With Wisconsin and Ohio State playing so many close, memorable games, the Big Ten's premier game should have some hate flowing, but it's as pleasant as it's been in years. What gives?
Since a certain hog farmer left Wisconsin to trod the sidelines at Arkansas, the Wisconsin/Ohio State rivalry has lost a few degrees of heat. That's mostly because of the connection between Urban Meyer and Gary Andersen, who was Meyer's defensive line coach at Utah in 2004.
Andersen has a less abrasive personality than his predecessor, so his relationship with Urban Meyer is friendly. OR IS IT?!?!?!?
ANDERSEN: ... Obviously, Urban's a good friend. I consider him a good friend. Who knows, maybe he doesn't consider me a good friend. We'll talk. We won't talk this week, I can guarantee you this much. It's about the kids, and it always will be.
Grrrr, feel the animosity. Without a divisional split, an even bitterer Ten Year War would be on hand.
In actuality, OSU staff are glad he's there, not just because they like Andersen:
"No, I'm good with Gary." -Meyer when asked if he missed Bret Bielema.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) September 23, 2013
Reporter: Do you miss Bret Bielema? Zach Smith (tongue firmly in cheek): You always miss great coaches." Laughter erupts. #Buckeyes
— Dave Biddle (@davebiddle) September 23, 2013
RECAPPING THE WISCONSIN PRESS CONFERENCE. After Braxton Miller stayed out of the Florida A&M game, the question on everyone's minds is how ready Miller is for Wisconsin. Urban Meyer answered that and a number of other questions about the difficulty spike in his press conference yesterday.
Meyer pegged Miller at 90% at the moment and remained noncommital about putting Miller and Guiton on the field at the same time. He was kinder to Miller in terms of questioning toughness, but emphasized Miller's extra conditioning and and how well he was handling the recovery process.
The Florida A&M game may have been more useful in showing what's not happening than what actually is happening: James Clark, who suffered an ankle injury, will receive a medical redshirt for this year, while Corey Smith Michael Thomas, Mike Mitchell, Jalin Marshall, and Bri'onte Dunn all appear headed to earn regular redshirts.
What the soft non-conference schedule was less useful for was keeping Ohio State sharp against tougher opponents. Corey Linsley:
“I wouldn’t say it’s hard to switch to that mentality, but it’s nice,” Ohio State center Corey Linsley said. “I remember Jack (Mewhort) told me yesterday, ‘I’m ready to play somebody this week.’ We have played somebody, we played Cal, and these opponents have been playing hard, but it's not like a Big Ten game. It will never be, it could never be, because the Big Ten season has its own feel to it.”
TRADE YOU MY POM-POM FOR A GLAZED DONUT. Continuing with promotional events in Ohio Stadium, Ohio State is holding another Scarlet-Out for the Wisconsin game:
Ohio State has given away pom-poms before, but not on this scale. It does raise a few questions:
- If fans are supposed to wear scarlet, why not use gray pom-poms to contrast?
- Wisconsin fans wear red too, so is telling fans to wear scarlet really necessary?
- Isn't shaking pom-poms far quieter than clapping and cupping one's hands for shouting?
No matter: the pom-poms are happening, and with dozens of recruits on hand making the atmosphere as captivating as possible is a high priority.
BADGERS GEAR UP FOR OSU. Last week marked the first Big Ten conference game of the season, as Wisconsin thumped Purdue. What should we expect from Wisconsin on Saturday?
Gary Andersen's press conference yesterday shed virtually no light on Wisconsin's injury situation. Andersen "doesn't really know" which injured Badgers will play, although he admits that some players won't practice until Wednesday or Thursday. Center Dallas Lewallen and CB Peniel Jean were hurt against Purdue, while LB Brendan Kelly, WR Kenzel Doe and WR Jeff Duckworth all missed the Purdue game.
Most important is the status of TE Jacob Pedersen, whose absence would deal Wisconsin's offense a huge blow. As Joel Stave's no. 2 target and safety valve, Pedersen has propped up a passing game seen as lethargic.
His absence, in addition to Doe and Duckworth's injuries, would allow Ohio State to cheat toward the run and stuff the box with eight or nine defenders against running formations. With Lewallen hurt, Wisconsin has to start redshirt freshman Dan Voltz, who Andersen thinks needs preparation to handle Ohio Stadium's atmosphere:
We've been on the road one time, and it was loud. It was fairly hectic. But I know this. For every one person that was sitting in Sun Devils Stadium, there's two of them at Ohio State. So a lot of people are going to be screaming and yelling, and I think our kids will handle it, but we need to prepare for it.
And another encouraging quote about how Ohio State is different from last year:
In my opinion, they're a lot better team than they were a year ago because they're much more skilled and much faster than a year ago. It's a dramatic difference, in my opinion. The speed on the field, for them this year than they had a year ago.
That is... a regrettable t-shirt. *tugs collar* ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TRASH AS WELL. Football vendors sell the dumbest crap imaginable to the fans stupid enough to willing to purchase their horrendous inventory. Walk down Lane Avenue on game days, and you'll run across a few dozen people displaying shirts with f-bombs or worse on them. But look on the bright side: as bad as the situation is at Ohio State, it's worse at Florida State.
Florida State has sent cease and desist letters to vendors selling t-shirts with the image of Jameis Winston depicting him as Jesus Christ, pictured at left, which is about as much of a slam dunk as cease and desist cases get.
Does any purchase bring more immediate buyer's remorse than a novelty football shirt? In three months, that sweet Lennay Kekua or "Calvin urinating on the Florida logo" shirt is destined for Nigeria, or else you look like a tool.
Friends, there are better ways to spend money on shirts and non-shirts alike.
CORNELL LAX GROUNDED FOR HAZING. Last year, Cornell's lacrosse team whomped the Buckeyes in the NCAA quarterfinals. That won't happen again this year: Cornell will be significantly worse, but not because of anything they did on the field.
Cornell responded to reports of hazing by suspending practice for the entire fall. Cornell will play this spring, but it's one of the highest profile cases of punishment for hazing by a varsity team.
According to a report on Cornell's hazing website, freshman were "expected to perform menial tasks, including chores and other duties that went above and beyond those expected of the general membership." One would assume the "force the freshmen to drink alcohol until they vomit" part was what landed them in hot water.
This is your PSA that binge drinking is bad for you, that you should not do it, and you should not force other people to do it. And now you know.
A WARM WISCONSIN WELCOME. Over the last week, the passing of Maria Tiberi has been mourned by so many in Columbus. After the community response led to 4,000 people attending her wake, it's time to look toward something happier.
As Bill Rabinowitz put it, this is the week you're supposed to hate Wisconsin, but you can't hate Captain Jane Lund returning a month early from a tour in Afghanistan to surprise her daughter in front of 80,000 people at Camp Randall Stadium:
LINKS AHOY. After the skywriting incident, Michigan State alumni raised $30K for ovarian cancer research... The 2014 OSU-Navy game hits a scheduling snag... Chris "Birdman" Andersen leads a strange life... I think these Big Ten Power Rankings overrate Minnesota and underrate Iowa... Panic about Qatar's impending World Cup disaster... How do pro soccer leagues deal with inappropriate chants?... Good idea: celebrating a goal with pizza. Bad idea: eating Papa John's when you could eat Donatos or Massey's instead...Now that Shaq owns part of the Shaqramento Kings, will he install NBA Jam consoles in Arco Arena?... Paul Johnson thinks players should have coordinated APU message better... Adam "Pacman" Jones arrested for what, the 20th time?... The nine offensive linemen formation is so Stanford... Texas schools are great at t-shirt trolling, Exhibit A and Exhibit B... Call me crazy, but nobody should lose knuckles playing sports... Support a bad NFL team and you'll pack on the pounds... Us southpaws have known using your left hand makes you a better athlete for ages... Always bring an umbrella there... The best food innovation since sliced bread... If you blame Grand Theft Auto for your arrest, you deserve a punch in the face... Name of the Year is back from the dead... how the US Air Force nearly nuked North Carolina... and revisit the relationship between Rudy Hubbard and Woody Hayes.
