Who are the nation’s greenest units?
March 17, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The ESPN bloggers are getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit by breaking down the least experienced units in college football. Some highlights below, with links to the full reviews….
BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.
Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.
Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who’s seen any significant playing time at this level.
South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.
Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.
Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns’ national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.
Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.
Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs’ most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They’ve got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.
LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.
GEORGIA TECH — Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it’s easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.
MIAMI – The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.
NORTH CAROLINA — The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.
Arizona State — QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.
Oregon – DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.
Oregon State — DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.
Ohio State’s offensive line — Don’t be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.
Penn State’s defensive ends — Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.
Purdue’s wide receivers — New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.
Wisconsin’s defensive line — The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don’t return many proven players aside from ends O’Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.
And — of course — everyone’s favorite green unit:
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Florida, Oklahoma odds on favorites for 2009
March 10, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The Wiz spotted BodogLife’s updated odds for the college football season. Long story short… it looks like the Gators and Sooners are the early picks, followed by USC, Texas, and Ohio State.
Here’s the complete rundown:
Alabama 22/1
Arizona 100/1
Arizona State 150/1
Arkansas 150/1
Auburn 150/1
Boise State 100/1
Boston College 100/1
California 60/1
Cincinnati 90/1
Clemson 60/1
Colorado 100/1
Florida 7/4
Florida State 30/1
Georgia 50/1
Georgia Tech 50/1
Illinois 80/1
Iowa 75/1
Kansas 75/1
Kansas State 175/1
Kentucky 125/1
Louisville 150/1
LSU 20/1
Maryland 200/1
Miami 35/1
Michigan 120/1
Michigan State 100/1
Missouri 90/1
Nebraska 55/1
North Carolina 45/1
North Carolina State 100/1
Notre Dame 30/1
Ohio State 17/2
Oklahoma 5/1
Oklahoma State 50/1
Oregon 20/1
Oregon State 100/1
Penn State 35/1
Pittsburgh 60/1
Rutgers 125/1
South Carolina 100/1
South Florida 80/1
Tennessee 100/1
Texas 8/1
Texas A&M 150/1
Texas Tech 60/1
UCLA 150/1
Utah 125/1
USC 5/1
Virginia 100/1
Virginia Tech 20/1
Wake Forest 80/1
Washington 200/1
West Virginia 75/1
Wisconsin 100/1
Field (Any Other Team) 20/1
And remember… entertainment purposes only… of course.
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Final Grades: A look back at the preseason AP poll
February 16, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
It’s time to pay the piper. Here’s a look back at the 2008 pre-season AP poll contrasted against the final 2008-2009 AP poll.
2008 AP College Football Poll Comparison – Preseason vs Final Poll
| TEAM | FINAL RANKING | PRESEASON |
| Florida | 1 | 5 |
| Utah | 2 | NR |
| USC | 3 | 3 |
| Texas | 4 | 11 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | 4 |
| Alabama | 6 | NR |
| TCU | NR | NR |
| Penn State | 8 | 22 |
| Ohio State | 9 | 2 |
| Oregon | 10 | 21 |
| Boise State | 11 | NR |
| Texas Tech | 12 | 12 |
| Georgia | 13 | 1 |
| Ole Miss | 14 | NR |
| Virginia Tech | 15 | 17 |
| Oklahoma State | 16 | NR |
| Cincinnati | 17 | NR |
| Oregon State | 18 | 22 |
| Missouri | 19 | 6 |
| Iowa | 20 | NR |
| Florida State | 21 | NR |
| Georgia Tech | 22 | NR |
| West Virginia | 23 | 8 |
| Michigan State | 24 | NR |
| BYU | 25 | 16 |
The big standout poll flops are Georgia (P-1 F-13), Ohio State (P-2 F-10), Missouri (P-6 F-19) and West Virgina (P-8 F-23). And — of course — the teams that never even made it to the final poll, including LSU, Clemson, Auburn and Wisconsin.
The Cinderella stories of Utah, TCU, Boise State, and Alabama surprised pollsters and fans alike. (Outside of Alabama, of course, who always expects the Tide to be #1… and they’re not afraid to tell you about it, as well. Still, I suspect there were more than a couple of surprised Bama fans out there this season when the Crimson Tide rose to the top of the polls.)
The biggest surprise for me was how many of the teams were actually ranked consistently from pre-season to final poll. That shocked me, actually. I have long advocated not doing any polls at all until the fourth week of the season, but there’s enough balance between the good & bad of the pre-season poll to suggest that *some* of the pollsters might actually put some thought into this whole thing.
What stands out to you and where do you stand on pre-season polls — sacrosanct or sacrelidge?
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Jumping Ship: Who’s leaving early for the NFL?
January 21, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
The good folks at ESPN’s data center have the updates on which college football underclassmen are leaving school in search of huge bags of money a career in the NFL. Here’s the updated list, with a few notable talents highlighted.
Asher Allen CB 5-1 198 Georgia
Chris Baker DT 6-2 298 Hampton
Kenny Britt WR 6-4 215 Rutgers
Eben Britton OT 6-5½ 310 Arizona
Donald Brown RB 5-10 210 Connecticut
Everette Brown DE 6-4 252 Florida State
James Casey TE 6-4 245 Rice
Jeremy Childs WR 6-0 196 Boise State
Glen Coffee RB 6-1 198 Alabama
Austin Collie WR 6-2 206 BYU
Emanuel Cook S 5-10 203 South Carolina
Jared Cook TE 6-5 243 South Carolina
Michael Crabtree WR 6-3 214 Texas Tech
Andrew Davie TE 6-5 266 Arkansas
Nate Davis QB 6-1¾ 217 Ball State
Vontae Davis CB 5-11⅞ 203 Illinois
Josh Freeman QB 6-5½ 238 Kansas State
Shonn Green RB 5-10¾ 233 Iowa
Percy Harvin WR 5-10¾ 187 Florida
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 6-1⅞ 203 Maryland
P.J. Hill RB 5-11 236 Wisconsin
Greg Isdaner OG 6-4 322 West Virginia
Ricky Jean-Francois DL 6-3 289 LSU
Paul Kruger DE 6-5 265 Utah
Jeremy Maclin WR 6-0 198 Missouri
Sen’Derrick Marks DT 6-0⅞ 289 Auburn
Aaron Maybin DE 6-3½ 250 Penn State
LeSean McCoy RB 5-11 205 Pittsburgh
Gerald McRath LB 6-3 220 Southern Miss
D.J. Moore CB 5-10 184 Vanderbilt
Knowshon Moreno RB 5-10¾ 207 Georgia
Captain Munnerlyn CB 5-9 185 South Carolina
Hakeem Nicks WR 6-1 215 North Carolina
Kevin Ogletree WR 6-2 189 Virginia
Jerraud Powers CB 5-9 191 Auburn
Mark Sanchez QB 6-2½ 225 USC
Andre Smith DT 6-4⅞ 341 Alabama
Sean Smith CB 6-2½ 212 Utah
Matthew Stafford QB 6-2½ 235 Georgia
Brandon Williams DE 6-5 246 Texas Tech
Chris “Beanie” Wells RB 6-1 235 Ohio State
Of course, it’s worth mentioning a few standout players who are not going pro this year:
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi
Equally notable, FSU S Myron Rolle will leave the Noles, but isn’t going to the NFL… yet. Rolle accepted a Rhodes Scholarship and will study medical anthropology at Oxford. Rolle was expected to be a top 50 or better pick, but will instead look to enter the 2010 NFL draft.
The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 26th and 27th in New York City.
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Bet your house on Florida, and other things to discuss;
January 7, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Lots to discuss, wasting no time here…..
Let’s start off with the big event in sports. Tomorrow night’s BCS National Championship Game, Florida vs. Oklahoma.
There’s only one way to put this. Bet everything you have on Florida right now. It’s going to be a massive blowout. I have about thirty reasons why this will happen, but here’s just the best reasons;
1) The Big 12 has been exposed as EXTREMELY overrated this year
Say what you will about the Big Ten and the ACC and the Big East all sucking, but the Big 12 should be VERY embarrassed with their overexposure and underwhelming bowl performances.
At one point, there were multiple teams from the Big 12 ranked in the Top 10. It was getting ridiculous, and the AP voters and TV announcers ate it up like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. “Every week is like a bowl game in the Big 12″ they would say. Bullshit, I say. They were all pretty average. Here’s how their bowl games turned out;
Texas 24, Ohio State 21 – In a game that EVERYBODY said would be a 20-point blowout, it took a miracle drive, bad tackling, and some questionable officiating to put Texas in the end zone to win the game. Somehow along the way, hitting a Longhorn QB in the shoulder pads became a 15-yard penalty. In the end, the team that cried their eyes out claiming they were robbed out of the title game proved that they did not deserve any titles at all. Texas went in thinking they would run up the score and pick up some first-place votes found themselves without a TD (and only 3 total points) for the entire first half.
Overrated? Texas was ranked #1 in the nation at one point this year, Ohio State was given a 9% chance to win the game. Yes, Texas was overrated.
Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34 – Ole Miss is an average SEC team, always finishing in the middle of the pack. Texas Tech was another team looking to destroy their bowl opponent, this time to prove that they should have gotten in a BCS game. Mission failed. Badly. After getting off to a fast start, the Red Raiders proved that they deserved absolutely nothing when they allowed Ole Miss to go on a 38-7 run and blow out their Big 12 foe.
Overrated? Texas Tech was ranked #2 in the nation earlier this year. Ole Miss lost to Vanderbilt and South Carolina…both at home. Yes, Tech was overrated.
Missouri 30, Northwestern 23 (OT) – Despite the wishes of the Big 12’s most popular brother-sister team (otherwise known as Chase Daniel’s parents), Missouri looked like crap against the Big Ten’s 8th-best pass defense. Northwestern should have won this game, but some late miscues handed the game to Mizzou.
Overrated? Missouri was once ranked #3 in the NCAA. Northwestern lost a game by 35 points this year. Yes, Missouri was overrated.
Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 31 - Okie State started off fast, but couldn’t maintain themselves against a rushing attack from the Ducks. Two Oregon players would break the 100-yard mark on their way to 307 yards team rushing. Oregon also racked up a total of 565 yards aginst Okie State.
Overrated? Oklahoma State was once ranked #7 in the nation. Yes, Okie State was overrated.
Nebraska 26, Clemson 21 – In the Gator Bowl, Nebraska was trying to recapture some of their historic greatness, and their prospects were large, playing against a team that only won 7 games in the pathetic ACC….a team so bad, they fired their coach mid-season. And they barely escaped with the win, when a Tigers TD was overturned by instant review.
Overrated? Well, Nebraska was never rated. But they barely beat a bad, bad team.
Kansas 42, Minnesota 21 – The lone bright spot for the conference so far, Kansas doubled up on Minnesota, who were bowling to the shock of everyone not in a Gopher uniform at the start of the season. As the season wore on, Minnesota’s weak schedule was exposed by the Big Ten, and the regular season ended mercifully with a 55-0 Minny loss.
Overrated? Kansas was actually ranked as high as #13 this year. Minny lost a game 55-0. Yes, Kansas was overrated.
The point of all this is simple – the Big 12 was NOT the meat-grinder that the media told us it was over and over and over again. Oklahoma’s not ready for this game.
#2) Florida IS ready for this game
A bad performance by Tim Tebow once this year nearly cost Florida a shot, but they came back in a dominating way. Since their loss in Week 4, they have been unstoppable. Take a look at this;
- Week 5 – 31-point win against Arkansas
- Week 6 – 30-point win over then-#4 LSU
- Week 7 – 58-point win over bowl-bound Kentucky
- Week 8 – 39-point win over then-#6 Georgia
- Week 9 – 28-point win over bowl-bound Vanderbilt
- Week 10 – 50-point win over bowl-bound and then-#25 South Carolina
- Week 11 – 51-point win over The Citadel
- Week 12 – 30-point win over bowl-bound Florida State
- Week 13 – 11-point win over then-#1 and BCS-Bowl bound Alabama
Yeah, they’re ready.
3) The Heisman Curse
Sam Bradford won the Heisman this year. Heisman winners usually suck in bowl games, especially National Championships (we know, we know). Only twice in the past 30 years has the Heisman winner gone on to win a National Championship. No, Tebow didn’t win it the year Florida took the title (Troy Smith won it).
4) Oklahoma pretty much sucks at BCS bowl games
For all the whining and crying you hear about Ohio State’s recent bowl losses, you just don’t hear those kind of attacks leveled at the Sooners. And believe me, they’re much worse. In their last 4 BCS bowls, they are 0-4 and have been blown out more than once.
- 2008 – Lost to West Virginia 48-28
- 2007 – Lost to Boise State 43-42
- 2005 – Lost to USC 55-19
- 2004 – Lost to LSU 21-14
If they make it 0-5, we’d better NEVER hear about our own shortcomings again. Especially since they’ll have lost two national championships in that time frame.
Convinced? Call Vegas ASAP.
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Last night, the Cavaliers overtook the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference when Boston lost. The Cavs now have the best record in the NBA.
Tonight, the Cavaliers beat the living daylights out of Charlotte, 111-81. Boston’s loss last night? It was to that same Charlotte team.
The Celtics come to The Q Friday night. It should be insaaaaaane!
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Speaking of the Cavaliers game, there were many highlights to go over. But the best was watching former Michigan Fab-Fiver Juwan Howard get tossed from the game while sitting on the bench.
By the way, did you know that the Fab Five never won a single title in college? No national titles, no Big Ten titles, nothing. Just thought I’d mention that.
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In the “what the hell” category, Boobie Gibson also got a technical foul tonight. For having an untucked shirt. No, I’m not kidding.
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The Cleveland Browns hired their new coach tonight. Eric Mangini, former Jets coach, and former ball boy for the Browns, will call the plays next year.
Makes sense to me. Hell, there were CURRENT ball boys that could have done better with the Browns this season.
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Last week, it was announced that Michigan’s only offensive threat, Sam McGuffie, has left Ann Arbor and will enroll at Rice next year. McGuffie was rumored to have been struggling with depression and on medication. Being closer to home will be better for the kid.
Also better for him will be not having to deal with decapitation at the hands of Ohio State special teams players.
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Finally, in the most laughable news you’ll ever hear, Michigan Head Coach Rich Rodriquez recently said he has “always taken the approach that you should look at each job as your last.”
Yeah, he actually said that. With a straight face, no less.
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How do you beat Texas?
January 5, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Since pretty much everybody and their brother has already picked Texas to beat Ohio State by a landslide, I figured I would try to piecemeal what I think it would take to beat this great Texas team.
First go get a wide receiver named Michael Crabtree and a QB named Graham Harrell. Wait they play for Texas Tech and they beat this Longhorn team. So I guess that means if we were playing Tech, they would beat us worse then Texas is going to? The ball is not round and there are plenty of funny bounces out there.
Seriously, Texas is a very good team but teams and individuals have good days and bad days, just ask Alabama. Here are few of my suggestions for Ohio State to have a chance against the Longhorns:
Let’s start with the defense because if they can’t stop the Texas O, this game is over. The D line needs to stay home and play the run by holding down their assignments. Keep the linemen off of the LBs and let them make the plays but if you get a chance to hit Colt McCoy hard, take it. LBs and DBs need to be sure tacklers. McCoy and the running backs are thick below the waist and can break weak arm tackles to pick up the big yards. Don’t let anything behind you especially the safeties. Third down is where the Bucks can make an impact. If they hold them in third and long situations, the can win some of the field position battles which again is going to be a huge key in this game. Make McCoy beat you with his arm and if there is a chance at a take-away don’t miss it.
Offensively the Bucks need to play their best game of the year. Flawless in play calling, execution and effort. I think people are looking for some kind of cute two QB deal and some trick plays because without them, the Bucks don’t have a chance. Don’t believe it! The Bucks can run the ball on this Texas D but the line will have to play even more physical than they did at MSU. They have speed so don’t try to run Beanie or Terrell outside. Keep Beanie and the rest of the RBs between the tackles, straight at them negates their speed. Take the ball and decision making out of Pryor’s hands. Let him gain confidence by throwing the short play action passes where he can run if he doesn’t have it and hit it if it is there. Find the tight end early in the possession. Make the safeties keep an eye on him and the WRs will find more room to work. If we get tricky and try to focus on Terrell, I’m afraid we are in for another long January evening. But if we go there to play football and let the seniors and the leadership to take this team and let the young studs run and play, it could be a really fun game.
Still don’t know how all the pundits think we are sure to lose and I can’t tell you that the Buckeyes will win, but let’s at least play the game and see. One point is all it’s going to take.
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Fitzgerald, Cooper to be honored at Fiesta Bowl
January 5, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and former Ohio State head coach John Cooper are among the 14 new College Football Hall of Fame inductees to be honored before tonight’s Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
The Hall of Famers will be introduced just prior to kickoff between No. 3 Texas and No. 10 Ohio State (Fox, 8 p.m. ET). Fitzgerald was inducted as a player, having led Northwestern to consecutive Big Ten titles as an All-American linebacker in 1995 and 1996.
The class actually has three members with Big Ten roots. Head coach Lou Holtz coached at Minnesota from 1984-85.
Here’s the full list of Hall of Famers:
2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
- TROY AIKMAN — UCLA, QB (1987-88)
- BILLY CANNON — LSU, RB (1957-59)
- COACH JOHN COOPER — Tulsa (1977- 84), Arizona State (1985-87), Ohio State (1988-2000)
- JIM DOMBROWSKI — Virginia, OT (1982- 85)
- PAT FITZGERALD — Northwestern, LB (1993-96)
- COACH LOU HOLTZ — William & Mary (1969-71), NC State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83), Minnesota (1984-85), Notre Dame (1986-96), South Carolina (1999-2004)
- WILBER MARSHALL — Florida, LB (1980- 83)
- RUEBEN MAYES — Washington St., RB (1982-85)
- RANDALL McDANIEL — Arizona St., OG (1984-87)
- DON McPHERSON — Syracuse, QB (1984- 87)
- JAY NOVACEK — Wyoming, TE (1982-84)
- DAVE PARKS — Texas Tech, SE (1961-63)
- RON SIMMONS — Florida State, NG (1977- 80)
- THURMAN THOMAS — Oklahoma St., RB (1984-87)
- ARNOLD TUCKER — Army, QB (1944-46)
Ohio State vs. Texas: The Fiesta Bowl Preview
January 4, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
So, the big game is almost here. If you ask most people, they’ll tell you they shouldn’t even bother playing this one. Just give the victory to Texas and spare the Buckeyes another embarassment. The game is still going to be played, though, and a Buckeye victory wouldn’t be the strangest thing to happen in college football. In fact, it would be the continuation of a trend. The last time the Buckeyes were expected to get crushed in a Fiesta Bowl, things went well. So let’s take a look at this year’s version of the game.
Ohio State Defense vs. Texas Offense
What does Texas do well? Um, everything? 35th in rushing offense, 10th in passing offense, 2nd in pass efficiency, 9th in total offense, 4th in scoring offense. You can point out that these numbers came against the defense-deficient Big 12, but still, that’s pretty good. Colt McCoy is the leading rusher at just 48 yards per game, but the ground game as a whole gets the job done. They don’t exactly have to carry a lot of weight with the Texas passing game. They get a shade under 300 yards a game through the air, and McCoy doesn’t make many mistakes, throwing for 32 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions. Slot receiver extraordinaire Jordan Shipley is the leading target at 81.83 yards per game, but Quan Cosby is just behind him at at 79.33 yards per game.
How can the Buckeyes stop the Longhorns? That’s the big question, isn’t it? Nobody’s really stopped this offense. A start would be pressuring McCoy. The Longhorns do only an average job of protecting McCoy, giving up 1.83 sacks per game, 57th in the country. You might think that’s because they pass so much, but they’ve only attempted 389 passes, well behind the Texas Techs (662 attempts) and Houstons (610) of the world.
They also need to stop the run. That doesn’t seem to fit with the image of Texas having a high-powered aerial attack, but Texas has rushed 479 times and passed 389 times this season. Some of that’s certainly because Texas has played with a lead so much this season, but I think it also represents that they don’t neglect the ground game. Woody Hayes used to focus on stopping the best part of an opponent’s offense, saying “make them beat us left-handed.” I don’t think you can stop Texas’s passing game entirely, so this is more a case of “don’t let them beat us with both hands.”
One thing the Buckeyes can do that few other teams can is cover Jordan Shipley with a quality corner. Donald Washington would be a starter were it not for his season-starting suspension, and if the coaches are smart, they’ll put him on Shipley, not Jermale Hines or (please please please not) Anderson Russell. Washington is good enough to contain, if not stop, Shipley. Slowing down one of Texas’s primary weapons would go a long way toward stopping their offense.
Ohio State Offense vs. Texas Defense
What does Texas do well? Stop the run. They’re second in the country in rush defense, giving up 73.58 yards per game. Big 12 teams love to pass, true, but that’s impressive. Texas also does a great job getting to the quarterback. They get 3.67 sacks per game, tops in the country. Since the Bucks are 82nd in the country in sacks allowed, that’s cause for concern.
How can the Buckeyes attack the Texas defense? Well, they’re certainly going to test that rush defense. This Texas defense hasn’t seen a running back like Beanie. It’s not inconcievable to think that the Buckeyes can succeed where others have failed against this defense and move the ball on this defense.
But it also looks like this defense can be had through the air. They’re 108th in pass defense, giving up 266.33 yards per game. They’re also 60th in pass efficiency defense. Two factors mitigate that: opponents are usually passing to try and catch up, and they play in the Big 12, where everyone throws a lot. Still, those aren’t good numbers. We won’t see the Buckeyes slinging the ball all over the field, but it’s likely that they’ll try to catch what looks to be a vulnerable secondary in a mistake from time to time (the rumored plan of having Boeckman and Pryor on the field at the same time may be part of that). The important thing will be to get the ball out of Pryor’s hands quickly. Texas DE Brian Orakpo, as the sack numbers above indicate, is not just a product of hype, and against OSU’s rather lackluster o-line, could have a field day. On the other hand, Pryor’s mobility could help slow down the Texas pass rush.
Prediction? Pain. Always, pain. Dunno for who, but for someone. Hopefully not us.
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Texas’ Brown in top form as countdown begins
January 4, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Mack Brown still gets nervous, even if he doesn’t show it.
When Brown met the media this morning, the Texas head coach recalled a conversation he had with coaching legend Darrell K. Royal about managing anxiety before games.
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| Joe Robbins/Getty Images | |
| Mack Brown doesn’t see a playoff system coming to college football anytime soon. |
“I asked coach Royal once, ‘Did you have trouble sleeping the night before a big game?’” Brown said. “And at Texas they are all big. If you lose one, it gets real big. He said that unless you gag before you brush your teeth on Saturday morning, you are not ready to play.
“I gagged this morning. So I think I’m fine.”
Brown will coach in a BCS bowl for the first time since guiding Texas to the national championship when his team takes the field Monday against No. 10 Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Fox, 8 p.m. ET). Despite his nerves in front of the bathroom sink, Brown showed none in front of reporters as he discussed Texas’ final preparations for the game.
Here are some highlights:
- Brown doesn’t see a playoff system coming to college football, but he acknowledged that the impressive wins by USC and Utah strengthen the argument for one. A Texas blowout of Ohio State certainly would add to the playoff push, which Brown certainly advocates. With many coaches supporting a playoff, Brown encouraged media members to continue the fight. And while he covets a playoff, Brown doesn’t want the bowl system to suffer.
“I played at Vanderbilt for two years, and when I saw Vanderbilt kick a last-second field goal to win their first Bowl game since 1955, there will be no team or coaching staff any happier than that Vanderbilt staff was,” Brown said. “We do not need to take that away from college football. It is an exciting time. I see 7-5 teams throwing Gatorade on their coach. At Texas, if we were 7-5, they’d be throwing something on me but it wouldn’t be Gatorade.”
- The Big 12 has been average at best during the bowl season, with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State losing, and a heavily favored Missouri team struggling mightily against Northwestern. But Brown thinks a conference and its teams shouldn’t be evaluated solely on one game, especially a game that might bring lukewarm enthusiasm.
“We’ve had some teams that weren’t as excited about their game because they didn’t get the draw they wanted and they got disappointed at the end of the year,” Brown said. “That’s the biggest thing in the bowl games: Who has the edge? Who is motivated? Who wants to be there? … If you look at the games and see who wants to be there and who is motivated because none of us have played for a month, I think that usually tells you the story more than anything else.”
- Brown recounted the process of telling his players that they didn’t reach the Big 12 championship game and likely wouldn’t be heading to the national championship in Miami. His first directive was to refrain from commenting publicly about the snub and instead let him do the talking. Rather than allowing the players to learn their fate on TV, Brown and his staff sent text messages minutes before the announcement and then scheduled a team meeting several hours later. In the meeting, Brown explained why Texas was left out (the computer rankings weigh road wins more than neutral-site ones), reiterated that the system is flawed and told players not to start throwing a pity party.
“Some people like it,” Brown said. “It is better than what we had 10 years ago. But in this case, it didn’t work out for you. But one year it didn’t work out for [USC]. One year it didn’t work out for Auburn. In 2004 it worked out for you when you went to the Rose Bowl to play Michigan. Don’t say ‘Oh, poor me’ and don’t say the system was poor to you just this time. It has been poor to a lot of people. This year it was good to Oklahoma instead of us.”
- Texas has tried to strike a balance between fun and serious preparation this week in Arizona. Players were given an 11 p.m. curfew most nights, and Texas hasn’t had any disciplinary infractions. Director of player development Ken Rucker gave the players an added incentive not to mess up.
“[Rucker] said if he smelled any alcohol on them, he would kiss them,” Brown said. “That took care of that. As far as I know, nobody has been kissed by coach Rucker before they went to bed. If you see coach Rucker, only [his wife] Nancy wants to kiss coach Rucker. It is not a group of guys.”
- Like Ohio State’s 28 seniors, Texas’ seniors have made a unique impact on the program and the coaches. Longhorns All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo said Thursday that the team might be closer than the 2005 squad that won a national title. They built that foundation as juniors before the 2007 Holiday Bowl, when they spoke up about helping the coaches maintain the right focus.
“A lot of people say this team will be great next year, and that’s not necessarily true because when you lose some ingredients, like Orakpo and his leadership and what he has meant to this program or Roy Miller,” Brown said. “My experience has been you don’t wave the wand and say we have a lot of good players coming back so it works again. For whatever reason it didn’t work as well for 2006 and [2007], and it’s has worked this year.”
- Brown on the prospect of Ohio State using quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman on the field together: “We hope it works as well as ours. I think ours had five plays for minus-12 yards.”
Why Ohio State will win the Fiesta Bowl
January 4, 2009 by feed · Leave a Comment
OK, so we’ve all seen the “teh Big Ten suuuucks” comments all over the place, and we know that nobody outside of this glorious state isn’t giving the Buckeyes a chance in hell tomorrow night. But let’s take a step back from the bash-fest and discuss what I think will happen in Arizona.
Ohio State will win tomorrow night’s Fiesta Bowl.
Here’s why;
1) Ohio State is unbeaten in bowl games against the Big 12
I’ll bet you didn’t know that. Everyone’s too busy reminding us that we’re 0-for the SEC and lost two bowls in a row. But we are a perfect 5-0 against the Big 12 in bowls, knocking off top 10 schools twice in the last 10 years.
2) Ohio State is awesome in the Fiesta Bowl
- The Fiesta Bowl is where we beat Miami to win the title after the 2002 season.
- The Fiesta Bowl is where we beat Kansas State after the 2003 season
- The Fiesta Bowl is where we beat Notre Dame after the 2005 season
And before anybody says anything about the Florida game, that wasn’t the Fiesta Bowl, it was the BCS National Championship game. Boise State beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta that year, we just played in the same stadium a week later.
3) The Big 12 does not know how to stop a power running game
The stats of Big 12 schools are loaded with high-powered passing games, and as a result the defenses are built to stop the pass. They (Texas especially) are not set up for success against the run. In what should be Beanie Wells’ final game as a Buckeye, expect him to put out a bruising performance. Also, expect them to keep handing him the ball, unlike his last two bowl games when we abandoned the run for some reason.
4) The Big 12 is showing their weaknesses when playing other conferences
The facts are right there….the Big 12 may have been the most overrated conference this year, based on how crappy they look outside of their comfort zone.
- #7 Texas Tech was outraged when they got shafter from a BCS bowl. Then they flat out looked like warm piss against a middle-of-the-road SEC school, losing the Ole Freaking Miss by 2 TDs
- #13 Oklahoma State got spanked in harsh form, surrendering 35 points in the second half to Oregon. Oregon had allowed 111 points in their previous 3 games, setting up the potential for an offensive team to crush them….Okie State failed miserably at that chance. But their coach is still a MAN!
- #21 Missouri had Jesus Christ at QB, and Mary and Joseph in the stands praying, and they needed OT to beat a school that had only won one bowl game in the history of man.
- Nebraska squeaked by a really bad ACC team. Seriously, Clemson was the 8th-best team in a horrific conference, and the Huskers nearly lost to them.
- Kansas put up the only worthwhile performance (so far), doubling up on Minnesota 42-21. But then again, Minnesota fell apart this year, losing by 55 points in their final game.
It’s also worth pointing out that EVERY Big 12 school was favored, sometimes heavily, and played poorly time and time again. This all bodes well for the Buckeyes, who might be facing the 2nd-best team in a conference overrated all year.
And if Ohio State puts the beating on Texas, the Big 12 should be terrified. And you should go put the house on Florida against Oklahoma.
5) The Big Ten has had the deck stacked against them this bowl season
When Ohio State was selected to play in the Fiesta Bowl, it slid every other team in the conference up a notch. For example, the 4th-best team in the conference was now playing in the #3 team’s bowl slot. This led to almost all of our teams playing against teams that were better than they are.
Had the Buckeyes stayed in their “#2 Big Ten team” slot, the bowl matchups would have been more in line. Here’s what we would have seen….
- Penn State vs. USC – same result
- Ohio State vs. Georgia – the Bucks beat Sparty by 30+ points and Georgia struggled with them…Ohio State wins this one
- Michigan State vs. Missouri – Mizzou just looked awful against NW, and MSU has a better defense (plus a more formidable running game).
- Northwestern vs. South Carolina – NW walks away a winner. I’m still not sure SC even deserved a bowl game
- Iowa vs. Kansas – No way, no how a Kansas defense slows down Greene
- Minnesota vs. Florida State – I’m still going to say Bowden rolls
- Wisconsin vs ??? – Surely Wisky would HAVE to fare better….right?
As you can see, the success that Ohio State had ultimately led to the overmatching of the rest of the conference. We would have likely gone 5-2 or 4-3 instead of the maximum two-win bowl season.
Will all this be enough to knock down a Texas team that feels slighted by the BCS system?
Yes.
Ohio State 27
Texas 24
Story By The Buckeye Battle Cry