I actually missed being a part of the BTB Roundtable last week (I think Boiled Sports hosted it, too and I love that blog). So I won’t miss it this week.
My good friend Vico from Our Honor Defend is playing host this week, and he’s set us all up with five questions…..here’s my answers;
1. We’re all basically in conference play now, sans Purdue who played
visitor to Notre Dame over the weekend. What did you see in the
conference opener that you liked? What did you see that sucked
noodles? If you’re one of the Purdue blogs, what did you see against
Notre Dame that has you nervous (or even optimistic) for your
conference opener against Penn State this Saturday? Oh, and, have fun
with that game, by the way.
I’ve gone into detail what I liked about Saturday, and it can be summed up shortly….Beanie Wells and LeBron in Cleats* in the same backfield. Separately, they are dangerous players who can impose their will on a defense. Together, they are almost impossible to defend. If you key on one player, the other will bite you in the ass. Seeing that tandem in action on Saturday was glorious.
What did I see that sucked noodles? Well, it didn’t get mentioned much because you don’t often bitch about coaching when you’re in a blowout win, but what I disliked was the play calling. We called 37 rushing plays and only 22 passing plays. Now, we didn’t NEED to pass it much, and perhaps we’re still getting LBiC adjusted to his starting role, but I’d like to see more of the playbook opened up. Perhaps we will explore more now that LBiC is relaxed heading into a BIG game against Wisconsin.
2. Ole Miss punked #4 Florida in Gainesville. #1 USC got punked by
Oregon State on national television? What’s the underlying theme
behind these bizarre upsets? You guessed it: magic. Some kind of
hocus-y pocus-y sorcery in the form of “familiarity”. The idea being
pitched around is that these upsets come in conference games because
the underdog has played the heavily favored team before, and thus
isn’t afraid of them nor surprised by anything they do. Should I buy
this idea? Or are these upsets more likely the combination of
something more conventional, like great/horrendous gameplanning,
preparation and execution by the underdog/favorite team respectively?
Being a fan of an elite team (like Ohio State), I can tell you that it is easy to overlook lighter teams. But you do so at your own peril.
Florida has a difficult schedule, and Ole Miss is not likely to ever be considered one of those tough opponents. But when Ole Miss sees the Gators on the other sideline, they are PUMPED. That’s the major downfall to having a recent National Championship…you have a huge friggin’ target on your heads every single week. You have to bring your best game every single week, because your opponent will be breathing fire from the moment the game begins. Everybody’s out to get you and will make those remarkable plays that they’ll never make again.
When a Top 5 school loses to a lower-level team, that’s likely the biggest reason why.
3. Entering the season, Beanie was the Big Ten’s Heisman favorite.
After a few games, Javon Ringer had put up the Heisman stats, though I
don’t think anyone could’ve believed that Ringer would have the hype
machine necessary to get him to New York. Yet, after this week, I see
his name mentioned more and more in the Heisman race. Do you think
Ringer, at this pace, gets to New York on something more than a
courtesy visit (on courtesy visit, see: everyone last year not named
Tim Tebow; everyone in 2006 not named Troy Smith)? How about Daryll
Clark? Is Daryll Clark of Penn State legitimately in the Heisman race
after week 5?
Good question. Two weeks ago, I discounted Ringer as being able to grab the Heisman. I will change my tune on that now. I think that if Ringer continues his pace, he’ll get the invite to New York City. And yes, he has a shot to win it. But he’s GOT TO do more than rack up yards. He needs to beat Michigan, beat Ohio State, and make a strong run at winning the Big Ten. Racking up yardage won’t count for much if the team loses their games on national television. Troy Smith won the Heisman because of his numbers AND the fact that 187 million people watched him score 42 points on the #2 team in the country, Michigan. Had we lost that game, Smith’s Heisman votes would have dropped a little. He still would have won, it was that much of a landslide.
Clark on the other hand is not in the Heisman race. He’s not the lone talent on that squad, and therefore shares the spotlight with a lot of teammates. That actually hurts Heisman chances. Plus, his name was relatively unknown (outside of Happy Valley) prior to this season and the Heisman is all about name recognition.
By the way, I don’t see Tebow winning it again. The second time around you must outshine your first year, and Tebow simply hasn’t done that in the first several games so far. His game this weekend hurt him a lot, (unfairly) because he won the trophy last year. Your first year you can make the mistakes and still win it with overall excellent play. Not so if you’re a returning winner. The committee is looking for flaws the second time around.
4. With the nonconference schedule basically over, do you think the
Big Ten collectively bettered its standing from the maligned position
it was in before the season began? For every Wisconsin victory over
Fresno State and Penn State thrashing of Oregon State, there’s
Michigan’s turnover bonanza against the Irish and Ohio State’s
neutering by USC. Long question short, what sticks out more: the
positives or the negatives for the conference?
Within the conference, the positives stick out because we’re biased.
Outside the conference, the negatives stick out because everyone else is biased.
The more in-depth analysis will tell you that the negatives will outweigh the positives for one major reason. Visibility.
- Michigan/Notre Dame – nationally televised, big game
- Ohio State/USC – nationally televised, huge game
- Wisconsin/Fresno State – regional game
- Penn State/Oregon State – regional game
5. As I’m sure you may have seen on your moving pictures box, the
Ernie Davis movie has been getting a lot of publicity for its imminent
release to theatres. The story, of course, centers around the first
African-American Heisman winner and some of the trials that come from
being a black athlete, playing before the Civil Rights movement and
playing in the Cotton Bowl. Does your football program have an
uplifting story that you think is movie-worthy? If so, please share
it.
There are many, many stories that could be film-worthy. Let me give you two;
Eddie George was raised by his mother and grandmother, and he was always a good kid. But when he got into his teen years, he started to drift away from his schoolwork and his grades slipped. When he was 14, he failed math and had to take a summer class to be eligible for football, but he lied to his mother about it. Mom shipped him off to Fork Union Military Academy to get his act together. The discipline he learned there helped create the man that George is today, and was a key component of teaching him the dedication that won him the Heisman Trophy. And if you’ve ever been lucky enough to meet Eddie, you know exactly how wonderful of a person he is today.
John Borton was the quarterback for Ohio State in 1952 and 1953. But for his senior season of 1954, he was injured and couldn’t play. As you know, Hopalong Cassady took the reins and led Ohio State to a National Championship that season. Borton was physically ready to play in the Rose Bowl that year, and Woody Hayes called his number late in the game with Ohio State leading USC 20-7. Borton declined to play and asked Hayes to put in the third-string QB, whose father was in the stands (and had played in a Rose Bowl for OSU during his own career). Borton gave up a chance to play in the Rose Bowl in his final moments in an Ohio State uniform…..to give another kid’s father the gift of seeing his son play. If that isn’t inspiring, then I don’t know what is.
————–
* = “LeBron in Cleats” is known to mortal men as Terrelle Pryor. Credit for the name goes to Eleven Warriors.
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