Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/19/2012

Hope For Pahokee Update: Martavious Odoms's "Hope For Pahokee" Kickstarter is getting closer to its goal but isn't quite there yet. So far, 759 backers have donated $30,917 of the $35k goal. If you haven't donated yet, do it! Let's not let this fail because of a short Internet attention span (or any other reason, really). 

Yes, I'm talking about Northwestern again. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a grad student at the venerable Northwestern University these days, and have thus followed the Wildcats' football program somewhat closely for the last eight or nine months. It has been somewhat of a breath of fresh air from the monumental expectations and resulting disappointment that comes with being a Michigan fan. Obviously, I am a Michigan fan first, and it's not even close, so don't worry (not that you were, person that isn't reading this, probably). Still, there's something inherently good about rooting for a program like Northwestern, one that does things The Right Way (if you are rolling your eyes, that's fine) and makes the most of what it has, usually without the major expectations and glowering spotlights of major college football programs...and I better stop there before I literally transform into one of those NCAA PSAs about athletes going into something other than sports. 

Say what you will about the quality of Northwestern's wins thus far, but 3-0 is 3-0. The strangest thing about is, other than the shootout that was the Syracuse game, the Wildcats have done it largely with defense and a strong running game, powered by Kain Colter, Venric Mark, and Mike Trumpy. Make no mistake about it, Michigan's matchup against the Wildcats will not be an easy one. All my kidding about being warrior poets and whatnot aside, the Wildcats play a decidedly grit-astic brand of football that belies their reputation as a spread team with little defensive speed and/or talent to speak of. 

In any case, here's Lake The Post's take on this season's proceedings: 

Wow. That’s a pretty good feeling to wake up to this morning.  Rewind for a second. If someone had told you that after week three, NU would be 3-0, one of only three teams in the B1G undefeated and, the facilities plan would be announced, you may have pulled out your checkbook.

I will conclude this Northwestern section that is probably annoying you by saying this: I don't think that we, as Michigan fans, say "wow" enough.

Meanwhile, back to the supposed focus of this blog...it's Notre Dame week. It was Notre Dame week even before the UMass game even ended, if we're being honest with ourselves. Brady Hoke said some things about Notre Dame:

 I really don't know how to feel about this game. I'll have a preview up later this week, but, needless to say, this might be the biggest Notre Dame game since the 2006 contest. I know that we've won in South Bend in two of our last three trips down there, but there's still that residual anxiety enduring from our winless streak there stretching from the Remy Hamilton game winner in 1994 up until the "oh wide open" game in 2006. Michigan has won the last three seasons on the back of some pretty serious offensive sorcery the past three years, but I'm getting the feeling that the same cannot happen this time around if Michigan is going to win.

Wondering about whether or not Notre Dame is truly "back" is a useless endeavor better left to people interested in pointless narratives and STORYLINES, but this game will be won--WARNING, ENTIERING CLICHE LAND NOW--in the trenches. For that reason, I have a pretty disagreeable feeling about this game in the pit of my stomach right now, but maybe that will change between now and Saturday.

The future of the rivalry. Speaking of Brady Hoke talking about ND, he weighed in on the future of the rivalry:

Hoke loves playing Notre Dame. But, if for some reason the Fighting Irish aren't on the Wolverines' schedule at some point down the road, Hoke won't exactly be heartbroken.

"They've got to do what they need to do for them," Hoke said Monday. "If (the Michigan-Notre Dame series) continues, it's great.

"If it doesn't, then we'll move forward."

As a person who has accepted Brady Hoke's "no chicken on pizza" as the law of the land since last week's radio show, you may take this with a grain of salt, but...I generally agree. I'm not necessarily one of those people that wants to see ND disappear from the schedule out of some sense of misplaced spite or whatever, but it would be nice to get some other teams on the schedule. I don't think that this is a novel or controversial opinion.

NO RESPECT. Matt Hinton reveals his Week 3 top 25, and it does not include Michigan. If Michigan sports talk radio had a PAWWWLLL equivalent, I would so be calling into it right now. Not really. Of course, Hinton explains his rationale as incisively as you'd expect:

September rankings are always a "Damned If You Do/Damned If You Don't" proposition. By mid-October or so, resumés are fleshed out, and everybody more or less agrees on what they're looking at and how to assess it. But what exactly are you assessing when a significant chunk of the country has yet to play a meaningful game? What is the criteria?

In the past, I've hewn to a strict resumé approach that might, for example, jump Louisiana-Monroe into the top ten for an early upset over a top-ten team, and let the deck sort itself out over the course of the season.

So, that's fair. It feels weird to see teams like Rutgers, Iowa State, and Oregon State in there and not Michigan, but the Wolverines have not had the opportunity to do anything of note outside of the Alabama, a game Michigan was probably not going to win even if it pulled out the greatest game it has ever played.  I would imagine that a win in South Bend would propel the Wolverines into his top 25, if not his top 15.

I'm sure he would agree, but when you really get down to the business of attempting to construct a top 25, you really begin to realize how byzantine and completely arbitrary college football really is. That is part of its charm, I guess, and I wouldn't trade college football for anything in the world. Still, college football comes with the underlying notion that attempting to place teams on a relativistic spectrum of quality is like trying to decide whether Beethoven or The Beatles were more influential than the other. In a few words: it is impossible. As long as you accept that, you'll be doin' just fine.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Not Russell Wilson. For a team that was a preseason favorite to win the Big Ten, this is not exactly news you want to hear heading into the fourth week of the season with a running game working about as well as the average person does in the morning before having their coffee:

Wondering if Danny O'Brien will be Wisconsin's starting quarterback when the Badgers take the field against UTEP on Saturday the answer is: Maybe.

While offensive coordinator Matt Canada intimated O'Brien would remain the team's starting quarterback, he wouldn't commit to it.

Like everybody, I just sort of assumed that Wisconsin would be able to withstand the exodus of offensive lineman to the NFL and assistant coaches to Pitt, but that has decidedly not been the case thus far. The Badgers take on a 1-2 UTEP team that should result in a fairly stress-free win before a trip to Lincoln the next week, a primetime derby against a Nebraska team looking to avenge last year's thumping in Madison.

This has not been the first time that people have questioned Bret Bielema's ability to be the primary braintrust of the Wisconsin program in spite of his sterling record. After winning 21 games in his first two seasons in Madison (12-1 in 2006, 9-4 in 2007), Bielema led the Badgers to a disappointing 7-6 season in 2008 (of course including what was probably the most embarrassing loss to Michigan that Wisconsin has ever taken), leading to the usual gripes about how his first two seasons were made possible on the backs of Alvarez recruits, yada yada yada.

In any case, this 2012 Wisconsin football team should continue to be an interesting case study in the importance of assistant coaches, those behind-the-scenes shadows that are more important than any of us can really ever know (whether in a good or a bad way). With uncertainty at the quarterback position and a running game that has been almost unnervingly bad, it's not difficult to imagine this season spiraling out of control for the Badgers if Nebraska is able to return the favor in Lincoln.

More? Sit down around the fireplace kids and let's talk to Uncle Barnhart about what we learned this week.

HTR's Top 25: Week 2

Previous dubious assertions: HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25, Week 1

Once again, it must be stated: after the first tier or two, the remaining terrain in the top 25 is largely unclaimed and largely untenable, which is why teams drop in and out with a Kramer-esque frequency. We know very little about most teams. That is, other than the fact that teams like Florida State can beat horrible teams by many points and that Michigan is not as good as Alabama. This is really the only downside to the first month of college football. Still, football that isn't competitive is better than no football at all. 

After all, without college football, we probably wouldn't get things like this: 

(HT: @edsbs)

No, your eyes do not deceive you.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	LSU
3	USC
4	Oregon
5	West Virginia
6	Georgia
7	Florida State
8	South Carolina
9	Michigan State
10	Oklahoma
11	Clemson
12	Texas
13	Virginia Tech
14	Ohio State
15	TCU
16	Florida
17	Tennessee
18	Kansas State
19	Michigan
20	UCLA
21	Notre Dame
22	Stanford
23	Arizona
24	Northwestern
25	Louisville

Out: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Utah, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Arkansas
Idle: Baylor, West Virginia

• Déjà vu. Hey, Alabama and LSU at the top two spots! There's no way we get a second matchup in the MNC game after Alabama wins by 3 in Baton Rouge, right? RIGHT? The scary thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. I really wouldn't. As for Washington, I don't think anybody expects them to go into Death Valley and win, but this is year 4 of the Sarkisian era, and I think this might be the last season that Sark can rely on the fact that Washington football was completely atrocious before he got there (not that he's "relying" on this, per se, but you know what I mean). On the bright side, Stanford is looking very vulnerable, so second place in the Pac 12 North is a solid goal for the Huskies this season. No matter what happened against LSU's defense, Keith Price is still good in my book (and probably books other than mine). 

• GO U NORTHWESTERN. Take it in...oh yeah. That is the battle hymn of undefeated football and championships. My future second alma mater, The Fighting Warrior Poets of Northwestern University, executed a smashing victory against the dastardly Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday. Much harumphing was done throughout this affair, and many comments were cast into the Evanston night regarding the authenticity of the student-athletes competing in a dignified and respectful battle of sport in a stadium filled with tens of people. The battle was won before the game had even started, joked every Northwestern fan to every single Vanderbilt fan in attendance. Indeed.
• In the end, a game was in fact played, and the Warrior Poets--the ones in purple and black--emerged victorious with a little bit of luck and a lot of Venric Mark, which has been the winning formula thus far this season in two victories against BCS teams (Syracuse and Vanderbilt). Northwestern's wins aren't anything to write home about, but they do merit a lower end top 25 ranking (of course, this means so much). Kyle Prater still hasn't done a whole lot and 4-star recruit/true freshman defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo made his debut but didn't seem to do much either. If either of them get going, this team becomes even more spoilerific than it already is. The Wildcats' secondary played much better against Vandy's Jordan Rodgers than they did Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, but they will need to be even better with a pass-happy BC team coming to town next week. 

• DERP. There was quite a bit of derping around done on this second football Saturday, although most of it was not that surprising when you really think about history and precedent and stuff. Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois all playing Pac 12 teams out west in September? Boom, auto-loss. After seeing Michigan suffer abominable losses at UCLA, Washington, and Oregon in the early 2000s, why is any of this surprising? Detroit makes cars, the Big Ten loses out west in September. THIS IS WHAT WE DO. 

• Speaking of out Californee way. The Pac 12 South is pretty much the complete opposite of what I envisioned it would be. UCLA and Arizona looking...good? Arizona State beating Illinois probably doesn't mean much, but they really beat them. I figured Utah to be the #2 team in this division, albeit with a vast gulf separating them and USC. However, after their loss at Utah State, it's looking like they'll be fighting to avoid having the pleasure of sitting next to the moldy unconsumable thing that is Colorado football. College football is fairly unpredictable, in case you hadn't noticed. 

• Something something fluids not being hot enough something something. So, Arkansas. Let's talk. I know how you feel. So does Nick Saban AHAHAH /looks at Alabama-Michigan box score /sobs internally. I will say this though: I never understood all the Arkansas love, so they are only dropping down from #16 spot in my completely meaningless top 25. There was no reason for Arkansas to lose that game even without Tyler Wilson for most of it, but the Razorbacks are still a top 25 team if Wilson plays. Still, I can't even give them the ol' "I'm putting you at 25 out of pity" designation. With Alabama coming this Saturday, things don't exactly get much easier. 

• THEY CAN'T HANG PAWWLLL. I started to convince myself that Florida and Georgia might go a combined 0-2 against their new SEC foes this past Saturday. Simply put: NOPE. I don't know that these games mean anything in the grand scheme of things (i.e. TAMU and Mizzou's ability to compete in the SEC), but it sure would've been nice for TAMU to shake the "can't finish" label against a Florida team that is still very much in transition from the Meyer era to Muschamp's brand of ball. Mizzou, on the other hand, had a chance to take out a team missing several key defenders (Alec Ogletree, Sanders Commings, Bacarri Rambo), and failed to cash in after hanging in there for three quarters. Things might have ended differently if not for an odd fake punt call by Gary Pinkel early in the fourth quarter, but a 21-point loss is, in the end, a 21-point loss. 
• In retrospect, Mizzou actually would've been a pretty good addition to the Big Ten (not that Nebraska hasn't been one), and I think the Tigers will be probably be okay, although I just looked at their schedule again and it is pretty darn tough. Except for Kentucky, there probably isn't a single slam dunk game the rest of the way. As for Georgia, this is their first 2-0 start since the 2008 season, when they were preseason #1. 

Big 12 Preview (Part 2): Intruder(s) In the Dust

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal, Big 12 (Part 1) 


It's time to finish up the Big 12 by taking a look at Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and West Virginia. Yes, West Virginia in the Big 12 is still not something that I have completely assimilated into my college football worldview. 

Say, man, you got a bad defense? It'd be a lot cooler if you did. 

Prologue 
The 2011 season for the Oklahoma State Cowboys might have been its most exhilarating and disappointing season at the same time. As for the exhilarating part, the Cowboys went 12-1, winning a Big 12 championship along the way for the first time since the league formed in 1996. Excluding the 2010 season, it was their first double-digit win total since 1988. It was a wildly successful season built on the back of a juggernaut of an offense that didn't miss a beat at all even with OC Dana Holgorsen's departure for Morgantown. New OC Todd Monken called the plays for an offense that finished 3rd in total offense (behind only Houston and Baylor) and second in scoring offense (behind only Houston). Led by AARP member Brandon Weeden (GET IT BECAUSE HE WAS 28 AND THAT'S OLD FOR A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER), receiver Justin Blackmon, and tailback Joseph Randle, the offense essentially was an athletic refurbishing of Russia's "scorched earth" policy. Only, instead of scorching its own earth, they, you know, incinerated Big 12 defenses instead. 

As for the disappointing part, I think you know what I mean. Their one loss on the road against Iowa State, combined with an SEC favoritism built on the back of the previous five seasons, led to the Cowboys getting passed up by Alabama for the second national title berth. It's difficult to argue that Alabama did not have the look and feel of a national title team, but the strange, labyrinthine non-logic of college football would seem to do away with the notion that a "best" team could ever truly be decided. By that I of course mean that maybe the Cowboys would not have fared better against LSU than Alabama did, but I see no reason why they should have been denied the chance. 

In lieu of criticism of Oklahoma State's defense--and by extension Big 12 defense as a whole--mostly finding its source in Dixie, the most under-the-radar stat of the 2011 season was the fact that OSU ended the season with the #1 turnover margin. I don't remember people offering undue criticism to Auburn in 2010 for having a less than stellar defense, so I still don't understand why OSU was hammered for not putting up the same defensive stats that teams like LSU and Alabama did. Regardless, it was a wildly successful season for Mike Gundy, one that will be remembered for many years to come in Stillwater. 

The Texas teams presented a bit of a mixed bag. Mack Brown's Longhorns bounced back after a horrible 5-7 season in 2010 to go 8-5 last season. However, it was still a disappointing season for Texas in a number of ways. Despite having a ferocious defense and a pair of very good tailbacks in Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, the Longorns's quarterback play let them down. Its been two seasons since Colt McCoy left for the NFL, and Mack Brown is still looking for a capable signal caller. After the collapse of the Garett Gilbert experiment in 2010 (and his ensuing transfer), the position shifted its focus to two youngsters in Case McCoy and David Ash. Ash put up better numbers across the boards but didn't exactly separate himself from McCoy in the race to secure the position. 

Despite the much-maligned Greg Davis's resignation in 2010, the 2011 offense wasn't much better, co-coordinated by former UT QB Major Applewhite and Bryan Harsin. The Longhorns finished 55th in scoring, 54th in total offense, and 89th in passing efficiency. With most of 2011's staunch defense and Bergeron and Brown both returning, its fairly clear that one of these two quarterbacks will need to seize the position and provide at minimum reliable play if this team is going to approach its former formidability. 

Texas Tech, on the other hand, was quite the opposite in almost every way. Quarterback Seth Doege put up monster numbers all season, most notably against Oklahoma in what was the Sooners' home loss since 2005. Unfortunately, the defense was still the sieve that you would imagine it to be. The Red Raiders finished 144th in total defense and near the very bottom in scoring defense (117th). No matter how potent your offense is--a notion that is still kind of amusing when attached to a head coach of Tommy Tuberville's decidedly conservative offensive reputation--you are not going to win very many games. And, in 2011, they didn't. After the Oklahoma upset took them to 5-2, TTU lost out, finishing 5-7, their first sub-.500 season since 1992. 

Next, we have the newcomers from Fort Worth. TCU started the season with a disheartening loss at Baylor that officially set RGIII mania into motion and also forced people to ask questions about what used to be an indomitable defense. Fortunately, on the back of QB Casey Pachall, the Horned Frogs finished what was otherwise a strong season. After a slip up in OT against SMU, TCU won out, including wins against Boise State and a bowl win against a sneakily solid Louisian Tech team. It is probably a testament to Gary Patterson's coaching acumen that an 11-2 (7-0) season could even be slightly painted with the brush of disappointment. With that said, while TCU was not exactly terrible on defense last season (as mentioned yesterday, most of the important metrics put them right on the fringe of the top third in the country), they will need to return to their defensively elite ways if they want to hope to keep the offenses in their new conference in check. 

Lastly, we have West Virginia, coming to the conference fresh of a national humiliation of Clemson during bowl season. Despite a puzzling 26-point loss at Syracuse in October and another loss at home against an improving but not exactly fearsome Louisville team, WVU proved themselves to be a team worthy of serious recognition by season's end. Additionally, despite losing by 26 to LSU at home, it was arguably one of the "closest" 26-point losses that I've ever seen (as I mentioned yesterday). The fact that Oklahoma State ran basically the same offense last season that they did when Holgorsen was in town lends some credence to the fact that the Cowboys would have had more success against LSU then SEC partisans would have led you to believe. 

In short, while the Big 12 still does not have enough teams for a conference championship game, this will yet again be the most exciting conference in America for the offensively inclined. It can be argued that the TCU and WVU additions were just as strong as the SEC's chosen pair of newcomers, but that will be proven or disproven in the years to come.