SB Nation User Blog: Bama Hawkeye

Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) discussed the future of t...

Bama Hawkeye — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:13:40 -0000

Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) discussed the future of the Big Ten Conference at its winter meetings on Dec. 6 in Park Ridge, Illinois. The following statement is issued by the Big Ten office on behalf of the COP/C.

Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in June of 1990 and its addition has been an unqualified success. In 1993, 1998 and 2003 the COP/C, in coordination with the commissioner’s office, reviewed the issue of conference structure and expansion. The COP/C believes that the timing is right for the conference to once again conduct a thorough evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion. As a result, the commissioner was asked to provide recommendations for consideration by the COP/C over the next 12 to 18 months.

The COP/C understands that speculation about the conference is ongoing. The COP/C has asked the conference office to obtain, to the extent possible, information necessary to construct preliminary options and recommendations without engaging in formal discussions with leadership of other institutions. If and when such discussions become necessary the COP/C has instructed Commissioner James E. Delany to inform the Chair of the COP/C, Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon, and then to notify the commissioner of the affected conference(s). Only after these notices have occurred will the Big Ten engage in formal expansion discussions with other institutions. This process will allow the Big Ten to evaluate options, while respecting peer conferences and their member institutions. No action by the COP/C is expected in the near term. No interim statements will be made by the Big Ten or the COP/C until after the COP/C receives the commissioner’s recommendations and the COP/C determines next steps, if any, in this area.

http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/on-iowa/2009/12/15/big-ten-statement-on-expansion

Alabama Bloggers on Auburn and Tiger fans

Bama Hawkeye — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:31:15 -0000

Alabama Bloggers on Auburn and Tiger fans

The gentlemen from Roll Bama Roll help out with some useful information about the Auburn offense, the (ahem) educational traditions at Auburn, and some great ice breakers at Tampa bars.

The Enemy of My Enemy, Part III: The Outback Bowl

Bama Hawkeye — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:16:44 -0000

As we begin preparing for the year in which the Big Ten shocks the college football world by winning five of its seven bowls, let's learn about the opponents. Oh sure, we could turn to the fans of our opponents and ask them questions about their beloved cats, birds, and bees. But this site was founded upon the idea of rivals. That's why we're talking with our opponents' rivals. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Don't forget to go back and submit your Bowl Prediction sheet for another chance to win a prize. For winning the regular season OPC, Seattle Hawkeye won...a hat. You may win...something cooler. Hardest bowls to pick so far are Stanford-Oklahoma and PSU-LSU.

As we look at the Outback Bowl, PeteHoliday of the outstanding Alabama blog, Roll Bama Roll, was kind enough to answer these questions that we had about the hated Auburn Tigers.

1. Much has been made about Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's desire to run his offense at an uncomfortably fast pace (not just the plays, but the time between plays). Yet, while watching Auburn lose to Alabama and Georgia, their offense didn't seem to move any faster than a typical spread offense that lines up without a huddle (such as Kansas, Texas Tech, or even at times - Northwestern). Is this all much ado about nothing?

Yes and no. By and large, Auburn's office just isn't going to run much faster than your average spread offense. Part of that is because, at times, there's only so fast you can push a football game. Part of it is that [former Auburn head coach Tommy] Tuberville did not exactly leave the cupboards stocked with top talent. The Auburn offense has the potential to move with a lot of speed but, in practice, they're not really able to execute that particularly often. Next season, or the year after, might be a different story but, at least for now, you're not going to see Auburn push any game-speed (or player-speed) envelopes.

2. Auburn seems to fit squarely in the mushy middle of the SEC. What distinguishes them from those 5 other 7-5 teams?

Frankly, not a whole lot. One defining characteristic of the middle of the SEC this year has been highly suspect defenses. Auburn's is about as suspect as it gets. They have an offense which has, at times, put points on the board and a defense which has been taken advantage of in every conceivable way. Then again, that could describe any number of middle-of-the-road SEC teams. Of course, all of that is non-responsive to your original question. The one thing that separates Auburn from the rest of the pack -- as any Auburn fan will be thrilled to tell you -- is that they led the current #1 team in the country for 3 full quarters (just don't ask how that fourth one turned out).

3. A fundamentally strong defense was a cornerstone of the Auburn squads that were successful under former coach Tommy Tubberville. Does Auburn's current defense have any particular strength?

The key advantage of Auburn's defense is that opposing offenses might become complacent and over-confident from watching game film and fail to prepare as well as they should. In all seriousness, though, I'm sure their defense has some strengths. Maybe they're very good at pinochle?

4. Our Northwestern writer wants to know: If a Wildcat fan attending the Outback Bowl (and I assure you, there will be at least 40 of them in attendance) runs into an Auburn fan at a local watering hole, what topics should she discuss to most annoy Tiger fans?

Here are 10 questions you can ask an Auburn Tiger to annoy them:

1. Ask how their Sociology program is doing these days.

2. Ask if they ever managed to make it to any of the Delta Sigma Phi Halloween parties.

3. Ask how that whole accreditation thing worked out.

4. Ask if they finally managed to pass Georgia Tech in SEC championships.

5. When they tell you that they have (in 2004), say something like "Wow... but how long has Tech been in the ACC?" (answer: since 1965).

6. Ask them if they have a midget handy.

7. Ask them to explain why their mascot is a tiger, but they fly an eagle around before football games.

8. Ask them why they vandalize their own campus after victories.

9. Ask them why so many of their students live in trailer parks instead of apartments.

10. When you're ready to really set them off, ask them what it's like to have to live in the shadow of one of the greatest football programs in the history of the game.

5. We know, "SEC, SEC, SEC" and all of that, but surely you won't root for "that other team in the state," which would like nothing more than to end this new era of Crimson Tide dominance before it gets much further, will you? Wouldn't you rather root for the nerds in purple, a loveable group of under-sized over-achievers who are trying to bring the school its first bowl victory in over 60 years?

This is a matter of some debate amongst Tide faithful, so I do not purport to speak for all of us, but there is a very large portion of the fan-base who cheers for Alabama and . . . whoever is playing Auburn. For my part, I want Auburn to lose at everything. Forever. SEC affiliation or no, you can bet that there will be a LOT of 'Bama fans cheering from those purple-clad nerds from Evanston.

Thank you again to PeteHoliday of Roll Bama Roll. We wish the Tide the best of luck in givin' hell to Texas in the BCS Championship Game.

Ole Miss Blog on LSU and Tiger Fans

Bama Hawkeye — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:36:00 -0000

Ole Miss Blog on LSU and Tiger Fans

The gentlemen from Red Cup Rebellion educate us on the LSU defensive line, the luck of the Tigers, and smelling like corndogs.

Added Benefit of Ingram's Win

Bama Hawkeye — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:07:04 -0000

Not only did Mark Ingram's Heisman victory end the meme of Alabama having never won a Heisman, it removed the school from the top of the list of winningest schools to have never won the award. Going down the list:

1. Michigan (3 winners)

2. Texas (2 winners)

3. Notre Dame (7 winners)

4. Nebraska (3 winners)

5. Ohio State (6 winners/7 trophies)

6. ALABAMA (1 winner)

7. Penn State (1 winner)

8. Oklahoma (5 winners)

9. Tennessee (0 winners)

10. Southern Cal (7 winners)

11. Georgia (2 winners)

12. LSU (1 winner)

Did you notice who was missing? That's right, of the twelve winningest programs in college football history, only Tennessee has failed to win a Heisman. Just another thing to remind the Orange of when we get to see them in Knoxville next year.

The Enemy of My Enemy, Part II: The Capital One Bowl

Bama Hawkeye — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:14:04 -0000

As we look at the Capital One Bowl, Juco All-American (with an assist from The Ghost of Jay Cutler) of the outstanding Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion was kind enough to answer these five questions about the hated LSU Tigers.

1. LSU gets plaudits and constant media love for having the best defensive linemen year in, year out. How did the Ole Miss offense attack the front four of LSU?

Honestly, this question may not be reasonable this season. Sure, LSU still has good defensive limen. DE Rahim Alem and DT Drake Nevis are both very talented. However, when the AP voted for the SEC first and second team defensive lines, neither of them appeared on the list. What that means is that, in the eyes of the SEC media, LSU doesn't have a single defensive lineman who ranks in the top 11 in the conference. That's unheard of in Baton Rouge.

Still, as I mentioned above, Rahim Alem and Drake Nevis are quite good at what they do. Alem is a pass rusher who hasn't had a great year but is still ferocious off the line. Nevis is a quick defensive tackle who can collapse the pocket or disrupt the run. What Ole Miss did to defeat them was to run misdirections right at Alem, who struggles against the run, and run as far away from Drake Nevis as we could. It helped to have Dexter McCluster running the ball. Perhaps Penn State could find a quarkback of their own before the bowl game.

2. How in the world do you stop LSU's big wide receivers?

LSU's receivers are significantly limited by the ineptitude of Jordan Jefferson. Jefferson is alright at managing the game, but that's not the purpose of receivers who have a height advantage on every defensive back against whom they line up. They should be throwing bombs to Tolliver and Lafell, but instead they're trying to get the ball to those receivers in space. That's not the way to utilize players with their physical abilities.

So the answer, in short, is to stack the box, blitz heavily, and get to Jordan Jefferson before he can even think about throwing deep to them. Do that a few times, and they won't try it anymore.

3. Beating LSU in the "Les Miles 2 Minute Drill From Hell" game must have been satisfying. What makes a victory over LSU better than a victory over another SEC squad?

The reason is simple. LSU is the luckiest team to ever play in any sport. They consistently find themselves in situations in which they must convert on fourth down, make a field goal from 50+ yards out, make a big turnover, etc, and they do it... nearly every time. It just works for them. Any other team would have struggled much earlier under Les Miles and his ridiculous playcalls, but not LSU. They just go out and, because for some reason the sports gods love Cajuns (perhaps it's the jambalaya), they get fluke wins. There are too many to go into. If you want to know more, ask Kentucky fans about the Hail Mary. Ask Ole Miss fans about the punt return. Ask Florida fans about fourth down conversions. You know what? Let's not talk about this anymore. My blood is boiling.

Les Miles: idiot and liar.

4. LSU fans are traditionally heckled for "smelling like corn dogs" and generally being crazy/unstable. How much of this is urban legend, and how much of this is truth?

No one really knows where the legend of LSU fans smelling corn dogs originated. I speculate that LSU fans smell like corn dogs because they're members of the circus, thus all articles of clothing they own have been satiated with the smell of mustard and battered sausage. Don't you dare point out that corn dogs are delicious. While that's obvious, that doesn't deter from the fact that smelling like them is less than desirable.

As for their lunacy/instability, that's dead on. Those people are nuts. When the same is said for Alabama fans, a point is generally made to exclude fans who actually attended the school from said group of lunatics. The same cannot be done for LSU. Even those who went there often belong in a sanitarium.

5. [ed. note: Juco All-American is a happily married man. So am I. This question comes from the single Graham Filler to the single Ghost of Jay Cutler. As an aside, you can also tell from his question that Graham has not yet had the joy of setting foot on the campus in Oxford]

You're at a party in Oxford and a 7.5 level-of-hotness girl approaches you wearing a LSU t-shirt, one of those purple ones with giant yellow letters. After a little conversation, three things become clear: 1) She goes to LSU, 2) she loves LSU football, and 3) she's definitely into you. Do you take the night any further?

Seven point five? Seven point five?! Is this an LSU seven point five or an Ole Miss seven point five? Because, if this were baseball, we're talking about comparing a starter for a Pittsburgh minor league affiliate to a starter for the New York Yankees.

Alright, that's a bit unfair and mostly untrue. There is some excelent talent at LSU. Hell, one of the absolute hottest girls from my high school is a proud LSU Tiger, but I cannot say that Ole Miss girls haven't horribly skewed my expectations and perspectives on women. Local rapper Krazy J pegged it when he beautifully elucidated that "All da Fine Girls go to Ole Miss."

But, for the sake of your question, I'll assume she's a 7.5 by Ole Miss standards being as how, in this hypothetical situation, we're at a party in Oxford. So she goes to LSU, loves her Tigers, and is definitely into me, and the question is would take the night any further? You bet. But I likely wouldn't take it much further than just that--a night. Unless there is something incredibly appealing to this woman outside of her being a 7.5 and "into me", I have no real desire to take it beyond that.

Regrettably, I've done worse than a 7.5 (anyone who knows me personally can attest to that), but I've also done way better. The difference between the two is that, with the 7.5 and below, I quit answering phone calls and returning text messages within a few days, at most. With those above that (I would give the most serious girlfriend I had at Ole Miss a nine--yes, I'm biased towards myself and the women I associate with, but trust me on this one), I tried to make them my ladyfriends.

I doubt I would let something like school allegiances get in the way of a good time, especially if it's just for one night. I do love Ole Miss and I hate LSU football and everything it has represented for we Rebels but, unless she starts moaning to the tune of "Chinese Bandits" when the gettin's good, I wouldn't any of that get in the way of an "eventful" night.

Thank you again to both Juco and Ghost of Red Cup Rebellion. We wish Ole Miss the best of luck in beating the hell out of Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.

The Enemy of My Enemy, Part I: The Rose Bowl

Bama Hawkeye — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:41:23 -0000

As we look at the Rose Bowl, AndyPanda of the outstanding Oregon State blog, Building the Dam, was kind enough to answer these questions that we had about the hated Oregon Ducks.

1. What schemes worked best for you on defense against Oregon's motion Pistol, spread sweeps, and zone read attack?

The key to contending with Coach Chip Kelley's spread option read offense is to play assignment football, and maintain gap and assignment discipline, and do it all night long. A traditional style pro defense. You cannot over-pursue, and one step can be too much, as the speed Oregon has will run into, or cut back thru, any gap a mistake opens. The Ducks' offense is predicated on option reads, and Jeremiah Masoli is a master at quick recognition and decision making.

Masoli isn't an exceptional thrower, but he is good enough to capitalize on an assignment error, as was evidenced when OSU's James Dockery over-committed on Jeff Maehl, and there was no safety support. The result was an immediate over the top 73 yard touchdown.

And while Masoli is rightly known for his running ability, his reads can just as easily result in someone else being the star. With cornerback Tim Clark already out with a broken leg, all conference Keaton Kristick missed only one play with a tweaked wrist. Masoli immediately sent LaMichael James thru where Kristick and Clark would have been for a 52 yard touchdown.

Those two plays, one break down, and one where a personnel vulnerability existed, were the difference in the game, producing over a quarter of the Ducks' total yards, and underscoring how important it is to maintain discipline against Oregon's offense on every play.

2. What's going to happen when Ohio State's (C) Michael Brewster (296 lbs), (RG), Bryant Browning (312 lbs), (LG) Justin Boren (315 lbs), (LT) J.B. Shugarts (298 lbs), and (RT) Jim Cordle (297 lbs) line up against Oregon's (LDT) Brandon Bair (250 lbs) (RDT) Blake Ferras (290 lbs), (RDE) Kenny Rowe (230 lbs), and (LDE) Will Tukuafu (272 lbs)? That's an average of 43 pounds difference at each position. Do the Buckeyes get burnt, or does Oregon get crushed?

A variety of blitzes and stunts will happen. The Oregon linebacking crew of Eddie Pleasant, Casey Matthews, and Spencer Paysinger are fast enough that they can come from anywhere, and if an offensive line releases to pick up the blitz, Tukuafu is strong enough, and Rowe is fast enough, to recover despite being initially stopped, and still make the play.

A sustained power running game can work against the Ducks, as Stanford demonstrated, but it must start with an effective passing game that pushes back Oregon's back seven. The key to overcoming the Duck defense is to prevent them from running toward the line of scrimmage, which allows them to capitalize on their speed.

3. The Beavers put 30 points up on the Ducks in the first 35 minutes of the game. The final 25 minutes saw the Beavers only get a field goal. How was OSU able to dominate the Ducks early, and what did Oregon do late to turn the tide?

Early on, Oregon St. quarterback Sean Canfield was on, and by completing a number of passes, was able to keep the Oregon defense backpedaling much of the time, not attacking the line of scrimmage.

What Oregon did in the second half was keep the ball away from Oregon St. The Ducks are known for being a quick strike offense that doesn't need a time of possession advantage to generate points and wins, but few teams will win a firefight against the Rodgers brothers and Canfield. Against the Beavers, the Ducks played defense with their offense.

Oregon knew the best way to curb the Rodgers are to have them standing on the sidelines as much of the time as possible. With a boost in their power running game from LeGarrett Blount, Oregon held the ball for about 18 and a half of the last 26 minutes, and over 13 minutes in the last 17 and a half minutes. The Beavers only had one fourth quarter possession.

So limited in their number of opportunities, the weather, in the 20's, resulted in a couple of dropped balls off receivers' hands, resulting in a field goal instead of a probable touchdown, and another stalled drive. And the difference in the game when the Ducks were able to keep the Beavers' offense off the field for over six minutes at the end of the game. Both Kenjon Barner and Masoli won individual matchups, where the OSU defense was in position to make the play, and one on one, just got beat. The Ducks converted three fourth downs in the game, two on the final drive.

4. Much of the rest of the country looks at Oregon as having fashion models, not football players. Has the Oregon fan base embraced the Phil Knight-ification of their football team, or would they rather focus on the game?

The Oregon fan base loves Uncle Phil, who epitomizes the high dollar image most of them aspire to. And if any aspect of the image in any way causes a distraction of any sort, that's just another advantage they gain.

Admit it. You wish he went to your school.

5. What can Buckeye fans do in advance of the game to most annoy Oregon fans?

Remind them of the Stanford and Boise St. games, where they were physically dominated, then talk about how good Washington is going to be soon. It doesn't matter if Washington actually will be good or not; they hate the Huskies, almost as much as the Huskies hate them. Or talk about how college football games should be "dry" events. [ed. note: The Rivalry, Esq. does not and cannot endorse dry sporting events. We encourage Buckeye fans to use the other recommended methods of criticism]

Thank you again to AndyPanda of Building the Dam. We wish the Beavers the best of luck in beating the hell into BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Vote for Joe Conklin

Bama Hawkeye — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:16:59 -0000

Vote for Joe Conklin

Marc Morehouse, fresh off his encounter with Ace Clayborn, writes that you can support Joe Conklin for the Rudy Award.

The Rudy Awards honor FBS college football players "who best embody the principles of inspirational football legend Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger. The College Football Rudy Awards were founded to honor FBS football players who brought that ‘something extra’ to the team."

Go vote.

John Clay on SI's Cover

Bama Hawkeye — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:30:49 -0000

John Clay on SI's Cover

John Clay gets the cover of the Photos of 2009 issue of SI. Great shot.

Very Nice Cover, SI

Bama Hawkeye — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:21:02 -0000

John Clay marks the third Big Ten cover of the football season, following the star turns of Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, and the Daryll Clark & Stefen Wisniewski combo.