Big Ten Roundtable - Week 2

While I was absent last week (or all summer...depending on your perspective), you cant keep the DCfW down. Let's get it on!

There Is No Name On My Jersey brings us a good series of questions for the Week 2 Edition of the Big10 Roundtable.

And away we go...

Clearly, Week 1 was a huge week for upsets with Appalachian St. beating Michigan and Clemson beating FSU (though if that really shocked anyone I'd be surprised). What are your upset games for Week 2 and why?

Upset Special #1
#22 TCU at #4 Texas – Let’s face it. Without UM’s collapse against App State, Texas’ performance against Arkansas State would have provided a great deal of message board fodder and material to the blogosphere. They were borderline terrible after the first quarter and were lucky to win this game, from some post game reports. We have all heard about TCU’s defense this off-season. Don’t think that the Frogs haven’t had this one circled all summer. It is going to be a war. It will be interesting to see how many shots a beef-up Coly McCoy can take from this defense, because TCU will bring the house every chance they get on Saturday.

Upset Special #2
#12 Cal at Colorado State – This is a classic “let-down” game. Colorado State has never been an easy place for visiting teams to win. Yes, Cal has the talent, but is the motivation there? Fortunately for Cal, this is not a night game.

Upset Special #3
Alabama at Vanderbilt – For those of us not fortunate enough to see Vanderbilt’s entire season on the Jefferson-Pilot Network, Vandy was a force to be dealt with in the SEC last season. Neither team is ranked, but common sense would tell you that Alabama is just another class above Vandy…WRONG! We’ll see if Saban’s Alabama squad has an answer for the sweet combo of Chris Nickson (19 of 25 for 284 and 4 TDs against the mighty Richmond Spiders) and Earl Bennett (13 catches for 233 yards with 3 TDs).

2. What do you think about the BTN? How'd it look? How were the announcers? Did the first weekend change your opinion of the BTN?

- Overall, the BTN was a success this weekend. A lot of the mainstream media seemed to have issues with the BTN commercial spots being played over and over again, but it is obvious that the BTN knows that most of us were watching it in a bar or at a friends house. So for the Dodd’s and Fiutak’s of the journalism world…”DEAL WITH IT!”

- I primarily stuck with the OSU-YSU game, but the announcers put together a good product. Tomczak and Twibell did a decent job of making the game interesting, which YSU’s decent play in the first half was a great help, as well. I would say that the current level is above the old ESPN+ game crews and below ESPN2 MAC game crews at this point. I think that once the HD feeds are settled the BTN will be a great product.

- My opinion of the BTN is unchanged after this weekend. I want it at home. However, COMCAST wants to give me a steady diet of the Food Network, Oxygen, and WE. Seriously…How many Daphne Zuniga movies can be shown in one weekend?

3. Now that we're a game into the Season evaluate the Big Ten's strength.

- Linebackers – Connor, Lee, Laurinitis, Leman. The linebacker play over the course of the first weekend was what we all expected from these four. 20 tackles for Leman and a big game from Sean Lee with 2TFL, 1 sack, and a forced fumble. Linebackers are still all the rage in the Big10 this year.

- Wide Receivers – Brian Robiskie is the next OSU receiver stud with his 9-catch 153-yard performance on Saturday. Luke Swann put together a nice afternoon with a 170-yard performance. Notice, I made no mention of all-world receiver Mario Manningham or James “The Gigantor” Hardy.

- First-Year Starting Quarterbacks – There were a lot of question marks for Wisconsin and OSU starting some new blood under center this season. It looks like some of those concerns have been alleviated for the time being. Todd Boeckman, Tyler Donovan, and Brian Hoyer all had nice starts in some “cream-puff” type of games.

On Notice - Week #1

DCfW Post Game Review: Youngstown State

It was a typical September OOC game for the Buckeyes against an old friend of Jimmy T. The Youngstown State Penguins were in town and the Buckeyes were a not-so-gracious host. I wouldnt say they were rude to YSU, but they didnt provide level of hospitality afforded up at the Big House(with Kittens and emo).

Things of note...
1. Todd Boeckman is a pretty good quarterback and he throws a pretty deep ball, which we have been hearing from the coaching staff for last 18 years of Todd's college career in Columbus. Good start for him. I read that he missed some check downs (and did not utilize consumate v's when drawing dragons..see below). I didnt see them, but you guys explain icing or delayed offsides? I didnt think so...so BACK-OFF!
2. All of the running backs were fantastic except for one. Unfortunately, this was the running back that has the biggest expectations...Chris Wells. Chris stated that his focus was not there in a post-game interview. I hope this is not a sign of things to come for the perceived leader of the Buckeye backfield. However, Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine were very good. Saine was hitting holes hard and running with authority, while Wells seemed to be a little more comfortable inside of the tackles.
3. You cannot understate the signifigance of the Lawrence Wilson injury. Go watch his sack in Saturday's game about 4 times and tell me that OSU's D-Line will not miss that type of player. Let's hope that true freshman Cameron Heyward can help with the load. All you can really say here is "Thank God it wasnt a defensive tackle.."
4. Youngstown State was no slouch. They had a gameplan to take away the run and stacked the box in doing so. Mostly, their hopes relied on a slow start by Boeckman, which just did not happen. YSU's undersized, yet quick, defensive line caused some issues for the OSU O-Line. YSU's quarterback was efficient, but did not dazzle. YSU did not have any turnovers in this game, otherwise, the score would have gotten out of hand.
5. Youth prevails! There were a lot of freshman that played in this game and made significant contributions to the OSU victory. Brandon Saine, Dane Sanzenbacher, Taurian Washington, and Eugene Clifford made some plays that make the loss of playmakers from last year's squad seem a little more palatable. Again, it was YSU, but (in the past) OSU hasnt seemed to have many true freshman step in the early going.
6. Brian Robiskie is a monster. I really cant wait to see him go up against Justin King later this year. Speed against size and strength. Let's hope that offensive line can give Todd some time in Happy Valley to find him.
7. Kurt Coleman & Anderson Russell. Best Safety tandem at OSU since...I cant even think of a good one to compare them to at this point. Coleman was flying all over tha place in this game, and Russell was very disruptive as well.

Other notes...
1. That whole UM fiasco up north...well...I dont think it really means a lot at this point. UM will still have a good season most likely. If they are not motivated by now...they never will be. For some reason, I see them beating OSU and winning their bowl game this year. Too much talent. Unfortunately, most of that talent is on the offensive side of the ball. The coaching is kind of shit-riffic on that side of the ball as well. I mean the "English Majors" smelled that like they had a couple of bottles of "Olde English" spilled on them after Saturday's debacle.
2. Cal is pretty good. Obviously they are very fleet of foot. I mean they cant be SEC fast. Seriously, Mississippi State and Ole Miss would kill them on a neutral field.
3. Speaking of the SEC...How long until Les messes this one up? That defense is fantastic, but that offense is teh suxor. Any team with a competent offense will score some points against LSU, but will LSU be able to score against these teams? To be continued...
4. Tim Tebow can throw a football. Apparently, he threw 12 passes for 300 yards. Still not impressed....yeah I know...it's just me.
5. Jake Locker (from the UW) looks pretty fast. Unfortunately, it was against Syracuse, which is "hella" slow. He looks the part, but let's wait and see how he looks against Boise State before we call him the savior of the Husky Nation. Ok?
6. The trunk-f*cking of the week? Notre Dame. It looks more and more like Charlie cant gameplan his way out of a wet paper bag. Guess who is getting the trunk-f*cking of the week in week 2? Notre Dame. Penn State is going to unleash hell on those guys next week. It could get ugly. From urine on the band to a sieve-like offensive line, Notre Dame is in serious trouble in Happy Valley next week.
7. Can't Read, Can't Write, Kent State. Way to make us Ohioans proud. Taking out Iowa State is no small feat. Honorable Mention to BGSU for it's game against a rebuilding Minnehaha squad in Tim Brewster's head coaching debut.
8. I'm already tired of seeing stuff about the App State-UM game on ESPN or any other sports outlet. Yes, it was a huge and monumental win for a I-AA school, but in typical EPSN fashion...they need to glamorize it to a point of nausea. Thank god I am not a UM fan...otherwise it would feel a lot like the weeks following 1/8/07.
9. Go Tribe! Beat Johan Santana for the fifth time this season. No other team has beaten Santana more than once in any season prior to this year.
10. One other note for the CBJ faithful. Detroit picked up Mark Hartigan this past offseason. This was a quiet move in the grand scheme of things in the NHL, but anyone that knows how Mark Hartigan plays will realize this is a huge get for the Wings. Like the Wings need any freakin' help. I am calling it now. He will be a scoring machine in Detroit's system. He is a 2nd or 3rd center in the Wings' system...and is a farm club call on almost every other team's roster.

Finally...I bring you Strongbad at his finest...enjoy...



Peace...

Herringbone