Have a great holiday weekend and please remember all of our service men and women who help keep this country free, so we can enjoy things like college football. A special shout out to all of our loyal 11W military readers, like Buckeye Chief and Officer Polgar, who check in from around the world to keep up with Ohio State athletics.

We’re counting down the weeks until kickoff by profiling a different Big Ten team each week. We decided to switch up the order to reflect 11W’s predicted finish for the upcoming season, which can be found here and we also reached out to fellow bloggers for their inside opinion on important matters.

This week the new regime of Purdue is up and the fellas at Boiled Sports were kind enough to answer a few questions.

With only 12 returning starters from last year’s 4-8 squad, it should come as no surprise that Purdue is picked to finish near the bottom of the conference standings. However, they have 49 returning lettermen, mostly on defense and with a new coach, there is reason for optimism within the Purdue circles.

COACHING: Hope was named coach in waiting before 2008, after spending 5 years as head coach of Eastern Kentucky, where he went 35-22. Tiller obviously brought a certain style of football to the gridiron and Boiled Sports think Hope will approach things a bit differently.

Yes, we expect some changes, mainly being able to move the ball. Everyone still refers to Purdue as “basketball on grass” even though that term was last used on campus probably close to a decade ago. Danny Hope is a defensive minded guy and that’s good, because the defense is the key this season. It’s experienced and actually pretty good — it had to be last year, as the Boilermakers could not move the football for good portions of the season. What will change, most likely, is that we won’t just be a spread offense with a traditional drop-back passer under center (such as Curtis Painter, Kyle Orton, etc.). Joey Elliot will likely be the starter and he is kind of an unknown, but supposedly a “coach on the field” type. We think you’ll see more multi-back formations and the usual assortment of sneaky tricks that Purdue’s offenses have seemed to have in the bag over the years.

OFFENSE: With the spring dismissal of Justin Siller, the aforementioned Joey Elliot should win the starting job as a senior. He has barely played in his previous 3 seasons, throwing just 49 passes, but he created some buzz with his play coming out of spring practice and will have the benefit of a veteran offensive line.

Purdue also has the services of Jaycen Taylor, who is returning from a knee injury that cost him last season. In the previous 2 seasons before that, Taylor ran 1237 yards on 220 carries and scored 8 touchdowns. There isn’t any proven talent behind him, but Boiled Sports tells us to look out for Ralph Bolden, a sophomore who stepped up this spring and is ready to become a horse this year and beyond.

The receivers will be lead by junior Keith Smith, a converted safety, who caught 49 balls last year for 486 yards and could have an All Big Ten season. Behind him is a wide open race, as the Boilermakers lost 5 of their top 7 receivers from last year, but JUCO transfer Aaron Valentin could be a name to remember once the conference season rolls around.

The offensive line should be the strength of this unit, as they return 4 players with starting experience, including sophomore LT Dennis Kelly and senior RT Zach Jones, who each have a chance at All Conference honors. Danny Hope was the OL coach for Purdue from ‘97-’01, but they have only averaged better than 4.4 YPC once since the ‘02 season.

DEFENSE: This unit returns 7 starters from last year and is expected to be the strength of this team. Although they lost their top tackler in Anthony Heygood, Purdue brings back 8 of their top 10 tacklers from the ‘08 season and will get senior linebacker Jason Werner back, who was injured last season.

The line will be lead by Mike Neal and Ryan Kerrigan, who combined for 12.5 sacks last season. They will be joined by DT Kawaan Short, a 6′4″ 310 lbs redshirt freshman, whom Boiled Sports thinks will be the newcomer of the year for Purdue on defense.

The linebackers will be lead by a couple of sophomores, Chris Carlino (true) and Joe Holland (redshirt), who both saw significant time as freshmen, combining for 112 tackles. The secondary has the potential to be one of the B10’s best, with senior returning starters Brandon King and David Pender at corner. Pender had 12 PBU’s in ‘08, while King had 9 of his own, to go along with 48 stops, leading the Boilers in giving up just 183 yards passing per game. At safety, Torri Williams was granted a 6th year by the NCAA and will be joined by senior Dwight McLean, who played in all 12 games last year, registering 2 picks and 36 stops.

KEY GAME: At Oregon, September 12th. Even though it is early in the season, a victory in Eugene would kick start Hope’s career at Purdue. The Boilers open up against Toledo, go to Oregon and then play 5 of their next 6 at home. A win out west could set them up for a potential 4-1 start.

BEST-CASE: For this one, we go back to Boiled Sports.

Everyone — and we do mean everyone — has the Boilermakers pegged to be near the bottom of the Big Ten. We even saw an OSU site [Ed: That would be us] doing team-by-team previews and when they got to IU, they conceded them only three wins, with one coming over Purdue. And that’s really all fine. We absolutely LOVE the direction of our program, new coach Danny Hope and the recruits he’s bringing in. It honestly feels a lot like the beginning of the Tiller era in that nothing at all is expected of the team and so even banging out five wins will make everyone happy. It’s really early to be making predictions but you did just ask for a “best case” scenario. Now, mind you, we don’t necessarily think this is gonna happen, BUT, in an absolute best-case season, we’d see the offense score a reasonable number of points and the defense live up to what it’s clearly capable of, ultimately resulting in a 7-5 regular season. Again, best case.

WORST-CASE: Even though they play 6 of their first 8 at home, those games include Notre Dame, Northwestern, Illinois and Ohio State. They also play 3 of their last 4 on the road, including games in Madison and Ann Arbor. The defense maybe the strength, but I think it is going to take some time for the new offense to kick in and by that time, the D may be wearing down. If Purdue loses at Oregon, then at home against ND, Zooker, and OSU, they are probably looking at another 4-8 or 5-7 season.

The Boilermakers haven’t averaged less than 358 YPG on defense over the last 4 years, leading to just 25 victories over that span and it will probably take another season before the new coaching staff has their plan in place. They miss Iowa and Penn State this year, but their OOC schedule is considered one of the best in the B10, so it will be difficult to gain bowl eligibility, but Hope is here and it will be interesting to see if he can return Purdue to the top tier of the conference.

This setup looks familiar

A Rivals and Scout four-star, he’s the former’s 5th-rated running back prospect, while the latter has him 6th at his position.

ESPN has this to say about Smith:

Smith may be one of the more impressive backs in this class in terms of a size to speed ratio. He’s tall with great bulk but still lean enough through his waist and lower-body to remain fluid with some wiggle.

After piling up 3,580 rushing yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons, Smith was on pace to challenge the state record for career rushing yards (7,560), but was held to just 1,475 yards his junior year. Outside shot of still getting the mark, but he’ll have his work cutout for him.

His negatives: supposedly goes down low a lot and does not posses child-bearing hips suitable for running back greatness.

Still, he’s a pretty big win for the staff and at 6-2/220, the comparisons to Beanie are out there and valid, especially when you check out his film. He hits the hole quickly and shows nice acceleration on longer runs, while showing the shake needed to make a man miss up close. He might not have Beanie’s love for mangling opponents’ facemasks just yet, but that can be acquired.

Said film:

(The stutter-step around 0:48 is sick.)

As exciting as the above clips are, advanced party commenters have correctly pointed out that he might not be facing elite competition in Fort Wayne. And while it’s true that the state of Indiana isn’t exactly regarded a a running back factory, I like what I see. A lot.

Sorry, handsome!

The Buckeyes won his services over other offers from the likes of Tennessee, Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa. In fact, the Spartans were his 2nd choice, further highlighting the excellent job Dantonio and his staff have done on that front lately.

There are rumors of potential academic hurdles to overcome, but Smith seems to think he’ll be fine. Assuming he will be, Smith might have the good fortune of being the only running back in the 2010 class, though Erick Howard lurks. Boom is just a soph and probably not a candidate to leave early, while freshmen Berry and Hyde are new arrivals providing quality depth going forward.

Random trivia bit: Smith also plays basketball in the same conference as Buckeye 2010 hoops recruit Deshaun Thomas.

All-American, All-Buckeye, All-Awesome.

Worry not Buckeye backers: the run on weddings is behind you, a short work week is likely nearly 3/4 complete, and Ohio State’s pre-SC tussle with the Naval Acacdemy is but 66 short days away. Speaking of our enlisted men & women, let’s take this moment to suspend all snark and borderline inappropriete levels of hero-worship for young twenty somethings, and instead pay homage, with our nation’s Independence Day rapidly approaching, to those actual heroes who make both our independence and ability to kill the doldroms of the workday by studying unofficial 40-yard-dash times possible.

Lee Tressel, the father of our beloved sweatervested one, diligently served in the Navy instead of serving on the football field for the Bucks during World War 2, joining 18 other returning tOSU letterman from the 1941 team who also put aside their scholastic, athletic, and personal interests to fight for their country. The great Chic Harley also dutifully responded when his country came calling. The realities of foregoing our favorite distraction in favor of one of the highest forms of responsibility imaginable is but a concept alone in many of our minds, which all the more adds the importance to both thank those that have risked their lives and think of the countless many who make these moments of introspection possible.

Let us resume our regularly scheduled sarcasm and thinly veiled attempts at sporting dialogue.

We start with The State Up North, where Tim Hardaway Jr. announced this week his committment to John Beilein’s Wolverines. The 6-5 swingman from Miami (Fla.) Palmetto Senior High is rated as a 3-star by Rivals, a 93 (ostensibly out of 150) by ESPN, and a 3-star by Scout. Little is known about the strong bloodline possessing senior to be other than Googling him will yield you many, many photos of his notorious former NBA All-Star father. Infamous genetics aside, Hardaway Jr.’s game appears to be predicated on smooth handles, court vision, and a jumper to match. The future Wolverine averaged 25.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and six assists his junior season, drawing offers from Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers and Kansas State as well. Attempts to bring you, the fine 11W viewing public, some legitimate game tape were unsuccessful, largely due to countless YouTube videos being yanked because of terms & rights violations. Instead we bring you this grainy basketball video with “HUSTLIN” in the title. Pretend the fast one is Tim Hardaway Jr.

For those of you who missed it, France, suffering perhaps their poorest showing since the Wars of Religion, fell to a team of U.S. select 19-or-under football players 78-0 at Canton’s famed Fawcett Stadium. The Red, White & Blue outgained the, uh, Blue, White & Red 617 yards to 7. It’s worth pointing out, however, those 7 yards represented a far greater net gaine than their performance in the Franco-Prussian War. The Bucks’ Jack Mewhort and Storm Klein, both incoming freshman this coming Fall, participated in the slaughter. There is arguably nothing more American than being named Storm Klein and inflicting massive, hit-stick style pain on the French. U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A, etc. Northwestern recruit Brian Smith, Miami University signee Pat Hinkel, and future Kent State Golden Flash Brian Winters made up the other Big Ten/Ohio area representatives on the squad. Virginia Tech recruits David Wilson and Tariq Edwards, South Carolina recruit Chris Payne, and Virginia signee Corey Lillard also participated in the American football equivalent of waterboarding. For those in the northeastern Ohio area this 4th of July weekend, be sure to catch the encore as the American select team Cortés-es a team of like aged players from Mexico later today and the assumed championship this Sunday, July 5th, at 1 pm again at Fawcett.

Lastly, we again tip our hat to former Buckeye B.J. Mullens on going 25th overall in the first round to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Love him or hate him, you can’t help but appreciate he going to the only part of the country who will cherish and appreciate his choice of facial hair stylings. We wish you the best B.J., and for those who manage to miss his introductory press conference with the Thunder, be sure to check out what Mullens had to say.

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks Terrelle Pryor has a more than legitimate shot at the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

The odds for college football’s most prestigious individual award have started to be released and Pryor is gaining some respect on a lot of sites around the net. BetUs.com and Sportbet.com have Pryor fourth on their list at +800 and +700 respectively behind Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy, and other sites such as Gridironexperts.com give an easier-to-understand odds on Pryor (for those that don’t understand the money line) winning the Heisman at 8:1 odds.

So Buckeye Nation is clearly not alone in seeing that LiC has the potential to be an absolute star at the college level, but the one thing that will be tough to convince the rest of the nation is why Pryor should win the Heisman Trophy over the three players unanimously ahead of him in all of the odds listing: Tebow, Bradford, and McCoy.

After much deliberation and tossing back and forth ideas with the rest of the 11W crew here is a list of five things Terrelle Pryor must do to win the 2009 Heisman Trophy:

1. Beat USC
Every Heisman voter will be looking closely as to how the candidates perform against top notch teams and in big games. These voters will be even more skeptical when looking at Ohio State Heisman candidates in these situations, especially after how OSU’s last Heisman winner performed in the MNC and the beating the Buckeyes’ reputation has taken on the big stage since that awful night in Glendale.

This obviously brings us to September 12, 2009, where the Buckeyes will get a re-match against the Southern California Trojans in a prime time evening game in the Horseshoe. Not only will the Bucks be playing for revenge after an embarrassing 35-3 loss in The Coliseum last fall, but will also be looking to show the country that they are serious in their run for a National Championship this season. If the Buckeyes can surprise the world and beat the Trojans, you better believe Pryor will be a big part of that win and will vault himself right next to the three favorites at the top of the Heisman list. The USC game is a must-win for Terrelle if he wants to be invited to New York in December.

2. Put Up Nintendo Numbers
Last season Tim Tebow threw for 2,746 yards and 30 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions while completing 64.4% of his passes. He also ran for 673 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Colt McCoy completed 76.7% of his passes while throwing for 3,859 yards and 34 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions. He ran for 561 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Sam Bradford, the winner, threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns against 8 interceptions while completing 67.9% of his passes. He only ran for 47 yards on the ground, but did have 5 touchdowns with his legs.

The one thing these three 2008 Heisman finalists had in common were gaudy numbers. Terrelle Pryor is now “the guy” at Ohio State and with a full season under his belt, will be expected to put up similar numbers to Tim, Sam, and Colt if he expects to compete with them for the hardware. Pryor was very efficient in 2008, completing 60.6% of his passes for 1,311 yards and 13 scores against just 4 interceptions through the air. He ran for 631 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. He will have to triple his passing yards and double his touchdowns through the air in order to just be in the race at the end of the season and will have to rush for close to 1,000 yards and double-digit scores on the ground to get an edge on his three opponents in that category.

All of these things are possible, as Terrelle just started 10 games last season and now will be behind center from game one. He has now gone through a bowl practice, a spring practice, and has a full summer of film to study and help him progress to get to the level he needs to be at to win the Heisman in ‘09. This leads us to…

3. Read Through The Progressions Quicker
While arm strength and endurance can be worked on in the weight room, learning the mental part of the game does not come as easy. Numerous hours in the dorm room breaking down the playbook, days spent watching film, daily team meetings, and a quick learning curve are just some of the things Pryor will need to become a complete player at the quarterback position for Jim Tressel’s offense. Troy Smith showed in 2005 that he could be good based on talent alone, but during the regular season in 2006 he showed what could be done once the entire offense was mastered by his mind.

Last season Terrelle did a lot of good things for the Buckeyes, but one thing that he clearly needed to work on was going through his progressions quicker and checking down off his first and second options on passing plays. This year, as he gets more comfortable with Ray Small, DeVier Posey, Dane Sanzenbacher, and the other receivers on the team, he will be expected to make the best decision whether the play goes according to plan or breaks down in front of him. This even includes using the tight end (we have those at Ohio State? I thought that was just a sixth offensive lineman), which has not been a position featured too frequently in Jim Tressel’s tenure at OSU, but has some quality talent in Jake Ballard and the newly-transitioned Jake Stoneburner.

Pryor also needs to read through progressions quicker so that he can make a decision of whether to take off and run or stay in the backfield and try to pass. It seemed that earlier in the season he was more apt to run, maybe even too early at times, but as the season went on he tried to stay in the pocket and pass the ball, at times staying there too long and taking unwarranted sacks. Terrelle is a tremendously gifted athlete and if he can learn to read coverages and run through his progressions quicker, he will be able to take full advantage of both his ability to pass and run on any given play.

The physical talent is there and the arm development and physical maturity is coming along nicely. It will be up to Terrelle Pryor to improve his mental capacity of the game so that he can play at a faster level and make the best decisions possible when a play breaks down and does not go according to plan. If he can accomplish these things, his numbers will in turn improve and it will make both #1 and #2 more likely to happen.

4. Be A Leader Both By Example and Vocally
While there were games last year where you clearly saw Pryor lead by example (see: here), there were certainly moments where TP was shy to vocalize leadership. Taking over for senior captain Todd Boeckman could not have made things any easier for a freshman that already had high expectations on his shoulders and there is no question Pryor did not want to be as loud as he could have been at times.

This year is different as the Buckeyes are a younger squad and the locker room is fully belonging to Pryor. In 2009 Pryor needs to continue to be a leader by example on the field like he was in the Wisconsin game and Penn State game before the fumble, while being able to be a vocal leader that can rile the troops up when needed as well. Both of these things come with the job of being the quarterback at Ohio State and come with maturing as a person off the field.

While Terrelle is only a 19 year old sophomore-to-be he will be asked to grow up quite quickly both on and off of the field. Once again, if he is able to do this, his Heisman candidacy and the National Championship hopes of the Buckeyes will look better and better.

5. Put Ohio State In National Championship Contention
We can’t ask for too much, but a chance, just a chance, to play in the National Championship game in Pasadena is what we can ask for. The Heisman Trophy voting occurs before the bowl season and Pryor will not even be invited to the ceremony as a finalist if OSU is not successful this season. If Pryor and the Buckeyes take care of business against USC and steps 2-4 on this list happen, there is a good chance that the Bucks will indeed be playing for the MNC in early January or will at worst still be in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, meaning that Terrelle has done his job and deserves to be considered with McCory, Tebow, and Bradford for the Heisman.

If Pryor can somehow do all five things on this list, I feel he will be able to edge the three favorites and win the Heisman Trophy, becoming the second true sophomore ever to do so, and more importantly protecting Archie Griffin as the only two-time winner of the award. The sky is the limit for Terrelle Pryor and it will be up to him and the rest of the Ohio State Buckeyes to determine his Heisman Trophy fate in 2009.

And just to get you pumped up…….

On the heels of earning props from various NBA scouts during three days of tryouts for Bo Ryan’s World University Games squad, Evan Turner has seen moderate success in the three exhibition games making up the 2009 Serbia International Invitational preceding the start of the actual World University Games slate tipping off July 3rd.

In a game one win over Canada, Turner played just 11 minutes scoring seven points with four rebounds. Again forced to come off the pine, Turner responded in a game two loss against Serbia with team highs of 16 points (6/7 FG) and six boards in 18 minutes of action.

Presumably seeing the error of his ways, Ryan inserted Turner into Monday’s starting lineup and he responded with eight rebounds but went 0/6 from the floor and 2/4 from the stripe in a 67-63 win over Russia. Though Turner’s shot wasn’t falling, Ryan was impressed with ET’s effort at the defensive end:

“The guys got it done tonight with hustle opportunities. (Evan) Turner, (Robbie) Hummel and Deon (Thompson), those guys, especially at the end, they were everywhere. Corey (Fisher) and Talor Battle. I just really like the way they stuck their noses in there.”

With the exhibition tilts complete, Turner and company open the World University Games on Friday against Finland then Saturday against South Korea. Pending the outcome of those contests, they’ll play the second round next Monday and Tuesday with the quarters, semis and championship game set for next Thursday through Saturday.

Whether you care about the WUG or not, it can only help Turner - and Ohio State - to have him participating in the games. With a near static roster from last season, team chemistry is already in place so having Turner and Zisis away from Columbus should not be deemed a handicap as it was when Kosta and Butler weren’t on campus leading up to the ‘07-’08 campaign.

Putting a bow on the recent Mullens talk, BJ and his fellow OKC draftees were introduced to a swarming contingent of Thunder fans on Saturday. Mullens, who will wear #23, shelved any comments comparing himself to Amare, Nowitzki and KG, instead opting to chew some gum and tout how hard he plans to work.

“I know it’s a young team. I could come in and I could definitely play a lot of minutes, or whatever the case might be. The only thing that I can control is how hard I work every day, how hard I want it and just getting better and making my teammates better. So, that’s what I want to do.”

Again, we hope so but we’ll believe it when we see it.

As Bob Baptist points out, a possible silver lining to the Mullens saga comes in the form of Matta now having two case studies on why jumping ship after one season and banking on being drafted based largely on potential can lead to sizable financial consequences. Koufos bought into the hype thinking he might be a lottery pick only to fall to #23 while Mullens was thinking he had an outside shot at the lottery or at least no worse than 16th to the Bulls but fell to #24. And this doesn’t even consider he projected as a top five pick before suiting up in the Schott.

Looking at the 2009-10 NBA Rookie Salary Scale, Mullens will make roughly $1.94 million over the first two guaranteed years of his deal. If Mullens stayed in school for a year and improved his stock to being hypothetically drafted 10th, he would’ve have made roughly $3.87 million over the first two guaranteed years according to the 2010-11 NBA Rookie Salary Scale, or basically double what he’ll make now. This doesn’t even account for 3rd and 4th year options. It’s like lighting money on fire.

]]> http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/turner-helps-team-usa-to-2-1-exhibition-mark.html/feed http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/joepa-says-bring-on-the-awards-but-no-irish.html http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/joepa-says-bring-on-the-awards-but-no-irish.html#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:12:35 +0000 Jason http://www.elevenwarriors.com/?p=3910 With just under 70 days until Navy steps into the Shoe, cretins like us everywhere are starting to turn our focus away from summer lounging and towards the start of the ‘09 season. There are Steele data points to digest and preseason composite rankings to scrutinize, after all.

Part of the countdown to kickoff are predictions out of people barely qualified to do so (though not us, of course). Corey got the ball rolling with his Indiana preview last week, and this week we check in with our ballot for the annual Lake The Posts Big Ten Blogger Preseason Awards. Many thanks to LTP for putting this together and now on to the ballot.

Not amused

Coach of the Year: Mark Dantonio

There’s a genuine feeling of optimism in East Lansing these days. Not the “John L might get the boys back to the Alamo” variety, but a very real sense that better things are on the way. And maybe, just maybe, now is a good time to close the gap on the snooty bunch down the road. We’re buying it.

Dantonio followed up a solid debut at Michigan State by winning nine games last season — good enough for a third place finish in the Big Ten. His Spartans had a chance to tie for the league title heading into the final week of the season, but were dropped by Penn State in what is quickly becoming one of the conference’s better rivalries.

Though topping nine wins will be tough, we won’t exactly be shocked if Dantonio pulls it off, either.

Tressel was our runner-up selection and let me say one more time that it’s a TRAVESTY the man has yet to win the award despite owning the conference for the better part of this decade.

Best Heisman Candidate: Terrelle Pryor

This one was pretty much unanimous when we discussed it. We try to put the homer shades down and realize that there are other great players in the league — Benn, Williams, Royster, Clark, Decker and others — but Pryor has everything working for him heading into this season.

Despite being just a sophomore, he’s the league’s most well-known commodity, playing for the league’s highest profile (and likely highest-ranked) team and if recent history is any guide, the Stiff-Arm Trophy likes quarterbacks.

If Pryor wants the award, he’ll have to be ready by week two. But could you ask for a better campaign kickoff event?

Sleeper Team to Crack the Upper Tier: Minnesota

“Upper tier” can be kind of a broad term. Does it mean the top half or the top handful? For our purposes, we’re going to assume it means the top four teams.

Ohio State and Penn State will definitely be there. Michigan State should be there and then you can pull from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or even Northwestern to be that fourth team.

But when you’re talking sleeper, we think you have to look at the Gophers, batshit crazy (see below) coach and all. They have a new field this year and ticket sales are booming. Ohioans remember the affect the Jake had on the Tribe and there’s a good chance the new park helps an improving team get an extra win or two this year.

Most Likely to John L Smith (Lose It): Tim Brewster

As much as we like the Gophers as a possible surprise team this year, Brewster has to be considered a liability. And a possibility for an epic postgame meltdown.

When he isn’t participating in revisionist history or calling out beat writers, @Play4brew is supplying Twitter with a steady stream of testosterone (and exclamation points). Look for said meltdown during the brutal four week stretch that goes: @ Ohio State, @ Penn State, Michigan State and Illinois.

Internally, our votes were scattered on this category, with Zook coming in second and Bielema and Rodriguez also garnering some support. Strangely, no Joe Pa.

Shonn Greene Award (Player to Come from Nowhere): John Clay

(We’re loosely defining “nowhere” as “has not had a season as a regular under his belt” because to truly pick another Shonn Greene, we’d have to scour the roster of a middle-of-the-pack team for a 2nd or 3rd string guy (remember when Paki O’Meara was going to be the man in Iowa City) and then watch the guy lock up Big Ten MVP honors. It can happen, but predicting that guy is damn near impossible.)

We were actually split on this one with votes going evenly to Wisconsin’s Clay and DeVier Posey. Both guys were Army All-Americans and both will probably develop into outstanding players. Clay looks like Chris Wells in another uni and really does cause us to have nightmares. Plus, selecting him can’t hurt to make us look like we aren’t the total homers we know we are.

Most Likely to be the Highest NFL Draft Pick

Down the road, it might be Pryor or someone else, but looking ahead to the 2010 NFL Draft, Benn gets our vote as most likely to go first from the Big Ten (assuming he leaves early — and he will). As a soph, Benn put up monster numbers (67 for 1,055) and though he didn’t get into the endzone as often as you’d like if your name is Ron Zook, another year of working with Juice should help push his numbers up across the board. At 6-2/215, he has the frame scouts drool over and the speed to go along with it.

Navorro Bowman was our runner-up for this award with his mate Sean Lee finishing third.

Must See Game of the Year: Ohio State @ Penn State

Another no-brainer. The conference’s two best teams should meet November 7th for the de facto championship game. Pryor gets a chance to avenge the fumble and Nittany Lion fans finally get to see a quality opponent on the schedule.

Upset Special: Penn State @ Michigan

While Penn State at Michigan state on November 21st looms as a potential upset, how big of an upset would that be, really? The real upset special in the conference is on October 24th, when Penn State visits Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions finally solved the Wolverines last season, but then again, everybody solved the Wolverines last season. Though SS RichRod is still very much a mess-in-progress, chances are they’ll be better this season and when a team owns another team…

The Big Finish

Corey will be counting down these teams in the coming weeks, but here’s a quick look at how we see the conference winding up:

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Illinois
5. Iowa
6. Michigan
7. Northwestern
8. Wisconsin
9. Minnesota
10. Purdue
11. Indiana

Well, so much for B.J.’s tweet that the Bulls would take him at 16.

In a not so surprising draft, Mullens fell to #24 before being traded to Oklahoma City (#25). The move to OKC could prove to be a good thing as Mullens can develop in relative obscurity and with less pressure. The lack of pressure will only be helped by the fact OKC also had the 3rd pick in the draft taking James Harden out of Arizona State.

The proverbial “we told you so” could certainly apply in this case but what’s done is done so good luck to Mullens. Something tells me he’ll fit in nicely in the bustling metropolis of Oklahoma City.

We’re counting down the weeks until kickoff by profiling a different Big Ten team each week, in order of the 2008 finish. Today, the Indiana Hoosiers are up and by the looks of it, they probably will lead it off again next year.

After making their first bowl appearance in 14 years during the 2007 season, the Hoosiers returned to normalcy with a 3-9 season in 2008, including a 1-7 Big Ten record, matching the conference win total of their basketball program.

The Hoosier program has averaged less than 4 wins over the last 9 years and have suffered through 13 losing record in their last 14 seasons. They return a veteran defense, including a fierce DE duo, but their offense is green and unless the D steals a game or two, Indiana fans will have to hope Tom Crean can turn things around this winter.

COACHING: Bill Lynch is squarely on the hot seat and is probably entering his last season in Bloomington. The schedule doesn’t help him out at all, with 2 OOC away games at Akron and Virginia, but if he can hover around the .500 mark all season, he may buy himself some extra time.

OFFENSE: Ben Chappell appeared in 9 games last year, completing 80 of 153 passes and will take the reigns full time this season, as Kellen Lewis was dismissed in April. Chappell will play behind a somewhat veteran offensive line, but will have to break in a new running back and a couple of wide receivers.

Redshirt freshman Darius Willis, the scout team MVP last year, is slated to start at running back, but he has to beat out 2 seniors in Bryan Payton and Demetrius McCray, who combined for almost 600 yards rushing last season. Lynch may choose to rotate all 3, looking to control the clock and win some close games with his defense.

The Hoosiers have to replace their top 2 receivers from last year, losing Andrew Means to eligibility and Ray Fisher to the defensive side. Damarlo Belcher (25 for 337) and Terrance Turner (29 for 289) are the leading returners, but Tandon Doss is a name you could hear from before the season is over. The offensive line was decimated by injuries last year, staring 7 different lineups, but they return 9 of their top 10 and should have more stability in the trenches.

DEFENSE: The aforementioned DE duo is Greg Middleton and Jammie Kirlew, who will lead a group that returns 9 starters and also brought over Ray Fisher from offense to play corner. Middleton lead the NCAA in sacks in 2007 with 16, but teams paid more attention to him in 2008 and ended the season with just 4 sacks. However, his struggles opened the door for Jammie Kirlew, who racked up 10.5 sacks in ‘08. If they can get some help from their inside teammates, this could develop into one of the conference’s best.

The Hoosiers gave up an average of 37 points last season, but have 5 of their top 6 tacklers returning, including linebackers Matt Mayberry and Will Patterson. MLB Mayberry lead the team with 89 stops and received some praise coming out of spring ball. Patterson was second on the team with 7 TFL, ending up with 55 total tackles and will be joined on the outside by Tyler Repologie, who registered 19 tackles in the last game against Purdue.

The secondary returns all four starters, three of them seniors, if you include Fisher in that group. Chris Adkins, a redshirt sophomore had 54 tackles last year, while safeties Nick Polk and Austin Thomas combined for 93 stops and 3 picks.

KEY GAME: At Michigan, September 26th. Indiana opens the season against E.Kentucky, Western Michigan and at Akron, 3 games in which they could win. If that happens and the Hoosiers can shock the Big House in the B10 opener, they would be 2 wins away from returning to a bowl.

BEST-CASE: If the defense can keep them in most games and the offense can control the clock with a 3-headed RB attack and smart QB play, this team could get to 6-6 and possibly a bowl game.

WORST-CASE: They continue the Hoosier football way and injuries play a factor once again. The defense has to step up and reverse the trend of teams averaging over 400 yards of total offense against them. If they don’t, the Hoosiers are probably looking at another 3-9 season, pulling out wins in their first two and then against Purdue at home in the season finale.

The Hoosiers return to the Buckeyes schedule this year and the BTN decided to put it under the lights in Bloomington, for reasons unknown. Ohio State beat Indiana by a combined 115-20 in their last three meetings and OSU has won 14 straight in the series.

I see the Hoosiers going 4-8 this year, winning 3 of their 4 OOC games and winning one conference game. What do you think? Before you answer, be sure to visit the fine Indiana blog, The Crimson Quarry, who has fought through the pain in Bloomington these past few years to cover the Hoosiers with great pride.

]]> http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/11w-sneak-peek-indiana-2.html/feed http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/where-will-mullens-go.html http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/06/where-will-mullens-go.html#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:00:51 +0000 Alex http://www.elevenwarriors.com/?p=3899 Where will BJ and his crustache call home this year?

As Chris mentioned briefly in his post yesterday, BJ Mullens will hear his name called Thursday night at the 2009 NBA Draft in Madison Square Garden. While it is not a question of if the 7-foot freshman will be drafted, there is a big question of where he will be selected.

Just a year ago, another promising 7-foot Buckeye frosh, Kosta Koufos, left OSU to pursue a career in “The League”. After a strong Big Ten Tournament and NIT Championship run, Kosta seemed to be in prime position to be a lottery selection, and was possibly even mentioned by some to be a top 10 pick. Unfortunately for Koufos he fell to 23rd in the first round out of 30 picks and averaged a mere 4.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest while appearing in just 48 out of 82 games (spent some time in the NBDL).

BJ Mullens enters the draft just a year later and while he edges Kosta with an NCAA Tournament appearance, his accolades on the court are far below what everyone’s favorite Greek did in Columbus. Mullens averaged a pedestrian 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game after coming into school as Rivals #1 rated player. You can argue he played just 20.3 minutes per game, but the bottom line is that he never earned more time than that. His play consisted of a familiar routine to OSU fans in which he was inexistent on the defensive end of the court, took plays off throughout the game, failed to make a basket that was not a dunk, and a display of butter fingers underneath the hoop, all contributing to his inability to grab more minutes off the bench, thus stunting his growth as a player.

Clearly Mullens was not ready to leave, but due to his financial situation and his high ceiling of potential it was a no-brainer that he would depart for the NBA. Now that the draft is just a day away, the question is which team will take a chance on BJ’s boom or bust potential? DraftExpress has BJ headed to Phoenix at #14, as the final lottery pick, nbadraft.net and FanHouse have him going #15 to Detroit, RealGM has him #17 to Philadelphia, and BJ himself claims to have a promise to slip no further than #16 to the Bulls. So which of these destinations will actually get to host BJ and his crustache?

I personally think BJ will be selected just outside of the lottery to the Pistons at #15. If you look at Detroit’s make-up and early season move of trading Chauncy Billups to Denver, Joe Dumars is trying to rebuild around the core of players he has drafted and acquired in recent years. He even turned down a trade yesterday that would have brought in Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen in order to preserve guard Rodney Stuckey’s future in Motown. With Stuckey, Aaron Afflalo, Walter Sharpe, and Jason Maxiell, along with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, the Pistons have a nice group of players to build around and are only missing a center. Mullens is certainly a player who can fill that void for Joe Dumars and is the only big worth taking in the middle of the first round.

While I wish BJ came back for one more year in Columbus to hone his game and bring OSU back to the elite national level, it seems like he made the right move for him and his family. Whether he is a mid-round pick this year or a top ten selection next year, it won’t affect his future. The only thing that will determine Mullens’ success on the court at the next level is his determination to want to be the best. The talent is there, but will it ever be able to be tapped into? That is a question NBA executives will have to ask themselves before they make their picks on Thursday night.