SB Nation - Jared Odrick

Spaulding Roundup: Owls Flooding DC, Preparing For Bruins As If Getting Ready For Penn State & Other Notes

Nestor — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:43:34 -0000

Temple's Matt "the Bug" Brown, all 5-5, 167 pounds of him is a key cog in the Owls running attack as he has rushed for 446 yards, 4 TDs

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While the Bruins continue to have a good time in their (Donahuesque) preparations to go bowling, the entire Temple Owls program is preparing for what it appears to be their Super Bowl against UCLA in Washington DC. The Temple Owls athletic program have set up a special deal with Amtrak encouraging Owl fans to flood Washington DC:

The Temple University Athletics Department and Amtrak are encouraging fans to take the train to Washington, D.C., to watch the Owls and UCLA play in the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium on Dec. 29.

With approximately 100 trains between Philadelphia and Washington every day, Amtrak is the most convenient way to the game.

Amtrak offers a number of discounts that are available to Owls’ fans, including a 10 percent discount for AAA members and active duty U.S. military personnel and their spouses and dependents. Members of Student Advantage and seniors 62 and over receive a 15 percent discount, and children ages 2 through 15 travel at 50 percent off when accompanied by a full-fare paying adult. Amtrak is also offering a 25 percent discount on its Northeast Regional service for those who would prefer an extended stay in Washington.

Would be interesting to know if UCLA athletic department can do the same for all UCLA alums living in the major cities on Amtrak line for this game as well. Either way I hope the Bruins better be ready to play in a game atmosphere which might end up feeling like a road game at fired up Autzen or Husky football stadium with much colder and icier winter weather.

Perhaps the "camaraderie" the team is building through over the wall stunt, diving around at the Spieker Aquatics Center, enjoying Magic Mountain will help the team to get more loose and focused next Tuesday. However, I have to say part of me is feeling very uneasy whether our team will have the requisite fire and intensity to get it done against jacked up Owl team backed by thousands of their fans.

As for the Owls, they are preparing for UCLA as if they are getting ready of Penn State. Specifically Al Golden is seeing similarities between the Bruins and Nittany Lions:

UCLA has similar players to the Nittany Lions and runs similar schemes, Golden said Thursday. But this isn't good news for Temple (9-3), which is going to its first bowl game in 30 years. The Owls lost 31-6 to Penn State on Sept. 19.

"Offensively, they look very similar to Penn State," Golden said. "On the other side of the ball, they look like Penn State. They have probably five or six (future NFL) draft choices. They have dominant players in the front seven and linebackers that could run. It's a great challenge for us."

More on the Owls' line of thinking and notes on their team after the jump.

Golden and his coaches have specifically zeroed in on the similarities between the defensive lines of Lions and Bruins. To drill down bit further they are seeing a lot of PSU's Jared Odrick (who led the Nittany Lions with six sacks and had 10 tackles for losses totaling 56 yards) when watching the game films of Brian Price. Needless to say our big guy will have the full attention of the Owl's offensive line:

"I thought Odrick was the best, but these guys were saying he's better," Golden said. "After we played Penn State, I didn't think we would see anyone as good as him. (Price) is a heck of a football player, quick off the ball and very disruptive. He's hard to block and someone we're concerned about."

Price has seven sacks and 22½ tackles for losses this season.

Temple named its offensive line the team MVP in its recent banquet. The Owls gave up just 18 sacks all season, tied for 39th in the countrt, and had four games in which they didn't give up any.

But the line is going to have its toughest job to date. Penn State's four sacks against Temple were the second-most the Owls allowed all season. And Price is just as explosive as Odrick.

The job of blocking Price could go to any one of the offensive guards, including freshman backup Jeff Whittingham, an Atlantic City High School graduate.

"We watched film on him. He's a great player," Temple senior offensive tackle Devin Tyler said. "I will see him a couple of times, and we'll be ready. But he's a great player and dominates games."

How the Owls handle Price and what the Bruins do to anticipate and attack will be critical because the game is going to hinge on how the Bruins handle the Temples rushing attack. Sportsline.com has the following scouting report on the Owls' offense:

Temple, home to one of the best and most physical o-lines in the MAC (a jumbo-sized unit that includes a pair of first-team all-league performers in Darius Morris and Colin Madison and averages 6-foot-5 and 318 pounds from tackle to tackle), will rely on its two-headed tailback approach of freshmen Bernard Pierce and Matt "the Bug" Brown, who are now called "Bernie and the Bug" by their Owl teammates. The 6-foot, 212-pound Pierce has established himself as one the top ballcarriers in the country on his way to setting Temple freshman records with 1,308 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Brown, all 5-5, 167 pounds of him, has risen steadily on the depth chart to become the chief backup for Pierce.

If UCLA packs the box with defenders to slow down "Bernie and the Bug", then Temple head coach Al Golden has shown that he isn't afraid to use Pierce as a decoy -- faking handoffs to him, freezing the defense and then punishing the Zips with a nice blend of play-action passes, reverses to speedy wideouts and some option runs by mobile quarterback Chester Stewart, who will be making just his fifth college start.

Bruins will have to find a way to get to Stewart. From what I have read apparently he "could be rattled" if our guys find a way to land couple of huge shots early on and disrupt him from getting into any kind of comfort zone. Note he will be making just his fifth collegiate start and was apparently "clearly rattled" in their regular season finale against Ohio, completing just seven of his 22 passes for just 92 yards.

The other key Temple players Bruins need to keep an eye on Tuesday:

WR/KR James Nixon -- The fastest player on the team (4.3 speed in the 40), Nixon is Temple's top kick returner with 497 yards and two touchdowns on 17 returns. He became the first player in school history to score a kickoff return touchdown in consecutive games. He ranks No. 10 nationally with 29.24 yards per return.

DE Adrian Robinson -- The sophomore defensive end earned 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors after setting a school single-season record for sacks with 12. He ranks No. 10 nationally in sacks (0.92 per game). Robinson also has a team-best 12 tackles for loss and a team-best five forced fumbles.

LB Alex Joseph -- A team captain, Joseph leads all Temple defenders with 73 tackles, including a team-best 46 solo takedowns and 5.0 tackles for loss. He also has two breakups, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery.

Robinson and Joseph are keys to one of the best rushing defenses (108.8 yards per game allowed) in the country. The strength of the Owls' defense is its front seven, which besides Robinson and Joseph includes potential future pros such as Andre Neblett at nose tackle. Per Sportsline.com Neblett and Robinson "routinely occupy multiple blockers, allowing Jaiquawn Jarrett (70 tackles), Dominique Harris (68 tackles) and the Joseph brothers, Alex (73 tackles) and Elijah (56 stops), to make plays."

As mentioned yesterday the key for the Bruins on Tuesday will be to mix it up with a balanced offense bringing different looks. I think this Owl team will be well prepared for the base look Bruins showed against the Arizona State and Southern Cal defenses. Given Prince's shoulder status and Craft's track record, Owls will also most likely stack the box and force the Bruins to beat them with our passing game. I think the Bruins should take up that challenge (unless we have brutal wintery weather conditions via rain, sleet or snow) and go to the passing game (including looking for opportunities to go down field) to set up our running attack.

Either way I hope our guys are mentally prepared. While I am excited personally to see our guys in person for the first time in years, a big part of me is anxious about our preparations for the actual game. I don't think this is a game Rick Neuheisel can afford to lose heading into his third season in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

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.

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Still Creeped Out By "Obie"

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:48:01 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Obie, left, the Orange Bowl mascot, along with Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson, center, and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, right, pose for photos after a news conference for the upcoming Orange Bowl game in Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Looking at the above picture, we're just filled with questions. What do they do with those oranges in the trophy after the picture? How often do they shuffle out the oranges? Has anyone ever eaten one straight from the trophy during one of these silly photo ops? Has anyone realized that Paul Johnson is a zombie? Doesn't Obie hate always looking to his (her? its? their?!) right? Why does he have arms where his ears should be? What's with the stalker there on the left?

Anyhoo.

More like Tricky Stanzi! Am I right? No? Fine: As expected, Ricky Stanzi returned to practice yesterday.

From Hawkmania:

With Stanzi gone to the locker room with a severe ankle sprain, the Hawkeyes lost that game.

They lost again the next week in overtime in a Big Ten showdown at Ohio State, but managed to scrape out a 12-0 victory over Minnesota in the season finale.

Stanzi was on the sidelines for those games, serving as a personal tutor to his young replacement, James Vandenberg.

He said he was proud of the way the freshman from Keokuk performed in his stead, but he’s ready to take his job back now.

And uh, we're ready for that too. No offense to Vandenberg, who was admirable as an emergency replacement, but his performance thus far wasn't terribly confidence-inspiring. Vandenberg struggled mightily against Northwestern, and though he rebounded for a solid (if inconsistent) performance at Ohio State, the yucks returned against Minnesota the next week. That's 1 for 3 on competent QBing by Vandenberg. Stanzi, as we've mentioned before, has the uncanny ability to keep both teams in a game, but he's been enough to get the job done on a remarkably consistent basis.

There's no telling how each QB will practice between now and January 5, of course, but assuming the 3 1/2 weeks are enough for Stanzi to shake any rust off, we don't really expect to see Vandenberg on the field during meaningful play. If he does, something has likely gone very wrong once again, and we are D-U-M-E-D doomed.

Laugh if you must, but these guys are more like you than you want to admit: Um, yikes.

(via the Fanshots)

Our commenters already noticed the Grant-spot in his pile of cash, but did you guys notice that under it were nothing but 20s? So he basically said "Look, I have 330 dollars in my account. I can't make it rain hundreds. We could do three 50s and nine 20s... no, that's only 12 bills. That looks thin. Okay, one 50 and 14 20s. That's 15. That'll look badass probably."

And did they have to shoot it in Cedar Rapids and find some abandoned, flooded-out old building? What are they trying to say about the Hawkeyes here? Sheesh.

You should see the other guy's leg. When Gable passes it through his stool: So Dan Gable has a broken leg. You're probably wondering how he broke it, and it's pretty normal really: some cheating bastard brought a baseball bat in during a blindfolded martial arts tournament. Errr, no, never mind. That's not true.

Gable fell after his foot got caught in one of the cracks between the decking, he said."I can't do too many things that I normally do right now, like shovel snow and all that stuff," Gable said. "So I've got it pretty much made."

I like how they say "the decking" as if we're supposed to know exactly which one they're talking about. "Oh yeah, on Doc Muller's porch! He needs to get that redone, I tell ya."

Have we figured out why "Graham" isn't two syllables? That seems to be the bigger issue: As mentioned yesterday, the Trib split the Silver Football award between Daryll Clark and Brandon Graham. Whether they split the silver football along the seams or straight down the middle is unreported.

Shockingly, Pat Harty disapproves:

The problem with Graham being selected is that Michigan finished just 1-7 in the Big Ten this season, and its defense was terrible at times. A more logical choice would have been Wisconsin defensive end O'Brien Schofield or Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick or Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer. Not only did they perform well, but their teams also won 10 games during the regular season.

It would be different if Michigan had finished 5-3 or 4-4, or even 3-5 in the conference. But it doesn't make sense to have the Big Ten co-MVP come from a team that finished in a tie for last place, especially when there were some other worthy candidates.

We (unwittingly) performed a pre-emptive strike on this line of reasoning during last week's podcast: Here's the deal. Graham was the best player in the BXI this season. He was unblockable. But when 9 or 10 of your fellow defensive players are miserably bad at their job, it's going to mean a long season no matter what. After all, Graham registered 25 tackles for a loss, which is an insane amount. It's still only a hair over two per game. That's maybe enough to swing a few games if the rest of the defense is competent. That wasn't the case, and that wasn't Graham's fault.

QUICK HITZ:

NCAA Tournament to go to 96 teams? Jesus god no. Keep it at 65, and if you want to make any changes, make the play-in game be the last two teams to receive at-large bids rather than two 16-seeds who actually earned an automatic bid. A play-in between two 12-seeds would be so much more entertaining.

Bryan Bulaga fails to live up to hype: As the Hlog notes, casting aside the silliness of the BXI handing him Lineman of the Year, Bulaga didn't really impress scouts a whole lot this season. He's still projected as a first-rounder, but we strongly feel that he needs to come back to Iowa. And never leave. Please don't go. We need you. We miss your musk.

Wait, your productivity hasn't been annihilated yet? Kiss that sucker goodbye: MST3K on Hulu. You're welcome.

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.

Preview: Michigan State vs. Penn State

LVS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:20:02 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

about 1 month ago: Michigan State's Keshawn Martin (82) scores a touchdown on a 48-yard pass reception during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Western Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 49-14. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS

SPARTAN STADIUM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN

3:30 (ET), ABC (coverage map)

WEATHER: 52 DEGREES AT KICKOFF, TEMPERATURE FALLING AFTER DUSK.

Hey, a game that's not the most important of the season! Your Spartans obviously did the heavy lifting last week against Purdue; in all likelihood, this game is not about whether MSU will make a bowl, but rather, about whether we're going to San Antonio or Orlando or, of course, rollin' down Woodward to Ford Field (!). Penn State, after a season that has to be characterized as quite disappointing, amazingly still has a shot at a BCS berth. You know the backstory: last season, PSU absolutely demolished us; the season before, however, was good times:

It appears that the play-by-play guy attended the Joe Buck school of announcing excitement. Also, I miss Devin Thomas.

So, here cometh TEH GREATEST RIVALRY GAME IN ALL TEH LAND, and the opportunity to beat a team with a pulse for the first time this season. (Says the guy whose team's best win is against Temple. w00t.) The 8-million member PSU blogosphere and commentariat seems surprisingly reticent about this game. But, after last week's defensive fiasco I'm simply not comfortable picking us to win against teams with competent offenses. Penn State is such a team. I'd love to be proven wrong.

More, after the jump.

Big game plz, Colin.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON DEFENSE: At this point, I think the secondary is probably going to suck no matter what we do, so we might as well stack the box to try to stop the run and get as much pressure on Darryl Clark as possible. Indeed, as RUTS told us, this is what you want to do with Clark:

He's like about any other good, but not great, quarterback. If he has a clean pocket and can set his feet, he's as good as anyone in the country. If he gets hit too much, he gets rattled and starts making bad decisions with the ball. In that sense, he can be knocked back into looking like a talented quarterback in his second or third start -- he thinks he can make throws that he can't actually pull off.

Clark struggled mightily in the Iowa and Ohio State games--and even in the Illinois game--because he was under pressure (ding ding ding da da ding ding). Pressuring him may allow Clark some opportunities to scramble (as Brian said earlier this year, he's "not Michael Vick but isn't John Navarre, either."), but it's probably the best chance to contain the PSU offense. PSU partisans seem to think that our defensive line will have success against their offensive line, and pressure Clark heavily; I'm not so certain. Many anticipated that Penn State's offensive line was going to be the downfall of the team this year, as it was the most inexperienced group in the conference. PSU has allowed only 12 sacks on the season, although it looked overmatched against Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward, among others. But, uh, we don't have Clayborn or Heyward; we've got a defensive line which failed to pressure Joey Elliott (until the last play, of course), and hasn't proven the ability to apply pressure on its own. My suspicion is that, if PSU is content to throw from three-step drops, they'll have a lot of success: we won't have the ability to get to Clark that quickly, and our secondary is obviously vulnerable. Bottom line: stack the box, try to get pressure, hope for the best.

And, about those guys Clark will be throwing to: RUTS sez . . .

Starting WR Chaz Powell is out for the game with a shoulder injury. In his place, you'll see a rotating group including the very tall Brett Brackett and the very quick Curtis Drake. Maybe true freshman Justin Brown gets in the game, but I doubt it. Graham Zug had a nightmare game against Indiana last week, but that was mostly due to fumbling punts. He runs good routes and gets open against passive zone coverages. Really, that goes for the whole group -- if you can press and bump them, they become ineffective quickly. [ . . . ]

Derek Moye is probably our best receiver, but he was totally shut out by Ohio State's press coverage and only had two catches for 28 yards against Indiana. Because of that, I suspect PSU will make an effort to get him involved quickly.

Moye is indeed good: 41 catches for 676 yards and 5 touchdowns this season. He's 6'5", 195 pounds . . . and if you're thinking, "holy hell, he's Mike Floyd in disguise," well, yeah, me too. He's not quite there, talent-wise, but, erm, I wouldn't want to be fighting for a jump ball against him. I suspect that our cornerbacks wouldn't want to be, either. And, yeah, about that Quarless guy: he reminds me a lot of Kellen Davis in that he's ludicrous athletically, but the results don't quite meet the expectations. But, the same could be said of Garrett Graham, and that didn't end so well for us earlier this year.

This is probably Evan Royster's last regular season game for Penn State, as most expect him to jump to the NFL.
Last year, he only carried the ball 12 times against MSU, but those carries were relatively successful, as he averaged 6.6 yards per game. This season, he's been a bit up-and-down: he had big games against Northwestern and Minnesota, but not-so-good efforts against Iowa and Ohio State. MSU's rush defense has been mostly a positive this season, although last week was a bit of a regression. I suspect that Royster will approach 100 yards but not be the deciding factor in this game. His backup, Stephfon Green, has intermittently battled injuries and hasn't played much or well since the Illinois game much earlier this season.

Safe to say at this point: one of my all-time favorite Spartan football players.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON OFFENSE: . . . we need for Kirk Cousins to have the best game of his career. As a preliminary matter, let's stipulate that we're going to get basically nothing against Penn State on the ground: the Lions are 8th nationally against the run, and our rushing offense is not good. The goal in this game should be to do just enough to semi-effectively set up play action.

Ah, so the main event: MSU's passing offense vs. Penn State's pass defense. It starts wtih the offensive line, obviously. Penn State doesn't have Tamba Hali or Courtney Brown or anyone of similar fear-producing ability, but the stats are certainly there: they lead the conference in sacks, and while Brian noted that:

[t]he numbers are impressive—PSU is 11th nationally with three sacks per game—but there is the whole schedule thing to take into account. Jack Crawford has four sacks, all of which come against the Akrons and Temples on the schedule. In Penn State's three real-ish games, they acquired one sack (Odrick) against Minnesota, three (Crawford, Latimore, Stanley) against Illinois, and two (Hull and Crawford/Lynn) against Iowa.

. . . Penn State sacked Forcier/Robinson 5 times, and then, the next week, sacked Mike Kafka 6 times. Since then, things have cooled down a bit: they weren't able to sack Terrelle Pryor (although Pryor is surely one of the most difficult sacks in the country), and were only able to get to Ben Chappell twice last week. Nonetheless, this is an impressive line; they're led by scary beast Jared Odrick, who has 6 sacks, and the aforementioned Jack Crawford, who now has 5.5. RUTS says that:

Penn State loves to just send the defensive line if they can get away with it. The defensive scheme actually depends on it, but PSU's defensive ends have been several notches below their predecessors. There's no Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, or Tamba Hali on this defensive line, so they'll send linebackers on occasion, and maybe mix in a corner blitz once or twice per game, but that's it.

We can't let them get tons of pressure from the front four alone. I know it's tempting disaster to say that I *want* Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, and the corners to blitz, but Penn State blitzing and leaving the secondary exposed is how Cousins will be able to throw for lots of yards.

Penn State's defense is statistically impressive against the pass: 16th nationally in pass efficiency defense, and 17th nationally in pass defense. Once again, I'll let RUTS write my preview for me:

Penn State can be thrown on, but they do their best to protect any obvious liabilities in the secondary. Free Safety Nick Sukay has steadily improved throughout the year. Drew Astorino (#28) plays the other safety position, and it's no secret that he's trying to fight through a shoulder injury. CB A.J. Wallace sustained a concussion last week, he's listed as "possible" for Sparty. So there may be opportunities for you in the passing game.

So, PSU is good, but they're not scary in the way that Iowa is: this season, the Lions have allowed 252 yards passing to Northwestern, 263 to Illinois (!), and 298 last week to Indiana. (Note that they won all three of those games, however.) Quite frankly, our passing offense is better than any of those teams'. I think Cousins has a big day, and throws for at least 250 yards; look for B.J. Cunningham to play the Devin Thomas role this time around. If he's able to deliver, Cousins stands in line for first team all-conference honors, so there should be some personal motivation, too.

FINAL PREDICTION: Cut and paste, for starters:

Clark picked our defense apart last year, and while you don't have Derrick Williams anymore, our pass defense is even worse this time around. Also, I have distressing visions of Jared Odrick pwning whoever's blocking him and not giving Cousins enough time to be comfortable.

More generally, Dantonio has done a lot of good things during his time at MSU, but beating teams with appreciably more talent certainly hasn't been one of those things. So, I'll remain skeptical until we finally win one of these games. It's at home, which is good, and I could definitely see the special teams stats ending up very lopsided in our favor. But PSU is the better team, and you're playing for more: a win for us would upgrade our bowl game slightly, but a win for PSU might send you guys to the BCS. So, an upset isn't out of the possibility, but I'm not particularly optimistic.

I wrote that yesterday morning, and honestly, I'm a bit more optimistic now. Penn State fans seem quite worried about this game, and one columnist even questions whether Penn State's players even have their hearts into the game anymore. Which, like, what? Even if that's true, you're playing for the BCS! I'd dismiss it out of hand if the sentiment didn't seem to be a common one across the PSU internets.

One thing that doesn't fit into my normal preview format: if you've been reading previews of this game anywhere else, you'll know that PSU's special teams have been an unmitigated disaster this year, and ours have been very good. I'm normally skeptical that special teams play has any predictive value, but here the discrepancy between the teams seems so great that it may indeed be relevant this week. Keshawn Martin, Brett Swenson, Aaron Bates: keep on doing what you do so well. kthx.

Nonetheless, this is a pretty talented football team we're playing. PSU is excellent on defense, and the offense -- with many of the same players -- ripped us apart last year. It seems that I'm saying this every week now, but truly, our defense will determine whether we win this game. If they show up, we have a chance. If they play like they did last week, we don't. It's awfully tempting to say that MSU wins this game on the strength of the passing game and special teams play. But, visions of Quarless and Zug running rampant across the middle of the field prevent me from tempting fate, for now. Penn State 31, Michigan State 27.

Your thoughts welcome, of course.

2010 prospect watch (DT edition) - Nov. 17th

3k — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:12:25 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

Marvin Austin is a microphone magnet. Once he gets improved tutelage and less focus from opposing offensive lines, NFL quarterbacks could be Marvin Austin magnets.

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There were a couple lessons to be learned from Sunday's game against the Saints; IMO, one of the most important was that our defensive front is unable to pressure QBs on their own. As to whether that is mainly due to the defensive ends or tackles is a fair debate. What's not open to debate is the fact that there are some very talented DT prospects in the 2010 NFL draft. While there's not too many games left for some of these future professionals, there's enough time for some fluctuation among each other and on big boards as a whole.

For reference, here's my QB board from Oct. 6th and my most recent mock draft. Here's how my DT board looks in mid-November (* denotes underclassmen, parenthetical links are for scouting reports):

1 - Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska (ESPN)

First, I feel I have to help out Van here - it's en-dom-ah-ken soo. Of course, if you would rather call him damn-you-Kong!, feel free. Name aside, Suh is an absolute terror. He's stronger than his 6'3"-295 lb. frame suggests, and he's incredibly quick. Less than two weeks ago, the Cornhuskers faced off against Oklahoma; Suh made the most out of one of the bigger stages he's played on. He anchored a line that brought pressure on OU QB Landry Jones all day, resulting in a Cutleresque 5 picks. For good measure, he blocked a FG too.

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 27 at Colorado , 3:30pm ET (ABC)

Rest of the board after the fold.

2 - Gerald McCoy*, Oklahoma (ESPN , MTD)

McCoy has been disrupting offenses for three years, missing just one game due to a hand injury two years ago. I've seen him at the top of many a DT board, and it's hard to argue; he explodes out of his stance. Once he does so, he's got a full menu of moves that he executes very well: swim, power rip, spin, and even his power rush, though that last one still needs some work. Really, that's his one flaw is raw power, and juxtaposed against Suh, it's even more evident. Still, he's been a model student-athlete at Oklahoma, acting as president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, serving as a team captain, and avoiding the kind of off-field troubles that many of his peers seem to enjoy.

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 28 vs. #12 Oklahoma St., 12:30pm ET

3 - Marvin Austin*, North Carolina

Austin heads up the second tier of DTs right now, IMO. He's got a great skill set that applies to both run and pass defense, but he's part of a very funky D-line, that includes two other solid DTs (Cam Thomas & Aleric Mullins) and a 375-lb. DE (Earl Wilson). I think that he could be a great pick in a 4-3 or even as a 3-4 DE. His biggest flaw is his technique; he's still a bit raw, but with a coach to mentor him (Spagnuolo?), he could be very successful in the NFL.

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 21 at Boston College, 12:00pm ET (ESPN2)

4 - Arthur Jones, Syracuse (ESPN, MTD)

Jones is the first real injury plagued prospect on this board. He tore a chest muscle working out this spring, and he injured his knee in the Pittsburgh game earlier this month. Still, what he was able to prove in his 4+ seasons at Syracuse was plenty to go off of. He's a very good run-stopping DT who competes every play. and he succeeded from time to time facing double teams. He's not a strong pass rusher, but that shouldn't hurt his draft stock. Plenty of teams would love to get his run stuffing skills on their lines.

Next notable evaluation: N/A

5 - Terrence Cody, Alabama (ESPN)

Terrence Cody is large human being. At 6'3" and anywhere from 370-400 lbs., he obviously presents a huge roadblock for offensive lines to deal with. Since transferring to Bama last year, he's been a fan favorite for obvious reasons. Still, you have to wonder if he can play anything but a 3-4 NT in the NFL. He's slow (in NFL terms. For his size, he's blazing fast. Try and find someone around 400 lbs. who can A.) run and B.) run anywhere near as fast as Cody), and he's sloppy. His technique revolves around the power rush, and that includes his stints on the offensive side of the ball as a FB or RB where Alabama has used him from time to time. The bottom line is, a body this big will be in demand, especially for 3-4 defenses who need a true NT.

Next notable evaluation: Dec. 5 vs. Florida (SEC Championship - neutral site), 4:00pm ET (TBD)

6 - Jared Odrick, Penn St. (ESPN)

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 21 at Michigan St., 3:30pm ET (ABC)

7 - Vince Oghobaase, Duke (ESPN)

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 21 at Miami, 12:00pm ET (ESPNU)

8 - Brian Price*, UCLA

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 28 at USC, 10:00pm ET

9 - Dan Williams, Tennessee

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 21 vs. Vanderbilt, 7:00pm ET (ESPNU)

10 - Geno Atkins, Georgia (ESPN)

Next notable evaluation: Nov. 21 vs. Kentucky, 7:45pm ET (ESPN2)

Poll

Vote for the next big board position...NOW!

QB (v2.0)

58 votes

WR

59 votes

TE

5 votes

OT

6 votes

DE

42 votes

OLB

20 votes

CB

10 votes

200 votes | Poll has closed

Senior Day Haiku

BSD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:33 -0000

by Carlos Osorio - AP

View full size photo »

This Saturday will mark the fourth senior day in the history of this fine blog. Tomorrow afternoon 18 seniors will run out of the tunnel for the last time wearing the Blue and White. Some of them will go on to try to earn a roster spot in the NFL. Others will go on to lead successful careers in business and life. Some are stars. Some are little known walk ons. They got up every day at 5 AM for four years to lift weights and run sprints so they could put on a show for us twelve Saturdays a year. They are heroes. They are legends. They are Penn State football.

If you're new to BSD this season, we have a tradition where we honor all of the senior players, from the All Americans to the third string long snapper, with a little ditty we call Senior Day Haiku. Feel free to add your own Haiku in the comments. We'll go in alphabetical order.

P - Jeremy Boone

He must hate the ball
Holy Cow did you see that?
He just hit the moon!

QB - Daryll Clark

Roll out and go deep
Never good enough for some
Just short of legend

TE - Brennan Coakley

You might have been good
Just too many injuries
We will never know

DE - Tom Golarz

Did you notice that
Golarz rhymes with solarz?
That is all I got

DE - Jerome Hayes

I still remember
You sacking Jimmy Clausen
Man, that was awesome

LB - Josh Hull

Went from suck to good
It must have been the mustache
Bow-chicka-bow-bow

OL - Dennis Landolt

Quiet performer
Right or left doesn't matter
I got your back, Clark

LB - Sean Lee

Your torn ACL
Brought you back another year
We're thankful for that

WR - Patrick Mauti

Sorry ‘bout the knee
Wait, you're not the linebacker?
Your brother is good

OL - Nerraw McCormack

You waited your turn
Got your chance but hurt yourself
Wasn't meant to be

CB - Shelton McCullough

Ran out the tunnel
I would kill to do that once
Gradulations, dude

DT - Jared Odrick

You know I own you
Double team? Doesn't matter
Running back is mine

LS - Andrew Pitz

The unheralded
Long snappers are people too
You did a good job

OL - Ako Poti

Please don't let Clark die
Nightmares of Heyward haunt me
Please, God, make it stop

TE - Andrew Quarless

Crossing the middle
Missed a block and dropped a pass
Joe's dog house must suck

TE - Mickey Shuler

Like father like son
All you did was play steady
Paterno likes that

CB - Knowledge Timmons

What was that blue streak?
Knowledge gunning the sideline
Look out return man

CB - A.J. Wallace

High expectations
Joe says too loosey goosey
Cover-3 just blows

Even slower, my friends!

Sam @ WWAHT — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:43 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

about 1 month ago: Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg walks off the field after his team's 17-10 loss to Northwestern in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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StoopsMyAss over at BHGP recently did an excellent piece comparing the offenses of Ohio State and Iowa. The gist: both offenses may look bad, but Iowa's offense has come away looking slightly better against defenses whose average rank is a full 15 spots above the average rank of defenses Ohio State has faced. It's a completely fair assessment, and rather straightforward.

I figured I'd write a companion piece, since BHGP was just bitching (and rightfully so) yesterday that no one really seems to be willing to talk about the actual game. So, all credit for the overall layout of this post goes out to SMA. Now, let's take a look at the proverbial strengths of both teams - the defenses - and see how they stack up using a similar metric.

When SMA ranked the defenses, he apparently did so using this set of standards:

"Good": National Top 40

"Bad" : 41st-90th nationally

"Awful": Below 90th, or not ranked

While I don't necessarily agree with the terminology, I'll use it anyway to keep this fairly compatible with his post.

Ohio State has played the following good offenses: USC (40th), Toledo (18th),

Ohio State has played the following bad offenses: Penn State (41st), Navy (77th), Illinois (66th), Indiana (76th), Purdue (58th), Wisconsin (45th),

Ohio State has played the following awful offenses: New Mexico State (120th), Minnesota (106th)

The average rankings of those offensive units is 64.7.

Now let's look at the teams that SMA would deem "good" offensively, one is USC, the other is admittedly a MACrifice:

USC: 118 rushing yards allowed, 195 passing yards allowed, on 72 plays

Toledo: 13 yards rushing allowed, 197 passing yards allowed, on 58 plays

Against the two best offenses the Buckeyes have faced all year, the defense surrendered on average : 196 yards through the air, and 104 yards on the ground

Now, I want to take this a step further: against "bad offenses", Ohio State has surrendered 93.3 yards on the ground, and 185 passing. This is inclusive of the debacle against Purdue and Wisconsin's day of long, grinding, surprisingly effective drives, both of which Iowa will attempt to recreate this week.

Now, let's take a look at the Iowa defense, using the same metric as was applied to Ohio State:

Iowa has played the following good offenses: Arizona (13th), Michigan State (28th)

Iowa has played the following bad offenses: Iowa State (69th), Penn State (41st), Michigan (44th), Wisconsin (45th), Indiana (76th), Northwestern 60th

Iowa has played the following awful offenses: Arkansas State (94th), Northern Iowa (NR)

The average rank of the offenses Iowa has faced is 52.1.

Against "good" offenses, Iowa's defense gave up an average of 186.5 yards through the air, and 95 on the ground. These numbers are roughly ten yards better than Ohio State's against "good" offensive teams, and they come against two attacks that are statistically more potent on average than the ones Ohio State played.

But let's move onto the "bad" offensive comparison for the Hawkeyes, where things are a bit more nuanced: against those six teams, Iowa gave up an average of 130 yards on the ground, to go with 152.3 through the air. That still averages out roughly on par with Ohio State's numbers against "bad" teams, in terms of total yards allowed: 284.3 to Ohio State's 278.3. That, however, comes with a 40-yard uptick in rushing yards allowed over the aforementioned "good" teams (one of which - MSU - features an anemic 71st-ranked rushing attack). Fortunately for us, running the ball is our forté, and Iowa is at least a tad susceptible on the ground.

A couple of other notes: I think Iowa's game against Arkansas State - they surrendered 296 yards of total offense to the country's 94th-best offensive attack - was a bit of an aberration defensively. I think it's analogous to Ohio State's game against Minnesota, in which the Buckeyes surrendered 286 yards to the country's 104th-best. That said, the end results were vastly different: Iowa beat ASU 24-21, while Ohio State trumped Minnesota 38-7.

So what does it all mean?

I took away from it this: Iowa's defense is probably better than even "14th in total defense" would indicate, and simply cannot be faulted for the Northwestern game. Regardless, after having considered all the mitigating factors, I think it's a stretch to issue any declarative statements about them actually being better than Ohio State, which, to my knowledge, no one has actually done yet. They have faced a better set of offenses, and it wouldn't be a stretch to infer that their total D ranking has suffered as a result.

This is why I'm so hesitant to predict any sort of blowout. I know Iowa is starting the guy from Varsity Blues, and he was horrible against a terrible Northwestern defense, but that doesn't mean Ohio State will win going away. It has to score points, and them don't come easy against the Hawkeyes. You want a ray of hope? Statistically, Penn State's defense is still better than Iowa's, and Ohio State was just fine cobbling together a passing game and mowing down the PSU front with the running game. Where Iowa is strong - at DE - is a concern, but if this line can limit Jared Odrick and Jack Crawford, I think it'll do alright against Adrian Clayborn and Karl Klug. In the end, these teams are far more even than most on our side are willing to admit. Yes, maybe Iowa will score just one offensive touchdown, and perhaps their quarterback will throw three picks and no touchdowns. How can we be so sure that that negates the possibility of a victory, when the Hawks won in Happy Valley with that exact same stat line?

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1 - Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska (ESPN)

2 - Gerald McCoy*, Oklahoma (ESPN, MTD)

3 - Marvin Austin*, North Carolina

4 - Arthur Jones, Syracuse (ESPN, MTD)

5 - Terrence Cody, Alabama (ESPN)

6 - Jared Odrick, Penn St. (ESPN)

7 - Vince Oghobaase, Duke (ESPN)

8 - Brian Price*, UCLA

9 - Dan Williams, Tennessee

10 - Geno Atkins, Georgia (ESPN)

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So what does it all mean?

2 - Gerald McCoy*, Oklahoma (ESPN , MTD)