Terrelle Pryor sits down with Kirk Herbstreit

Terrelle talks about the Penn State game fumble and what he’s learned. He says if he could do it again, he’d do the QB sneak for the first down.

Pryor talks about QB’s in the mix for heisman this year and how he considers himself an option.

He also talks about how this years team is working hard trying to come together and hitting the weightroom. Terrelle personally has been working on his passing game.

Reading plays and making decisions quicker is important to Terrelle and he knows he needs to improve in this area.

He also talks about the lack of respect for Ohio State but understands that it has to be earned as well.

Can I get One More No-Playoff Rant and then I will let the Subject die?

God, I really do hate this time of year.
     I didn’t mean the Holidays.
     It is time for the mass media to bash the Bowl Championship Series and call for a college football playoff.
     After spending my career as a sports writer, 28 years, covering college football for newspapers and writing books about college football, I have a very strong opinion on this matter.
     I have studied the bowls and their affects on college football, been to every bowl several times over (except of course for the myriad of new, silly-named bowls that have fallen from the sky recently like confetti at a championship parade).
     I also have studied the proposed plus-ones, eight-team and 16-team playoffs from all angles: attendance, TV ratings, revenue, affect on bowls, travel, affect on rivalries, etc.
     My conclusion, which is the conclusion I held 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago and today, is that a college football playoff system (other than a so-called Plus-One) would not improve the overall game of college football.
     Notice my words “would not improve.”
     Would a playoff be popular?
     Of course. It would be the here and now, as well as the flavor of the month in December’s SportsCenter highlights.
     But it would come at the expense of the rivalries, which usually fall on the final week of the regular-season and define the game itself. If there was a playoff in 2006, do you think No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan would have played their starters well into the fourth quarter? It was life and death as it was. If there would have been a playoff, the loser would have said, “No problem. The playoff is what matters. We’ll play them again when it counts.”
     Imagine that.
     That scenario goes for Florida-Florida State, USC-Notre Dame, Auburn-Alabama, USC-UCLA, etc., when both teams are good enough to be in the playoff system. And if you look at the history of the game, that would include many, many seasons.
     It would come at the expense of the popularity and importance of the regular season.
     During a recent ABC broadcast, I heard Kirk Herbstreit ask Brent Musburger, “You an NBA fan?”
     “Oh,” Musburger hedged, “Once the playoffs start, I watch the NBA.”
     I wanted to jump out of my Lazy-Boy and scream, “Hello!!!Brent, you just answered you own question about college football’s regular-season.”
     It doesn’t need a playoff to be popular. Attendance and TV ratings continue to climb, each and every season — without a playoff. 
     Revenue and media attention continue to increase — without a playoff. 
     Good or bad, the pressure and accompanying salaries of coaches continue to skyrocket — without a playoff.
     My other conclusion: The BCS system, as criticized as it is, is the best system we’ve ever had. I remember the days when there were split national champions, as recently as 1994 and 1997 (in some seasons, there were three and four, if you count the many publications).
     I remember the days when a No. 1-ranked team went to the Orange Bowl and a No. 2 team went to the Sugar Bowl. I remember when bowl deals were worked out behind the scenes and set in early to mid-November, only to watch them often backfire like my old ‘72 Dodge Dart.
     These days, (ESPN’s) Mike Golics of the world, whose perspective is as deep as Michigan’s offensive line, have said, “They have playoffs in Division II or III and it seems to work…”
     Don’t compare major college football to the sub-division (formerly Division I-A), or Division II or III. It does not apply. They don’t fill large stadiums nor have televised regular-season games. Can you name their rivalries? Can you name the last five champions?
     Do not apply it to NCAA basketball or March Madness, a sport in which you can play two games in two days. It does not apply. Does anyone really care what happens in November or December? And truly, what does a conference championship mean in that sport?
     No, my friends, the bottom line is this: College football is truly unique. It is unique because from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, when the attention and intensity and importance of every single game is unparalleled.
     It is that way BECAUSE there is no season-ending playoff system.
     Now, recently, the President-Elect, who has spent the same time studying this issue as it takes Percy Harvin to score from the 15-yard line, knee-jerked and called for a playoff.
     The reassuring aspect is that the NCAA presidents in control of this issue will not relent and agree to a playoff (and I have talked to several of them since the President-Elect made his statement) because they too have studied this issue. They know what the President-Elect does not.
     College football works brilliantly as it is. It always has, since those polls and bowls were first conceived in the height of the Great Depression.
     And from where I stand today, it likely always will.

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Does Michigan really have a chance?

As far as rivalries are concerned, games like the 2006 edition of Ohio State vs. Michigan are a rarity.  After all, it took 103 tries for both teams to take the top spot in the rankings, and with the current state of parity amongst the powerhouses of college football, nobody should be surprised if it takes another 103 for it to happen again.  Chances are, on any given year, one of the two teams will have either failed to live up to lofty expectations, or even worse, just downright stink.

As is the case this year.  Michigan, as all Buckeye fans like myself would gladly point out, lost its eighth game in a season for the first time in the program’s 128 season history last week.  And assuming that all fans are reacting to this season similarly to how my buddy from down the hall handled last Saturday (throwing his remote at the wall), then it’s safe to say that not many people on either end of the spectrum are expecting much of a competition come Saturday.

But is the outcome really an inevitability, or are we in for a shock?

Regardless of what your allegiance will be come Saturday afternoon, chances are at some point over the course of your experience with this rivalry you’ve either heard or thought to yourself a phrase along the lines of, “when these two teams step on the field, all the records can be thrown out.  It doesn’t matter how bad [your team] is this year, because we always have a chance to beat [the other team]!” and more often than not, that cliché is irritably true.  In 2001, the Outback Bowl-bound Buckeyes who were starting their backup quarterback waltzed into Ann Arbor and established Jim Tressel’s forté in his first season (2004 also yielded similar results).  In the 1993, 1995, and 1996 seasons, the Buckeyes were a combined 30-0-1 entering the final game of the regular season, whereas Michigan had four losses in each of those seasons.  Anybody want to guess who won those games?

While it’s not unheard of for the lesser of the two teams to leave the game with a win, it’s hard to find a game in the history of the rivalry in which an unranked team has beaten a top-10 opponent.  As a matter of fact, only five times in the 104-game series has a top ten team lost to an unranked foe, and never in the rivalry’s history has a team with a losing record defeated a top-10 opponent.

So what makes this year any different?  Well, if you’re Kirk Herbstreit or Chris Spielman, absolutely nothing.  But, there is still some room for concern if you’re a Buckeye fan.  First off, Ohio State is starting a freshman quarterback, who despite his vast growth over the course of the season, has never played in the rivalry, and has only played in one big game in his collegiate career, and we all know what happened there.  In the days leading up to his debut with the rivalry, Chad Henne — Michigan’s proverbial freshman savior (ha!) — admitted that he had no idea what he was getting himself in to, and he went on to throw two picks en route to one of those five aforementioned top-10 upsets.

And although the reason Jim Tressel will be able to afford a couple of mediocre seasons throughout his career is because he is consistently able to get the most out of his players for one week out of the season, one has to wonder if a diminishing marginal utility will ever begin to form if he keeps on beating Michigan.  After all, with each consecutive victory over out hated rivals, could it be possible that an overriding sense of complacency will ever set in with the coaches and veterans on the team? I’m not saying that the team will come out flat on Saturday, I’m just saying that one of these years after beating Michigan so many times, that eventually karma is going to have to set in.  Michigan has seen firsthand what can happen when the presumed victor simply goes through the motions while the scrappy underdog plays brings it for a full game, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see the tide of this rivalry turn in the near future.

In saying all of that, however, I just simply cannot see Ohio State losing come Saturday.  In taking observations from a fairly large sample size for a freshman, it is becoming more and more apparent that Terrelle Pryor is not your typical freshman quarterback being thrown into the fray.  The kid is destined for greatness, and at Ohio State, greatness comes in beating Michigan.  Just ask one of these (guy one) guys (guy two).  Also, for Jim Tressel to not have his team ready to beat Michigan, I would have to see it to believe it.  From what I’ve taken out of watching Tressel over the years is that every action the man makes over the course of a season is in some way related to the game with Michigan.  Finally, this Michigan squad does not appear to have that same ability to come out with a passion for four full quarters and pull the upset on the road.  This team simply lacks the talent, organization, leadership to make their mark on the rivalry’s rich history.

Of course, stranger things have happened.

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College Football: Week 13 Predictions

The Big One is….

Michigan State vs. Penn State

I’m going to ‘go Kirk Herbstreit’ and simply go with the keys of the game.

1) Michigan State’s offense

We know how good Javon Ringer is. Unless you’re a fan of a Big Ten school other than Ohio State and Wisconsin, he’s run over your defense this year. But Brian Hoyer (2,029 yards, 9 TDs, 6 Ints), isn’t that bad either—although you can’t exactly trust him not to throw an interception.

2) Darryl Clark

After falling apart against Iowa and the first half of Indiana, Darryl Clark got his act together in the second half and had a pretty good game. But the confidence isn’t there. Penn State needs a leader, and they need it now. Step forward, Mr. Clark.

3) How will the Nittany Lions play in the first half?

I’d be lying to you if I said that Penn State has played well for all 60 mins of every game. Usually it’s been for the second half of games. If the Nittany Lions can get it together for all 60 minutes of the big one at Beaver Stadium, then we could be scattering rose petals around JoePa’s statue.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma

College Gameday are going in Norman for this one, and even though it’s not red-hot on the plains this time of year, the football’s going to be pretty darned warm. These offenses are so good I’m predicting over 1,000 yards of offense, 60 points… and a lot of fun.

PREDICTION: OU in the ‘upset’. Oklahoma 45, Texas Tech 43

Michigan vs. Ohio State

Michigan is useless. Ohio State are looking for a share of the Big Ten title. Anything can happen in this game, but I figure that the Buckeyes will probably squeak a win… By 30.

PREDICTION: Ohio State 41, Michigan 10

BYU vs. Utah

Don’t expect a lot of alcohol at the pregame tailgate parties before this one, as Mormon nations collide for the big one in Salt Like City. Should be a great game, but probably not worth losing your tablets over…

PREDICTION: BYU derail the Ute’s BCS hopes and become the one true school…until next year. BYU Mormons 31, Utah Mormons 28

Florida State vs. Maryland

With FSU’s wide receivers back and the Terrapins squeezing past North Carolina on Saturday, this could shape up into a cracker.

PREDICTION: Bobby Bowden cheery. Until his wide receiving corps gets arrested again. Florida State 28, Maryland 21

Ole Miss vs. LSU

I never realised how much these two hated each other. LSU only woke up after 3/4 of their game against Troy—and then scored 30 points, but Ole Miss is going to be a much, much tougher opposition.

PREDICTION: Cajuns cryin’. Ole Miss 29, LSU 25

And finally….

Army vs. Navy

No rank. Just pride. With the world at war, you can’t help but have a lump in throat for this game—which has more meaning thaN ever before. George Bush is going to attend….as he damned well should.

PREDICTION: Navy continues to own Army. Navy 31, Army 10

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Les Miles is Losing…Told You So

The things that seem obvious to me may not seem so to most (as I have come to learn). I do not make outlandish predictions to garner attention. I make predictions that many do not understand because they haven’t exercised independent, non-guided thought.

Perhaps they don’t possess the capacity for such thought (you would be surprised how many people are actually incapable of this) it’s not easy. But the predictions I make are extremely logical. I also take into account the intangibles.

People think that throwing stats around in conversation makes their case. Though stats do aid an argument, they do not MAKE the argument.

The truth is, the intangibles (weather, emotion, clutch decision-making, coaching decisions, your gut, etc.) are what influence and create stats, not the other way around.

The LSU faithful got all torn up this summer when I said that the SEC West race was wide open when Ryan Perrilloux got booted from the team. Would anyone like to question me now?

No one could have predicted exactly how the two QBs would perform for LSU, which is why I didn’t. But you knew they would struggle.

Two guys who were new to the program who may not have really sucked in the offense last season (because everyone knew Perrilloux was to be the starter) were now expected to run the offense of the defending National Champs.

Tiger fans wouldn’t believe this because they didn’t want to (that whole independent thought thing).

I then talked about how Les Miles really isn’t that great of a coach. Gasp! “He’s won a National Championship. His record is so-and-so!”

Intangibles, people.

Les Miles is losing recruits to the Urban Meyer’s and Nick Saban’s of the world. LSU fans won’t accept that Saban and his staff are far superior to Miles and his. Once Bo Pelini left, you knew that the staff wasn’t that great anymore.

I understand that LSU fans are probably the most passionate around. But for them to have such passion, they can’t allow for objectivity. If they had objectivity, they wouldn’t be in Miles’ corner as much as they are.

Miles has made questionable call after questionable call in his career at LSU. He proved last year that, yes, someone can be lucky for an entire year.

There is no doubt that LSU was the best team in the country last year. But more and more of the uber recruits signed by Saban were leaving LSU due to graduation.

Saban taught these players to practice, study, play, and live like champions. Not taking away from Les Miles as a teacher, but that’s a tough act to mimic. You either have it or you don’t. He may have a little of “it,” but nothing like his predecessor has.

I also spoke of how Miles was geared to bolt for Michigan. This is truth. Kirk Herbstreit let the cat out of the bag, and a previously in-the-dark LSU administration quickly threw huge contract at Miles (for about a nickel more money than Saban makes… hmm) after he had a desperate emergency news conference to cover his own hide.

He didn’t want such a good football team to fall apart and lose his chance at an SEC and National Championship. It worked and Miles made the best decision for his team…kind of.

Les Miles was now stuck. He promised not to leave and did not want to look like Saban had as a betrayer. Or as Miles calls him, “devil.” If Miles sounds threatened by LSU’s first love (whom we never forget), that’s because he is.

He knew last year that Saban was going to steal more of his recruits and that he would have to play him every year. The Bo Schembechler disciple was headed to his alma mater.

Schembechler was a father figure for Miles. He also knew he could recruit better at Michigan with less competition for recruits.

Miles is not a dumb guy. He just makes stupid, irrational decisions. The emergency press conference to deny allegations of his departure was a good one in the short term, but not in the long term.

Evidence: this season. With huge expectations and the most talented mix of offensive linemen and defensive front seven, Miles is being out-coached.

There are two kinds of coaching decisions: 1) decisions that help your team, and 2) no decisions at all, just letting the team feel its way through games and going with conservatism.

The former will win games. The latter won’t win games, but it also won’t lose games. Then there is Les Miles, who introduced a third kind of coaching decision to us: decisions that hurt his team.

All the fourth down “go-for-it’s” are ridiculous and can hurt LSU just as much as they helped. Last year was the luckiest season I have ever seen by a coach/team.

If Miles’ preposterous fourth-down conversion percentage were any lower last year, the Bayou Bengals would not be the defending National Champions this year.

It is true that going for it on fourth can energize your team, but it can also be detrimental to their psyches.

Miles was simply outclassed yesterday. He knew how good Alabama’s defense was and how Jarrett Lee, a 19-year old kid, had been turning the ball over a lot. Yet he refuses to game plan with this in mind.

Charles Scott and Keiland Williams are running well. Don’t let Lee lose you the game. It’s too much pressure for a guy in his situation. LSU has more talent than Alabama, and they almost won the game because of it.

Neither the team nor Jarrett Lee lost the game. Nor did Saban and Alabama win it. Les Miles lost it, just as I predicted he might.

He had Lee throwing the ball all over Tiger Stadium. Lee’s QB rating was awful. He was showing no improvement, he had no confidence, yet Miles forced him to the air. Well, he and his coordinator. But Miles has ultimate control.

Overtime is the perfect example.

Not wanting to be forced to kick again for the win after the field goal try at the end of regulation was blocked, even Nick Saban made a questionable decision to throw to Julio Jones.

But at least we can sort through his thought process: the best receiver in the stadium in one-on-one coverage; not wanting to have to kick another field goal for the win; taking a shot when they least expect, etc.

Les Miles, on the other hand, effectively cost his team the game by having Lee throw. What does Lee do? He throws to a double-covered receiver and is intercepted. The pick all but sealed the victory for the Tide.

You have the ball first. You have got to be conservative. Especially when you have an offensive line that dominated Alabama’s front seven, especially in the first half.

I realize that the Alabama run defense had stiffened in the second half, but you take away your team’s confidence when you don’t allow them to run the ball…especially in overtime when you HAVE to run it; AND when you have the ball FIRST.

Point taken?

Les Miles and LSU are still going to be pretty good the next few years, but don’t be surprised when they have not-so-great teams.

They have more talent than any other team in the SEC, but Miles’ decision-making will neutralize it. Luckily for Miles, he has a great recruiting base in Louisiana, unlike Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer, he doesn’t have to go far for talent.

This will save him until he leaves the school. He will still have a good career record, but when that day comes, remember who predicted yet another logical/obvious scenario.

If Rich Rodriguez can’t vindicate the terrible season the Wolverines are having (which I also predicted) in the next couple years, Miles will head north, err… home.

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Drive-Thru: Piling it on Northwestern

After a week-long suspension for an unsatisfactory job on offense last Saturday, a trip to Northwestern is on the docket for this Saturday to play the Wildcats.  Consistent with my dual aims of uploading a YouTube relevant to the foe at hand — and uploading stuff that reminds Buckeye fans that there was Buckeye football before Jim Tressel — I’ve uploaded a game pitting Ohio State and Northwestern against each other.

You have no idea how hard it was to find such a game… that wasn’t 2004.  Grr…

Anyways, for your viewing pleasure, I uploaded the 1989 contest between the Wildcats and the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes.  Consistent with the history of this series, it was a lopsided affair that got real ugly in the second quarter.  The Buckeyes only punted once (their second series of the game).  They had no turnovers and only settled for a field goal once.  Yeah, really.

Northwestern and Ohio State entered the game from two different sides the week prior.  In their last game, Northwestern dropped a home decision to the Iowa Hawkeyes 35-22.  In their previous game the week earlier, Ohio State played Minnesota and staged, at the time, the largest comeback in college football history.

Northwestern got the game started in dubious fashion.  Ohio State won the coin toss and deferred.  Northwestern, instead of taking the ball and getting their offense going, opted to pick a side of the field.  Ohio State took the kickoff, and pounded Scottie Graham and Carlos Snow down Northwestern’s defense for an easy touchdown.  They wouldn’t let up.  Northwestern’s defense allowed 37 points a game before this match; Ohio State would run up 52 on the Wildcats.

The strength of Northwestern’s team… if there was one for the 1989 season… was its offense.  In order to keep Northwestern’s offense off the field, Ohio State leaned very heavily on the ground game.  In spite of injuries to Carlos Snow and James Bryant this game, the Buckeyes were more than successful in playing to the clock this game.  Official stats elude me, but the combination of Carlos Snow, James Bryant, Scottie Graham, Dante Lee and Greg Frey/Kirk Herbstreit had to run up about 400 rushing yards.  Snow, Graham and Lee all went over 100 yards.  Bryant was really close before getting injured.  Until that point, Hayden-Brockington-Kern in 1970 were the last trio to all get over 100 yards rushing.  Northwestern’s otherwise decent-to-good offense did garner 27 points, with 8 of those coming on an untimed down.  Basically, as good as Northwestern’s offense was, it wasn’t capable of vouching for the 37 ppg hole that its defense kept putting it in.

Ohio State’s 1989 season was basically a microcosm of some of the current problems we face now.  They were run over 42-3 by USC, a team that ended up going to the Rose Bowl.  It played 3 other top teams in the season and lost to them all.  Illinois beat them 34-14.  Michigan, the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl representative, beat them 28-18… a problem which I can only hope we don’t develop now.  They went to the Hall of Fame Bowl and, yes, lost to an SEC team (Auburn).  Fortunately, there was no internet meme to be made of it by that time and the Buckeyes had only had 4 post-Fesler SEC encounters before this game and was 1-2-1 at that point (2 losses to Alabama [78 Sugar Bowl, 85 Kickoff Classic], victory and tie over LSU).  Of all the SEC losses, I’m more than fine with this one on account of Zack Dumas manslaughtering Stacey Danley.  They can have the victory after that because that Dumas hit is much more memorable.  Is it wrong that hit keeps playing in my mind any time one of my co-workers comes to bother me about something?

Northwestern, on the other hand, had much, much better seasons.  That is: it went winless in 1989 for the first time since 1981.  They’ve come a long way, baby.

Other things to note during this game:

• Bo Pelini, then known only as Mark Pelini, was the starting safety for this game
• Kirk Herbstreit, then a redshirt (I think) freshman QB, was the second option QB.  He gets put in on the Buckeyes’ last drive and leads them to a touchdown.
• Northwestern fans were clearly not into this game.  I actually saw a person in this game wearing his Alabama Crimson Tide gear to the game.  Shame.
• Ohio State’s placekicker, Pat O’Morrow, surpassed Matthew Frantz in the record books after making his 53rd straight PAT after the Buckeyes’ last touchdown.

At long last, here’s the game.

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Football Friday: Nittany Cryin’ Edition

BUCKEYES vs. NITTANY LIONS

No. 10 Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) vs. No. 3 Penn State (8-0, 4-0)

Date: Saturday, October 25

Time: 8:00 PM ET

Place: Ohio Stadium – capacity 101,568

TV: ABC will televise the game. Brent Musburger will call the play-by-play and will be joined in the booth by Kirk Herbstreit. Lisa Salters is the sideline reporter.

Radio: [...]
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What to Watch for – Week 9

Ohio State and Penn State are getting the nightcap in Ohio Stadium in what is only the 8th night game in Ohio Stadium history and the first since the 2005 Texas game.  Until that point, there’s lots of football to watch.  So what’s on?

Tuesday

• Ohio @ Temple (ESPN2, 8:00PM ET).  This game was stupid, and yet I watched it anyways.  Temple ended up winning this game 14-10 in a game that seemingly no one wanted to win.  If nothing else, this game was something of a game by proxy for Ohio State and Penn State.  The team that Penn State defeated 45-3 defeated the team that Ohio State beat 26-14.  Whoopee.  Moving on.

Thursday

• Auburn @ West Virginia (ESPN, 7:30PM ET).  The SEC finally got around to venturing outside the South for games this season.  If only they played this game last year, when both teams… well… didn’t suck.  Auburn’s demotion to Thursday night football isn’t lost on me.

Friday

• Boise State @ San Jose State (ESPN2, 9:00PM ET).  The obligatory weeknight game involving Boise State.  Lather, rinse and repeat.

Saturday

• Texas Tech @ Kansas (ESPN, 12:00PM ET).  Texas Tech ventures to Lawrence right after the Jayhawks get throttled by Oklahoma.  Further, Texas Tech goes on the road to play a game right as they forget that they actually have to play defense too (31 points given up to Nebraska, 25 to Texas A&M).  Yawn.
• Illinois @ Wisconsin (ESPN2, 12:00PM ET). The obligatory Big Ten noontime kickoff on the ESPN Family of Networks ™.  Wisconsin hasn’t won a game in a month and a half.  I’m not sure why they would start now.
• UNLV @ Brigham Young (The MTN, 2:00PM ET). Brigham Young resumes play after getting waxed by Texas Christian a week and a half ago.  If you’re able to watch, the halftime show will basically be Elder Young, Elder Young and Elder Young riding their bicycles around the field, afterwards putting on a play about how much UNLV hurts the soul.
• Oklahoma State @ Texas (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  I’m not really interested in Ohio State getting back in the national title picture, but that won’t stop me from rooting for Oklahoma State.  Their head coach is a man, he’s 40, and he can take it.  That, and their defensive coordinator was responsible for making Antonio Smith an all-conference performer.
• Georgia @ LSU (The SEC Network, 3:30PM ET).  Georgia’s offensive and defensive lines might get cannibalized in this game.  That, or whatever idiot LSU trots out at QB might do his best Jonathan Crompton impersonation.
• Rutgers @ Pittsburgh (ESPN360.com, 3:30PM ET).  Wait wait wait, Pittsburgh is ranked?  And the Big East still fields football teams? When did this happen?
• Virginia Tech @ Florida State (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  At long last, Florida State has achieved Top 25 status.  Yes, that same Florida State team that was the program of the 90s is now celebrating its first top 25 appearance in what seems like ages.  I think this game is a replay of the 1999 BCS title game, back when… you know… both programs were relevant.
• Michigan State @ Michigan (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  Michigan State looks to shed the “little brother” label against Michigan and beat the Wolvereenies for the first time since the glory days of Jeff Smoker.  This was back in the day when, you know, seconds had to be added on to the clock in order to give the Spartans’ a shot at beating Michigan.  FWIW, Kirk Herbstreit called this game his upset special of the day (Michigan over Michigan State, that is).
• UCLA @ California (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  I’m not sure why this game is on ABC.  Someone will have to fill me in on the explanation for this.
• Alabama @ Tennessee (ESPN, 7:45PM ET).  Why in the sam hell is this a night game? On ESPN? At best, this game is a crappy throw-away that Raycom Sports has to hide on its 11am local timeslot.  I’m still pulling for Tennessee to win out the rest of its games because of the toxicity given to them by their loss to UCLA.  Alabama will be without Terrance Cody, the 900lb nose tackle and the only college football player with his own moon and gravitational pull.  Further, their offensive skillplayers have shown themselves to be not worthy of that killer offensive line they have.  So does Tennessee win? If they do, the meltdown I’ll get to watch when I stroll into work on Monday will be worth the drive.
• Penn State @ Ohio State (ABC, 8:00PM ET).  The main attraction.  More thoughts to follow on the obligatory Friday post/open thread, but Penn State is looking to slay two dragons in one season.  They’ve already ended Michigan’s 9-game head-to-head winning streak, now they’ll be looking to win in Columbus for the first time as a Big Ten team.
• Notre Dame @ Washington (ESPN2, 8:00PM ET).  Otherwise known as the “Why did Notre Dame hire any of these two jokers?” Bowl.  Much of my comments on Alabama and Tennessee can be applied here, except “Raycom Sports” might have to be redacted in favor of “college radio”.

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Buckeyes get another shot in big game

Will the Buckeyes shake off their big-game woes against Penn State or is JoePa’s squad just too good?

COLUMBUS (AP) — What’s brewing today with the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes …

BUCKEYES BUZZ: This is another chance for the Buckeyes to redeem themselves on a big stage.

No. 10 Ohio State has crawled back into the top 10 in the polls and the Bowl Championship Series rankings after those painful, lopsided losses in the last two national championship games, along with the 35-3 beating at USC. Now the Buckeyes need to take advantage of an opportunity to show that they can win a big game when No. 3 Penn State comes to town.

“On the team there really hasn’t been too much talk about what happened at SC and playing in the big games,” CB Malcolm Jenkins said Monday. “For us, we’re motivated enough just off of the fact that it’s a game that has Big Ten championship implications (and) it’s a night game at Ohio Stadium.”

Adding to the aura is how rare such games (8 p.m.) are at the Ohio Stadium.

“We haven’t had that since 2005, against Texas,” Jenkins said. “Penn State and Ohio State go back a while having great games. That’s going to be hyped up there. They’re a top-3 team in the nation and we’re trying to find our way back in the rankings. So for us there’s plenty of motivation.”

SORE BEANIE: TB Chris “Beanie” Wells said he’s still sore after carrying a season-high 31 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-7 rout of Michigan State on Saturday.

Asked on Monday how his foot felt, he said, “It’s pretty sore.”

He said he had hoped that the foot injury that kept him out of three games might have healed faster, but he’s now come around to thinking that he may have to play with it all year.

“I hoped to be healthier. But it’s something I have to deal with,” he said.

CONFERENCE CHOICES: The Big Ten’s players of the week: Iowa RB Shonn Greene (career-high 217 yards on 25 carries and ties a school record with four TDs in win over Wisconsin; Iowa LB Pat Angerer (career-high 16 tackles with two interceptions); and Penn State K Kevin Kelly (kicked 3 FGs and 5 PATs to become the conference’s career leader in kicking points with 376.

BEST BUCKEYES: Ohio State’s staff selected its weekly award winners from the 45-7 blowout at Michigan State.

The defensive player of the game was LB James Laurinaitis, TB Chris “Beanie” Wells took the offensive honors and LB Austin Spitler captured the award for the special units.

Honored from the scout team were: WR Ricky Crawford on offense; DL Solomon Thomas on defense; and RB Joe Gantz on special teams.

The top player on the front seven was LB Ross Homan. OT Alex Boone was the top offensive lineman and the Jack Tatum big hit was not awarded.

GAMEDAY COMING: ESPN’s College GameDay will be televised live outside St. John Arena on Saturday morning for the game against the Nittany Lions. The show is hosted by Chris Fowler with analysts Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and former Ohio State QB Kirk Herbstreit.

COOOOOP! College Football Hall of Famer John Cooper, coach of the Buckeyes from 1988-2000, will be honored at both Ohio State and Tulsa this weekend in honor of his induction this year. Cooper, second on the coaching wins list at Ohio State to Woody Hayes, will be honored during the game against Penn State.

Cooper also was a head coach at Arizona State and Tulsa. He’ll be honored at Tulsa on Sunday during the Golden Hurricane’s game against Central Florida.

BCS NOTE: There are nine remaining undefeated teams among the Football Bowl Subdivision squads, the highest number ever in the initial week of the BCS standings. Texas is No. 1 in the standings for the second time in school history, and Ball State has become the 78th school to make the BCS standings at No. 20 this week. Previous numbers of undefeated teams in the first week of rankings include: Five in 2000 (Nebraska No. 1); seven in 2001 (Oklahoma No. 1); eight in 2002 (Oklahoma No. 1); five in 2003 (Oklahoma No. 1); seven in 2004 (Southern California No. 1); seven in 2005 (Southern California No. 1); seven in 2006 (Ohio State No. 1); and six in 2007 (Ohio State No. 1).

RED-LETTER NIGHT: All Buckeyes fans attending Saturday night’s game are encouraged to wear scarlet for the prime-time national television broadcast on ABC.

Scarlet rally towels, courtesy of Nationwide Insurance, will be distributed to the first 80,000 fans.

A lot of other things are also going on:

— Former Buckeyes QBs Bob Hoying and Craig Krenzel will be signing autographs starting at 2:30 p.m. at the FanFest location outside the south side of St. John Arena. Krenzel will be available from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and Hoying from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

— Following the game, 40,000 copies of an Ohio State football commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated “Game Breakers” will be handed out at Ohio Stadium exits.

— The Ohio State men’s basketball team will scrimmage from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Value City Arena. The event is free and open to the public. Fans will be able sit anywhere in the lower bowl. The seating area will open at 3:30 p.m.

— The marching band will hold its skull session at 6 p.m. in St. John Arena.

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