Mornin' Sunshine!
How did the 10-year anniversary of THE BEST DAY EVER go for you? Well, I hope! If the bowl-ban blues got you down, just remember: Tressel — as did several other college football coaches — won his national championship in his second year on the job. But no pressure, Urban. (No, but seriously, Urban!)
If you didn't comment on Chris' Skully from yesterday, tell us now... where were you when the Buckeyes won it all, ten years ago?
I was in college and watching the game at an Orange County sports bar with a guy I'd been dating for about three weeks. He told me ten minutes after the game was over that he loved me. I looked at him like he was nuts (I mean, three weeks?! C'mon, buddy!) and he said, "I think I just saw you at your absolute best and your absolute worst in the past half hour. So, I'm pretty sure." I'm guessing my college boyfriend could've fallen in love with most of you that night too.
But, enough Taylor Swifting — let's get to the good stuff.
LIONHEART. Thursday was filled with talk of Bill O'Brien being NFL bound after drawing the interest of four different teams and interviewing with the Cleveland Browns. All of that was put to rest later that evening, when O'Brien announced that he would be staying put at Penn State.
"I'm not a one-and-done guy," O'Brien told PennLive.com. "I made a commitment to these players at Penn State and that's what I am going to do. I'm not gonna cut and run after one year. That's for sure."
What a relief for the Penn State program that had been so happy with the success that O'Brien managed to have this past season, following debilitating sanctions from the NCAA. While the jump from the college game to the pros is a big one, and one that has not been so kind to others, O'Brien's job in Happy Valley is only going to get increasingly difficult over the years, so I'm sure the NFL was looking pretty attractive.
Kudos to him for staying where he is and keeping his word to the players that have stuck with the program, though I'm sure the $1.3 million that billionaire PSU booster Terrence Pegula donated to add to O'Brien's 2013 salary didn't hurt.
MAMA, THERE GOES DAT MAN. A matchup that was originally supposed to occur as part of an eventually canceled home-and-home series last season and this season, and then looked to be a possibility at one point this year for the national championship game pairing, kicked off in the Fiesta Bowl last night between Kansas State and Oregon. And man, what a kickoff it was!
Standout Oregon track star De'Anthony Thomas caught the opening kickoff, raced past the Ducks' sideline, and headed straight into the end zone. "I felt like my role in this game was to be a momentum-builder and a game-changer," Thomas said. He did just that, as soon as the game got started.
In true Chip Kelly fashion, the Ducks went for two and gained an eight-point lead before a single minute had elapsed. And it was off to the races for Oregon.
De'Anthony Thomas followed up his opening kickoff TD with another, this time with a 23-yard pass from Marcus Mariota, giving the Ducks a 15-point lead with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. The Wildcats put up a valiant effort in the second quarter, narrowing the lead to just five points, but the game never felt like it was in jeopardy for the Ducks. Particularly when the Ducks scored again with under a minute in the first half, giving Oregon a 22-10 lead heading into the locker room. From there, they emerged to dominate the third quarter and put the game away.
There was some excitement in the second half, however, when Oregon scored on a Mariota two-yard touchdown run and followed up with a one-point safety. That's right, a one-point safety. Thanks for keeping things exciting, Fiesta Bowl!
Oregon won the game, 35-17.
Looks like we'll get at least one more year of this. AND THERE GOES THIS ONE, TOO. While Bill O'Brien has opted to stay at the college level, there seems to be little doubt at this point that Chip Kelly is headed back — following a roughly two-hour stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this time last year — to the NFL, one way or the other.
Kelly at least gave the appearance of waiting for his team to finish their bowl game before entertaining these offers, but with the Ducks victory in the Fiesta Bowl in the books, the Browns, the Eagles, and the Bills are awaiting their chance to interview Kelly.
Though Ducks fans in Glendale showered Kelly with a "WE WANT CHIP!" chant during the trophy presentation, the man is in pretty high demand, and it seems unlikely that Oregon will be able to up the ante enough to compete with whatever attractive offer the pros will send his way.
Sorry, Phil Knight.
BALLER. Quite possibly my favorite defensive player Buckeye of all time, Antoine Winfield, has vowed to play for the Vikings on Saturday against the Packers, despite a broken hand. Winfield had to leave the game last week, also against the Packers, due to unbearable pain but has now been set up with a new glove that he feels confident will allow him to play Saturday.
"Absolutely, I am not coming out of this game," Winfield said of the wildcard rematch. "I have the whole offseason to recover. I'll be good."
Still as badass as ever.
LOOKING BACK AT THOSE THAT PAID FORWARD. Ohio State announced yesterday it will lead a celebration of Woody Hayes on February 15, one day after what would have been his 100th birthday. The event will commemorate both Woody's contributions to the program during this career, as well as the contributions of him and his wife, Anne, and the impact they both had on the university as a whole.
Archie Griffin will be the master of ceremonies at the event, and Brent Musburger will be a special guest. You can find more details about the event here.
LINKS. LINKS. LINKS. Hey, ESPN, hire this girl... Speaking of that game, this still isn't old... Hey, Thad... Since I guess you guys like foodporn, this was pretty good... I was gonna hit the slopes, but then I got high.
