The Coach reviews the route of the Rockets and the rest of the happenings in college football.
THE GAME:
"JB Shugarts got his first start at right tackle and proved he belongs on our offensive line with three false starts."
Okay, let's not get delusional here. Thirty-eight points is nice but we were playing the worst defense this side of the Big 12. Terrelle Pryor is still our best running back although his old high school backfield buddy, Jordan Hall, may have made a move to defuse the Boom. Even against such a horrible defense our starting tailback, Boom Herron, was held to around three yards per carry. It's like there is an invisible gnome out on the field tripping him on every run. Pick up your damn feet. JB Shugarts got his first start at right tackle and proved he belongs on our offensive line with three false starts. Browning and Boren added a couple to show the young man that seniority still rules when it comes to starting a series with a first and fifteen. Pryor ended the day with over 100 yards rushing and 362 yards of total offense. That's a big day by any standards. His only flaws were two interceptions that never should have been thrown. One was thrown with a guy wrapped around his ankles and the other was thrown off of his back heel as he was falling backwards and looking every bit like a giraffe on Quaaludes. The defensive line was once again stifling as wave after wave of fresh bodies chased and harassed the Toledo quarterback into throwing most of his passes into the stands. Chekwa proved to be another great defensive back in a long line of DB's as he stayed stride for stride with Toledo's best receiver and knocked the ball out of his hands twice on long routes. The defense is ready for the Big 10.
"We're number 68, we're number 68!" In Tressel's best year, 2006, his offense ranked 26 nationally and in his worst year, 2004, it ranked 98. His eight year average is 68th. There are 120 football teams in division I and he doesn't even average in the top half. Now, it's not like we don't get the recruits. Terrelle Pryor was the number one recruit in the country last year as was Beanie Wells four years ago. Other five star guys that are currently on the offensive roster would include Devier Posey, Justin Boren, Michael Brewster, Mike Adams, JB Shugarts, Jake Stoneburner, Marcus Hall and Jamaal Berry. And that doesn't mention two Ohio "Mr. Football" running backs or Lamaar Thomas, who holds all of the track records in the state of Maryland and freshman Duron Carter who looks to be a future All American. No, it's not the talent. We are number 68 because of coaching philosophies and schemes. But hey, as bad as Tresselball is, he's no John Cooper.
THAT WHICH WAS:
Arkansas lost at home to Georgia 52-41 in what was one of the better games of the weekend. What's with Georgia averaging 34 points a game this year? And what's with them giving up 34 points a game this year? That's not the boring Bulldogs of recent past.
In another great game Boise State outlasted Fresno State 51-34. There is nobody left on Boise's schedule that can beat them. Will a 12-0 Boise State be in the National Championship game over an 11-1 SEC team? Is Hell producing glaciers now?
West By God Virginia traveled to Auburn and had the War Eagles on the ropes until the forth quarter when the WV quarterback threw three interceptions and gave the game away.
pubyu got pounded by FSU 54-27. That set back "...cracking the BCS strangle hold" about twenty years.
"Cincinnati went on the road and shaved the Beavers of Oregon State 28-18."
Cincinnati went on the road and shaved the Beavers of Oregon State 28-18.
Florida only beat Tennessee by ten when everyone in the world thought they were going to beat them by 50. It would appear Tennessee's million dollar defensive coordinator may have seen a thing or two about how to get after T-bone. The other teams in the SEC that actually have a defense will be studying that tape under the midnight oil.
Miami of Florida beat Georgia Tech 33-17 after having beaten FSU 38-34 the week before. This week they play at Virginia Tech and then face Oklahoma at home. If they go 4-0 they should be ranked number one.
meeeshitagin is now 3-0 matching last year's wins in just three weeks. ooohhhhhh aaahhhhhhh.
Michigan State handed Charlie Cheeseburger his second win of the year when their quarterback, Kirk Cousins, very late in the game on second and ten at the 14 yard line actually thought he could complete a underhand, sidearm pass into triple coverage while falling backwards. Interception. A field goal would have tied the game and put them into overtime. In golf that's a "give me" if you just don't blade the putter.
Penn State has now beat up on Akron, Suckacuse and Temple and still has Eastern Illinois on the schedule. Old JoePa loves a good challenge in his old age.
Texas, like Florida, was supposed to have a 50 point revenge thrashing of their opponent, and like Florida, won by ten. They forgot to tell Texas Tech to lay down.
There are some rules in college football that most people don't know about. For example, if Ohio State is inside of the ten yard line with first and goal they must go to the tailback between the tackles for one yard. It's a rule. It can't be changed, it can't be bent, it can't be broken. Another rule is that Pete Carroll must lose a game to an unranked team after a big win. His recruits understand that they can never go undefeated and it is accepted. It kind of offsets the beach and the cheerleaders, that whole "cool California" thingy.
Number one Mount Union beat number seven Ohio Northern 30-10. Only three starters back on offense and they are still pretty good.
THAT WHICH WILL BE:
Arkansas travels to Alabama to see if they can scare two teams in a row.
After beating up Idaho State 50-3 and La. Monroe 38-14, Arizona State travels to Georgia to play between the hedges. That's like being a sophomore and beating up a couple of sixth graders to get ready to fight the senior class bully.
Colorado State at pubyu. It doesn't matter any more but it will be fun to watch the points pile up.
Cal at Oregon. This game could be to see which team gets to beat USC later in the year. I'm betting on Cal. You can put all of the feathers and steel grating impressions on the uniforms but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....
Florida at Kentucky. Tim Tebow will spread his love throughout the State of Kentucky and never again will a McCoy feel hatred in his heart for a Hatfield.
Iowa travels to Happy Valley to take on JoePa and his Nittany Lions. This is clearly the Big 10 game of the week and could well determine which team will have to beat the Buckeyes to win the Big 10 Championship.
Miami at Virginia Tech. This game is probably going to be about who's injured and who can play. Miami has played FSU and Georgia Tech while Virginia Tech has played Alabama and Nebraska. They should both know how to play at a pretty high level by now. Tech has home field and that could be the difference.
Wisconsin has beaten Northern Illinois, Fresno State and Wofford College and now gets Michigan State at home. Dantonio's game plan this week will be to find yet another way to lose in the final seconds. So far he has lost on a last second field goal and the worst pass ever thrown in the history of Spartan football.
North Carolina is a very unusual 3-0 after flogging the Pirates 31-17. Next comes Georgia Tech on the road. If Butch Davis can get to 4-0 this week he will be 6-0 when he gets Florida State at home October 22.
$Notre Dame is at Purdue where it should go 2-1 against the Big 10. Purdue's defense makes Swiss cheese look like a stone wall.
Washington at Stanford. Can Washington continue the ride? 0-12 last year and crapping on USC this year. Life is good along the Columbia River with a hot cup of Starbucks in your hand.
Illinois at Ohio State. Two years ago Illinois came into the Horseshoe and upset the Buckeyes. I think that may come up once or twice this week in practice. On both sides. Illinois opened with an embarrassing home loss to Missouri and then took out their frustrations on lowly Illinois State. Then they took a bye week to heel up and have an extra week to prepare for Ohio State. Juice Williams will be juiced up but our defensive line will be looking to take his head off. I'll go with our defensive line in this one.
Muskingum College visits Mount Union College. Mount in a rout.
JUST SOME OTHER STUFF:
During the OSU/USC game USC ran 72 plays to our 55. That's mainly because they get the play in, line up and go, whereas we fiddle around on the sidelines debating the merits of each call, send it in and get to the line with under ten seconds on the clock. Then let it run down for a delay of game penalty or jump on a false start. Of the 55 plays called, 24 went to Boom Herron for 2.4 yards a carry. That is a full 1/3 of our plays wasted. The good news is that the game was the single most watched college football game in the history of ESPN broadcasts. The bad news is that the entire world got to watch us waste a full 1/3 of our plays.
If you are a Buckeye forget about the polls. It'll just drive you crazy. We beat a team 38-0 and dropped two spots in the AP poll while several teams above us lost. The polls mean nothing from here on out. Even if we were to win out we wouldn't even sniff a National Championship game. The voters do not want to see us there again. So it's all about winning the Big 10 again, beating meeeshitagin again and getting to the Rose Bowl. Don't kid yourself by thinking bigger than that. Our lack of offensive schemes, play calling, coaching and execution against a bad USC team on our home field cost us any chance at the brass ring. But Go Bucks anyway.
The Coach