24th nationally to 13th. (I followed up with Brian, who told me that Jones ranked sixth among quarterbacks returning in 2011, behind (in order): Kellen Moore, Andrew Luck, Brandon Weeden, Terrelle Pryor and Aaron Murray.)

So, how high can 'Stache fly?

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Jake Trotter of The Oklahoman writes that the news of defenisve back Marcus Trice's decision to leave the Sooners shouldn't come as a surprise, noting that the "consensus among various sources" is that Trice blew the whistle on the coaches last year during Workout-gate.

Even though I really don't like this kind of reporting, I understand its necessity. However, it would have been nice for Trotter to give Trice a chance to defend himself against a bunch of nancies whispering off the record.

Credit John Hoover of the Tulsa World for tracking down the now ex-OU defensive back to get his side of the story. Trice denied that he had turned in the coaching staff for excessive workouts.

Frankly, this controversy is just worn out. Knowing that the team has already served its punishment for the violations renders all the speculating and finger-pointing even more useless. Oklahoma fans should just give it up and move on.

(Editor's Note: I'm going to try to make the "Linking Up" posts into something closer to a daily feature. This might help for passing along quick-hitters and items of interest that I don't have time to write about more extensively. I don't want this to steal time from my more in-depth articles, so consider this a trial run.)

*Stewart Mandel of SI.com argues that the onus is on university presidents to "clean up" bad behavior off the field in college football. I hope to write more on this later, but let me start by saying that I thought the SI's expose on thuggish college football players was bunk of the highest order. I'll allow Spencer Hall and Ty Duffy to explain.

*The Solid Verbal podcast tackles the new allegations against Oregon with Bryan Fischer of CBSSports.com. Co-host Dan Rubenstein, a noted Duck homer, told me via Twitter that he actually found the conversation "reassuring." Again, I hope to write something more involved here later, but, at first glance, if UO really did pay this joker $25,000 for his "scouting services," that should be a damning indictment of the athletic department's competency. Either way, the Ducks come off looking bad here.

*Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports says today is close to all-or-nothing in the NFL labor talks.

*The whole Charlie Sheen "winning" meme might have set a record for jumping the shark.

*I came across this site yesterday which has some intriguing stuff on projecting college football records. I think I'm even more interested in the methodology than I am the actual results.

The fallout from Brandon Davies' suspension for violating BYU's honor code by reportedly admitting to knocking the boots with his girlfriend has been nothing if not predictable.

There's "how great they're standing by their principles" from the punditry versus "you have to be f'ng kidding me" from the peanut gallery.

I initially fell into the first camp, and, really, I'm still there. Anyone who attends BYU knows the score as soon as they sign up. I may not agree with the legitimacy of the rules themselves, but I do agree that the school has every right to determine its own code of conduct. If you're going to attend school there, you're playing its game.

In fact, it sounds more appealing than the usual ad hoc approach of situational ethics that most major college athletic programs seem to follow when it comes to disciplining players. On its face, BYU's honor code should remove the confusion about what is and isn't permissible.

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(Editor's note: Blatant Homerism's annual "On the Spot" offseason series looks at the who, what, when, where and why under the gun in the upcoming year. This first article in the 2011 edition looks at Florida State's new quarterback.)

Last season's thrashing at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners signaled that the Florida State Seminoles had yet to shake off all of the cobwebs from Bobby Bowden's blue period and rejoin the ranks of the nation's elite.

But damn if second-year coach Jimbo Fisher doesn't have the 'Noles on the fast track back to college football's upper echelon.

After FSU won 10 games and a division title in Fisher's first season at the helm, the Seminoles took advantage of upheaval at Florida and Miami to snag a second consecutive recruiting class full of studs. With all that momentum and plenty of returning talent, the pundits are once again pegging Florida State as a legit national championship contender. (Takes Homerism back to my youth.)

The big unknown for the 'Noles sits right behind center, though.

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Josh Heupel, the Oklahoma Sooners' new co-offensive coordinator and play caller, has been a golden boy in Norman since leading OU to the program's seventh national championship back in 2000. Eleven years later, Heupel will again play a key role in a possible national title bid for his alma mater.

Word on the street is the players are excited about the new leadership. However, one of the questions on every Sooner fan's mind: How will Heupel add his own stamp on the Big Crimson Machine?

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The hits just keep on coming for the Oklahoma Sooners this offseason.

Arrests and suspicious snitching have marred the two month-period since OU whipped the Connecticut Huskies in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl. Today's news that star cornerback Jamell Fleming isn't in school looks like the toughest blow so far.

I have no inside information about Fleming's status and would rather not traffic in rumors about what he's facing. I don't hold out much hope that Fleming will be back on the field in the fall, though, despite the open-ended nature of OU coach Bob Stoops' statement about the all-conference cover man. These situations rarely end well, in my experience.

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There may not be a 2011 NFL season, but there's no stopping the draft. And where there's an NFL draft, there's an NFL scouting combine. Our friend and draftnik Michael Felder of InTheBleachers.net graciously takes time out from watching reruns of The Millionaire Matchmaker to educate us on the ins and outs of the NFL meat market.

Michael and I break down:

• the "holy trinity" of NFL personnel evaluation;
• some of the oddities of the combine, like why linemen run the 40-yard dash;
• what to look for when prospects are going through the drills; and
• guys who we're excited to see work out – including Da'Quan Bowers, Aaron Williams, Patrick Peterson, Robert Quinn, Adrian Clayborn and Josh Portis.

Also, check out Michael's post from last year on what to watch at the combine.

(Subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. Rate the podcast with iTunes, too, if you get a chance. Thanks.)

Some odds and ends as the offseason really starts to set in:

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When the football savants talk about the patented Stoops family defense, pressuring the quarterback is invariably the first thing that comes up.

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