Weird, Wild Stuff
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/921/1/Weird-Wild-Stuff/Weird-Wild-Stuff.html
Evan Plunkett
By Evan Plunkett
Published on 10/12/2007
It's entirely possible that, once again, the Big Ten title will come down to Ohio State and Michigan. But the road to get there, writes Atomic Sports columnist Evan Plunkett, will be anything but normal.
It's entirely possible that, once again, the Big Ten title will come down to Ohio State and Michigan. But the road to get there, writes Atomic Sports columnist Evan Plunkett, will be anything but normal.
Weird, Wild Stuff
The Big Ten began as it does every year with its media day in Chicago. The traditional powers were again picked to dominate the league. However, the Big Ten season didn’t take long to deviate from the familiar to the unusual.
It began to unravel the first Saturday of the season when Appalachian State stunned conference favorite and perennial power, Michigan, ranked fifth in the country and playing in The Big House. The embarrassment continued the following week for Michigan with a blowout loss at the hands of visiting Oregon. Michigan was not the only Big Ten title favorite to struggle early in the year. Wisconsin, ranked in the top 10, narrowly escaped with a win against UNLV and Ohio State’s offense looked pathetic against MAC foe Akron in Week 2. The one team that did look good was Penn State. The Nittany Lions rolled through their early non-conference schedule including a drubbing of Notre Dame 31-10. Penn State looked poised to take the Big Ten crown behind a steady running game, senior leadership from their quarterback, Anthony Morelli, and a staunch defense led by Butkus Award candidate Dan Connor. But even the Nittany Lions could not keep the momentum train rolling, losing inexplicably to a Michigan team which appeared in disarray just a few week earlier. Wisconsin then appeared to be the class of the Big Ten, but apparently no one told Illinois. The Fighting Illini shocked then-No. 5 Wisconsin last Saturday in Champaign. So will a true Big Ten contender please stand up?
One has and it is a familiar face in the Big Ten race: The Buckeyes. Many picked this team to finish third in the league, and why not? Ohio State only lost a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, two wide receivers taken in the first round of the NFL draft, and a 1,000-yard rusher amongst many others. Despite all the offensive firepower that the team lost, there were only two defensive starters that graduated, however, and the veteran presence shows. The defense is the strength of this team. The unit ranks first in scoring defense and second in rushing defense nationally. The perceived weakness of this team, the offense, has actually become a strength. Chris Wells is the dominating, bruising back the Buckeye fans have longed for since Maurice Clarett left the team. Meanwhile, quarterback Todd Boeckman, who had cavernous shoes to fill after the departure of Troy Smith, has done a tremendous job thus far, leading the Big Ten in passing efficiency.
Much of the credit for the success of this team must be attributed to the head coach Jim Tressel. His teams just take care of business. The Buckeyes have a 68-14 record under Tressel including 24 straight in the regular season. Tressel’s teams may not always win pretty but they take care of business unlike so many others in the Big Ten and across the country. Last Saturday night was a perfect example. Boeckman struggled throwing three interceptions and the whole offense slowed in the second half only mustering six measly points against No. 23 Purdue. After the game you had the feeling that the Buckeyes played very poorly and yet the final score was 23-7 Ohio State, and it was not that close. The Boilermakers never had a chance. They were down 14-0 within the first 15 minutes.
While Ohio State should be considered the favorite in the Big Ten, you may want to hold off on giving them the conference crown just yet. Illinois -- yes the same Illinois that won two games last season -- has as good of a chance of anyone of dethroning the Buckeyes. The Illini are off to a quick 3-0 start in the conference and are one of only three remaining Big Ten teams undefeated in conference play. If there is one thing Ron Zook knows how to do, it is recruit. He did not win much at Florida but he sure did load the Gators roster with talent. Remember, it was the players that he recruited that Urban Meyer coached to the national title last January. It has been no different at Illinois thus far. His 2007 class was ranked in the top 10 by just about every recruiting analyst in the country. One of those prized recruits, Arrelious Benn, has already proved to be a game changer at the wide receiver position. This newcomer, along with the dynamic quarterback “Juice” Williams and steady running back Rashard Mendenhall give the Fighting Illini a formidable offensive attack. Just ask Penn State and Wisconsin. Illinois defeated these two Big Ten powerhouses in consecutive weeks scoring a total of 58 combined points in the process against two supposedly stern defensive units. Throw in a talented no-name defense led by possibly the best defender in the Big Ten that no one has heard of, J. Lehman, and you have the makings of a team that can push the Buckeyes to the very end for the conference title. If nothing else, the match-up between these two teams Nov. 10 in Columbus should have far greater ramifications on the outcome of the Big Ten than anyone could have imagined before the season started.
The third Big Ten team to feature a undefeated record in conference play thus far is Michigan, who people wrote off for dead after their abysmal start to the season. Certainly the early season struggles cost the Maize and Blue any shot at a national title and will most likely cost Lloyd Carr his job at season’s end. However, this team is very much alive in the conference title race. There are really no expectations nationally for Michigan so it should be able to fly under the radar for a while. Yes this team still has major weaknesses including a sub-par defense, but at least there are no running quarterbacks in the Big Ten like Dennis Dixon or Armanti Edwards. Plus with Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Mario Manningham, the Wolverines have the offensive firepower to outslug any team in the Big Ten. It seemed as if Michigan fans were ready to disband the football program after the tumultuous start, but if the Wolverines take care of business for the rest of the season, they could make a Rose Bowl appearance and save the job of their embattled coach.
They say the more things change the more they stay the same. Whoever said this must be a Big Ten football fan because it could not apply more perfectly. The Big Ten season began in chaos and only continued from there with huge upsets and traditional powers struggling mightily. Yet even though the Big Ten season has been extremely unusual to this point, the conference crown figures to come down to the match up of bitter rivals Ohio State and Michigan as it so often does, with a trip to the Rose Bowl and possibly even a national title on the line. Should this scenario take place it will once again prove that it is not the Big Ten but instead the Big Two and the Little Nine.
It began to unravel the first Saturday of the season when Appalachian State stunned conference favorite and perennial power, Michigan, ranked fifth in the country and playing in The Big House. The embarrassment continued the following week for Michigan with a blowout loss at the hands of visiting Oregon. Michigan was not the only Big Ten title favorite to struggle early in the year. Wisconsin, ranked in the top 10, narrowly escaped with a win against UNLV and Ohio State’s offense looked pathetic against MAC foe Akron in Week 2. The one team that did look good was Penn State. The Nittany Lions rolled through their early non-conference schedule including a drubbing of Notre Dame 31-10. Penn State looked poised to take the Big Ten crown behind a steady running game, senior leadership from their quarterback, Anthony Morelli, and a staunch defense led by Butkus Award candidate Dan Connor. But even the Nittany Lions could not keep the momentum train rolling, losing inexplicably to a Michigan team which appeared in disarray just a few week earlier. Wisconsin then appeared to be the class of the Big Ten, but apparently no one told Illinois. The Fighting Illini shocked then-No. 5 Wisconsin last Saturday in Champaign. So will a true Big Ten contender please stand up?
One has and it is a familiar face in the Big Ten race: The Buckeyes. Many picked this team to finish third in the league, and why not? Ohio State only lost a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, two wide receivers taken in the first round of the NFL draft, and a 1,000-yard rusher amongst many others. Despite all the offensive firepower that the team lost, there were only two defensive starters that graduated, however, and the veteran presence shows. The defense is the strength of this team. The unit ranks first in scoring defense and second in rushing defense nationally. The perceived weakness of this team, the offense, has actually become a strength. Chris Wells is the dominating, bruising back the Buckeye fans have longed for since Maurice Clarett left the team. Meanwhile, quarterback Todd Boeckman, who had cavernous shoes to fill after the departure of Troy Smith, has done a tremendous job thus far, leading the Big Ten in passing efficiency.
Much of the credit for the success of this team must be attributed to the head coach Jim Tressel. His teams just take care of business. The Buckeyes have a 68-14 record under Tressel including 24 straight in the regular season. Tressel’s teams may not always win pretty but they take care of business unlike so many others in the Big Ten and across the country. Last Saturday night was a perfect example. Boeckman struggled throwing three interceptions and the whole offense slowed in the second half only mustering six measly points against No. 23 Purdue. After the game you had the feeling that the Buckeyes played very poorly and yet the final score was 23-7 Ohio State, and it was not that close. The Boilermakers never had a chance. They were down 14-0 within the first 15 minutes.
While Ohio State should be considered the favorite in the Big Ten, you may want to hold off on giving them the conference crown just yet. Illinois -- yes the same Illinois that won two games last season -- has as good of a chance of anyone of dethroning the Buckeyes. The Illini are off to a quick 3-0 start in the conference and are one of only three remaining Big Ten teams undefeated in conference play. If there is one thing Ron Zook knows how to do, it is recruit. He did not win much at Florida but he sure did load the Gators roster with talent. Remember, it was the players that he recruited that Urban Meyer coached to the national title last January. It has been no different at Illinois thus far. His 2007 class was ranked in the top 10 by just about every recruiting analyst in the country. One of those prized recruits, Arrelious Benn, has already proved to be a game changer at the wide receiver position. This newcomer, along with the dynamic quarterback “Juice” Williams and steady running back Rashard Mendenhall give the Fighting Illini a formidable offensive attack. Just ask Penn State and Wisconsin. Illinois defeated these two Big Ten powerhouses in consecutive weeks scoring a total of 58 combined points in the process against two supposedly stern defensive units. Throw in a talented no-name defense led by possibly the best defender in the Big Ten that no one has heard of, J. Lehman, and you have the makings of a team that can push the Buckeyes to the very end for the conference title. If nothing else, the match-up between these two teams Nov. 10 in Columbus should have far greater ramifications on the outcome of the Big Ten than anyone could have imagined before the season started.
The third Big Ten team to feature a undefeated record in conference play thus far is Michigan, who people wrote off for dead after their abysmal start to the season. Certainly the early season struggles cost the Maize and Blue any shot at a national title and will most likely cost Lloyd Carr his job at season’s end. However, this team is very much alive in the conference title race. There are really no expectations nationally for Michigan so it should be able to fly under the radar for a while. Yes this team still has major weaknesses including a sub-par defense, but at least there are no running quarterbacks in the Big Ten like Dennis Dixon or Armanti Edwards. Plus with Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Mario Manningham, the Wolverines have the offensive firepower to outslug any team in the Big Ten. It seemed as if Michigan fans were ready to disband the football program after the tumultuous start, but if the Wolverines take care of business for the rest of the season, they could make a Rose Bowl appearance and save the job of their embattled coach.
They say the more things change the more they stay the same. Whoever said this must be a Big Ten football fan because it could not apply more perfectly. The Big Ten season began in chaos and only continued from there with huge upsets and traditional powers struggling mightily. Yet even though the Big Ten season has been extremely unusual to this point, the conference crown figures to come down to the match up of bitter rivals Ohio State and Michigan as it so often does, with a trip to the Rose Bowl and possibly even a national title on the line. Should this scenario take place it will once again prove that it is not the Big Ten but instead the Big Two and the Little Nine.