5 Things I Think: After Week 2!

Another weekend of games completed and it was quite eventful. The lineup of games in Week 2 wasn’t overly strong, but it turned out to be an exciting Saturday nevertheless. We saw an SEC team fall to an ACC team for the second straight week. We saw that Devin Gardner is the real deal at quarterback. We saw our first coaching casualty as Texas’ defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz, as fired. We saw a potential Heisman candidate go down (Braxton Miller) and another one who might finally be getting noticed (Lache Seastrunk). How about Washington State, a team starting three former walk-ons on their offensive line, beating USC in Los Angeles Coliseum? I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Auburn fans had to be happy about that as it only helps their résumé, having beaten the Cougars in Week 1. Let’s talk about a few things from Week 2.

1. I hope Braxton Miller is okay! Miller went down during the first drive of the game against San Diego State Saturday and I know Buckeye Nation’s collective heart stopped for a second. We all had flashbacks of the Purdue game last year, after which I think we felt a little better about it as we remembered Kenny Guiton playing very well and leading the team to an overtime victory against the Boilermakers. Miller’s status is unclear. Coach Meyer said he expects him to be back next week, but I don’t know if I believe that. In addition, I don’t know if I want him to rush Miller back so quickly so that he can recover fully if the injury isn’t serious enough to require surgery. I think Guiton can play well against California next week and Florida A&M the week after. Why not rest Miller until Week 5 when Wisconsin comes to Columbus? I realize Miller is making a run for the Heisman, but Miller’s health and winning games are more important. Miller obviously gives the Buckeyes the best chance to win every week, but it’s not as if Guiton is terrible. He has a strong arm, he’s mobile, and handles pressure well. He’s a senior, so it’s not as if Meyer would be throwing a freshman out there to the wolves. I’m sure we’ll hear more details about Miller’s injury status as the week progresses and I certainly wouldn’t be upset to see number five in the shotgun on Saturday versus the Golden Bears (doesn’t that always make you think of Super Golden Crisp cereal?), but I would be fine seeing number thirteen back there as well.

2. The best player in the country is being wasted. Marqise Lee, wide receiver for USC, is the victim in the quarterback race. Lane Kiffin is having trouble choosing a starter and after this week, it’s clear why. Cody Kessler and Max Wittek are both terrible. I think we now know why Robert Woods left after his junior season, as he knew what the quarterback situation was going to be and his draft stock had no chance of rising if he stayed. I know Kiffin will reevaluate after losing to Washington State Saturday, a game in which his quarterbacks threw for a combined 54 passing yards. That wasn’t a typo … 54 yards! Athletic Director Pat Haden was adamant in the preseason that Kiffin’s job was in no danger, but if the passing game doesn’t improve, I don’t see how that remains true. I realize both guys are sophomores, but that’s no excuse. Texas Tech is starting a walk-on true freshman (Baker Mayfield) and he has more completions (64) in two games than the Trojans had passing yards on Saturday. It’s a shame too, because Lee is a beast and they should be feeding him as much as they can, but neither guy can seemingly handle the spoon. Boston College comes to town next week. The Eagles have allowed an average of 175 yards passing in their two games so far and those were against Villanova and Wake Forest. If USC can’t throw against them, they can’t throw against anyone. Any chances of Lee winning the Heisman, already minimal because of his position, are nearly gone and it’s a shame.

3. What the heck happened in Provo? BYU played host to the Texas Longhorns on Saturday in a game that many experts thought was going to be close because of BYUs highly-ranked defense last year. I picked Texas to win going away in the fourth quarter. Boy was I wrong on that one! Look at the box score of this game and you’ll do a double take. BYU rushed for 550 yards on 72 carries! This was not Madden, folks. It really happened. Maybe the rain slowed them down against Virginia in Week 1 because they only rushed for 187 yards on 53 carries against the Cavaliers. Manny Diaz, the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator, was fired yesterday which seems like a bit of a kneejerk reaction in my opinion. I realize that allowing that many yards is never acceptable (we’ve all hit the reset button on the Playstation when things get out of hand), but I don’t know that you can totally blame Diaz. What is Greg Robinson (Diaz’ replacement) going to do so radically different that will result in the Longhorns being able to tackle? Teaching tackling is one of the things for which Diaz is best known. Offensively, Texas didn’t play poorly at all, but it’s hard to put up a lot of points when the opposition is able to run it 72 times. The strange thing is that with that many carries you’d think BYU would have dominated the time of possession, but they only had the ball a little over 2 minutes longer than the Longhorns. If Texas wants to make a run at a title this year, and I still think they can, they’ll have to really look at that run defense. I realize that the Big 12 is known more for the passing game, but teams like Oklahoma and Baylor run quite a bit.

4. The ACC is starting off with a bang. I realize it’s just Week 2, but the ACC is already dominating the headlines. Clemson started it with their win over Georgia in Week 1. Then redshirt freshman Jameis “Famous Jameis” Winston lit up the box score in his debut to finish that week off when he completed 25 of 27 passes for 356 yards and 4 touchdowns (he also ran for one). Saturday, Miami took down another SEC foe, when they beat Florida. Friday I wrote that if Miami was going to win the game, “Either they’ll need to get a fairly big lead (ten points or so) early and force the Gators to go to the passing game or Florida will have to turn the ball over three or four times.” Miami was up 8 after the first quarter and the Gators turned the ball over 5 times. Jeff Driskel averaged nearly nine yards per pass, but both of his interceptions were horrible throws that were easy picks. Florida State beat a decent Pitt team in Week 1 (and had a bye last week), but we don’t really know yet how good they really are. They certainly look like they’re overrun with talent, especially in the backfield, with Winston, James Wilder, Jr., and Devonta Green, but I want to see them against a better opponent. Nevada comes to town next week, and that should be an interesting one to watch. Clemson, Florida State, and Miami could all be undefeated going into Week 7, as I don’t think any of them will really be tested until then. That week Clemson and Florida State play each other and Miami plays a solid North Carolina team. This is the best I’ve seen the ACC look in a while, but it’s only Week 2 so I’m not too excited just yet.

5. R.I.P. Nick Pasquale. Pasquale was a redshirt freshman receiver for the UCLA Bruins. The former walk-on was killed after a car hit him as a pedestrian in San Clemente, CA. It happened at 1:27am PST Sunday morning. There have been no arrests but authorities are investigating why he was in the street. Reportedly, there was no indication that the driver was intoxicated and it was the driver who called police and remained at the scene. Pasquale was pronounced dead at the scene. Pasquale was in San Clemente, his hometown, this weekend as the Bruins had a bye week. I feel badly for his family, friends, and football team, as all indications were that he was a hard worker. I love the game of college football and I could talk about it all day, but I felt like it was the right thing to do to give mention to Mr. Pasquale in this spot this week. I’m sure the Bruins will honor him with a patch or decal for the rest of the season and I look forward to seeing what they do. Remember folks, every day we wake up is a great day!

Sorry Ladies and most Men the Swoon is taken

In what has become the happiest sad story in the history of Ohio State Basketball. Aaron Craft has gotten engaged to his girlfriend. Essentially taking him off the market for Swooners everywhere.

Per the satirical and awesome Twitter Account @CRAFTroomies here is the lucky lady and the swoontacular guy himself with a giant rock on her finger….

MotSaG Top 25 Poll- Week 2

Week 2 was kind of fun, no? There was quite a lot of movers this week. None bigger than Michigan which jumped up into the top 10 this week after 2 pretty impressive home wins. More on them later and everyone else as well. Here is my top 25 for this week.

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Buckeyes blowout Aztecs (Instant Reaction)

This game was over last as soon as that scrub Braxton Miller went down with an injury/brace issue. LOL just kidding or am I? To be honest the game was over before it started. The defense showed up and played tough. The offense was led by every ones favorite back-up Kenny Guiton.

At the half OSU led 35-0 behind a strong offensive effort from everyone. Dontre Wilson got the 1st TD of the day and the first of his career at OSU.

Philly Brown had a good game 6 catches for 73 yards and 2 TDs.

We are very blessed to have without a doubt in my mind the best back-up QB in CFB. Guiton is so in control of this offense and leads the team with smooth play and emotions.

The second half was a real sleeper with OSU going into turtle shell mode.

Final score Ohio State 42 – San Diego St. 7

Urban Meyer directly after the game said Braxton Miller will be full go next week so fear not Buckeye Nation.

Look for a lot more info over the next few days when the Motsagers delve deep into what this all means.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

Good morning Buckeye Nation.

Show Me The Money: Fox Sports has said they want to be an active participant to get the broadcasting rights to the Big Ten. Mike Muluihill the vice president of programming was quoted as saying:

“I think when the time comes, we will certainly be an active participant in next round of Big Ten rights talks,” Mulvihill said. “Clearly we have a majority interest in the Big Ten Network. We have an ongoing relationship with the conference with the Big Ten Championship Game. I think the relationship between our management and Big Ten Conference management is exceptionally strong. I expect that we’ll be a very active participant in those discussions.”

Personally I think this will be great even though Fox Sports owns like 51 percent of the Big Ten Network. The B1G current deal expires after 2016 and that four letter network will have the $EC network started which hopefully they can’t afford the Tier 1 games just so I could listen to Gus Johnson screaming as only he does at the end of a Buckeye win.

Just Throwing Money Away: The owner of the Miami Dolphins (who are going to start 0-1 after losing to my Browns) has money to waste. Stephen Ross is giving scUM 200 million dollars.

“The University of Michigan had a profound impact on my life and I have received enormous satisfaction from being able to give back to the institution that played such a critical role in my success,” Ross said in a statement.

Oh sorry having a Breaking Bad moment and I’m just laying on a storage room filled stacked bills. There is other ways to waste 200 million like burn it, bury it, heck even send it to space. Oh wait here’s one even better replace the current scUM football team with the Dolphins so you might have a chance at beating The Ohio State!!! Nope Buckeyes will still kick butt. Go Buckeyes!!

He’s No Urban Meyer: Seems the head coach of the Texas Longhorns football team is catching some flack. Mack Brown and company dropped the ball on trying to get Jamies Winston into their program. Seems Winston who is now the quarterback of Florida State and he really wanted to go play for the Longhorns.

Jameis Winston put his name on the map with his first game versus Mark May Pitt by going 25 for 27 and passing for 4 touchdowns and running one in. I’m not sure what Mack and company are doing in Texas but I say keep up the good work so you can watch all the good players play elsewhere like the Buckeyes will be able to see Demetrius Knox (Texas decommitment and has committed to Ohio State) wear the Scarlet and Gray next season.

Final Walk: This was awesome to see, last week Zach Boren was on the outside looking in till Urban Meyer seen him. Boren who like other former Buckeyes went to Columbus to show his support to his former team and players plus deep inside he wanted to relive being a Buckeye player again.

“I was definitely sad,” Boren said. “I wanted to be on the other side of the ropes. I wanted to be with those guys.”

Coach Meyer seen Boren shook his hand and gave him a hug then lowered the rope to have him join his former team for one last walk to the ‘Shoe. This is what the 2012 season was about, the closeness the players felt for the Scarlet and Gray and the love they had for their coach and his in return to them.

Until next time Buckeye Nation…

5 Things I Think: Going Into Week 2!

We’re in Week 2 and if this week is half as exciting as last week, I’m diving right in! This is the first look we’ll have at Stanford as they had a bye week in Week 1 (how odd is that?). They face a San Jose State team led by quarterback David Fales who led the nation in completion percentage and was sixth in the nation in passing yards last season. The Cardinal started their season against the Spartans last season too and squeaked out a three-point win in a game that was tied going into the fourth quarter. Alabama is off this week getting prepared to face Johnny “Time Magazine Cover Boy” Manziel next week. Manziel and the Aggies are in a classic trap game this week. They’re in danger of looking ahead to the matchup we’re all looking ahead to and not taking Sam Houston State seriously. SHSU are the two-time defending FCS runner up and if last week taught us anything, it’s that top-tier FCS teams are not to be taken lightly. The Aggies will still be without several suspended players on offense, but as long as Manziel can stay in the game offensively, they should be okay. Pay attention to the new targeting rule this week, I know I will, as it now can result in an ejection (and if it happens in the second half, will result in missing the first half of the following game). There were six ejections last week. The play is subject to review, but not for reversal of the penalty (the 15 yards will be assessed regardless), only to determine whether the play warrants an ejection. Well I started the season 4-1 (thanks a lot Boise!). Let’s see how I do this week!

1. #12 Florida at Miami (FL) (11am CST ESPN): This may be the last regular season matchup between these two teams as a source from the Florida athletics program told the Orlando Sentinel, “Unless Miami joins the SEC, I don’t see us ever playing them again during the regular season. It’s just not worth it.” I hope it doesn’t happen that way, but if it does, I don’t think it will be difficult to enjoy this game. It’s a classic case of stingy defense versus explosive offense. Running back Matt Jones will play this week for Florida after battling a viral infection over the last few weeks even though Mack Brown did an admirable job last week against Toledo running for 112 yards and two touchdowns. I expect Muschamp to run the ball a lot Saturday with both Jones and Brown (and perhaps Fred Taylor’s son, Kelvin) to keep Miami’s athletic offense off the field and eat clock. I don’t blame them because running back Duke Johnson is explosive all by himself (224 total yards and a touchdown last week) and quarterback Stephen Morris is more than capable of taking over a game. Florida’s secondary may be too good though with highly-recruited freshman cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III already grabbing his first pick of the season last week and top-notch cornerback (and probable wide receiver as well) Louchiez Purifoy returning from suspension, Morris may have nowhere to throw. I think Miami can make a lot of noise in the ACC this season, but I think in order to win this game one of two things will need to happen. Either they’ll need to get a fairly big lead (ten points or so) early and force the Gators to go to the passing game or Florida will have to turn the ball over three or four times. I think the first scenario is more likely than the latter, but I don’t see them pulling it off. Florida wins a fairly close game.

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Q&A with a San Diego State Blogger

This week I had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming game with DavidSDSU of SanDiegoSportsDomination.com You can check out the link to see his in depth preview for tomorrows game and the questions he asked me and my responses.

MotSaG: In 2005 the Aztecs ran their first possession in for a touchdown and you could hear a pin drop right when it happened (I was there) are you hoping to quiet the ‘Shoe again?

SDSDomintation: If we are able to quiet the Shoe that would greatly improve the Aztecs chance at winning the game.

MotSaG: Is there going to be a hangover effect from last weeks loss?

SDSDomintation: There will be no hangover from last weeks loss. The Aztecs have not been known as a team that keeps lingering thoughts about their last game (during our winning era). The Aztecs will bring there best game into Ohio and will come out fighting against Ohio State.
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Aztecs Have Varied Recent History Of Leads In Ohio Stadium

Game two of the 2013 season arrives with the San Diego State Aztecs visiting Ohio Stadium to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.  While Ohio State is naturally a favorite against the Aztecs, fans would be wise to recall how the recent visits by San Diego State have gone when taking on the Buckeyes~

2001:  Ohio State 27, San Diego State 12.  At first glance, Ohio State did not seem to have much trouble versus San Diego State, but the reality is quite different.  Originally scheduled for September 15, 2001, this game was rescheduled due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and played on October 20, 2001.  Ohio State actually trailed San Diego State at the half, before rallying for the victory.

2003:  Ohio State 16, San Diego State 13.  Talk about a game that went down to the wire.  Ohio State was behind 7-0 to San Diego State, rallying behind Mike Nugent’s field goals and a 100 yard interception return for a touchdown by Will Allen.

2005:  Ohio State 27, San Diego State 6.  This game was arguably the least competitive, but again, Ohio State was actually behind 6-0 after the first eleven seconds into the game.  Coming off the heartbreaking 25-22 loss to Texas from the previous week, Ohio State rallied behind Troy Smith, who had emerged as the starting quarterback.

Moral of the history lesson, Buckeye fans?  That Ohio State would be wise to avoid overconfidence against the Aztecs, as San Diego State has historically demonstrated that they are not overly intimidated by Ohio Stadium at the onset of a game.  Yes, Ohio State has rallied to victory in these recent visits, but it would be best to come out strongly and decisively against the Aztecs, especially after a somewhat lackluster conclusion to the victory versus Buffalo last week.

On a slightly different bend, this visit by San Diego State will also be a sort of Ohio homecoming by former Browns quarterback and current SDSU quarterback coach Brian Sipe.  Even though I was, and remain, a big Brian Sipe fan, I will certainly be hoping that Sipe is not able to sprinkle any of his former Kardiac Kids magic on the Aztecs as they battle Ohio State.

 

MotSaG Chat with Matthew Draper

3star_recruit_icon
Glenville High school has long been know to Ohio State fans as a pipeline school for OSU. And in 2015 there is another great player who I recently interviewed named Matthew Draper. Draper is a very physical hard hitting linebacker in the similar mold of Chris Worley. We are not in on Draper currently, however I expect this to change soon. Urban is eyeing Glenville closely and he is a name Coach Ginn will not shy away from talking about. If he gets an offer I would not be shocked to see him carry on the Glenville tradition.
Drp
Q: Can you give us your current stats such as height, weight, 40 yard time, bench press, etc?

A: height:6’2 weight:200 40:4.62 bench:225×10

Q: Has the Ohio State contacted you yet?

No

Q: Which schools are recruiting you the hardest?

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MotSaG TV Guide

All right, everybody, it’s week two! Time to stop losing to FCS schools and turning in mildly disappointing performances that do not meet all of your fans’ absurd expectations!

Thursday

10:00pm

Sacramento State at Arizona State. Don’t worry about the late kickoff, this game isn’t likely to be on your TV anyway. So why would I include it on a list of games I think you should watch? Well, for starters, there are no other good options tonight, but more importantly, Sacramento State is one of two FCS schools who beat FBS opponents in 2011 and 2012. The other one? North Dakota State, who just beat Kansas State in last weekend’s Dawn of the Living Sisters of the Poor. Working in the Sun Devils’ favor here is the fact that Sac State got shut out by San Jose State last week. (Pac-12 Network, which is a thing I guess)

Friday

8:00pm

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