Still can't believe Neymar left PSG to put the Crew up 4-1 heading back to New York City for the second leg Monday:
Anthony Precourt will never be able to take this one away. 41, Crew. pic.twitter.com/94guAUy99s
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 1, 2017
ICYMI:
- Ohio State No. 6 in first CFP rankings of 2017.
- Urban Meyer: Special teams changes coming.
- Season ticket prices going down AN ENTIRE $14 next season.
- The GOAT: A Kyle Snyder profile.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Bombinate.
HELP? HELL NAH. Last night, I went into the College Football Playoff Rankings Show (sponsored by Hell Corp!) knowing it was worthless and that a lot of football was left to be played.
Afterwards, blood spouted from my ears as the indignity of Notre Dame being ranked over our beloved local team washed over me. Do the Bucks need help? The adult in the room says, "A little."
From the indomitable Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors:
Ohio State only has one game left on its regular-season schedule against a team currently ranked in the top 25 (Michigan State), which might not leave it with enough ammunition to move ahead of any of those teams if they win out.
The reality is, though, that winning out will be much easier said than done for any of those teams. Notre Dame still has to play road games against No. 10 Miami and No. 21 Stanford. Oklahoma has the aforementioned games against Oklahoma State and TCU, and both Oklahoma and Clemson would have to win conference championship games.
As long as one of those teams loses, it should clear the path for the Buckeyes to get in if they win out. It would be a surprise if the team that loses in the SEC Championship Game, even if it only has one loss, got in over Ohio State if the Buckeyes win the rest of their regular-season games and the Big Ten Championship Game, which would likely give the Buckeyes another win over a team currently ranked in the top 10 (No. 9 Wisconsin) and would give them 11 straight wins to end the season.
Well, the child in the room is here to tell you: IF OHIO STATE WINS THE REST OF ITS GAMES, IT'S GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS.
Fave this tweet. Write it in pig's blood on the garage of your wife's boyfriend and blame it on his son. I don't care. There is no way a 12-1 Big Ten champion OSU is getting left out of the playoffs. People can pretend how they want, but ratings matter, and the Bucks bring the ratings.
"But what if everybody in front of them wins out." Well first of all, Alabama will obliterate Georgia. Secondly, that's not how November in college football works. Try reading a history book that's not written in crayon sometime.
Could Ohio State fall in November? Absolutely (more on that in a bit). But if they handle their business, they're going to the playoffs. If they don't, I will quit this blog and go live as a monk in Argentina.
THE DEFENSIVE LINE: GOOD? Greg Schiano said earlier this year this defensive line was the best one he's coached, college or pro. Naturally, everyone outside Columbus thought this was nothing more than a renowned jokester blowing sunshine up his players' asses.
But entering Week 9, it's clear he wasn't bluffing. The depth on the defensive line is a product of Meyer's relentless recruiting over six years, and it's astounding when you look at the entire picture.
From Sports Illustrated:
Sam Hubbard: A fourth-year junior who considered declaring last year, Hubbard was actually a high school safety who bulked up to play on the line and has turned himself into a potential first-round pick.
Tyquan Lewis: The fifth-year senior might not be a first-round pick, but he is the most polished of the group and was the Big Ten defensive lineman of the year last year. The issue is that he’s a little stiff and limited athletically.
Nick Bosa: The consensus is that he’ll be the highest draft pick of the group. He’s not as tall or as long as his brother, but he’s generally regarded as the best prospect in Columbus.
Jalyn Holmes: His reputation is as a height/weight/speed guy who’s still pretty raw. But that size and athleticism does stand out, and he could test well and go somewhere on Day 2 of the draft.
Dre’Mont Jones: The redshirt sophomore interior lineman has turned heads, and has a chance to be the top Buckeyes defensive lineman taken in April (Bosa is not eligible until 2019).
Others: Defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle has rebounded nicely from last year’s season-ending knee injury, while sophomore Robert Landers is a squattier type with room to grow. But the real guy to watch down the line might be true freshman Chase Young, who might wind up being in Bosa’s class as a prospect.
And they didn't even mention Jonathon Cooper, whom most Ohio State fans will come to know next year.
Now that the offense is capable of staying on the field and moving the chains, opposing offense won't be able to help but become one dimensional in the face of that relentless attack.
LIKE, LITERALLY? As the famous Ohio freedom fighter El Chaleco once declared: "November is for contenders!"
Top teams will fall. Underdogs will bark. Could that happen this week in Iowa City? It's not impossible to think. But Urban Meyer isn't about to let his team get on a high horse.
From dispatch.com:
“They celebrate a mission accomplished and then they sit back down and wait for their directive and assignments,” he said. “They’ve received them and (now it’s) go to work. They’re very professional. But you’re darn right, I’m going to watch that, especially with young players and even with our younger coaches on our staff who haven’t been in that situation.”
Meyer said if he sees any deviation from the Buckeyes’ normal intensity in practice or preparation, “It’ll be an atomic bomb here.”
Folks, let's hope it's not like an atomic bomb going off at the WHAC, because that would be a humanitarian crisis that would probably lead to the cancellation of the season. Ohio State's defensive line is full of mutants, but I'm not sure even they could survive a thermal blast.
Reading between the lines sounds like all bad news for the Hawkeyes. Kinnick Stadium can do funny things to teams (see: Penn State), but this ain't a night game. Nor is it the anywhere close to the toughest environment this Ohio State crop has played in.
LOL WUT. I normally don't care about subjective rankings that don't keep the local team out of the playoffs. However, I need somebody from Pro Football Focus to explain how J.T. Barrett got snubbed from its Big Ten Team of the Week.
PFF Week 9 - B1G Team of the Week - Offense pic.twitter.com/V1YcX9VY1m
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) October 31, 2017
I thought maybe Nate Stanley threw for 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in a seven-point victory over the mighty Minnesota Gophers.
No. He went 15/27 for 190 yards and a touchdown and interception with three rushes for 15 yards in a 17-10 win.
Even us Iowa fans pic.twitter.com/5xHsKhMu9c
— Jake Scarrieta (@schneiderbrett9) October 31, 2017
For this, I am banning PFF metrics from my column for two weeks. That's an atrocious decision that I can't abide.
IT'S BEDLAM. I want a rematch with Oklahoma, but that won't make me cheer for the Sooners. This week, IT'S ALL ABOUT THEM 'BOYS, BABY.
From bleacherreport.com:
The Oklahoma Sooners own Bedlam bragging rights in the rivalry with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning 12 of the last 14 meetings outright and going 9-5 against the spread. The Cowboys hope to turn those trends around when they host the Sooners for a big game in the Big 12 on Saturday afternoon.
College football point spread: The Cowboys opened as three-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.
I'll go ahead and say it: I don't think Oklahoma stands a chance against Oklahoma State and Mike Gundy's silky mullet this weekend in Stillwater.
THOSE WMDs. How #SaveTheCrew grew into a national movement... Google Docs is terrifyingly locking people out of their own documents... Under Armour stock plunges... An elite group of forensic scientists near retirement... Who betrayed Anne Frank?
