2009 NCAA Football Thread

[oddball]

The IU athletic department needs to hire a new press release guy. Perhaps someone who doesn't write like a blogger.

Official Sports Report: October 02, 2009

Saturday's Storylines

by Jeremy Gray

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.-The Indiana Hoosiers turned some heads last weekend after their controversial 36-33 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor. Indiana outgained the Wolverines on the ground and in the air, won the turnover and time of possession battle, and led for most of the second half. The Hoosiers felt that they should have won the game.

But this Indiana team is not interested in moral victories. They want to go to a bowl. They believe they are ready to compete against the 'Big Boys' of the Big Ten. They took no solace after their close call against the Maize and Blue. They expected to win and are still angry that they didn't.

But this weekend, the Hoosiers face their stiffest test of 2009. Ohio State is ranked No. 9 in the country and has one! of the best defenses in college football. They are a sound team possessing playmakers at virtually every position. In short, they are Ohio State.

They haven't contracted, they've hired Tom Hammond from the LA Daily News. Hellene Elliott does the NHL for the LA Times.

A win against Ohio State would be earthshaking for this program. It would rank as one of the greatest wins in school history and might even vault the Hoosiers into the national rankings. It would virtually guarantee a bowl trip and sell out crowds for the remainder of the year.

For Ohio State, the Hoosiers represent one of eight conference games on their schedule, as they embark on their quest for a their gazillionth Big Ten championship. An improved, worthy, and respectable opponent, but still just one of the eight.

It should be an intriguing matchup between these two programs at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Here are some of the storylines to pay attention to as the Hoosiers take the field:

O-H-I-No

In the past, Ohio State fans have d! erisively called Memorial Stadium "Horseshoe West" because of the hoards of Buckeye fans that have descended upon Bloomington and taken over the stadium.

That's not gonna' happen this year. Indiana sold out their student section early in the week and then expanded it. They sold out the expanded student section less than two days later. The overwhelming majority of tickets sold for Saturday's game will be in the hands of Indiana fans. Couple that with an electric night game atmosphere, and for the first time in recent memory, the Hoosiers should enjoy a decisive home field advantage against the Buckeyes. Will it pay off?

Strength vs. Strength

Indiana's defensive ends are two of the best in the country. Defensive ends are asked to contain the other team's quarterback. Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor is an impossibly large, fast, and elusive quarterback. The Ohio State beat writers have profiled Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton at length. Indiana's beat writers have written quite a bit about ! Pryor. Both teams are focused on negating the other team's strength.

It should be quite the confrontation.

Butkus Time

I have a hunch that the bigger Buckeyes are going to try to run right at Indiana on Saturday. With Ohio State's formidable offensive line matching up against Indiana's talented, but green freshmen tackles, the Indiana linebacking corps better have their 'A' game when offering run support.

Matt Mayberry, Will Patterson, Justin Carrington, and Tyler Replogle are fast, smart, and talented. They need to bring it on Saturday for the Hoosiers to have a shot at pulling off a stunner in front of a sell out crowd.

Talkin' Bout Willis

Darius Willis has been the talk of the town after his electrifying performance against Michigan last weekend. Talk show calls, formal press conferences, and message boards have been overwhelmed by questions and com! ments about the bruising Indiana freshman.

Willis has developed a nice relationship with Indiana's greatest running back, Anthony Thompson. Thompson twice destroyed the Buckeyes during his legendary career. The Hoosiers haven't beaten the Scarlet and Gray since.

If DW puts up another 150-yard, two touchdown performance this weekend against Ohio State, a new legend will be born.

No one else is going like eh LA Kings and contracting a writer from the L.A. Times which they are. Papers are consolidating, and even Evan Grant, the former beat writer of the Texas Rangers for the Dallas Morning News is now a blogger for D Magazine full time.

Many sites and organizations would rather pay a 23 y.o. blogger to write than a 45 y.o. from print media with a real degree.

[dfwabel]

Say what you want about Michigan...but I'll be damned if they don't play in some exciting games, at least this year.

No argument here. Them Wolverines sure are fun to watch. If you asked me (and no one has) I don't think State deserved to win that game after they went from playing aggressive D for 56 minutes only to switch to a prevent and let Michigan tie it up. Tough loss for the boys in blue but they made it interesting.

State did not deserve to win as they lost the turnover battle in regulation and Michigan did very little with it.

Poor, poor Clemson!

[dfwabel]

Somebody needs to tell Les Miles that he cannot leave three to six points on teh field in a "points are a premium" game which this is.

[TFoA]

Somebody needs to tell Les Miles that he cannot leave three to six points on teh field in a "points are a premium" game which this is.

The Hat must be feeling REALLY good about his defense, plus he's getting the ball in the 2nd half. But yeah, kinda mystifying as to why he decided not to kick there. The fact that UGA could possibly score a touchdown and possibly be in the lead is a true indictment of how bad LSU's offense is. They're finally moving the ball, but they can' finish drives. It'll be a shame if LSU loses this game after the way that they dominated the first half.

[zmspartans]

Say what you want about Michigan...but I'll be damned if they don't play in some exciting games, at least this year.

No argument here. Them Wolverines sure are fun to watch. If you asked me (and no one has) I don't think State deserved to win that game after they went from playing aggressive D for 56 minutes only to switch to a prevent and let Michigan tie it up. Tough loss for the boys in blue but they made it interesting.

State did not deserve to win as they lost the turnover battle in regulation and Michigan did very little with it.

are you kidding me ? if you outplay and completely outgain the other team for the ENTIRE game except for one drive, then you absolutely deserve to win the game .

[Jigga]

Virginia 16, North Carolina 3.

Tee hee.

[dfwabel]

Say what you want about Michigan...but I'll be damned if they don't play in some exciting games, at least this year.

No argument here. Them Wolverines sure are fun to watch. If you asked me (and no one has) I don't think State deserved to win that game after they went from playing aggressive D for 56 minutes only to switch to a prevent and let Michigan tie it up. Tough loss for the boys in blue but they made it interesting.

State did not deserve to win as they lost the turnover battle in regulation and Michigan did very little with it.

are you kidding me ? if you outplay and completely outgain the other team for the ENTIRE game except for one drive, then you absolutely deserve to win the game .

When you lose the turnover battle, you generally lost the game. Michigan was pitiful when they got the turnover.

[dfwabel]

Who dressed Coach Bowden today? Wow!

[infrared41]

Say what you want about Michigan...but I'll be damned if they don't play in some exciting games, at least this year.

No argument here. Them Wolverines sure are fun to watch. If you asked me (and no one has) I don't think State deserved to win that game after they went from playing aggressive D for 56 minutes only to switch to a prevent and let Michigan tie it up. Tough loss for the boys in blue but they made it interesting.

State did not deserve to win as they lost the turnover battle in regulation and Michigan did very little with it.

are you kidding me ? if you outplay and completely outgain the other team for the ENTIRE game except for one drive, then you absolutely deserve to win the game .

No. What I am saying is this, State played their asses off on defense for 56 minutes. Then some dumbass coach decides it's the perfect time to switch the defensive game plan and let Michigan walk down the field to tie the game. If your coaching staff is that -ing stupid then you deserve what you get. That game should have never been that close and there was no reason it ever should have ended up in OT. That's what I mean by saying State didn't deserve to win. "You dance with who brung you to the ball." If you're kicking a team's ass all day long playing a certain style of defense, what on Earth makes you think it's a good idea to suddenly switch it up just because there are only four minutes left?

Did a light bulb suddenly go off for Michigan with four minutes left or did State change the defensive scheme and go to a prevent? My guess is the latter.

[dfwabel]

"infrared" I believe he was referring to my comments, not yours. Don't get worked up just yet today, Kevin Riley has not taken the field to blow it for Cal.

EDIT: Our first live vomit on CBS! 1080i is great!

[-(dp)-]

That was a tough loss for Michigan, but I am not disappointed in them. It still amazes me that Tate is a true freshman. He plays a game hurt, and leads his team back from 14 points down with less than 5 minutes left, in a pretty steady rain. The game tying drive started at his own 8. This was also right after he lead them down the field, only to have his receiver fumble at the ten. Not to mention it was his first road game against the in state rival. He made a mistake at the end, but it is hard to be mad at him. I am very excited to be able to watch him for years to come. State did a really good job getting pressure on him early, and Michigan's defense was playing way too conservative on those third and longs. The fake punt was terrible. The Michigan D was great in the 3rd/4th and shorts though. And I am still not getting why so many here love to see Michigan lose. Anyways, I am glad to be a Wolverine fan, and even though they lost, they lost in a very exciting way. Also, if I disappear from here for a while, I might be in jail for hurting my neighbor, who has been blowing a very high pitched air horn since I got home. If Michigan had won, he would be in his house pouting. I have never seen somebody so happy to be 2-3. Bucco asked why I don't like the Spartans even though I live in Lansing; He is a large part of that.

[dfwabel]

LSU scores a TD and now Les Miles "chases points"...and fails!

[Seadragon76]

If Washington loses to Notre Dame because the Cardiac Irish stuck again, is it right to say that I want to make Touchdown Jesus my personal bitch?

Hell... I don't care if it's right. The Huskies outplayed the Irish all day long and those Golden Domed dopes are still a fly in their ointment. It doesn't help when you have 13, 14 penalties in the game.

[dfwabel]

If Washington loses to Notre Dame because the Cardiac Irish stuck again, is it right to say that I want to make Touchdown Jesus my personal bitch?

Hell... I don't care if it's right. The Huskies outplayed the Irish all day long and those Golden Domed dopes are still a fly in their ointment. It doesn't help when you have 13, 14 penalties in the game.

ND was a 13.5 favorite too. Why? Jake Locker is good, but Jimmy Clausen is really good. UW had how many plays to put the game away (in regulation) and failed, only to get bailed out but a penalty to get a 1st and Goal at the 1, yet Sark took the ball out of the hands of Locker by running a sweep? Amazing.

[TFoA]

Hell of a finish down in Athens. That was as crazy of a 4th quarter as you'll see. 4th quarter started with UGA leading LSU 7-6 in a defensive struggle that was going UGA's way, only for complete chaos to break out in the last 5 minutes, and somehow LSU pulls out a 20-13 win. Very exciting game.

That said, I can get why LSU is ranked so highly. This is 2 weeks in a row that they've proven that if they're within striking distance and/or in the game, they will just find a way to win. It may not be pretty, but they'll win. Unfortunately, this is college football where winning ugly could potentially hurt them if they somehow get a shot at the National Title.

That said, ENORMOUS SEC game next week...Florida @ LSU. Should be epic.

[dfwabel]

Hell of a finish down in Athens. That was as crazy of a 4th quarter as you'll see. 4th quarter started with UGA leading LSU 7-6 in a defensive struggle that was going UGA's way, only for complete chaos to break out in the last 5 minutes, and somehow LSU pulls out a 20-13 win. Very exciting game.

That said, I can get why LSU is ranked so highly. This is 2 weeks in a row that they've proven that if they're within striking distance and/or in the game, they will just find a way to win. It may not be pretty, but they'll win. Unfortunately, this is college football where winning ugly could potentially hurt them if they somehow get a shot at the National Title.

That said, ENORMOUS SEC game next week...Florida @ LSU. Should be epic.

Stop it, you know it's just a typical October Saturday night in Baton Rouge.

[Seadragon76]

But.. but.. but.....

ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

How in the flying can those god damned Golden Domed pissants win that game when they turned it over twice, been forced to kick 5 damn field goals and the Huskies still freaking lose?!?

This is real deflating... *sigh* Washington should of put the game away. They should of.

[TFoA]

lol, just a ho-hum Top 5 matchup down there in Death Valley. No big deal.

That said, the refs in that game need to be put under review. They made some extremely questionable excessive celebration calls at the end of that game, the one on LSU's game winner seemed to be more like a make-up call than anything, which was ridiculous.

[dfwabel]

But.. but.. but.....

ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

How in the flying can those god damned Golden Domed pissants win that game when they turned it over twice, been forced to kick 5 damn field goals and the Huskies still freaking lose?!?

This is real deflating... *sigh* Washington should of put the game away. They should of.

The Huskies should have. While leading and under two minutes to go, UW had 7 plays within the 10 yard lane and only got three points (including a 1st & Goal at the 1).

[infrared41]

"infrared" I believe he was referring to my comments, not yours. Don't get worked up just yet today, Kevin Riley has not taken the field to blow it for Cal.

EDIT: Our first live vomit on CBS! 1080i is great!

I think he was referring to both of us stating that we didn't think State deserved to win.

On topic. Has this been a helluva day for great games or what? LSU - Georgia, Michigan - Michigan State, FSU - Boston College, Washington - Notre Dame. I don't know how many of you, if any, saw this one since it was the MAC game of the week but Toledo - Ball State was another classic. I'd love to see the NFL match this for excitement tomorrow but it won't because...well because NFL Football is boring by comparison. And we still got Oklahoma - Miami and USC - Cal to go.

Also...

Georgia got boned on that excessive celebration call. It probably cost them the game.

Does anyone think Washington would like to get back those 3 points they left on the field when Notre Dame stopped them on 4th and goal?