May 23, 2013

College Football Landscape About to Change

June 10, 2010 by 37 Comments

Two huge stories that broke yesterday will have different, but significant impact on the College football scene. I’ll start with the last one. Late last night the story came out that the NCAA is sanctioning USC with a 2 year ban on bowl games and a loss of 20 scholarships. Consider that a little welcome present from Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin. Now as a Buckeye fan I can’t help but snicker a bit as Colin Cowherd’s favorite program gets rocked. USC will still be a good team. These sanctions won’t knock them down to mediocrity, but it does knock them out of relevancy for a couple seasons.

When the Trojans are again eligible for the Rose Bowl or other year end game they may just find the road to get there is a bit trickier, as the Pac 10 may be including some stiffer competition with the reported demise of the Big 12.

The first chunk of NCAA news from yesterday was the defection of Nebraska from the Big 12 to the Big Ten (which would actually be 12 teams strong if Nebraska does make that move). The addition of the Huskers to the conference would mean 4 of the top 10 winningest programs in college football history would call the Big Ten home. Nebraska has 827 wins compared to Ohio State’s 819. (Michigan leads all of the NCAA with 877. [Read more...]

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Ohio State Shuts Down High Powered Offense

September 21, 2009 by 12 Comments

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Watching the Buckeyes cruise to a 38-0 victory Saturday I wondered out loud how bad Colorado must be. Toledo opened the season by putting up 31 points against Purdue in a loss, and then beat Colorado 54-38. 85 points in 2 weeks, and then that disaster on Saturday? Perhaps the Buckeye defense is much better than we thought coming out of week 1. In fact, Navy put up more yards and points than either Toledo or USC. They shut out Toledo with consistent pressure on the QB pure and simple.

The difference in this one was an effective offense. Now I didn’t say perfect, as the Buckeyes were far from it, but they were effective. Pryor made several plays using his athleticism, and threw a few nice passes (and a couple ugly ones.) Several times he still locked on to one receiver from the snap, but was able to get away with it against a sub-par Rocket defense. [Read more...]

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Of Sports and Time Travel

September 18, 2009 by 10 Comments

nhl94This week, there has been a lot of talk about that one touchdown scored by USC.  The picture shows that USC might not have actually scored a touchdown.  The waves of groaning, whining and complaining emanated from around the Buckeye world.  The logic, seemingly being, that if that touchdown had not counted, then the Buckeyes would have won the game.  That kind of thinking is completely and utterly flawed and let me tell you why.

I learned this theory in college from one of my roommates.  We used to play NHL ’94 on Sega Genesis for some retro gaming action when we were decidedly unable to date females.  The biggest flaw in that game was that you could end in ties on occasion.  When you are betting or trying to figure out who is going to stay on and play the next game, it causes problems.  One of my roommates was of the position that you should just play a single period of a new game and whoever was leading after that “overtime” period should get to stay on.  My other roommate came up with the logic that I quote to this day.  ”You can’t play the first period of a new game as an overtime period.  An overtime is a desperate situation where players know that the next goal ends it.  All those video game guys on the screen have NO IDEA that they are playing a sudden death in the middle of the first period.  We must play a full second game to decide it.” [Read more...]

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O-U-T-C-O-A-C-H-E-D

September 13, 2009 by 38 Comments

Denny can be proud if he wants. I’m quite annoyed.

72713215MW011_2007_BCS_NatiCongratulations coach. Your team just blew a game they absolutely should have won. I give credit to the defense. They did a great job all night. You cannot expect ANY team to hold USC an entire game without a drive for a TD. They held serve as long as could be expected.

Pete Carroll out-coached the vest again. His staff found a way to get the ball into the hands of their best play-maker when it counted most. They got McNight matched up against Homan coming out of the backfield for a huge catch, then did a beautiful job of locking up the defensive end for a cut back run and a big first down. McNight touched the ball 6 times on that final drive. [Read more...]

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Quick Hitters

September 11, 2009 by 16 Comments

The football season is officially underway. What an exciting first game it was too. Very proud of the way both teams gave everything they had and left it all on the field. Too bad it had to end in a tie. (I’m talking about Jr. High football, what game are you thinking of?) Yes, I coach football, which has a great deal to do with my absence from the site recently. But here are some things I’ve been thinking about-

Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson

- This may be completely crazy, but isn’t it possible that Mangini told Anderson to ‘leak’ the news that Quinn would be starting? How much would it surprise you if Derek was under center at the start of the opener? [Read more...]

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No Bye Week for Buckeyes

June 25, 2009 by 14 Comments

Ohio State plays 12 games this season, 8 against Big Ten opponents and 4 non-conference games. That is nothing new. But the Buckeyes will play those 12 games in 12 consecutive weeks.

Sept. 5 vs. NavyCarmen Ohio
Sept. 12 vs. USC
Sept. 19 at Toledo
Sept. 26 vs. Illinois
Oct. 3 at Indiana
Oct. 10 vs. Wisconsin
Oct. 17 at Purdue
Oct. 24 vs. Minnesota
Oct. 31 vs. New Mexico State
Nov. 7 at Penn State
Nov. 14 vs. Iowa
Nov. 21 at Michigan

[Read more...]

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Kaluka Maiava: From Boar Hunting to Ball Hawk

May 4, 2009 by 8 Comments

kaluka-maiavaWhen watching the Browns allow an amazing 151.9 yards per game on the ground in 2008, there was no doubt that filling in the middle of the 3-4 defense was going to be key during this off-season.  On draft weekend, while watching the team pass up on inside linebacker Rey Malaluga in favor of OSU wide receiver Brian Robiske, it became evident that the team would address this need on the second day.

Instead of selecting one of the three “big” linebackers out of Pete Carroll’s stable, the Browns opted for the fourth backer in Kaluka Maiava in the early fourth round – a player who many pundits thought could have been selected a round earlier, and perhaps even sooner if not for being in the shadows of Malaluga, Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing. 

But while those three may have had a little more attention during their stay at the University of Southern California, Maiava may have a pastime that very few (if any?) players in the NFL may share: hunting wild boar with his bare hands. [Read more...]

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Pranksters Get to Pete Carroll’s Conference Call

September 10, 2008 by 8 Comments

Pete CarrollSorry for the long quote, but this is a pretty funny one.  Apparently some crank callers got through on a conference call with Pete Carroll this week.  Doug Lesmerisis writes:

About 20 minutes into a call with Carroll, someone who indentified himself as associated with a fake website asked Carroll in a garbled, if almost drunken, voice whether he rewarded his players by setting up dates with various Hollywood starlets.

After asking several times for the imposter to clarify his question, Carroll, remarkably, answered it, explaining that matchmaking is not in his job description.

At this point, with the conference moderator apparently asleep at the switch, the imposter asked a follow-up related to a brand-name product that shares a name with the Trojans.

Carroll then decided he had better things to do and exited the call, but not before uttering something about Ohio State’s role in the call, like “Good job, Ohio State.”

However, the call was not set up by Ohio State. And it included reporters from across the country, not just Ohio, though no discernible accent was detectable in the idiot’s inflection. Idiots can come from anywhere. [Read more...]

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Halftime Panic? – Ohio Leads Ohio State 7-6

September 6, 2008 by 9 Comments

Ohio State might be missing Beanie Wells today, but the lack of performance from the Ohio State offensive line makes it unlikely that even a completely healthy Wells would be able to do much to help. Ohio University put together a 72-yard drive in the first half to take the lead 7-3. On that drive, the Buckeyes were unable to wrap up tackles. After the touchdown, the Buckeyes have every reason to be disappointed in themselves if not ready to panic. Not only did Ohio State allow that long drive, they allowed it from the Bobcats’ backup QB, Boo Jackson. Jackson took over for injured starter Theo Scott who appeared to have some kind of shoulder injury. [Read more...]

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