SB Nation - Greg Jones

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

Alamo Bowl Preview :: Texas Tech Offensive Matchups

Seth C — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:18 -0000

RB Baron Batch vs. LB Greg Jones

Baron Batch (Running Back / 5-11 / 205 / Jr.) ::You would guess that the offensive lines would have a little something to say about how this turns out, but I naturally thought that this would and should be a fantastic matchup through the game. It's no secret that the Red Raiders have struggled running the ball, but I would also guess that most Michigan St. fans would expect or assume that Texas Tech doesn't have talented runners, an assumption that could not be further from the truth. Batch may not rack up the yardage, but he may be the most gifted player on the Texas Tech offense and I would surmise that he might also be the hardest worker. Batch ran hot and cold, much like the offense as a whole the latter part of the season. Batch racked up pretty decent all-purpose yards the last 5 games of the year: 120 on 20 plays(TAMU); 136 on 22 plays(Kansas); 55 on 17 plays (Oklahoma St.); 204 on 32 plays (Oklahoma) and 71 on 20 plays (Baylor). Other than the TAMU game, the way that Batch has rolled is how the entire offense has rolled, and this may be the biggest challenge for the team and offensive line (more on the passing portion below), but the MSU defense is 24th in the nation in rushing defense, giving up only 112.75 yards a game. If the Texas Tech offense relies on Batch to make the offense go, then perhaps Leach is going to have to be creative to get Batch the ball.

Greg Jones (Linebacker / 6-1 / 228 / Jr.) :: Jones is one of those guys where you shake your head and try and figure out how a guy can make so many tackles on the field. Jones is averaging 11.75 tackles per game, 1.13 TFL, 8 QB hurries and 0.75 sacks per game. Jones is a one-man wrecking crew. And this isn't one of those instances where Jones only shows up against poor competition, does well and can't seem to make a play defensively. Jones' lowest output in terms of tackles per game was eight, against Michigan and Western Michigan, while Jones best performances came against and during the meat of the season in a 4 game stretch: 11 tackles, @ Illinois (W, 24-14); 14 tackles, Northwestern (W, 24-14); 12 tackles, Iowa (L, 13-15); 12 tackles, Minnesota (L, 34-42). Then, at the end of the season, Jones goes out against Penn St. and has 15 tackles in a 14-42 loss. Not exactly the way a player would want to go out in this sort of loss, but it doesn't appear that this was Jones fault.

Passing Advantage: I think the Red Raiders have a fairly decided advantage in the passing game, despite your opinions about QB Taylor Potts. The Spartans are 103rd in the nation in pass defense, allowing 251.58 yards per game, which is good for last in the Big Ten. Not only did MSU give up a ton of yards through the air, they also gave up a conference high 29 touchdowns and only had 5 interceptions for the entire year. The Texas Tech receivers aren't necessarily game-breakers, like a certain Mr. Crabtree, but there's certainly enough play-makers on the receiving end to make a difference. And much like it has been the entire year, it's not just one player that has dominated the receiving yards and I think that makes it tougher for opponents to game-plan for Texas Tech.I don't get the chance review other teams statistics very much, but there receivers have 410 total receptions for the year with 11 receivers who have 11 or more receptions: Alexander Torres: 65; Detron Lewis: 55; Baron Batch: 51; Tramain Swindall: 48; Lyle Leong: 42; Austin Zouzalik: 32; Edward Britton: 32; Harrison Jeffers: 25; Jacoby Franks: 24; Adam James: 17; and Eric Stephens 11. To think that this offense isn't diverse isn't at all accurate. We've talked before about how this team may be missing a special play-maker, but almost every one of those receivers have led the team in receiving in a particular game. Whether it was Torres against TAMU and Oklahoma or Lewis against Kansas St. and Nebraska or Swindall against Rice and Houston, etc.

Getting to the Passer: So, despite a poor pass defense, the Spartans are 12th in the nation in sacking the opposing quarterback at 2.67 per game. The aforementioned Mr. Jones leads the team with 9.0 and it would be fair to say that the ability to get to the passer is a collective talent. Including Jones, 6 players have 2.5 sacks or more for the year and of those 6 players, 3 of them are linebackers, which probably means that the MSU defense will likely stunt and blitz to pressure the opposing quarterback. The Red Raiders were 92nd in the nation in sacks allowed, 2.50 per game, which was good for eighth in the conference. It's been mentioned before, that the Kansas game is when the offensive line started to have some consistency in the starting lineup and after the first half where the KU defense recorded 5 sacks (not a knock on Doege, just making the point that some sort of light turned on with the line or a change at quarterback, Taylor Potts played all of the second half and the team ran the ball) that the Red Raiders have given up only 4 sacks for the past 7 halves of football. I don' think anyone can claim that the protection has been perfect, but it's been better. In fact, cfbstats sorts sacks by months and the offensive line was 9th in the coference in sacks allowed in August/September giving up 6.0, the worst team in the conference in October giving up 20.0, but rebounded nicely in November giving up only 4.0 for the entire month.

To Pass or To Run: It's no secret that Taylor Potts has struggled this year, at least by Texas Tech quarterback standards and it's also no secret that when this team is able to run the ball effectively, the more likely the win. Again, turning to cfbstats, when Texas Tech wins, the Red Raiders average 87 yards a game and in losses, it's only 67. The Texas Tech passing statistics back this up as well in that the Red Raiders average only 48 passing attempts in wins, but 56 passing attempts in losses. The Spartans are a bit different in that in their wins, the Spartans hold opposing offenses to only 91 yards a game, but in losses, the defense gives 134 yards a game. The same could be said for the pass defense for MSU as the defense gives up 207 yards passing in wins, but almost a full 100 yards more, 296, in losses. These stats aren't necessarily eye-opening and they make sense, especially from Michigan St.'s perspective, but the one thing that does jump out at me is additional 100 or so yards the pass defense gives up in losses. I don't know if the Texas Tech coaching staff is in a bit of a quandary in that the Michigan St. pass defense is obviously vulnerable, but the Texas Tech offense has had much more success when they run the ball (even if it's just 4 additional attempts a game).

Alexander Torres
Position	WR
Year	RS FR
Height/Weight	6-2/196
Stats	65 Rec.; 791 Yards; 6 TD's

Torres was not even close to the team lead in receiving yards or receptions, but over the course of the year, Torres has quietly been establishing himself as the the go-to receiver for the Red Raiders. Torres really didn't have a "break-out" type of game until the Texas A&M game, where he caught 8 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. I never really thought that Torres was going to be capable of overwhelming a defense, but then Torres broke out for 163 yards on 11 catches and a touchdown against the Sooners. I still don't think that Torres is going to physically dominate an opposing defense, but he's incredibly reliable, which is probably the reason he's been near the top of the team in terms of receptions all year. Not to mention, Torres has shown the ability to make plays, and there were two spectacular catches, one against OU and one against Baylor, where he just went up and got the ball. That will certainly endear a quarterback to a receiver relatively quickly.

Draft decisions looming for Big Ten talents

Mocking Dan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:10:54 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

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A week ago we had an item on Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman thinking about the NFL Draft. He's not the only talented junior or redshirt sophomore with an NFL future facing a difficult decision. Here are some others:

Who: Bryan Bulaga, offensive tackle, Iowa
What's being said: "As of right now no decision has been made," Bulaga said last week. "No discussions between coach (Kirk) Ferentz and I have really even happened yet. I don’t know."

What he should do: Bulaga has had a fairly ordinary season for a would-be stud left tackle. He missed the three games of the season battling a thyroid issue. His play has been inconsistent this season and he's allowed pressure against some ordinary players. While Bulaga is highly regarded by me, it might be in his best interests to return for his senior season. By doing so, he could really establish as a dominant top-five pick.

Who: Greg Jones, linebacker, Michigan State
What's being said: "If anything, I’m going to talk to my parents about it, but for right now I’m just getting ready for the bowl game," Jones said.

What he should do: Jones has lead the Spartans in tackles for three consecutive years and is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Jones is likely considered a second-round player, but his draft stock may be at its peak. He should leave. If he does, he'll be a dependable starting linebacker almost immediately.

Who: John Clay, running back, Wisconsin
What's being said: "If the opportunity presents itself and I think it is a high enough spot, I'd encourage him to go," running backs coach John Settle said. "But if I think he can come back and help his status, then I'd encourage him to come back.

What he should do: Clay, a redshirt sophomore, would be wise to return for at least another season for the Badgers. As it stands, Clay might just be the latest productive Badgers back with a questionable NFL future.

Who: Donovan Warren, cornerback, Michigan
What's being said: Warren said he will return for his senior season. The site is a Scout.com paid site, but the headline and lead paragraph made it to Google News.

Note: Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn and Penn State center Stefen Wisniewski have not discussed their possible NFL futures recently.

Spartans Take Umbrage With Odrick

BSD — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:34:32 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

Eastern Illinois quarterback Jake Christensen (11) closes his eyes and prays Jared Odrick will show mercy and not kill him.

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In typical classless Sparty fashion, they can't just congratulate a good player for winning an award. They have to be outraged that their player didn't get it. This morning The Only Colors, SBNation's Michigan State blog, takes exception with the coaches' decision to award Jared Odrick the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by listing him three times on his top five errors made by the coaches.

5. Jared Odrick, Coaches' Defensive Player of the Year.There's no doubt that Odrick was one of the top five or six defensive linemen in the conference. However, here were the other All-Big ten first team defensive linemen named by the coaches: Adrian Clayborn, Brandon Graham, and O'Brien Schofield. If I gave you those names, where would you rank Odrick? Third? Fourth? And he's the one the coaches named defensive player of the year?

Then there's this...

3. Seriously, Jared Odrick? I mean, Pat Angerer can't get some love? Tyler Sash? If you were asking me, "Name two players on the same team who deserved the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award", those would've been the first two names out of my mouth.

And finally...

1. JARED ODRICK? I don't want to bash Odrick, he's been a great player for Penn State all season. I'm happy that Greg Jones got the honor from the media, but I would've understood if he didn't receive the award. After all, I'm pretty sure Graham Zugscored again on a wheel route, and the failures of the MSU secondary drags the whole defense down, fair or unfair. However, I would've named Schofield, Graham, Angerer, Sash, Amari Speivey, Navarro Bowman, or Sean LeeDPOY before Odrick. Once again, Odrick deserved the honors he received as All-Big Ten, but there were several more deserving players this year in the Big Ten to be defensive player of the year.

In his comments TOC shows they either didn't watch Penn State this year or they understand nothing about football. A lot of people are pointing out that Odrick didn't even make the media's First Team All-Big Ten, but let's remember these are the same people that voted Terrelle Pryor the preseason player of the year. They don't know squat about football and can't evaluate a player unless they have a stat sheet and their Rivals recruiting ranking in front of them.

The coaches, on the other hand, watch hours of film. They know everyone's defense and they know who gave them the most fits this year, and they said that player was Jared Odrick. Sure, his stats may not be as flashy as Greg Jones, but then Greg Jones didn't have two 300 lb. linemen smashing him in the face on every play. Odrick had to fight double teams all season long, and teams still couldn't stop him. He got six sacks, and he repeatedly collapsed the pocket and flushed the quarterback into the arms of Jack Crawford or Eric Latimore or a blitzing linebacker. And most teams didn't even bother trying to run up the middle on Penn State, because Odrick was there to either tackle the ball carrier for a loss or shove the guard back in his face as soon as he got the handoff. There was no player that kept offensive coordinators up at night planning more than Jared Odrick, and when he gets drafted next April before any other Big Ten defensive player maybe it will make more sense to the Spartans.

If you want a real travesty of the All Big Ten selections, how does Daryll Clark not win Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year? Especially after the snub the media gave him in favor of Terrelle Pryor in the preseason. John Clay? Seriously? The dude only had 1224 yards rushing against arguably the worst schedule in the Big Ten. Wisconsin didn't even play a BCS conference team in their out of conference schedule. Say what you want about Penn State's schedule, but at least they played a BCS team, and don't knock Temple who has won seven in a row and is on the verge of winning the MAC.

Critics say Clark didn't win the big games, but Wisconsin lost to Iowa and Ohio State too. How did Clay do in those games? 59 yards rushing against the Buckeyes and 75 against the Hawkeyes. No touchdowns against either team. So I guess he gets a pass for not showing up. Clay had just 120 yards more than Evan Royster, and we all saw the offensive line Royster had to deal with. Give Royster the 53 extra carries Clay got and he would smash Clay's numbers by a couple hundred yards. I guess Clay just lucks out because Wisconsin had no other offensive weapons.

Clark was clearly the best quarterback in the league for the second year in a row. He led the conference in pass efficiency and was one of the more exciting players in the league. And he did it with a different offensive line and group of wide receivers from 2008. If you want a real travesty of the All Big Ten selections, look on offense. Not at Odrick.

(Yes, I realize my first paragraph about being classless for not congratulating a player got blown up here at the end of the post when I trash Clay and lobby for Clark. The rant got a little out of control there. Congrats to Clay for winning. But I still think Clark was more deserving.)

All-Big Ten Awards Announced, Swept Once Again By Toto

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:45 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

about 1 month ago: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. Northwestern won 17-10. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Good news, everyone!* The Big Ten announced its picks for the all-conference teams. Naturally, the offensive and defensive player of the year are both Terrelle Pryor. Okay, not true; he's not even honorable mention.

But there's plenty of actual good news. First, the devil media named Kirk Ferentz coach of the year, and here he is reminding them that they can go suck it and he hasn't forgiven them for the slights of the regular season.

Such language, Kirk!

As for the players, here's the link to the voting results. The media named Bryan Bulaga to the first team on offense, while the second team featured four of his friends from the line: Rafael Eubanks, Dace Richardson, Kyle Calloway, and Tony Moeaki.

On defense, the first team had a little more Iowa representation; Adrian Clayborn, Pat Angerer, and Tyler Sash all received their no-brainer merits. On the second team, Brett Greenwood and Amari Spievey. Iowa put eight players on the media's honorable mention team: Ryan Donahue, Broderick Binns, A.J. Edds, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Karl Klug, Daniel Murray, Adam Robinson, and Ricky Stanzi.

Not surprisingly, the coaches had a slightly higher opinion of the Hawkeyes; here's the link to their voting results. Bryan Bulaga was named their offensive lineman of the year(!!!), an award the media doesn't give out. Bulaga is joined on the first team by Moeaki and Richardson, both of which are worthy selections. Calloway and Eubanks didn't make the second team--not sure why on Calloway--but Derrell Johnson-Koulianos snuck in on a three-player tie for second-team WR.

On defense, the coaches agreed with the media in putting Sash, Clayborn, and Angerer on the first team roster. They also added Amari Spievey; as coaches, they're more likely to know that the reason Spievey didn't have a ton of picks wasn't that he's not good at football, but that there's just no hope in throwing at him; Spievey was a machine this season, and we're starting to lose hope that he's got more than one game left in an Iowa uniform. A.J. Edds is the lone Hawkeye on the defensive second team.

For honorable mention, it's as follows:Christian Ballard, Kyle Calloway, Ryan Donahue, Brent Greenwood, Karl Klug, and Adam Robinson.

Full All-BXI teams and a few thoughts are after the break.

MEDIA

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	JOHN CLAY, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Tandon Doss, Indiana	Blair White, Michigan State
WR	Keith Smith, Purdue	Zeke Markshausen, Northwestern
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa
G	Justin Boren, Ohio State	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Dace Richardson, Iowa
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Kyle Calloway, Iowa
T	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin	Dennis Landolt, Penn State
TE	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin	Tony Moeaki, Iowa
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan State	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Jared Odrick, Penn State
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	GREG JONES, Michigan State	Josh Hull, Penn State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Brent Greenwood, Iowa
DB	Donovan Warren, Michigan	Amari Spievey, Iowa
DB	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern	Brad Phillips, Northwestern
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

COACHES

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	John Clay, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Eric Decker, Minnesota	Tandon Doss, Indiana*
WR	Blair White, Michigan State	Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa* Keith Smith, Purdue*
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa* Joel Nitchman, Michigan State*
G	Dace Richardson, Iowa	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Justin Boren, Ohio State
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Rodger Saffold, Indiana
T	Dennis Landolt, Penn State	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
TE	Tony Moeaki, Iowa	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Jared Odrick, Penn State	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa Linebacker	A.J. Edds, Iowa
LB	Greg Jones, Michigan State	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Donovan Warren, Michigan*
DB	Amari Spievey, Iowa	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern*
DB	Brad Phillips, Northwestern	Brandon King, Purdue*
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue* Jay Valai, Wisconsin*
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

Okay. While we're quite happy that Bulaga got such high accolades for the season, we can't be alone in thinking that he was hardly the best lineman in Iowa City, much less the Big Ten. He was either on the sidelines or out of sorts for the majority of the season, and we still haven't seen the elephant-tusk-covered road grader from last season on display. He totally would have deserved a preseason OL of the year, but his performance over 2009 didn't merit such superlatives.

This is hardly a new development from these postseason lists, however; generally, the lists are crafted off of the preseason lists, and anybody whose knee blew out with more than four games left was excised and replaced by someone else. After all, Bulaga was only a second-team All-BXI player last season, even though he was by far the best lineman on the team in 2008. Seth Olsen, meanwhile, had the good fortune to be a first-teamer to start the year, so he was on the first team after 2008, despite a relatively blah senior campaign; we'd have put him about fourth on the list of Iowa linemen for 2009, behind the two bookends at tackle and Rob Bruggeman at center.

Essentially, Bulaga won the award in 2009 for his play in 2008.

At the end of the day, this comes down to stats; there aren't any for linemen, despite the ill-fated attempt to get the "pancake" introduced about a decade ago (for this, we blame Orlando Pace). It's assumed that linemen are sure things, and that as long as they stay healthy, the narrative has stayed true. After all, without stats, most scribes have no time (or no idea) how to watch linemen individually.

Frankly, though it's a subjective stat, we'd love to see how linemen grade out per play (remember that Blake Larsen famously graded at 100% during his senior season at Atlantic; lord, had those knees survived...) Without having the means to undertake such an activity ourselves, we'd imagine that if you graded each Iowa offensive lineman, Kyle Calloway or Dace Richardson would probably be at the top.

If they're not, which is possible, then it would probably be the guy who didn't even get an honorable mention: Riley Reiff. He was stout in relief of Bulaga--hell, we're pretty sure O'Brien Schofield would not have batted Reiff around like a catnip mouse, unlike some Iowa linemen--and he basically forced his way into the starting lineup even before Big Dace went down. But since he wasn't even a projected starter, to say nothing of a preseason honoree, Reiff didn't have much of a chance for postseason mention. Shame, really; dude is legit, and he hasn't even filled out his frame yet.

As for the skill players, it's a little disappointing that Stanzi only made one honorable mention team. But we get how that can happen. Spievey only making second team in the media is flatly ridiculous. If he'd put together that same season in an Ohio State uniform, he'd be getting All-American talk.

Other than that, we don't have a ton of beef; Stanzi killed himself by leading the conference in interceptions when he went down to injury, and the rest of the offensive skill players were far too inconsistent or hurt to merit much consideration. Jeremiha Hunter not getting any honorable mention love is a little disconcerting, but the BXI was lo-ho-hoaded at linebacker this season; we're not quite sure whom we'd place him above. He'll get some love in 2010 if he stays healthy. Also--given the play of Jeff Tarpinian in relief--if Hunter stays healthy between now and next September, there's no position battle at weakside backer next season, right?

So, all in all, a fair list, even if the voting on offensive linemen is basically a year behind schedule. It's a year behind for everyone else, after all. Anybody else that you folks think got shafted? Did Marvin McNutt deserve a nod, or is he still a year away from recognition?

*/Farnsworth'd

Top Five All-Big Ten Football Team Errors

Pete Rossman — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:04:01 -0000

The picks are here.

And here are the travesties:

5. Jared Odrick, Coaches' Defensive Player of the Year. There's no doubt that Odrick was one of the top five or six defensive linemen in the conference. However, here were the other All-Big ten first team defensive linemen named by the coaches: Adrian Clayborn, Brandon Graham, and O'Brien Schofield. If I gave you those names, where would you rank Odrick? Third? Fourth? And he's the one the coaches named defensive player of the year?

4. Eric Decker, Coaches' First team Wide Receiver. If Decker had stayed healthy all year, I'd have no problem with this placement. However, he only played two-thirds of the season, and I'm certain that there are least two wide receivers out there - Keith Smith of Purdue and Darrell Johnson-Koulianos of Iowa - who deserved the honor more than Decker.

3. Seriously, Jared Odrick? I mean, Pat Angerer can't get some love? Tyler Sash? If you were asking me, "Name two players on the same team who deserved the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award", those would've been the first two names out of my mouth.

2. Brett Swenson, non-unanimous selection. I promise this is the only section where I'll be a homer. Apparently making 90% of your field goals and being far and away the most consistent kicker in the Big Ten wasn't clear cut enough. Was it that extra point he missed in September? Is it because his kickoffs only made it to the ten? I don't get it.

1. JARED ODRICK? I don't want to bash Odrick, he's been a great player for Penn State all season. I'm happy that Greg Jones got the honor from the media, but I would've understood if he didn't receive the award. After all, I'm pretty sure Graham Zug scored again on a wheel route, and the failures of the MSU secondary drags the whole defense down, fair or unfair. However, I would've named Schofield, Graham, Angerer, Sash, Amari Speivey, Navarro Bowman, or Sean Lee DPOY before Odrick. Once again, Odrick deserved the honors he received as All-Big Ten, but there were several more deserving players this year in the Big Ten to be defensive player of the year.

Multitude of Casualties - Penn State 42, Michigan State 14

Pete Rossman — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:14:30 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

Yup.

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"It's worth noting throughout history / kids come around corners to a multitude of casualties."

- The Hold Steady

In the third quarter, Penn State actually punted. I certainly don't remember the game occurring in such a fashion, I remember Daryll Clark completing passes to his wide receivers on the sidelines and having said receivers walk into the end zone. It's not just that Penn State's offense was playing so well, it's that Michigan State offered them prime field position by way of spotty kick return coverage or two uncharacteristic Kirk Cousins interceptions where he forced the ball down the field. Either way, Michigan State got blown out, and thus ends one of the most painful struggles to bowl eligibility in Michigan State history.

The most shocking aspect of this game was the contrast between the two halves Michigan State played. The adjective for the first half was "conservative". The offense was balanced (almost to a fault, even though the run game was fine), and couldn't sustain a drive. The defense went into its typical "bend but don't break" mentality, and I was stunned to see it actually...well, work. Twice Penn State had to settle for field goal attempts (although one of these FGs was attempted on 3rd and 15), which they both missed. A late touchdown gave Penn State a 7-0 lead, then MSU had its best (read: only) significant drive of the game, an 87-yard drive ending with a gorgeous catch by Charlie Gantt to tie the game back up.

Then came the downfall.

I'm not going to rehash all aspects of the third quarter; I'm not interested in giving any Spartan PTSD. The one moment that sticks out in my mind was Clark dropping back with Penn State up 21-7, fresh off a Cousins' interception. The MSU rush was prolonged in reaching Clark, and when that happened, I cringed, and waited for the inevitable. Yup, completed pass to Zug near the sideline, and Zug did the Lindy Hop* into the end zone.

Alright, enough negativity. Next up is a bowl game, something Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Michigan fans wish they could say. This bowl game will most likely not be in Detroit, also a positive. As for other glints of hope, Keshawn Martin once again had a 70+ yard TD play, Greg Jones had another stellar performance (15 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks), and Cousins knows what he did wrong:

Yeah, I made poor decisions on both of them. I can't do that, it cost the football team and when you get in a little bit of a catch up mode because you're doing three-and-outs and then they get ahead by a couple of touchdowns. Instead of just staying patient and letting the game still come to me, I just tried to do too much to try and get it back so fast that I was trying to make plays where there weren't plays there to be made.

The biggest positive - any shred of credibility this defensive scheme had was obliterated last afternoon by 6 PM. That means changes will have to be made by Narduzzi, Dantonio, etc., because if they want to remain competitive; bend but don't break won't cut it anymore. One of the reasons MSU was so successful last year was that in the games they won, they won the turnover battle in almost every game. This year, State didn't force as near as many turnovers (I don't have the numbers to prove this, but this sure seems to be the case). At any rate, something needs to change, and any change in scheme to accommodate a better pass defense is welcomed

One more month until the last MSU football game of the season. In the meantime, I hear Michigan State plays this game with an orange sphere and two peach baskets. Apparently they're quite good in their matches, and if you need a break from fishing the remote control out from your drywall, that'd be your best bet.

At any rate, play us out Craig.

*Note - may not have happened. Zug definitely had the time for it though.

Disruption Percentage: The Saga Continues

KJ@theonlycolors — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Tom Strattman - AP

A nondisruptive play by the MSU defense.

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OR "Statistics That Will Help Bring You Down from the Post-Bowl-Game-Clinching-Win High"

Premise:

Boiled down to its basics, playing offense successfully in the sport of football is pretty simple:

Gain 10 yards in 3 tries.

Repeat until you reach the the end zone.

. . . At the hypothetical extreme, a team that could gain exactly 3.5 yards on every play could achieve that goal. Alternately, two rushing plays of 5 yards each or a single pass completion in three attempts for 10 yards does the trick.

The goal of any football defense, then, has to be to disrupt the opposing offense's rhythm, with the goal of creating a situation where picking up 3-5 yards per play isn't enough to keep a drive going.

In an attempt to quantify the success (or lack thereof) of the Michigan State defense in disrupting opposing offenses, we here at TOC have developed a new-fangled metric we call "disruption percentage." The percentage is calculated by summing the five defensive statistics below (presented in ascending order of disruptiveness) and dividing the total by the number of offensive plays run by the opposition:

Quarterback hurries: Increasing the odds the offense will throw an incomplete pass and lose an opportunity to gain yardage toward a first down
Pass break-ups: Ending an attempted pass play and reducing the number of downs the opposition has to pick up a first down
Tackles for loss: Increasing the yardage the offense has to gain to achieve a first down by sacking the quarterback or stopping a running play for a loss
Forced fumbles: Creating the opportunity to recover a fumble and end the opponent's offensive possession
Interceptions: Definitively ending the opponent's offensive possession

(Notes: (a) If specific stats on penalties by the opposing offense--holding, etc.--were readily available, we'd include those, as well. (b) We define "forced fumble" liberally, counting any fumble by the offense, even if it's not directly attributable to a defensive player. (c) Initially, we didn't include pass break-ups, but we've added them. That helps eliminate a bias toward blitzing; if you can rush 3 and drop 8 effectively, that should show up in pass break-ups. (d) There's some double-counting going on, as a QB hurry can lead to an interception, etc.)

Here are the updated game-by-game numbers for MSU:

Opponent	QBH	PBR	TFL	FF	INT	TOTAL	Plays	Disrupt%
Montana St	5	2	4	0	0	11	54	20.4
Central Mich	0	4	6	0	1	11	76	14.5
Notre Dame	1	3	4	1	1	10	71	14.1
Wisconsin	4	2	3	1	0	10	81	12.3
Michigan	1	3	10	3	1	18	60	30.0
Illinois	6	3	8	0	1	18	60	30.0
Northwestern	2	2	6	3	0	13	76	17.1
Iowa	0	4	5	0	0	9	66	13.6
Minnesota	0	1	5	1	1	8	72	11.1
Western	5	4	4	1	0	14	55	25.5
Purdue	0	3	5	2	0	10	92	10.9
TOTAL	24	31	60	12	5	132	763	17.3

The first time we went through this exercise was after the Northwestern game. At that point, we were hopeful that the back-to-back 30% performances, followed by the decent 17.1% against Northwestern's short-pass-based offense portended good things for the defense. It looked like maybe the new starters were gelling in the base 4-3 defense and our remaining opponents would suffer because of it.

Then we played two more games. Neither of which turned out very well.

LVS, during the week after the Minnesota game:

It probably comes as very little surprise to MSU fans that two of the three least disruptive defensive performances have come in the past two weeks. Iowa was somewhat predictable, as that's a team that will, ideally, play a conservative offensive game because their defense is so good. Of course, that's not exactly how things have worked out this season for them: one or two of the third quarter STANZIBALLS against Indiana would have been, uh, enormously useful in our game. Our complete failure to hurry the quarterback against Iowa probably cost us our chance at one or two easy interceptions. And the Minnesota game . . . well, we all knew that Saturday night was our worst defensive performance of the season, and these statistics certainly buttress that feeling.

Now we've played two more games. The defense's performance against Western was certainly acceptable (particularly given that the game had basically been decided before halftime).

The performance against Purdue? Not so much. While the disruption percentage was fractionally better than the season-low showing against Minnesota, I'm going to say the defensive performance against the Boilermakers was the worst of the season. Two reasons:

The Gophers made several spectacular passes/receptions against us on their way to 42 points. Purdue, on the other hand, just seemed to take the easy yards available to them all afternoon, without having to doing anything of particular offensive brilliance. (In the words of Mark Dantonio: "Today was a day of big plays for us. We made a play at the beginning of the game on defense, one at the end of the game on defense, and somewhere in there, there were 90 other plays.")
Four of the five tackles for loss MSU posted against Purdue were on running plays. So in terms of the pass defense, which has been the major concern all year long, the defense made only 4 disruptive plays on 55 Purdue passing attempts.

(We'll be able to say more about the exact nature of the miserable defensive performance against the Boilermakers when DrDetroit finishes his MSUFR later this week.)

The good news is that MSU got its first win of the season with a sub-15 disruption percentage. The bad news is that, going into the two remaining games against Penn State and a yet-to-be-determined bowl opponent that will probably have a decent offense, the Spartan defense appears to be getting less-and-less disruptive. The performances against Michigan and Illinois--two teams now at the bottom of the conference standings--clearly have to be classified as outliers. And the idea that sticking with your base defense in 90% of situations so that the players become a well-oiled machine as the season progresses doesn't carry much water any more.

Instead, predictable defensive schemes have lead to quotes like the ones below from opposing players/coaches.

Adam Weber:

We were just hoping that they were lined up in that same defense, and sure enough, first play walking up to the line, they’re in the defense we want them to be.

Danny Hope:

We had a great game plan. They have a very vanilla defensive formation. We knew what were up against and what we had to do. We just had to execute and I felt like we really did.

(HTs: Con-T, LVS)

Just to make sure that I'm not mixcontextualizing (word?) the MSU disruption percentage data, I went ahead and ran the numbers for the other ten Big Ten teams.

Team	QBH	PBR	TFL	FF	INT	TOTAL	Plays	Disrupt%	Yds/G	Yds/G Rk
Iowa	18	56	61	17	19	171	716	23.9	294.5	3
Wisconsin	18	29	73	13	13	146	612	23.9	307.4	4
Penn State	6	43	91	9	11	160	704	22.7	272.0	2
Ohio State	10	30	65	20	19	144	701	20.5	258.3	1
Illinois	15	40	56	16	4	131	685	19.1	400.3	10
Northwestern	19	22	56	22	14	133	705	18.9	345.2	5
Minnesota	4	49	61	23	9	146	784	18.6	381.8	8
Michigan	7	31	77	13	10	138	768	18.0	400.2	9
Purdue	3	32	73	20	10	138	769	17.9	368.8	7
Michigan St	24	31	60	12	5	132	763	17.3	350.9	6
Indiana	6	25	63	22	16	132	774	17.1	407.5	11
TOTAL	130	388	736	187	130	1,571	7,981	19.7

These are full-season numbers. Ideally, we'd work with conference-only numbers to get a flatter playing field, but those aren't readily available.

I've ranked the teams from best to worst in terms of disruption percentage and included total defense (yards/game) figures and ranks for comparison. My working hypothesis is that disruption percentage may have some predictive value, as it helps separate out the degree to which a defense is forcing bad plays versus the degree to which an offense is just executive really well.

(That's not a perfect distinction. Good pass blocking, for example, is obviously a function of good execution. But, as a pro-predictive example, disruption percentage gives a defense credit for a good pass rush that results in a quarterback hurry, even if the offense nevertheless throws a really good pass to a well-covered receiver that goes for a long gain. And it doesn't give credit for a pass an opposing quarterback just flat underthrows even though he's under no particular durress.)

The disruption percentage and total defense ranks show a high degree of correlation. Illinois and MSU are the exceptions. Based on my theory, that would mean Illinois has been somewhat unlucky and MSU has been somewhat lucky in terms of how their fundamental defensive performances have translated into yardage gained by their opponents. It could also mean Illinois plays an aggressive defense that gets burnt by long plays quite a bit--and vice versa for MSU.

Regardless, the numbers demonstrate that the Michigan State defense has been among the least disruptive in the conference this season--just two-tenths of a percentage point ahead of last-place Indiana. The best defense in the league come close to doing something disruptive on 1 out of every 4 plays. MSU, meanwhile, is doing it on only 1 of 6 plays. In their worst performances, that ratio drops to 1 out of every 9 plays.

Most BCS-conference-level offenses are going to find ways to pick up first downs when the defense doesn't do anything to force them out of their rhythm on 8 out of 9 plays. Fixing that big-picture problem is the key factor if this football team is to have any success in the two games that remain this season and, perhaps more importantly, in the new season that begins less than 10 months from now.

Bonus conference-wide observations, since we're here:

The league-leading number of quarterback hurries (24) for MSU is somewhat puzzling, given that 5 teams in the conference only register a QB hurry figure in the single digits. I initially thought this might be a function of inconsistent statistical scoring. But the number of hurries per game for MSU isn't any different at home than it is on the road; I'm assuming the same person scores the game for both sides in each game. Perhaps that's not the case for individual defensive stats, though. If that's the case and MSU QB-hurry numbers are inflated, their disruption numbers would become downright abysmal compared to the rest of the league. Alternately, the high number of QB hurries could be a function of blitzes that are only semi-effective; pass rushers are getting to the quarterback with a high frequency, but not in time to register a sack. (Although MSU does still rank 2nd in the league in sacks--so this whole thing has me puzzled.)
The Iowa secondary is as good as advertised. Totaling pass break-ups and interceptions, you get 75 disruptive plays in pass coverage for the Hawkeyes. That's 17 more than the second best subtotal in the league (Minnesota's 58).
Given Michigan's disappointing season, Brandon Graham won't win the Big Ten defensive player of the year award. But he may well be the single most effective defensive player in the league. On a team with only the 8th highest disruption percentage in the league, he's registered 26 individual disruptive plays (21.0 TFLs, 2 FFs, 2 PBRs, 1 QBH), which represents nearly 1 out 5 (18.8%) of his team's total disruptive plays.
Those numbers do trail O'Brien Schofield's (29.5 disruptive plays; 19.5 TFLs, 7 QBHs, 2 FFs, 1 PBR; 20.2% of his team's total), but Schofield is presumably getting more help from his comrades on the Wisconsin defense so that opposing offenses can't focus on double-teaming him quite as much.
Other top performers: Adrian Clayborn (Iowa) has 27.5 disruptive plays. Ryan Kerrigan (Purdue) has 23.5. Jamie Kirlew (Indiana) also has 23.5. Somewhat frighteningly, Penn State has three players with at least 16: Jack Crawford (17.5), Navorro Bowman (17.0), and Sean Lee (16.5).
The individual numbers are obviously skewed toward defensive linemen, since tackles for losses make up almost half of disruptive plays.
Greg Jones has 20.0 disruptive plays (11.0 TFLs, 7 QBHs,1 FF, 1 PBR). That's a very good total for a linebacker and equal to 15.2% of MSU's total.
Returning to the frightening-Penn-State-stat category, the Nittany Lions' 91 tackles for loss are 14 better than the #2 team in the league (Michigan). Kirk Cousins is going to need to get the ball out to his receivers quickly on Saturday and, even more than usual, shouldn't count on any help from the running game.
Ohio State leads the league in the percentage of plays on which a potential turnover (forced fumbles plus interceptions) is created: 5.6%. In the other three categories, they're actually pretty unremarkable.
Michigan State, meanwhile, ranks dead last in that category at just 2.3%.
Let's go ahead and end there, for empahsis.

Michigan State preview

BoilerTMill — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:52:29 -0000

When I saw this game on the schedule I felt it was the biggest toss-up of the year. I expected to be teetering on the edge of bowl eligibility at this point (certainly without wins over Ohio State and Michigan) but I didn't know what to think of the Spartans. Being game 11, it was hard to predict how seasons would turn out on both sides. I felt confidence about beating Indiana, but I have virtually ignored Michigan State for multiple reasons. First, the game felt far off. Second, it later felt like the game would not matter. Now that it is here, I still don't know what to think.

I am really surprised that this is the best offense in the Big Ten. I am more surprised that their defense has been so bad. Like Ben and I discussed in the podcast last night, just about the opposite was expected from the Spartans. The defense has been pretty good at home, but has struggled mightily on the road. As Ben said though, they have faced better offenses (Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota) on the road than at home (Western Michigan, Montana State, Michigan).

In short this is a huge game for both teams, though we have less of a margin for error (none) than Michigan State.

2009 Record: 5-5, 3-3 Big Ten

2008 Record: 9-4, 6-2 Big Ten

Bowl Result: lost Capitol One Bowl 24-12 to Georgia

Blog Representation: The Only Colors, The Enlightened Spartan, Sparty MSU

Series with Purdue: Michigan State leads 30-28-3

Last Purdue win: 11/4/2006 at Michigan State 17-15

Last Michigan State win: 11/8/2008 at Michigan State 21-7

Long lost brothers meet again

Michigan State offense:

This is really the best offense statistically in the Big Ten? I guess you're right. Michigan is flaky. Ohio State wins with defense, as does Iowa Most of the time. Minnesota has had one great offensive game against Michigan State. Indiana is surprisingly good. Illinois has only been good for two weeks. Northwestern is opportunistic. Purdue moves the ball, but we give it away almost as much as we score. Penn State can't score against good teams. Wisconsin is afraid to pass. That leaves Michigan State.

The Spartans don't have a dominant running back like Javon Ringer any more, but their running game is surprisingly balanced. No one has run for more than 400 yards, but seven players have at least 100 yards rushing (compared to three such players for us). Leading rusher Larry Coyer (375 yard, 6 TD's) is a question mark after suffering a concussion a few weeks ago, but Ashton Leggett (110-4) took over the position with authority last week by running for 110 yards and 4 TD's on 14 carries. He had one carry for 0 yards previously, and that came in the season opener against Montana State. Edwin Baker (242-0) also had his best game of the season last week with 15 carries for 78 yards.

Ashton Leggett had a breakout game against Western Michigan

At quarterback we will see both kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol. Thoughts on that issue are best summed up here by the Michigan State faithful. Cousins (158-148, 14 TD, 5 INT, 2,097 yards) has been by far the better quarterback, but Mark Dantonio insists on getting Nichol (45-86, 6 TD, 3 INT, 680 yards) some work in each game. The duo has combined to be the best passing attack in the league, so our secondary will be tested. Expect Cousins to start and Nichol to play.

Nichol and Cousins like to spread the ball around, though there is one top receiver to focus on. Blair White (58-836-7) will remind Purdue fans a lot of Chris Daniels. He is one of the conference's top receivers and will be the number one option on many plays. B.J. Cunningham (41-510-3) is a solid second option as Michigan State will likely look to pass first. Tight end Brian Linthicum (18-259-2) gives each quarterback a reliable safety valve and goal line option. Keshawn Martin (12-251-3) is a speedy deep threat. He has a 91 yard score on his resume this season. Mark Dell (25-392-1) can also be a deep option.

The reason that Michgian State's passing game has been so successful is its offensive line. The Spartans have given up just 12 sacks on the year, but they have yet to see a pass rush as fierce as ours. I fear another Wisconsin game because Michigan State has a big, experienced offensive line. Seniors Brendon Moss, Joel Nitchman, and Rocco Cironi form the core, but juniors Joel Foreman and D.J. Young are hardly stiffs. This is not a tall line, but they are compact and strong. We must respond tot heir physicality better than we did against Wisconsin.

Michigan State defense:

While our defense may struggle to slow down their very good passing game, our own passing game should have plenty of room to move as long as we can avoid turnovers. Michigan State defends the run well, giving up barely more than 100 yards per game. They are giving up over 230 yards per game through the air with a whopping 22 touchdowns. Ball security could be even more of an issue. Michigan State has forced only 11 turnovers this season, so it is critical that we don't help them out with dumb turnovers like we have helped other teams all year long.

The run defense begins with one of the best linebackers in the Big Ten, if not the entire country. Greg Jones is a beast of a player in the middle. He already has 117 tackles (11 for loss) 7.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. He loves to get after the quarterback, and you can bet he will end up wherever the ball is. Fellow linebackers Brandon Denson (54 tackles) and Eric Gordon (70 tackles) help him out. All three are the top tacklers for Michigan State.

Michigan State starts a pair of senior defensive ends in Trevor Anderson (4 sacks) and Colin Neely (2 sacks). Tackles Jerel Worthy and Oren Wilson are stout against the run, while Worthy can get into the backfield with 4.5 sacks. Wilson is a big nose tackle that will be difficult to get around in the middle of the line, but we mostly run outside anyway.

The Spartan secondary can be exploited. Corners Chris Rucker and Jeremy Ware have been disappointing this year. Each has just one interception, but more than 40 tackles. Marcus Hyde and Dan Fortener have played every game at the safety spots, but have only one interception between them. We should have some room to move in the passing game since coverage is not their strong suit.

Michigan State Special Teams:

Aaron Bates is one of the league's better punters at 42 yards per kick. Teams are averaging 8 yards per return against him, but we seem to be employing a strategy of catching the ball then falling down of late, so it doesn't matter. Michigan State is giving up 22 yards per kick return, so ATM might have some room.

Brett Swinson is one of the best kickers in the Big Ten. He has hit on 14 of 16 field goal with a long of 45. he did miss his only attempt last week from 37, so he isn't automatic. Keshawn Martin is a dangerous kick returner who has already taken one back for a score. He also returns punts, so our coverage must be better than last week.

Intangibles:

Purdue clearly needs this more. We're on a roll (if you remove the Wisconsin game) and playing at home with a senior class that has overachieved this year. Michigan State can afford a loss, while we cannot. They at least have the fallback of a second chance at home next week. We do not.

Michigan State has also performed poorly on the road this year. They grabbed a win at Illinois when Illinois was terrible, but it was only a hard fought 10 point victory. They gave up a ton of points to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in their other road trips. I am really surprised that their defense has underperformed this season. It was supposed to be a strength while the offense replaced Brian Hoyer and Jevon Ringer. Instead, the offense has been fine while the defense has given up a ton of yards through the air.

Defensively, we want to make Michigan State run the ball. They do not have a strong running game, and many of its numbers are inflated by last week and the opener against Montana State. They have had the luxury of two laughers there, while we have had about half of one against Toledo. If our secondary can keep the passing game in check I have confidence the run defense will come around. Michigan and Wisconsin have gashed us the last two weeks, but they are much better running teams than the Spartans. Of course, Illinois was a bad running team too.

Offensively, if we can establish some balance with Ralph Bolden I think we will do very well. If we somehow get him to 100 yards I do not see us losing because the passing game will have plenty of time to work.

Keys to the Game for Purdue:

Do not let their running game get moving
Establish Ralph Bolden
No stupid turnovers
Control the clock
Get after Cousins/Nichol

The Rivalry Is Watching You: Wisconsin DE O'Brien Schofield v. Indiana

grahamfiller10 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:42:33 -0000

I am watching Wisconsin's All American defensive end O'Brien Schofield this week. How would Indiana protect Ben Chappell from this TFL demon? Would Schofield be tested by the tricky playcalling of Bill Lynch? How much NFL talent does this hybrid DE/OLB possess?

First Quarter

Wisconsin doesn't alter their defensive scheme the entire game, showing little fear of the Indiana attack. Schofield plays in the three point position the entire game, coming off the right side of the Wisconsin 4-3. The Badgers run a stunt maybe twice the whole game, showing tremendous confidence in their cornerbacks playing one on one, even if this confidence wasn't totally in line.

Schofield (OS) will be taking on #76, big James Brewer, most of the day. Early on, the Hoosiers run away from OS, but get stuffed by JJ Watt and the solid Wisconsin LB corp. The Badgers force a punt, only to watch the punt returner muff the catch. Indiana throws a couple quick passes and it's 7-0.

Wisconsin evens the score at 7 and OS lays out the kick returner. What is the star defensive end doing on the kickoff team? The Badgers get another stop and we see Indiana double teaming OS on every single play. On one play, the Hoosiers hit OS high with an OL and low with a cut block. Looks illegal and painful. Indiana punt and Wisconsin drives down for a field goal, 10-7.

Second Quarter

Indiana hasn't generated a single thing offensively yet. The base of their problems lies in Wisconsin's ability to jam the Pistol run game. It looks like basic man blocking and the running back is coming from 7 yards off the ball; Wisconsin is winning most of those one on one battles. IU runs at OS for the first time - Schofield holds up Brewer and helps stuff the play. Wisconsin takes over after a Ben Chappell INT and runs over IU for a TD. 17-7, Badgers.

OS is beating Brewer on angles in the run game, firing himself low into double teams and around #76. OS gets his first tackle, well maybe a half tackle, but Chris Borland cleans up nicely. Indiana punts and Wisky scores AGAIN. 24-7 and I'm worried this could be about it.

Whoops, spoke too soon. Chappell makes two deep throws, good for about 80 yards combined, and the Hoosiers make it 24-14 with a few minutes to go in the second quarter. OS is being doubled one every play and then Brewer even gets a pancake block, pushing OS down and laying on him. Send that tape to the NFL scouts James!

Wait a minute James, maybe hold off on sending that tape. After stopping another OS spin move, Schofield goes to his bread and butter: power and speed off the edge. OS blows by Brewer and gets a big sack to end the last Hoosier drive before the half. He baited James and used his 4.6 speed and agility to get to the QB. Beautiful. Halftime.

Third Quarter

Some clever playcalling by IU to begin the half. Screens to the middle of the field, quick slants...IU is moving the ball, chipping and doubling OS at every chance. Lynch has also made an adjustment at the half, the mark of a good coach I might add. Seeing the off tackle Pistol running wasn't working, he switches to simple dives with Bryan Payton, who gets 7 yards a pop as the Badger DT's are blown off the LOS. The second pass play IU runs, OS beats Brewer like Belushi destroying a guitar, but barely misses a sack.

Quick aside here - Schofield gets major plus points here for his on-field IQ. When he recognizes that a power rush won't work, because of a rollout or double, he instantly shuffles back into the middle of the field to look for dump offs or QB scrambles. Very mature move for a pass rusher.

Indiana is driving deep into Wisky territory until Schofield's second impact play ends the drive. He uses a combo of speed and power to push past Brewer's outside shoulder and hits Chappell as he throws - the ball flutters into the arms of a waiting Borland. The camera zooms in on Schofield's fashionable fohawk on the sideline.

Lynch learns his lesson and spends the next possession doubling Schofield. This fails on the first running attempt and OS blows up a run. IU tries a reverse (damn Bill Lynch, he'll try anything) and Schofield holds his ground, showing that tremendous sideline to sideline speed and almost catching the speedy IU receiver. For the first time we see a negative in Schofield's repertoire of pass rush moves - the spin move is completely ineffective and slow, much different than the vicious whirling spinner of Greg Jones. Every time Brewer sees OS put on the spin cycle, he simply pushes the body of OS and neutralizes it. In the meantime, IU punts and it's still 24-14.

Fourth Quarter

Wisconsin spent the rest of the game giving up deep passes to IU and trying to blow leads. To the conclusion!

Conclusion, Stats, Impressions, Etc...

Game Stats: 1 Sack, 3 QB pressures (one which directly led to a pick), 1 tackle...Pancake blocked once...

Season Stats: 44 tackles, 18.5 TFL's, 7.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles

Accolades: Bednarik Award Semifinalist

Wisconsin Rush Defense in the Big Ten: Allowed no 100 yard rushers...Allowed no team to rush for 100 yards...70 ypg rushing allowed...

Impression and NFL Draft Discussion: OS is a true pass rusher, as the TFL's and high number of sacks suggest, but is quick enough to play outside linebacker. His speed off the edge, combined with excellent agility, make him a scary figure to block one on one. Agility allows him to dip below the hands of offensive lineman. Loves exhibiting 4.6 speed and really pumps his arms and legs to get leverage. Wasn't asked to do much pass coverage against IU, but the one time he dropped into a zone, got physical with a receiver instantly. Truly a defensive leader, as some pre-game inspirational yelling suggests, and obviously loves screwing up offensive gameplans with his individual skill. Projected in the third round of the NFL Draft and I'm sure some team can make room for a 6'2'' 250 lb ball of energy with a great attitude. Does have a bit of the Jared Allen "always moving, always fighting" on-field personality, but is much smoother.