Buckeyes Much More Than Terrelle Pryor in Blowout Victory

Filed under: Marshall, Ohio State

First things first. Yes, Ohio State was playing a veritable preseason game in a 45-7 thrashing of Marshall. It wasn’t a real test at all for the No. 2 Buckeyes, especially as they look to host the Miami Hurricanes next week in the Horseshoe.

Still, when we see an actual football game played by one of the best teams in the country, it’s certainly worth drawing conclusions. And I’ll gladly throw this one out there: while Heisman hype machine Terrelle Pryor was good, he wasn’t nearly as good as the defense or running game of Ohio State.

There’s no need to jump to Pryor’s defense, as he was quite good. Great, in fact. The touted junior was a cool customer in the pocket, hitting on 17-of-25 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns — most impressive was a perfect strike on a 65-yard touchdown to Dane Sanzenbacher to quickly answer the Thundering Herd’s only score. Entering the season, the detractors of Pryor’s would point to his inability to be a pocket passer. So if this game is any indication, he’s made huge strides (he only carried the ball eight times for 17 yards).

But, again, Pryor was not the best thing about his team on Thursday night. And Buckeye faithful likely agree with this sentiment. This is one complete football team.

 

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Five-Step Drop: Finally, It’s Here

Filed under: Boise State, Eastern Michigan, Houston, Penn State, Big 10

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. It’s been nearly eight months since we saw a college football game, but the wait is over. When Presbyterian and Wake Forest hook it up at 6:30 p.m. ET, another season will be underway. It’s not just an ordinary night of Thursday football either, as there are 18 games involving FBS teams — including No. 2 Ohio State, No. 13 Miami, No. 14 USC and No. 15 Pitt.

Let’s also remember one of the greatest things about college football season beginning is that it represents another entire season of tailgating. Between the great food, the camaraderie, the partying, the chants and everything in between, tailgating truly is a great American pastime and makes the spectating more fun. Pictures like the one here (at Mississippi State) can be taken all over the nation every Saturday. Great times.

Oh yeah, no link in here because it was all me. Since Five-Step is predicated on linking, I’ll give one with a short take: if you’re going to complain about the Big Ten division alignment, please be smart enough to do so without saying you don’t like it because Ohio State and Michigan playing each other in the last regular season game “all but” eliminates a rematch the following week. It does nothing of the sort. The teams are in different divisions and when they play has no bearing on the standings — I don’t care what two teams you’re talking about.

 

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Big Ten Reveals Divisions, Protects Michigan-Ohio State Rivalry

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

At the beginning of a one-hour football special on the Big Ten Network, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany revealed the two divisions that will begin play when Nebraska joins the conference for the 2011 season.

They are as follows:

Division O: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota
Division X: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana

Now, the obvious reaction to seeing those two divisions is that the conference’s biggest and most national rivalry is the Michigan-Ohio State football game. Those two teams will be playing each other every single season in a protected crossover rivalry game. Of course, the real question now is: when will that game be played?

The last game of the season, just as they have since 1935.

“We looked at different places (on the calendar), we never did look at an October date, contrary to a lot of reports,” Delany said on the Big Ten Network. “We looked at a mid-November date and we looked at a final season date. And basically we decided to go with a final season date because we felt that, in part, that was a way to maintain the tradition.”

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Big Ten Divisions Decided, Possible Advantage to Michigan State Basketball

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big Ten

The Big Ten has announced the alignment of its two divisions in football, which will begin once Nebraska enters the conference in 2011-2012 and makes it a 12-team league.

The divisions, as first reported by ESPN’s Andy Katz and later confirmed by the league, are as follows:

o. Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota
o. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois

Katz reported that the league wanted to preserve a number of “traditional” rivalries, naming, among others Indiana and Illinois. Of course, Michigan and Ohio State are in different divisions — so that doesn’t really seem to add up.

For that issue, the league announced a consistent crossover game in football so that those two rivals will play each other every season.

As far as basketball, the details are still being ironed out. Katz reported the Big Ten could use the divisions and play each divisional opponent twice (a home-and-home) and then each non-divisional opponent in a single game — where each team would get three home and three road games. It’s also a possibility that the league sticks with its current 18-game schedule, which would obviously need some modifications to accommodate Nebraska.

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Five-Step Drop: How to Properly Use Facebook as an Athlete

Filed under: Alabama, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Notre Dame, UTEP, Big 10, Conference USA, WAC, Heisman

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. I’m not even gonna add anything to this. It’s just a that much a thing of beauty. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos seems to have heard one too many things about what kind of player he is. And, well, just read for yourself. This is posted verbatim from his facebook page:

“Someone once told me that perception is reality. That if a lie reachs [SIC] enough people, eventually it becomes the truth. Throughout my life, such instances have shaped me, both for better and for worse. As my time as a Hawkeye nears its end, it seems I am at a crossroads, staring down a similar situation. Over the years, various outlets have painted a picture that doesn’t quite match the production. Time and again, I have been depicted as an individual more interested in making headlines, than highlights. As someone who prefers style over substance. A person who would rather prepare for media days than two-a-days. Thousands have been convinced that I am all showboat and no sacrifice. Allow me to set the record straight.

I am on a mission to go from the doghouse to the penthouse – determined to show our fans that there is no “DJK” in “team,” and that I am well aware of that fact. At Iowa, the success of our group far exceeds the importance of individual accolades. Still, some will undoubtedly inquire, “Don’t the records matter?” To be honest, of course they do. Which ones? WINS AND LOSSES. And for those concerned with my media fascination, rest assured, the only coverage I am focused on is that of the opposing defense.

This journey is for Hawkeye Nation. For every generation of fans who have endured season after season, anticipating these types of towering expectations.

Can you feel it, Hawks?

The roar of Kinnick Stadium on opening day…

The sight of freshly harvested corn hats…

The aroma of record-setting, National Championship LEGEND in the air…

Our time is now. And if you didn’t know…

NOW YOU KNOW.”

 

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Five-Step Drop: Fridge Channels His Inner Norman Dale

Filed under: Florida State, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, USC, Coaching, Fans

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. Remember that scene in Hoosiers when Norman Dale was working on defensive drills with his five (well, four-and-a-half) players and the townspeople were dumbfounded that he was practicing without a ball? What the uninformed didn’t realize was that coach Dale was building a part of his team where they didn’t need the ball.

At Maryland, head coach Ralph Friedgen is trying a similar tactic in anticipation of playing Navy — a team that uses a triple option offense and hides the ball extremely well. He’s having his defense face an offense in practice that doesn’t have a football. The message? Tackle everyone who might have the ball. Every offensive player who might have the ball is instructed to keep running as if he has the ball until tackled.

At first glance, it sounds funny, but it’s really a great idea. If the Terps can figure out a way to stop all three possible ballcarriers on every single play, they’ll likely have handcuffed the Midshipmen offense.

 

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Five-Step Drop: BYU Crawling Back to Mountain West?

Filed under: Brigham Young, Duke Football, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Big 10, Mountain West, WAC

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. With the state of the Western Athletic Conference being anywhere but stable, BYU may be forced to sheepishly come “back” to the Mountain West conference with its tail between its legs. The Cougars had hoped to go independent in football and to the WAC in all other sports, but the Denver Post is reporting BYU will likely remain in the MWC — just more than a week after announcing intentions to leave. Things hinge on the conference allowing BYU to broadcast games on BYU-TV and a few other monetary factors, but it’s pretty likely things get resolved.

Let’s face it, the MWC needs BYU. Losing Utah was big, but losing both of the marquee teams would be huge. Retaining BYU, with the additions of Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada to a group that already includes TCU and a few other strong programs means the MWC is a very strong conference. It also means there would be 12 teams, and you know what that means (conference championship game! What, you don’t think a matchup pitting some combination of Boise/TCU/BYU would be attractive to networks?).

And after seeing the way everything is unfolding, it’s pretty obvious BYU needs the MWC as well.

I’ll throw in an additional nugget here: BYU ends fall camp without having named a starting quarterback.

 

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John Beilein’s Lack of Progress Outlined in European Trip

Filed under: Michigan, Big Ten, Coaches

Has John Beilein made progress at Michigan?

He’s getting ready to start his fourth season in Ann Arbor and his team is almost ready to return home after getting spanked in Belgium. The best returning player appears to be Zack Novak and — unless we’re drastically underrating the Wolverines — only the hapless Iowa Hawkeyes provide much hope for keeping Michigan out of the Big Ten basement come the early months of 2011. So it’s tough to answer yes, isn’t it?

Had that question been asked last year at this time, however, the answer would have been a resounding yes. The Wolverines were coming off their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998 (though that was vacated, so technically we should say 1995). They had a nice showing for a 10-seed, too, having beaten Clemson in the first round and given Blake Griffin’s second-seeded Oklahoma team a tough game in Round 2.

Furthermore, both star players — DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris — were returning and the Wolverines entered the season ranked. They looked to have a shot at the Sweet 16 for the first time since Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard wore the maize and blue.

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Five-Step Drop: WAC Nears Extinction

Filed under: Navy, Syracuse, UCLA, Utah State, Big East, Mountain West, WAC

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. About mid-day Tuesday, there was a report in the Salt Lake Tribune stating Utah State was again in talks with the Mountain West Conference. Last week, the Aggies turned down an invitation, hoping to stick together with the eight remaining WAC teams (after Boise State’s impending departure) and add BYU in non-football sports. Of course, Nevada and Fresno State both jumped at the chance — almost emphatically — to join the MWC and now it appears USU is considering the thought as well.

If that happens, the WAC is left with but five football teams: Hawaii, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Idaho and San Jose State. Hardly a murderers row of football teams or affluent schools.

With these teams, can the WAC even realistically convince teams from other FBS conferences to join? If not, it is going to have to dip into FCS teams and hope to get them D-I approved. And at this point, wouldn’t it make more sense for Louisiana Tech to look at the Sun Belt (which currently has an odd number of teams), recognizing the sinking ship it is aboard?

The bottom line is that I believe the WAC will have vanished into thin air come 2012 in football, if not altogether. And the funny thing is, this chain reaction all started when BYU thought it was damaging the MWC.

 

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Five-Step Drop: Yates Has Company

Filed under: Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Oregon, Penn State, Sun Belt, Temple, Tennessee, Texas Tech, UNC, Wisconsin

FanHouse’s college football staff provides you with a personal quarterback. We do the primary and secondary reads for you so you can properly start your day. FanHouse will do a Five-Step Drop several times a week during the summer and then daily once preseason practice starts.

1. T.J. Yates has amassed nearly 6,000 yards passing in his career at North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels to an 8-5 record last season and is entering his senior year. Sure, there was the fact that he threw more picks than touchdowns last season and had the worst rating of his career, but there was still likely little reason Yates thought he’d have to compete for the starting job heading into this season.

Yet that’s exactly where he finds himself.

Redshirt freshman Bryn Renner is reportedly pushing Yates for the starting job.

While Butch Davis still says Yates is his starter, he offered up this quote: “It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that [Renner] could certainly play in the first game.”

And now, with expectations as high as they’ve been for UNC since Mack Brown departed, one can expect the fans to be calling for Renner after the first Yates misstep. Maybe even before it.

 

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