A Tale of Two Teams (for the middle of the 2018 season) October 21, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: B1G, Big Ten, Boilermakers, Boilers, Buckeyes, Indiana, Iowa, Mark Dantonio, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Ross-Ade Stadium
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Upsets may have abounded last week (week 7), but this [eighth] week gave us one of the biggest upsets of the year thus far in Purdue not only defeating No. 2 Ohio State, but dominating them throughout the game. At no time did the Buckeyes take the lead throughout the 60 minutes of regulation. Given the nature of the college game, the win was of the highly emotional nature, and a celebratory crowd gathered on the field of Ross-Ade Stadium immediately afterward not seen in size and magnitude since the Boilers defeated Indiana to earn its Rose Bowl berth almost 18 years ago.
One takeaway from this is that is appears to be a recurring pattern for Ohio State to give us one embarrassing loss per year. Last year it was Iowa trouncing them in Iowa City, and yesterday it was Purdue trouncing them in West Lafayette. Such a huge loss last year turned out to be the deciding factor that kept the Buckeyes out of the playoffs, much to the detriment of the playoffs in terms of engagement with a national audience. Does such a loss portend the same thing for Ohio State this season?
Maybe, maybe not. Last year, Ohio State already had one loss (to Penn State, at home) headed into Iowa before sustaining such a stinging defeat. This time around, the Bucks were undefeated and ranked No. 2 nationally in the AP Poll. With Maryland and Nebraska remaining on their schedules, those are two easy wins with which to climb back up the polls. Michigan State shall be a challenge, however, on Nov. 10, and of course, they cap off the regular season in “The Game” against sworn enemy Michigan, who is also in the top ten. So, with help and a redoubled effort, there is still hope for Ohio State’s playoff aspirations. After all, it’s not November yet, when such a wound is non-recoverable.
For Purdue, such a win could be a huge shot in the arm for a season that was already gaining in momentum after an inexplicable 0-3 start. Since then, the team has shown increased improvement with each passing week. It is crucial for Purdue that this pattern remains to keep up this newfound momentum. Normally after highly emotional wins such as this, the victorious team likely comes out flat the following week. We’re talking about 19 and 20 year-old college kids, after all, not seasoned pros who, through hard work and experience, have inoculated themselves from the emotional roller coaster. No, college kids are still prone to it, sadly, which means the following week remains a head scratcher as to which team might show up, with some exceptions.
The primary cause for Purdue’s concern right now just so happens to be such an exception in Michigan State. Mark Dantonio’s squad can be counted on to give a tough, consistent effort against its foes every week, no matter how outmatched the Spartans may be talent-wise. Factor in further the fact that MSU just came off a tough loss to hated Michigan, and it is quite likely that the Spartans shall show up angry and anxious to take out their disappointment on visiting Purdue next week.
The bottom line for Purdue is that, as great a win as this was, it is still the middle of the season. They now have to get back to work to ready themselves to take on another dangerous opponent. If they successfully maintain the momentum they have methodically built up thus far, they could vie for the B1G championship game in early December. The bottom line for Ohio State is that hope remains for them if they too get back to work and learn to put forth an effort where they more consistently play up to their potential, unlike this past Saturday night. Should these optimal paths be taken by these respective teams, we could see a [high-stakes] rematch between them six weeks hence in Indianapolis.
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2018) September 23, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Army, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Cardinals, Cavaliers, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Crimson Tide, David Shaw, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Fresno State, Gardner-Webb, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Illinois State, Jeff Brohm, Justin Fuente, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Luke Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Oregon, Pac-12, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Darnold, Scott Frost, SMU, Southern Cal, Stanford, Tennessee State, Texas, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tom Herman, Trojans, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Poor guy: Mario Cristobal, Oregon
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Scott Frost, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Penn State (defeated Illinois 63-24)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (defeated Army 28-21 in OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tulane (lost to No. 9 Ohio State 49-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Army (lost to Oklahoma 28-21 in OT)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas Tech (defeated No. 15 Oklahoma State 17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Nebraska
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Stanford 38, No. 20 Oregon 31
Play this again, too: SMU 31, Navy 30
Never play this again: Appalachian State 72, Gardner-Webb 7
What? Purdue 30, No. 23 Boston College 13
Huh? Texas Tech 41, No. 15 Oklahoma State 17
Double Huh? Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19
Are you kidding me?? Kentucky 28, No. 14 Mississippi State 7
Oh – my – God: Old Dominion 49, No. 13 Virginia Tech 35
NEXT WEEK (Rankings are current AP, week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 9 Penn State
Also: No. 7 Stanford @ No. 8 Notre Dame
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Pitt @ UCF
Best non-Power Five matchup: Toledo @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Texas Tech @ No. 12 West Virginia
Must win: Purdue @ Nebraska
Offensive explosion: Toledo @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Florida @ No. 23 Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: No.18 Texas @ Kansas State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bill Snyder of Kansas State vs. Tom Herman of Texas
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisiana @ No. 1 Alabama
Why are they playing? Southern Miss @ No. 10 Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt
Week 4 Thoughts:
Purdue has started the season as a major head-scratcher. Coming off a surprising winning season after the Hazell-era doldrums, including a bowl win, the Boilermaker faithful had high hopes for the team in 2018. Thus far, after an understandable, opening-season loss to then-ranked Northwestern, Purdue proceeded to lose squeakers at home to beatable teams, including [shudder], Eastern Michigan – a directional school. Chalk it up to an undisciplined defense and a lack of a running game. Regardless, the Boilers have their first win of the year, and, all things considered, it’s a rather big one, handily defeating No. 23 Boston College 30-13. To be sure, Purdue did step it up on defense, and if they can maintain this newfound intensity on that side of the ball, there’s hope for the season yet. All that said, sometimes it takes a few weeks for a good team to find its footing and thus to play up to its potential.
The team now becoming an even bigger head-scratcher is Louisville. Sure, they lost badly to Alabama, but the Crimson Tide is such a juggernaut this year that most winning-season teams will look pathetic against them. What really raised concerns was having to struggle, at home, to beat Western Kentucky – another directional school! Let us thus give the Cardinals an ex-post-facto “Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t”. But now they got embarrassed, on the road to a beatable team in Virginia. At 27-3, are the Cavaliers that much better than the Cards? Is their offense that poor that they failed to punch it into the endzone, with only a sad field goal to open the 3rd quarter? A comparison of recent seasonal performances of both teams would say no, but today’s score would suggest so. Here is one possible diagnosis of Louisville’s under-performance. In the last few years (basically since Lamar Jackson was QB), Petrino has been fixated on “skills” players while acting as if he can get any lumbering lummox to block on the line. So, while he might have NFL-caliber talent on the wings, he has no way of executing plays. Has the time come to where Petrino would be better off as an offensive coordinator instead of a head coach? Further observation and analysis of the team’s performance shall tell us yes or no.
What about USC? Before losing badly on the road to Texas last week, they were ranked and poised to compete for the Pac-12 title again. But on Friday night, they had to play hard at home to beat unranked Washington State. One possible explanation: Sam Darnold’s talent at QB papered over the mediocrity of talent on the coaching staff. While I’m not a Trojans fan personally, I nevertheless recognize that when a traditional power like USC does well, it’s good for college football (same goes for other traditional powers like Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, or even Miami (Fla.)). Conversely, a mediocre Southern Cal team is thus not great for college football. Let us hope that they can eventually rise back to national title contention to help keep the west coast markets engaged in the game. After all, it’s never good for a sport to become regional (looking your way, Major League Baseball).
Speaking of Texas, are they “back”? And why were they ever, well, not back? This article by Pete Thamel explains the nature of why a national brand and a massively-valued program ever needed turning around in the first place (hint: turning around an aircraft carrier takes much, much longer than turning around, say, a personal sailboat). Forget, for a moment, that the program sure did not help anybody, least of all themselves, by laying an egg on the road to Maryland, and then under-performing at home the next week against Tulsa. The Longhorns’ big win over USC last week might not indicate that the team is “back” as strongly as one would think due to USC’s apparent mediocrity at the moment. But then again, Texas did follow up with another big win, this time over No. 16 TCU, 31-16. So the current conclusion is, if they’re not “back” yet, they’re certainly headed in the right direction. Onward and upward.
College Football Awards Week 9 (2017) October 30, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, B1G, Ball State, Baylor, Big Ten, Boilers, Boston College, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, Central Florida, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, David Shaw, Florida, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Patterson, Gator Bowl, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Iowa, Iowa State, Irish, James Franklin, Jeff Brohm, Jim McElwain, Jimbo Fisher, Justin Fuente, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Miami, Miami (Florida), Miami Hurricanes, Michigan State, Mike Riley, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Steve Addazio, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Toledo, UCF, UMass, Urban Meyer, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford also: Mike Riley, Nebraska
Poor guy: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jim McElwain, Florida
Desperately seeking … anything: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: UCF (defeated Austin Peay 73-33)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Stanford (defeated Oregon State 15-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Baylor (lost to Texas 38-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: North Carolina (lost to No. 8 Miami 24-19)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Boston College (defeated Florida State 35-3)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Baylor
Can’t Stand Prosperity: TCU
Did the season start? Louisville
Can the season end? Florida State
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Ohio State 39, No. 2 Penn State 38
Play this again, too: Northwestern 39, No. 18 Michigan State 31, 3OT
Never play this again: Toledo 58, Ball State 17
What? Houston 28, No. 17 South Florida 24
Huh? Northwestern 39, No. 18 Michigan State 31, 3OT
Are you kidding me?? No. 6 Ohio State 39, No. 2 Penn State 38
Oh – my – God: No. 25 Iowa State 14, No. 4 TCU 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 19 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Kentucky @ Vanderbilt
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 15 UCF @ SMU
Upset alert: Texas @ TCU also: No. 18 Stanford @ No. 25 Washington State
Must win: No. 13 Virginia Tech @ No. 9 Miami
Offensive explosion: No. 8 Oklahoma State @ No. 11 Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Florida @ Missouri
Great game no one is talking about: No. 25 Iowa State @ No. 22 West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: James Franklin of Penn State vs Mark Dantonio of Michigan State
Also: Justin Fuente of Virginia Tech vs. Mark Richt of Miami
Who’s bringing the body bags? UMass @ Mississippi State
Why are they playing? Southern Miss @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Charlotte @ Old Dominion
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Coastal Carolina @ Arkansas
Week 9 Random Thoughts:
The Ohio State-Penn State game was one that certainly lived up to its hype. Its implicit billing as the game of the year certainly was that, with stakes no less high than a possible playoff berth on the line. Buckeyes are now ranked No. 3 and have the opportunity to control their own destiny. Three out of the four remaining games are going to be challenges, however. Iowa is up next (remember, they took Penn State down to the wire), followed by Michigan State (a deceptively deadly team as of late), a potential break with Illinois, with Michigan (self-explanatory) to cap off the season. Urban Meyer needs to keep the team focused these next four weeks for a trip to Indianapolis for the B1G championship.
In the meantime OSU, ditch those grungy-looking all-gray uniforms. They looked horrible.
Few things are as distasteful as seeing your team blow a 4th-quarter lead. Purdue did just that at home against Nebraska. First they embarrassed themselves in a defensive struggle on the road against lowly Rutgers, now this. This upcoming week’s game against Illinois is surely a winnable one, but then again, that’s what we all thought about Rutgers and Nebraska a couple of weeks ago. Worse yet, Northwestern has been resurgent as of late, and Iowa is as competitive as ever. Indiana might still be a winnable game, and thus it is not reasonable for the Boilers to emerge at season’s end 5-7, which is a still a step in the right direction from the disaster that was the Darrell Hazell era.
As predicted, Texas got well on Baylor. The respite will not last, as next game they face TCU, arguably their toughest opponent of the year, in Fort Worth, no less. Moreover, the Horned Frogs will be quite angry after just losing – unexpectedly – their first game of the year to newly-ranked Iowa State.
Let us hold our horses about Notre Dame. Yes, they have only one loss, to current No. 2 Georgia, no less, and their strength of schedule is formidable. But they’re also enjoying a senior-laden offensive line with a limited offense. Furthermore, the Irish have yet to face two of their toughest opponents not named Georgia. In two weeks they face a resurgent Miami Hurricanes, and they close out the season on the road at Stanford. Eastern Timezone teams tend not to fare very well on the road against West Coast teams. Just sayin’. In the meantime, cool the hype on Notre Dame until their season concludes.
Speaking of Georgia, they rose to the occasion yet again this year by handily defeating Florida. In recent years, the Bulldogs have struggled in their annual rivalry games against the Gators. This time, the Dawgs kept that unpleasant past in the rearview mirror. Seemingly treating it like any other game, they went into the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville and took care of business, so much so (42-7) that Jim McElwain might be in danger of losing his job. Now ranked No. 2, they potentially control their own destiny. But next game up is South Carolina, a potential trap game, as Will Muschamp has coached the Gamecocks to a surprising 6-2 start. Moreover, the remaining three games after that – in order, Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech – each offer their own unique challenges. If the Bulldogs remain in playoff contention, they shall have to earn it.
Oh, and Tennessee lost…again…this time to another rival of sorts, Kentucky. As of this writing, officials at the University of Tennessee are contemplating Butch Jones’ tenure. Many of us are wondering what has taken them this long to get to this point, let alone giving Jones the ax.
College Football Week 8 Awards October 19, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Art Briles, B1G, Baylor, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Bruins, Buffaloes, BYU, Cal, Central Florida, college, Colorado, Darrell Hazell, Doc Holliday, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, football, Furman, Georgia State, Golden Bears, Golden Gophers, Indiana, James Franklin, Jerry Kill, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Miami, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nevada, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Seminoles, SMU, South Carolina, TCU, Temple, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UAB, UCLA, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, UTEP, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Lucky guy: Jerry Kill, Minnesota
Poor guy: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up clue: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Art Briles, Baylor
Desperately seeking … anything: Will Muschamp, Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 8 Michigan State (defeated Indiana 56-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (defeated North Carolina State 30-18)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to No. 22 USC 56-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (lost to Texas Tech 34-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 7 Alabama (defeated No. 21 Texas A&M 59-0)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
You know, they’re not so bad: Minnesota
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Baylor
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Georgia State
Can the season never end? Florida State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Florida State 31, No. 5 Notre Dame, 27
Play this again, too: No. 20 Utah 29, Oregon State 23
Never play this again: South Carolina 41, Furman 10
What? Nevada 42, BYU 35
Huh? No. 14 Kansas State 31, No. 11 Oklahoma 30
Are you kidding me? No. 7 Alabama 59, No. 21 Texas A&M 0 (the shear blowout)
Oh – my – God: West Virginia 41, No. 4 Baylor 27
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Ole Miss @ No. 24 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none, notwithstanding the “Why Are They Playing” entry)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Temple @ Central Florida
Upset alert: Texas @ No. 11 Kansas State
Must win: No. 22 West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
Offensive explosion: No. 15 Arizona @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Miami @ Virginia Tech
Great game no one is talking about: BYU @ Boise State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs. James Franklin of Penn State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 1 Mississippi State @ Kentucky (also: UConn @ No. 18 East Carolina)
Why are they playing? UAB @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They shoot horses, don’t they? Florida Atlantic @ No. 23 Marshall
Week 8 Random Thoughts:
- While Michigan State is a solid choice for the “Thought you’d kick butt, you did” weekly award, the truth is, a number of teams ended up kicking butt, that in hindsight made sense that they would. Start with South Carolina (see: last week’s “Why are they playing?” nod), who beat relatively hapless Furman 41-10. In hindsight, a resurgent Ohio State team against a Rutgers team still learning to navigate the terrain of the Big Ten was also a clear would-be drubbing (result: 56-17). Even more obvious was the Colorado @ USC match-up. The Buffaloes still cannot get things together, while Steve Sarkesian is slowly building the Trojans back to national prominence. The 56-28 result, therefore, came as not surprise.
- While Alabama could not be a more obvious choice for the weekly “Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did” award (59-0 over Texas A&M, their biggest lopsided shutout in 35 years), other games would have been decent choices as well. Start with Marshall’s butt-kicking of Florida International, 45-13. Even more of a surprise, though, was TCU’s drubbing of Oklahoma State, 42-9. On paper, these were closely-matched teams (No. 12 vs. No. 15, respectively). Turns out that in reality, they were not that close in terms of competitive prowess after all. Further down the food chain, Appalachian State – a newcomer to the FCS – beat up on Troy unexpectedly, 53-14. Sounds like the latter is a “Can the season end?” candidate. Stay tuned.
- Last night’s Notre Dame @ Florida State slugfest is already an instant classic. Clearly one of the biggest, best games of the season thus far, it wins the “Play this again” award hands down. That said, despite some lop-sided victories in football this past weekend, plenty other games merit a second look nevertheless. Start with the late Thursday night game on the West Coast, Utah @ Oregon State. The Utes went into Reser Stadium, took the Beavers into overtime, and walked out victorious. Speaking of the West Coast, take a look at the final score between UCLA @ Cal (spoiler alert: 36-34). Consider that you have the Bruins vs. Golden Bears, and two different shades of blue and gold going head-to-head, in the same conference, no less. With such similarities, such a score result is only fitting. In the Big Ten, one was able to enjoy an interesting matchup between Minnesota and Purdue. On one hand, the Golden Gophers have quietly risen to the top of their division in the conference, while Purdue has quietly improved from their doldrums. Indeed, the Boilers almost won on the road.
- Notre Dame remains an enigma. After so many close calls against inferior teams, surely they would not have played No. 2 Florida State as closely as they did on the road. Not when having to result to strokes of luck to win against Stanford. Not when allowing Purdue to play them as closely as they did in Indianapolis. Yet on Saturday night, they played in Tallahassee like they deserved to be the 5th-ranked team in the nation. Further monitoring of the team will be in order to make sense of this inconsistent behavior. Fortunately, the schedule is such that it will allow for further clarity to be reached as it plays out. The Fighting Irish journey to Tempe, Ariz., to play Arizona State in three weeks, followed by Northwestern and then Louisville at home. Then, they cap off the season in Los Angeles against USC. One takes any one of those teams lightly at his own peril (translation: if the Irish fail to bring their A-game to any one of these matchups, they’re doomed).
- As an aside, part of Ole Miss now being taken seriously in the national rankings (No. 3, currently), is that their defense is given plenty of respect with an up-and-coming brand: the “land shark” defense. One must admit, that has a nice ring to it!
Week 3 College Football Awards September 16, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona State, Baylor, BC, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, Cardinals, Cards, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Colorado, Ducks, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, FIghting Irish, Florida State, Georgia, Grover Cleveland, Gus Malzahn, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Mora, Kansas, Kent State, Louisville, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, Steve Addazio, Steve Sarkisian, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Troy, UMass, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Glad I’m not him: Charlie Strong, Texas
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Steve Sarkisian, USC
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 22 Ohio State (defeated Kent State 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated UMass 34-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (see first line above)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado (lost to No. 16 Arizona State 38-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Syracuse (defeated Central Michigan 40-3)
Dang, they’re good: Oklahoma
Dang, they’re bad: Kansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee 50, Western Kentucky 47
Never play this again: No. 8 Baylor 63, Buffalo 21
Told you so: Penn State 13, Rutgers 10
What? Virginia 23, No. 21 Louisville 21
Huh? No. 24 South Carolina 38, No. 6 Georgia 35
Are you kidding me? East Carolina 28, No. 17 Virginia Tech 21
Oh – my – God: Boston College 38, No. 9 USC 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for (sort of): No. 22 Clemson @ No. 1 Florida State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Carolina @ East Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Middle Tennessee @ Memphis
Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 24 Nebraska
Must win: Southern Illinois @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia @ No. 21 BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Texas A&M @ SMU
Why are they playing? Troy @ No. 13 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ Ohio U
They shoot horses, don’t they? Eastern Michigan @ No. 11 Michigan State
Week 3 Random Thoughts:
– Just when you think that Louisville is rolling again under second, non-consecutive term head coach Bobby Petrino (paging Grover Cleveland), the Cards lay an egg on the road. Virginia is not that bad of a team, but that is still no excuse for all the quarterback miscues that seemed to plague U of L throughout the game, leading to the disappointing result. Perhaps Petrino should consider playing the freshman QB?
– Virginia Tech seems nothing if not consistent when it comes to losing games the week after winning a big one.
– They say that football can be a game of inches. In the case of South Carolina upsetting intra-conference and border rival Georgia, it was a game of one inch. Period. Well, that and a good (favorable?) spotting of the ball by the refs after 4th and one inch.
– Perhaps Oregon might have been saving a little energy for future endeavors later this season. How else might one explain a win over Wyoming by a score of only 48-12? Given how well the Ducks have played thus far, you’d think the Cowboys got off easy.
– Did Purdue acquit themselves against No. 11 Notre Dame, or are the Fighting Irish that mediocre? In the wake of the Boilermakers embarrassing themselves at home last week to Central Michigan, coupled with ND demolishing Michigan, one would have thought that the annual in-state rivalry game would have meant utter demolition for Purdue. Instead, the Boilers ended up leading, however briefly, in the first half, scoring two touchdowns on the Irish. Such an effort compelled Notre Dame to increase their efforts, allowing them to gradually win over the course of the second half, 30-14. The reason that so many people naturally incline towards the former answer is that they want to believe the Notre Dame hype (it sells, after all!). But what we keep learning, and continue to have to keep learning over the past 10-15 years, is that Notre Dame is once again overrated. The real question, therefore, to consider is, how bad is Michigan?
– That being said, Notre Dame’s helmets for that game did look rather neat. It is a long time coming that they incorporated a blue “ND” logo on to their gold shells. The single, blue center stripe was a nice touch, too. The jury is still out on the latitude-longitude, “globe lines” effect, though. Moreover, I can do without that weird brocade effect on the shoulders of the jerseys.
– Is Texas in trouble? First, they lost ignominiously at home to BYU last week. Then, they lose to an increasingly good UCLA team, ostensibly at a neutral site, though hardly anybody could consider the Horns playing in Dallas as playing on neutral turf, be it the Cotton Bowl or AT&T Stadium. Yes, Jim Mora has truly breathed intensity into the Bruins program at Westwood, Calif., but there is still no excuse for such a proud, tradition-and-resource laden program as Texas to suffer two such consecutive losses. Is Coach Strong in over his head at Austin? It would be a very painful thing to acknowledge, to be sure. The wise thing, at this point, is to allow the rest of the season (and how it plays out) to answer that question.
– If we were to apply the law of transitive properties, just how badly would Syracuse beat Purdue if the two played each other right about now?
Kansas State: Shades of 1998 November 18, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 1998, Alabama, Alamo Bowl, AP Poll, Austin, B1G, BCS, Big 12, Big Ten, Big XII, Bill Snyder, Boilermakers, Boilers, Bowl, bowl game, championship, Chicago, Chris Daniels, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Coaches Poll, Columbus, Dallas, Drew Brees, Fiesta Bowl, football, Houston, Jayhawks, K-State, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas State, Manhattan, Marriott, Missouri, national championship, NCAA, Nebraska, New York, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Orange, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rose, San Antonio, Sugar, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, West Virginia, Wildcats
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We’ve seen this before. This is not the first time that Kansas State’s national championship run was ruined late in the season. The Wildcats made a similar run in 1998, defeating powerful Nebraska for the first time in 30 years, among other things. But come the Big XII championship game of that year, K-State overlooked a hungry Texas A&M, who snuck up on them and overtook them towards the end of the game. Although that bumped the Wildcats down to only no. 4 in the rankings, it was too late to get a decent consolation prize.
Everyone seemed to assume that K-State was a lock on the Fiesta Bowl (where the BCS national championship was to be held), so other teams got “locked-in” to other BCS bowl games (Orange, Sugar and Rose). With the Wildcats’ unexpected loss, they were left out in the proverbial cold, having to settle for the Alamo Bowl, then given the no. 4 pick for both the Big XII and the Big Ten. One would imagine that they would not be too happy with having to settle for that lesser prize. Purdue, their opponent for the 1998 Alamo Bowl, was, conversely, quite happy to make a return appearance in San Antonio (a fun town for a bowl game, fyi.), having won that bowl game the previous year. Though the Boilers were unranked and Kansas State was still the fourth-highest ranked team in the land, Purdue came in, what made the difference was that Purdue was happy to be there for the Dec. 29 game, K-State not so much.
Despite Coach Bill Snyder’s moderately happy-sounding speech at the kickoff luncheon the day before the game (Dec. 28, 1998) in a convention room of the Marriott Hotel in downtown San Antonio, where he assured both the Wildcat and Boilermaker fans in attendance that “we’re very much looking forward to playing the University of Purdue,” they sure did not give that impression on the field of play in the Alamodome the next evening. After a scoreless first quarter, Purdue drew (if you’ll pardon the expression) first blood in the second with a Drew Brees touchdown pass to Chris Daniels, and we never let up for the rest of the game. Only in the last few minutes did K-State manage to inch ahead of us with a touchdown of their own, but Purdue answered on the very next possession, marching right down the field and put it away for good. The Wildcats did have the last possession of the game, but with only less than a minute or so left in the game, they were unable to muster the necessary score. We triumphed in the end, 37-34. It was our biggest win in probably 20 years.
I say “we” because I was but a freshman student manager on the Purdue team during that game, witnessing all of this first-hand. The point in all of this, given recent developments, is that we’ve seen this scenario with K-State play out before. The Wildcats seem to be on the same path today. The only saving grace for K-State today is that this sudden, season-derailing loss from last night came earlier than when the Big XII championship game would be (there is no such game for this season, given the recent changes in conference membership). Hence, there is still time to salvage things with earning a more prestigious bowl berth than the booby prize of the Alamo Bowl from 14 years ago.
Yet another reason for K-State getting, well, hosed that year is a manifestation of certain perpetual handicaps against the program. Unlike traditional powers including, say, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, or even Notre Dame, all of whom have strong, national fan bases, Kansas State, although a strong program, lacks that advantage. Strong fan bases equal strong money and clout, something the Wildcats continue to lack. Kansas State University is located in Manhattan, Kan., nicknamed “The Little Apple.” It is in the middle of nowhere, in a state that has the same reputation. It has no major market to tie itself to, unlike the Longhorns, who can not only claim Austin, but also Dallas and Houston. The Buckeyes claim Columbus, as well as Cincinnati and Cleveland. Even Notre Dame can claim Chicago, and to an extent, New York itself. K-State lacks that major market anchor, and that goes a long way towards its overall lack of relative clout. Even a team like West Virginia can claim Pittsburgh as its anchor market. Claiming Kansas City is a stretch for KSU, who must also share the area with the Kansas Jayhawks, along with the Missouri Tigers. Does that leave KSU Wichita? Geography has conspired to make the lack of clout an unsolvable problem for the Wildcats, as far as one can foresee.
But another key difference in scenarios today is that, in the wake of K-State being kicked down to the no. 4 bowl pick for the Big XII Conference in 1998 — much less the overall rankings — shortly thereafter the BCS implemented a rule that a team ranked that highly* would get an automatic berth into one of the BCS “big four,” instead of being relegated to a second or third-tier postseason game. Perhaps the Fiesta Bowl is not out of the question, boys, but you still must pass through the eye of the needle that is Texas in two weeks’ time.
*Although Kansas State was ranked no. 4 in both the AP and Coaches’ Polls, they were actually ranked no. 3 in the BCS.
Purdue debuts new football uniforms August 7, 2011
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: black, Boilermakers, Boilers, college athletics, college sports, design, DIN, football, gold, helmet, marketing, Nike, Purdue, Purdue football, tradition, uniforms
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As a former student manager for the Purdue football team, I, along with a handful of other lucky souls, have more than intimate knowledge about Boilermaker football uniforms, and college football equipment in general. Needless to say, whenever I receive news of a total redesign of the Boilers’ gridiron game unis, my interest is more than a little engaged. At first glance of this redesigned series of gameday garments, part of me says “neat!” while the other part of me says “what on Earth were they thinking?” First off, I get it. Young players these days love the latest and greatest football fashions. It’s the marketing, stupid, and fresh uni designs have been smartly used as a recruiting tool these days. Hey, it worked for Oregon. Meanwhile, has Penn State gotten this memo? Will they ever?
Before further discussions proceed, a full gallery of the new Purdue uniforms can be seen via this link.
First of all, here is what I like, either sort of, or all the way. Let’s start with the numbers, which I sort of like. Of all the number designs, do I find this font to be the most aesthetically pleasing? No, I do not. Frankly, the traditional jersey numbers have worked just fine for traditional powers such as Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Georgia, Ohio State, and so on, so part of me asks, ‘what makes Purdue so special?’ That being said, the press release on Purdue’s athletics website points out that these numbers are in the “DIN” font, a typeface first developed in 1923, and since the mid-Twenties has been adopted as the standard font for engineering applications. It also became the typeface of choice for metal stencil applications in trainyards. Seeing things along those lines, the engineering and train connection to the DIN font makes this a very appropriate choice. Plus, a font that’s almost 80 years old, when applied in a new way (new jerseys) can still look current; further proof that what is old is new.
Speaking of the numbers, another thing I love about the new design is the all-gold numbers on the black home jersey. Those familiar with earlier eras of Purdue football will no doubt recall that “back in the day,” Purdue had a long-standing history displaying gold numbers on black jerseys. Iconic photos of players in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, as well as the 1960s attest to this (check out some of the photos of Bob Griese and Mike Phipps as Boilermakers, and you shall see what I mean!). While that started to change in the 1970s and espeically in the 1980s with the introduction of white numbers on Purdue’s black jerseys, gold numbers were still not unheard of as recently as the ’90s, but have been no more for about 14 years, until now. Kudos to whomever had them brought back, as they are a nice, throwback touch.
Dare I say, I also applaud the choice to go back to a plain black stripe on the helmets. To be sure, white and thin double-black stripes were a unique touch, one that was without precedence when Coach Tiller had them implemented on his new design (that template essentially being a carbon-copy of his Wyoming uni template, one that he transplanted with him in 1997). But the single black stripe on the gold helmet again speaks to some of Purdue’s glory days, such as the ’60s and the Mollenkopf era — another nice, traditional touch.
Now on to the more unpleasant matters. Let us start with the stripes. To preempt any misunderstandings, I am very happy that stripes stayed on the pants. I abhorred the 1990s fashion trend of stripe-less pants, and I am glad to see that we in the football community have moved on, with some exceptions. What I do not like is how the stripes changed. I absolutely loved our thin, double-stripe pattern. It was a direct throwback to our older styles of uniforms from the 1940s through the 1960s. The black pants with the gold stripes looked like an army general’s dress uniform — very classy. Plus, we, along with Alabama, were the only teams to use such stripes. I understand that times they are a-changin’, but if marketing is going to modify the stripes on the pants, can they at least have the decency to make sure those stripes are complete? These new stripes fail to go all the way up the pants, for goodness sake!
In another matter, there is no earthly reason why Purdue should ever be wearing white pants. Ever. Period. The only time I would condone it is if we had a black road helmet to provide the proper aesthetic contrast, say, a black helmet with a metallic gold “P” and a metallic gold 1-inch center stripe. Then the get-up wouldn’t look half-bad — for a road uniform, at least. In the meantime, though, my advice is, forget the white pants ever happened, and stick with the black pants on the road.
One recurring issue that nobody seems willing to address is the terrible shade of gold to which Purdue has been chained in recent years. A simple looking up of our official school colors will show the inquisitive individual that Purdue’s school colors are Old Gold and Black. Got that? Old Gold and Black. Sadly, the last time the Boilers had a real, old gold in their helmets was 1996, and the last time their pants were the genuine old gold was 1995, Mike Alstott’s senior year. Since 1997, the gold in Purdue’s pants has been a watered-down, urine-specimen shade of gold, and it’s downright pathetic. The ghastly pale shade is made all the more evident when mated with the white road jersey. One would have hoped that a total redesign of uniform would have given occasion to rectify this problem. Yet nothing has been done about this glaring weakness.
Whether the marketing wing of Purdue’s athletic department is at fault for consciously picking this sickly shade of gold, or Nike is being a less-than-responsive provider in imposing a one-size-fits-all shade of gold on all its clientele that use that hue, or both, the bottom line is that it remains unacceptable. Check out UCLA’s gold pants some time. They still have a substantive gold in their uniforms, which is proof positive that the proper shade is available. Get it together, you guys.
intellectualgridiron 