All posts tagged College Football

Shades of 2004 in Columbus

By | September 20, 2011 | College Football, NCAA | Comments Off

Take a look at this week’s AP Top 25 list, as clipped from espn.com just a day ago.

Notice anything missing? No? Here’s a hint:

Yep, the Buckeyes — my Buckeyes — have dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since November 2004.

Saturday night’s dismal effort against Miami earned the latest banishment from the AP poll (they dropped out of the coaches’ poll too). The unranked Hurricanes made Ohio State look as bad as the Akron team that lost in the season opener in Columbus a couple weeks ago.

Against the Zips? OSU rolled up 517 yards of total offense. Joe Bauserman and Braxton Miller combined for 20 completions on 28 attempts, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Most of the folks in Columbus wrote off a scary game against Toledo pass as a combination of looking ahead to Miami and playing a top-tier MAC team that’s pretty good.

Turns out that wasn’t the case, and Ohio State was exposed on Saturday night. The same two quarterbacks were a combined 4 of 18, which was good for 35 yards.

Thirty. Five. Yards.

And now we get to the point in the post where we mention the obvious: investigations and suspensions. The Miami game was the season’s first for three players — including guys projected to be starters at tailback and corner — for accepting envelopes with a little spending money at an offseason charity event. And then there are the Tat Five; a reserve player missed just one game, but three more — the team’s best tailback, its best receiver and its starting left tackle — don’t get to see the field for another three weeks.

And the departure of that fifth guy — the one whose name shall not be written but is now an Oakland Raider – has left a bigger hole at quarterback than I had feared. After the Akron game, I had hopes that Bauserman would be respectable started until Miller, a true freshman who will eventually remind everyone of last year’s starter, was ready to take over. But in the last two weeks, Bauserman has looked awful and Miller is played like a freshman. And given that the team opens the conference in two weeks — with games against Michigan State and at Nebraska and Illinois — I’m thinking this season is going to remind Ohio State fans of 2004 in more ways than dropping from the AP poll.

It’s a little hard to remember 2004 — after all, the team was 56-11 since the last time it fell from the AP rankings late that season (68-11, if you count the 2010 season, which most in Columbus still do). Let me remind you:

The Buckeyes were 8-4 in 2004. A string of three-straight losses in October weren’t quite enough to move them out of the Top 25, but a loss at Purdue did the trick. They finished strong, upsetting Michigan and thumping Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl — even with new starter Troy Smith sitting out because of his own NCAA suspension — but that was a rough year.

In Columbus, it’s looking like this one could be too.

College Football Recap – Week 3

By | September 20, 2011 | College Football, Football, NCAA, Weekly Recap | 1 Comment

One good thing about writing the weekly college football recap is that I don’t have to write about my Sun Devils losing and dropping out of the Top 25. I can pretend that it just didn’t happen and make fun of Buckeyes fans instead.

And on to the highlights from the weekend’s games!

Boise State 40, Toledo 15

Boise State continues to win, and win big. I for one thought they’d start the season off losing big to Georgia and finally show they couldn’t play with the big boys. But they proved me wrong. I’ll still always hate them, though, for Dirk Koetter.

South Carolina 24, Navy 21

The Gamecocks squeaked out yet another close win and they did it on the legs of sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore, who racked up a season-high 246 yards rushing against the Midshipmen. And the Gamecocks needed every single one of those yards to eek out the win.

Notre Dame 31, Michigan State 13

Notre Dame finally got a notch in the win column for 2011 by upsetting the 15-th ranked Michigan State Spartans. The Irish were finally ready this week and used two touchdowns from Cierre Wood and an 89-yard kickoff return George Atkinson III for a touchdown to propel them to victory.

Miami (FL) 24, Ohio State 6

I’m never sad when THE Ohio State gets beaten, nee UPSET. And even better, it knocked the nuts out of the Top 25 for the first time in seven years. This was also the first time in 23 years that the Buckeyes lost a road game to an unranked non-conference opponent. Since my team lost, at least this OSU loss was a boost to my spirits.

Clemson 38, Auburn 24

In a battle of the Tigers, the National Champions and their 17-game winning streak are history, after the Clemson Tigers upset the 21st-ranked Auburn Tigers. With the narrow victories Auburn has been lucky to come by this season, it wasn’t all that surprising.

[source] [photo] [photo]

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Kristabella really needs to start writing these recaps on Saturday night.

College Football Recap – Week 2

By | September 13, 2011 | College Football, Football, NCAA, Weekly Recap | 2 Comments

Living in Chicago, I really hate winter. But man, do I love fall and football! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Hopes are still high for a National Championship. Well, unless you’re Notre Dame. Let’s get to a recap of this past week’s most exciting games!

Arizona State 37, Missouri 30 (OT)

I am ashamed to admit that I fell asleep before this game was over. I missed a hell of an ending. ASU donned their new all black uniforms and everyone in the crowd wore black, creating a blackout at Sun Devil Stadium. They built up a 30-16 lead and in true Sun Devil fashion, blew it. But thankfully in OT they scored a touchdown and the defense held down the Tigers for an upset of the 21st-ranked team in the country.

Auburn 41, Mississippi State 34

The reigning National Champions survived another close game to go 2-0 on the season. Their wins aren’t pretty, but a W is a W. Thanks to a goal line stand at the end of the game that stopped MSU, the Tigers got a big SEC win and a win over 16th-ranked Mississippi State.

Alabama 27, Penn State 11

For the second year in a row, Penn State proved that the Big Ten can’t hang with the SEC as the third-ranked Crimson Tide rolled over the Nittany Lions. (See what I did there?)

South Carolina 45, Georgia 42

This was a heck of a battle that went down to the last minute. The two teams went back and forth in a typical SEC rivalry game and the 12th-ranked Gamecocks held on for the win. Georgia looked to have the game locked up after going ahead 35-31 with about six minutes to play. But a quick TD by South Carolina, and then a fumble recovery for a touchdown, put South Carolina up 45-35 with three minutes left. Georgia added another score, but couldn’t find another way to tie up the game and the Cocks squeaked out the win.

Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31

Another exciting, down-to-the-wire game on our hands! In the first game played under lights in the Big House, Michigan scored with two seconds left to beat rival Notre Dame. The Irish went up early and were up 24-7 in the third quarter. The Wolverines answered in the fourth quarter with three straight touchdowns to finally go ahead. But Notre Dame silenced the NCAA-record crowd of 114,804 with the go-ahead score with just 30 seconds left in the game. Michigan never gave up and instead of kicking the field goal to tie the game and send it to overtime, new Michigan coach Brady Hoke went for it. And it paid off for the Maize and Blue.

[source] [photo] [photo]

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Kristabella drinks heavily on Sundays watching NFL games, which is why her recaps are always so delayed.

USC Football: Isn’t it IRONIC, don’t you think?

By | August 18, 2011 | College Football, Football, Unsportmanlike Conduct | 4 Comments

Thank you beyond all thanks to Amy from Gridiron Goddess for sharing her insights into Paul Dee’s removal at Miami and lots of other things relevant to college football.

I have not yet picked my mouth up off the floor after the explosive Yahoo story broke regarding  the University of Miami and former booster Nevin Shapiro.

Let’s be clear, people, near or at the center of this brouhaha lies Paul Dee, who was AD at Miami during most of the years that Shapiro was doling out money, gifts, prostitutes, booze, abortions, and crash pads at his beachfront mansion and million dollar yachFor Trojan fans and alumni this situation is nothing short of Dee-lightful, Dee-licious,  and Dee-lectable.  Why?

Paul Dee was the head of the NCAA Committee on Infractions during the USC hearings.

Let’s clarify for a moment, friends.

USC’s football case was about one person: Reggie Bush

USC’s basketball case was about one person: OJ Mayo

Miami’s case involves 72 players over nearly a decade of willful disregard for NCAA rules.

So, to quote the inimitable Alanis Morrisette: “Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?”

Isn’t it ironic that Paul Dee was the Athletic Director of Miami during what NCAA investigators have called the worst violation of the rules they  have ever seen?

A sidebar for a moment: Both the Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo issues at USC involved agents trying to lure their patronage once these vaunted players went pro. This, I, and many other pundits, remain is NOT A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

Miami, on the watch of Paul Dee, on the other hand, is involved in an eight year, 72 (by Shapiro’s count, 73 by the NCAA’s) booster pay-for-play scandal that involved all the blithely aforementioned activities as well as BONUSES FOR BOUNTIES on competition such as Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and a three year standing bounty on Florida State quarterback Chris Rix.

Digest that for a moment.

Oh wait, one more Paul Dee tidbit.  Dee is the biggest hypocrite in sports in recent memory, if not ever.   The eight year reign of Nevin Shapiro’s pay-for-play scandal, which involved so many violations it is staggering and hits the NCAA’s BIG LIST, apparently flew under big Paul Dee’s radar as he was he quoted by the newspaper in Palm Beach as saying:

“We didn’t have any suspicion that he was doing anything like this,” said Dee, UM’s athletic director from 1993 to 2008. “He didn’t do anything to cause concern.”

Trojan nation, I feel you, the hypocrisy is STAGGERING.  As SI.com’s Stewart Mandel said:

“Still, it seems only fair he should spend a day at USC’s Heritage Hall wearing a sandwich board with the word “Hypocrite.””

Oh sorry, yet one more Paul Dee tidbit – he took  willful flaunting of the rules to new levels, after all. This eight year scandal qualifies for repeat offender status as Dee was AD at Miami during the Pell Grant scandal of the 1990s.

Now, consider the fact that Paul Dee sat in judgement of USC when they presented their case for leniency before the NCAA in the matter of Reggie Bush.  USC’s now much mocked defense was that we (loosely) “did not know, could not be expected to know.”

I KNOW! Go punch a wall, I will wait, I’ve stocked up on wine and trust me, every expletive that can be uttered has been in my house in the last 24 hours.

Shall we revist the things Paul Dee said about USC? I mean, why not pour salt in our wounds at this point, right? In light of this info, this shit almost feels good.

Dee, who famously sat on the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions WHILE THIS WAS HAPPENING AT MIAMI famously told USC that even though the extra benefits a wannabe sports agent paid to Reggie Bush’s family happened in San Diego, some 130 miles from campus, USC “should have known” it was happening.

Go read the YAHOO investigative report if you haven’t. Read about how blatant Shapiro’s support of Miami football and basketball players was right under Dee and University President Donna Shalala’s noses. Read about how Shapiro got into a physical fight with the U’s director of compliance in the press box at a Miami football game and still Dee & Co. claim they did not know.  Read about how he paid for Devin Hester’s girlfriend’s engagement ring, how he got the stripper another player got pregnant an abortion, how he made his home and his yacht available for parties and provided cars and clothes and cash and VIP club access and…

Paul Dee stated that the USC case was “three feet high” – referring to how high the evidence would stack if you laid all the paperwork up into a pile.

Well now. If ever there was a more pitch perfect case of  “eating crow” I have never, in my entire life, been witness to it before now. Because the evidence against Dee, “U” president Donna Shalala, numerous coaches both with and no longer with Miami and, well, 72-73 players might actually be able to be laid end to end and stretch from the Coral Gables campus of  the University of Miami to the downtown Los Angeles campus of the University of Southern California.

And that, my friends, is way more than “Three feet high.”

Welcome to the Offseason of the SEC

By | January 11, 2011 | College Football | 3 Comments

While I’m kind of bummed about having to listen to SEC people Wooo-hooo-ing about the superiority of their conference for the next eight months, I can’t possibly be as upset as this guy, who showed up at the airport two years ago to heckle Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs because he had just hired Gene Chizik:

Angry Booing Guy hasn’t been heard from since, and Chizik, who was hired away from Iowa State after posting a 5-19 reccord in two seasons there, becomes fifth-straight coach to guide an SEC team to a national championship. Chizik did it on the strength of the beasts on his defensive line; as was the case at the Rose Bowl a year ago, Oregon couldn’t cope with a fast, physical D line which disrupted the timing of an offense for which timing is crucial.

The game didn’t reach the level of artistry many expected. Both quarterbacks had a hard time throwing the ball to the guys on their own teams early, and Oregon’s offense — usually a thing of beauty — had to slog through persistent pressure from Tigers’ front seven. The Ducks had to rely on bolts of lightning — the fake punt, the 81-yard pass from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl — to keep themselves in the game.

And here we are, staring at a single, irrefutable conclusion: the SEC is as good as they think they are. Five straight BCS titles. Seven of the 13 championships since the BCS began. Undefeated when playing in the title game. We’re going to hear about it over and over and over, at the expense of my favorite conference and yours. And it won’t stop until somebody — anybody — beats them in a title game.

And that’s what I have in common with Angry Booing Guy. Boooooo.

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