The Doghouse Could Be Getting Crowded
Ray done did it again?So, this should be shocking to no one, really, but Ray Small is rumored to be in academic trouble once again (assuming, of course, his trips to the doghouse in the past were due to classroom issues).
At this point, it’s speculation, but there’s smoke just about everywhere — here’s a link to an Ozone forum discussion on the matter complete with the shrugs by fans and the caveat that Ozone forum links stop working after 18 hours or so.
Word is, Small must attend summer school just to get himself right for fall (and five hours worth of summer school at that). Jaamal Berry just might have a host to show him around Tressel’s doghouse when camp starts up.
Assuming this chatter is at all true, call me optimistic or naive for thinking this was the year Small was going to put it all together. He had some momentum from leading the Big Ten in punt returns last season, had the play of the Spring Game and was in position to make good on Ted Ginn Sr’s talk of him being the best wide receiver he’d ever coached.
This season is a money year for Small. If he steps up and delivers in the classroom and on the field, he can make himself some coin. If not, he’ll join the list of names including D’Andrea, Lydell Ross, Alex Boone and others that have fallen short of expectations for one reason or another.
Doc Saturday has a list of his top ten teams of the past decade. The list is worth paying attention to because Hinton knows a great deal more about college football than you or I will ever hope to know and he also has great perspective, something many other professional writers lack at times.
He has four different USC teams in this group, which speaks to just how dominant that program has been since Pete Carroll arrived. The 2002 Buckeyes do not make an appearance and ultimately I’m fine with that as that squad won games on sheer will more so than raw talent and athleticism. That’s not to say the team wasn’t talented, because they were. In fact, the Miami team they beat would have been the top one-loss team on his list had he been able to justify including Ohio State.
But, bottom line: the 2002 Buckeyes wouldn’t be favored in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with any other team on the list. Would they have beaten some of the teams on the list? Probably. But the teams he lists carry gaudy stats around like 30+ point margin of victories and that Buckeye squad was an interception away from dropping a home game to UC. Still, we’re keeping the crystal.
His top-ranked team of the past decade was the 2005 Longhorns and that should give us all hope because when you watch the play that settled the epic Rose Bowl that season, it’s easy to see #2 pulling off that same number in the not so distant future.
Ray Small is a joke,PERIOD!!!
5 hours of summer school is most likely just one class, most classes at OSU range from 3-5 credit hours
Million dollar talent with a .10 cent brain.
And how about Justin Boren and his Facebook antics? I’ll admit I don’t really care what these guys do as long as they are eligible but their stupidity astounds me.
i havent heard about this. what did he do?
He was being stupid when it came to his Facebook update, talking about his drunken weekend golfing and boating, complete with photos of his crew peeing on the side of a condo.
you guys are acting like a bunch of drama queens. It will be fine. Chilax.
I thought the top 10 greatest teams the last 10 years were going to be 10 teams from the SEC. Truthfully, each season the top 10 SEC teams are the 10 best teams in America. I hate whent he media screws those poor SEC schools on these lists and puts teams like USC on them.
Hahahahahahaha!!! Me likey…
Awesome.
SEC SEC SEC!
cool?
I dont think Ray Small has any academic trouble, I think it’s obvious Jim Tressel is hell-bent on destroying Ray Small’s career. If I were him I would transfer to a d2 school so my talents could truly be appreciated.
I’m kind of tired of Ray Small myself. I mean he may not have every done anything terrible, but sometimes you can see it on the field. He may have a lot of talent, but he plays lazy at times. When the coach pressures you and has you in the dog house, he wants to see you respond to adversity and step up. I think Tressel sees his potential, but it’s unacceptable to have a player being lax on the field. No one is worth that.
Why would Tressel do that? Ray is doing a fine job by himself along with his dad.
I was kidding, Smalls dad accused Tress of trying to ruin Ray’s career. Its easy to see where Ray gets his entitled attitude. He was called the next Ted Ginn, and Ted Ginn Sr. said he may be the best player he’s ever coached. I like Ray Small, but he seems to think success is going to just fall in his lap without working for it.
Brian, you are exactly right, by JT putting you in the “dog house”, thats his way of challenging you to step up. This offense is counting on Ray to be an on and off the field leader, and I hope he gets it together.
I remember that comment from Ray’s father. At first I didn’t think you were joking then you hit the D2 comment lol. Nice.
Sorry, I should have seen that coming.
With regards to the top-team rankings of the decade, can someone find me the year where any of those FOUR USC teams beat 3 top-10 teams in one season? Unless they all did, Jason, I DO have a problem with leaving the only team to go 14-0, who beat 3 top-10 teams, including the eventual Pac-10 champ, and what amounted to their #2 ranked 2001 Miami team just a year later.
Sometimes style points take you to storied heights. That Ohio State team, despite the close calls, won more games in one season than any other team. Period! The SEC hasn’t produced a no-loss champion since 1998. USC under Carroll has had exactly 1 undefeated season.
They quote USC’s dominant 2008 defense, but that defense could not contain the Oregon State backfield! The 2002 Buckeyes was more dominant, keeping the likes of Jason Gessar, Larry Fitzgerald, Ken Dorsey, Willis McGahee, and John Navarre from beating them! The 2003 USC team lost to Cal. 2004 Auburn didn’t beat a single quality non-conference team, and played 1AA Citadel before those games were so popular.
That list is such garbage, I don’t know what else to say about it. If it doesn’t want to give credit where credit is due, then eff them. Those Buckeyes went 14-0, then won their next 8 games in 2003 before losing…that’s one of the longest winning streaks of the decade.
eh, i dunno. 2002 OSU was an incredible team backed by a mean, mean defense, but had an incredibly finicky offense that was basically dead in the water without clarett. we won the NC due to some incredibly gutsy and timely plays throughout the season, but 7 times out of 10 miami probably smokes us in the fiesta bowl.
doc saturday is looking purely at the teams on paper, and by that measure it’s hard to deny that the 2005 Bucks were better than the 2002 Bucks.
although i will say that the 2005 Bucks are clearly the better team than 2008 texas, the general crappiness of big 12 defenses last year was exposed during bowl season, and 2008 texas had pretty much no functional running game at all. if the 2005 OSU defense could hold vince young relatively in check, i don’t think colt mccoy would’ve posed any great threat. our LBs and DL would’ve wrecked havoc against them.
I’m just saying that the term “dominant” should mean what it really means. Three of those USC teams lost a game, only one of them won an outright national title. Auburn’s 2004 resume was a joke…they beat pee-wee level teams that year. I’m just saying that at least one of those 5 teams should be substituted for the only team to have gone 14-0, beating the 2002 Hurricanes along the way. If you’re going to give concessions to teams that lost to far inferior opponents in a dominance ranking, how can they possibly rank higher than a team that truly did dominate a season?
i dunno, we might’ve gone 14-0 that year, but we were hardly “dominant.” let’s be honest, the 2002 team could’ve just as easily been 10-4 that year. i’m not saying it wasn’t a great team, but i am saying that putting it on that list simply because it went 14-0 is a little silly.
I cant see why you seem to be downplaying going 14-0. If there’s one thing the BSCS has taught us, is that it is damn hard to run the table, no matter who you play.
And as far as being dead without #13, he missed 5 games that year, all of which we still won. My personal offensive MVP for that season was Krenzel, time after time he made clutch accurate throws. I realize 13 took some of the focus off the passing game, but you’d be hard pressed to find many qb’s that played like that in a season.
This guy is wrong for leaving ‘02 OSU off the list. Winning is winning.
because if you’re doing a list of best teams, you look at the personnel and what’s on paper, ie, who would win the majority of the time in a direct matchup. do you seriously think the 2002 team would beat most of the teams on that list more than 5 times out of ten if they played head to head?
and yeah, we won all the games (against not great competition) clarett didn’t play in, that’s not the point, which is that if a team of the caliber of the teams on that list managed to effectively neutralize him, our offense would be totally screwed. we only managed to beat miami thanks to an unbelievable defensive effort
also by your logic, there should be at least one boise state team on there
Blowing teams out by 40 wasn’t even an option to the ‘02 team, given JT’s coaching style. We played ball control offense, exceptional ST play, and stifling/game changing defense. I compare that team to the Baltimore Ravens super bowl squad. Offensive style is what made Miami a 14 point fave in that one, but our style of play was the perfect answer. Besides, who did that Miami team play? I dont recall any heavies on their sched.
If you want to go by offensive stats alone, then no, the 02 Bucks dont belong on that list. But, if winning is everything, and it is, then I have to put the first CFB team in history to win 14 gms on that list. And yes, I am a major homer.
Plus, let’s be honest, if you were to rank the top programs of the decade, Ohio State would be no lower than 5th behind USC, LSU, Florida, and maybe Texas – though that could be a tie. If Ohio State is the 4th or 5th program of the decade, AND put together a 14-0 season with one of those teams, which was a fantastic season…they beat so many different styles of football…that team would have to be the representative. It wouldn’t hurt me to rank that 2002 Buckeye team as 10th…but they deserve to be on that list somewhere.
That 98 SEC team won the first BSC championship but it’s very debatable whether or not they were the best team that year. Certainly FSU was not the 2nd best team. Anyway, I think that Buckeye team was the best that I’ve seen and remember. I’ve only been a fan since about 1994 though because I was about 12 then, but to me that OSU team, had they gone undefeated, would top any list.
All good points, but all homerism aside, I wouldn’t bet on that Ohio State team against any of the other teams on his list (save for maybe ‘08 Texas). That’s not to say that Buckeye team wouldn’t have beaten some of those teams, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
Part of that could be related to Tressel’s coaching philosophy. Perhaps if Herban or Pete were coaching that ‘02 Buckeye team, they would have more resembled a juggernaut because the talent was certainly there.
I also believe that 2002 team had more starters drafted than any other team in history.
nope, only five: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team#2003_NFL_draftees
the 2005 team, for comparison, had freakin NINE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team#2006_NFL_draftees
Bup, that only shows the starters that were drafted that year. Not all of the starters went pro that year.
Krenzel, Clarett, Hartsock, Mangold, Olivea, Stepanovich, Anderson, Scott, Peterson, Reynolds, Gamble, Fox, and Nugent all started for the 2002 team but did not go pro the next year. They were, however, eventually drafted when they did elect to go pro.
Add Adrien Clarke and Will Smith to that list also.
So out of 24 starters (counting Punter and Kicker)
the 2002 team had 19 starters players drafted
oh okay, i see what you’re saying
1. Texas (2005). Beat the pants off everybody (highest margin of victory of the decade: 33.8 points per game), then won like the greatest game ever with the performance of the century from — if not the greatest player ever (or even of the decade) — the first quarterback I’d pick to run a college offense. (Yes, still.)
They didn’t beat the pants off the Buckeyes. Not by long shot.
That’s a very good point.