Folks, do you have plans to attend this weekend's Dubgate V? It's already been certified by the resident Marionaire as a #banger. If you're on the fence, here are some numbers for you to crunch:
The annual @11W tailgate is this Saturday! "But how does it measure up to a Michigan football game?" LET'S COMPARE pic.twitter.com/Efp2vTvzUf
— The Eleven Dubgate (@11Wgate) September 23, 2014
Eat your heart out, Dave Brandon.
OSU TO KEEP PLAYING OHIO SCHOOLS. I wish Ohio State could play elite teams for every non-conference game, but I don't call the shots, and this isn't EA Sports' NCAA Football (RIP).
After this weekend's tilt against Cincinnati, Ohio State only has two dates against Ohio schools through 2019 (Bowling Green in '16 and Cincinnati in '19).
From Rusty Miller of The Associated Press:
"When we get to the '20s, we'll schedule some Ohio schools," [OSU athletic director Gene] Smith said. "It'll happen."
[...]
"You take the risk of getting beat. You just never know," Smith said. "The MAC has outstanding coaches and great players, many of them from the state of Ohio. So the passion run deeps. That's the danger for any team — but obviously in the state of Ohio, there's a greater risk."
I'd rather see Ohio State lose to the likes of Toledo or Cincinnati than get beat at home by the likes of Central Michigan or Appalachian State. However, there's something that goes beyond football that ties into games vs. fellow Ohio squads:
When Ohio State meets an Ohio team, it also creates a lot of money that stays in the state. For example, Kent State gets $850,000 for coming to Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Cincinnati will receive $888,246 for making the same trip in two weeks.
When possible, Ohioan money should be spent in Ohio. It's as simple as that. Sure, Ohio State might be competing against Cincinnati on the football field, but they're part of a state university system which I believe to be one of the country's best. The state's college system is also something imperative to the future of this state.
GAUGING A B1G FAVORITE. It's hard to tell where Ohio State stands as a team. Their only two wins are over Navy and Kent State. They lost at home to a team whose coach admits his team "isn't very good right now." But what about the rest of the Big Ten?
Michigan State has trounced two terrible teams, but the no-fly zone was bombed at Oregon, where the Ducks averaged 11.4 yards per pass attempt during a 46-27 loss on that aforementioned dark day for the Big Ten. There is still much to learn about the Spartans, but it will have to wait until at least Oct. 4 when Nebraska visits.
Wisconsin is in much the same boat, though the Badgers' loss to LSU doesn't look as strong as MSU's setback out west. The Badgers can still batter bad teams on the ground, but they are as one-dimensional as they come at this point, and LSU showed they are thin up front defensively. Whether or not they have the athletes to play the scheme they want to defensively remains to be seen.
Being allowed to think about getting bowl eligible is nice for Penn State, but I don't think the Nittany Lions will be much of a factor in the conference title race given their offensive line and defense. Christian Hackenberg and a group of skill players that still looks strong despite the loss of Allen Robinson give them a puncher's chance against anyone as long as they can protect the quarterback, though. The Lions showed some moxie in pulling out a win at Rutgers, but both teams looked majorly flawed for most of that night.
At this point, Ohio State could run the table, but they could also lose two games.
Two things I know: 1) there isn't a dominant team in the Big Ten (or even college football). 2) That game at Penn State is a lot more important than I thought it'd be before Braxton Miller's shoulder ligaments betrayed this great state.
*puffs corncob pipe* Let's see what Sportsbook.ag's Big Ten odds tells us:
Looks about right to me. You might want to strike fast on those Purdue odds, because those will be slashed as soon as Sportsbook finds out the Boilermakers are simulating halftime at practice.
OHIO KIDS WANNA BEAT OHIO STATE. It's probably mumbojumbo, but I feel any Ohio kid (who wasn't offered) playing against Ohio State comes into Ohio Stadium saltier than most. But this piece kinda confirmed my suspicions/bias:
From Eric Seger of The O-Zone:
“When we were in summer conditioning and it got hot, all we were thinking about was beating Ohio State,” Bearcat long snapper Kirk Willis, a native of Granville, Ohio, said Tuesday. “This game is very important to us. Now its here. We took care of Toledo, took care of Miami (Ohio), so now that its finally here its definitely a time to celebrate the fact that we get to play them.”
[...]
“I think we pretty much anticipated this day for a while now,” Shaq Washington, a junior from Maple Heights, Ohio, and Cincinnati’s second-leading receiver said. “Leading up to this game right now, I think there are a lot of emotions running high and I feel like we’re going to put in a good week of preparation and come out and play.”
As we say in the City of Kings: "... Well?"
Come on with it, Bearcats, come on with it. (I can't wait for you guys to see Walt's game poster later today.)
DANNY CLARK: STRONG BUCKEYE COMMIT. Rich Rod!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love ya, buddy, but please stay away from Ohio State's prized #teen recruits:
[Arizona sent] OSU commit Danny Clark mail. He's not interested because Rich Rod was "once a Wolverine, always a Wolverine."
'Attaway, Danny!
EX-MICHIGAN QB GOES IN ON MICHIGAN. Since I was born in December of 1986, I'm not going to sit here and front like I remember former Michigan QB Michael Taylor, but he put some blisters on his former football program yesterday.
From Mark Snyder of Freep.com:
On criticizing the program: "As usual, you're not a Michigan Man if you speak up against the program. I don't hold anybody at fault for what they believe in, because nobody has walked in my shoes. Nobody walked the shoes when they told Michael Taylor they wouldn't fix his shoulder after they put me out there against Notre Dame when they put me out there when my arm was black and purple. That's a fact. … No one told me when I played in the 1990 Rose Bowl, my final game, that they were not under any financial obligation to fix my shoulder. ... As far as my support, if anybody does not like what I've said, I don't care."
Gotta have love for a man that randomly slips in and out of third-person. And if Michigan didn't fix a shoulder injury caused by service to the University of Michigan... that should be criminal.
On firing Hoke after the season: "After the season? I'll put it this way. Didn't Dave Brandon come out and say he'd judge Rich Rodriguez on red-letter football games? ... If you judge Brady Hoke on red-letter football games, where do we stand? That's all I'm saying, is that the treatment given to Rich Rodriguez should be given to Brady Hoke. He preached toughness, he preached the downhill running game, the Michigan defense. The proof is in the pudding. And 12 games, 4-8, mediocre completion, it is what it is. I'm not here to say whether the man is going to be fired; I don't make that call. All I do know is Dave Brandon should not be let to make another decision at Michigan. Period."
Dammmmmmmmn. Yo, DJ! LET'S RUN THAT HIT AGAIN!!!!!
*record scratches*
On talk among his former teammates: "How mediocre we are. That's pretty much it. I'm not one for all the talk. Actions speak louder than words. What we've become is a propaganda football team, telling people how great we are when we're mediocre. When, in your last 12 games, you've only got victories over Northwestern, Appy State, Indiana and Miami of Ohio, that is not good. That is not good. We're mediocre right now. Will it stay that way? I don't know. I don't work there. I don't have the say-so. But I do know this: I know a few hundred players who are not happy with what is going on and definitely think changes need to be made."
Warren G. Harding help me if, in twenty four years, I'm listening to a wrinkled Craig Krenzel ranting against Ohio State and calling the Buckeyes "a propaganda team."
And Warren G. Harding — yes, we will parlay at 4:20 PM on Friday — help me if it ever comes to this:
Per @Johnubacon, UM "dumping" tix at public schools, churches, golf courses. Non-FB student-athletes given tix, pressured to bring friends.
— Tony Gerdeman (@GerdOzone) September 24, 2014
Bacon says he has heard Michigan is scanning the tickets and THEN giving them out so they'll count towards the attendance.
— Tony Gerdeman (@GerdOzone) September 24, 2014
Please, join me in a quick moment of silence for M Man.
...
.....
........
Thank you.
As for Brady Hoke, he's staying the course, because the course has worked so well for them.
THOSE WMDs. Keith Olbermann lit up Derek Jeter... Flashback: strong take from Mike Bianchi... Woman's three boobs are most likely two boobs and a lie... The 19th century photographer who defied Jim Crow to take these revealing portraits... Swat team burst into Peoria house looking for source of parody Twitter account that had upset town’s mayor... Dat teamwork, tho.
