Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's Tuesday, but this is not Belgium. At least, I'm not in Belgium, though one of you fine people may be there.
This morning, I will be leaving the great city of Columbus, which is responsible for putting probably 10 pounds on me due to all of the good eats. In particular, I enjoyed Jeni's Pumpkin 5 Spice ice cream and, of course, eating City Barbeque at Eat Too, Brutus and meeting some of our readers. Thanks again to everyone who came and for your generosity1.
There were few bummers on Saturday, but one of them was Sabino's injury. The latest depth chart reflects what we saw against Nebraska: freshman Joshua Perry is listed as the starter in Sabino's place.
In recent years, other first-year linebackers have replaced injured seniors, so congrats to Perry, who will soon steal souls like Ryan Shazier and go on to eventually win the Butkus Award like James Laurinaitis.
KILLER, MILLER, CHILLER, THRILLER. Since the beginning of the season, talk of Braxton Miller's Heisman candidacy was qualified with a "yeah, but let's wait and see if that holds up until after the Michigan State and Nebraska games."
After another record-setting performance from Miller, which earned him Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week honors, he's currently a solid number two2 to frontrunner Geno Smith, according to SI's Cory McCartney and Heisman Pundit Chris Huston. As the latter wrote:
Miller has been a one-man band for OSU and he is on pace for very good numbers: 2,120 passing yards, 1,526 rushing yards and a combined 34 touchdowns. If Miller finishes strong and leads Ohio State to an undefeated season, then he is a lock to get to New York. He can actually win the Heisman, but he'll need Smith to falter a couple times along the way for that to happen.
Kansas State's Collin Klein is also impressing folks, and Huston predicts both will join Smith as Heisman finalists.
DREARY, INDIANA. Even though his running backs contributed significantly to the offensive outpouring vs. the Huskers and every unit of the team produced big plays, Braxton is clearly the focus for opponents. This week, it's Indiana's turn to try to stop him and cornerback Kenny Mullen believes the Hoosiers can succeed where others have failed:
"We have to focus on the receiver," Mullen says. "We can't worry about (Miller). We know our linebackers and our defensive line will do their jobs and contain him. We have no doubt about that. They'll come and play. We just know if the receiver turns around and tries to block us, that's when we know (Miller) is running."
Mullen was sure to praise Braxton, so nothing he said was disrepectful toward the Buckeye QB, but Mullen also claimed, "At the end of the day, I feel our defense will be the top defense in the Big Ten." Considering the fact that Indiana is near the bottom of the Big Ten rankings in every defensive category—including dead last in total defense and rushing defense—it seems like he's just a hardcore Pollyanna.
In other IU news, tight end Ted Bolser, who was ejected during the game against Michigan State for apparently pulling a Michigan State, will play on Saturday.
Please know how to tackle I WILL RATE FOR YOU. Of the top eight teams in the AP poll, a few Tribune Co. writers opined on which was the most overrated and which was the most underrated.
Chris Dufresne of the LA Times picked Ohio State as the most overrated; however, this time he wasn't terribly harsh to the Buckeyes and concluded that "they are a fringe top-10 -- but definitely on the rise." For his underrated selection, he went with Kansas State.
Among the writers, Florida and West Virginia were the other overrated choices while somehow two people think Alabama and Notre Dame could ever, in the past, present or future of college football, be considered underrated.
AP PROGRAM. In yesterday's presser, Urban Meyer talked about how the team doesn't pretend to be oblivious about where they're ranked, and as long as Ohio State remains undefeated, the chance of an AP title, however unlikely, is still in play.
The AP's Rusty Miller talked to Terry Bowden, whose 1993 Auburn team finished the season 11-0 but was banned from a bowl game and ended up ranked fourth. The approach his team took that season was: "They can vote for whatever mythical championship, whatever you want — but if we go undefeated, no other team in the country can take it away." And with Urban around, Bowden doesn't think Ohio State will be lacking for motivation.
As new tweeter Corey Linsley3 put it:
"Like coach Meyer says, 'If you don't think that statistics are important, you're kind of lying.' It's what we play for. We play for these polls, we play to be No. 1 in the country, for there to be no doubt."
HOOP SCOOP. With basketball season nearing, CBSSports.com put together a list of college BB's top 100 players for 2012-13. Fourteen Big Ten players were included, led by Cody Zeller in the top spot. At #10, Deshaun Thomas was ranked one below Trey Burke. Aaron Craft was listed as #12.
Both Buckeyes were named to CBS's preseason All-America third team.
Meanwhile in the pros, Hang Time Blog's John Schuhmann believes Jared Sullinger could be key to the Celtics this season, though he disagrees with Doc Rivers' plan on how to use Sully. Rivers, who wants to avoid a repeat of Glen Davis, will try to ensure that Sullinger isn't the tallest Celtic on the court so that his shots won't be blocked as frequently.
IF YOU CAN'T DRAW A CROWD, DRAW CLICKS ON THE WALL. Unfortunate news about JT Barrett... Just a few months ago, Brian Hartline was in rough shape... Scheelhaase denied... Jerry Sandusky's attorney probably tweeted this after Sandusky's audio statement was released... Taco Bell trolling... Giving a new meaning to Lucky Charms... A pumpkin goes to the barber... Hopefully this means a better time slot for Community.
- 1 Even though none of his tickets were winners in the raffle, I want to give a special shout-out to footnote fan NW Buckeye. ↑
- 2 Not meant as a poop joke, but if that's where your mind went, I guess I can't really blame you. ↑
- 3 Linsley claimed he joined Twitter because of his girlfriend, but his first tweet was to Jack Mewhort. Like the old saying goes, "O-line before valentine." ↑
