Football Blitz VI

An Ugly Rivalry Win?

Is there such thing as an ugly rivalry win? Yes and no. It depends on the circumstances. What is the history of the rivalry? How bad is the team you barely beat? In rivalry games such as Ohio State v michigan, the Ironbowl, Duke v UNC in basketball, and other top rivalries not mentioned hear, you can throw records and rank out the window. It doesn't matter if Team A is undefeated and Team B is in the gutter. When you give Team B one shot to turn a terrible year into a successful one, anything can happen. Teams and fans who live in this top-notch rivalries know this, and I do not need to harp on this. If you are a part of one of these rivalries, you get it. If you are not, then you believe OSU's 42-41 victory over michigan was an indication of how terrible Ohio State really is. The fact is, OSU's defense did not play well, however, a lot of that was due to michigan playing its best game of the year... by far. Highly motivated, highly impassioned rivalries cannot be measured and calculated on paper. You just have to play. And Team A better not overlook Team B, or Team A will be left wondering how their season went down the drain in a single game.

Who’s Number Two?

After a thrilling weekend in NCAA Football, only two undefeated teams in automatic qualifying (AQ) conferences remain. So, the teams who should play for the title is crystal clear, right? Well, not for some. Florida St. and Ohio State are the undefeated teams and are currently ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the latest BCS polls. One more week of football remains: Conference Championships. There is a growing contingent that believe if Auburn (who just knocked previously ranked #1 Alabama) win the SEC title game, then they should jump OSU and land the #2 spot.

This would be unprecedented. We’ve seen a one-loss team jump another one-loss team in the final week (2006: Florida jumping michigan). We’ve also seen an undefeated team from an AQ conference left out of the BCS Championship game, but only because there were two other undefeated teams ranked ahead of Auburn. If Ohio State and Florida State both win their respective conference championships, they deserve to play in the National Championship game. Is the schedule tougher in the SEC? Yes. But let’s not get carried away here. The SEC is not significantly better to the point where we can just forget about a loss and ignore an Ohio State team, whom, if they beat Michigan State, will have won 25 straight games. The Big  Ten may be experiencing a down year, but we are not talking about little sisters of the poor. According to Jeff Sagarin’s NCAAF rankings, Auburn is 3-1 against top 30 teams. Ohio State is 2-0. Not a vast difference to justify leap-frogging an undefeated team.

Auburn’s athletic director is in full campaign mode, stating that it would be un-American if Auburn didn’t get the chance to play for the title. Really? Sounds absurd to me. Auburn had a chance to run the table and failed.

A little side note, maybe we should be asking: Who’s number one? It’s funny how everyone is criticizing the Buckeye’s strength of schedule, but no one mentions Florida State’s. Again, according to Jeff Sagarin’s rankings, OSU strength of schedule is slightly better than FSU (61^st vs 66^th), and FSU’s record against top 30 teams: 1-0. If folks swinging from the balls of the SEC want to leap-frog an undefeated school... they might be barking up the wrong tree. Also, for even more FSU title discuss, see Zach Howard's post.

Punishment for Tomlin

In case you missed it, Jacoby Jones (BAL) was racing down the sideline during a kick return. He had just one man to beat. Or so he thought. Mike Tomlin, coach of Pittsburgh, was walking the sideline, inches from the field of play. The replay clearly shows Jones swerve inward, towards the one Steeler defender left to beat, in order to avoid hitting Coach Tomlin. The Steeler defender was then able to tackle him, saving a kick return TD.

Did this cost Baltimore the game? No, they eventually won. But this would have most likely have put the game out of reach. Is it a certainty that Jones would have scored if he didn’t have to swerve around Tomlin? No. It would have been a close, diving effort for the Pittsburgh defender.

I will say, however, this is not small potatoes. A coach clearly interfered with the game. The last time a coach interfered with an outcome of a play (Jets O-line coach tripping an opposing player), he was fired. While Tomlin did not make contact, he did change Jones’ action on the field and quite possibly an outcome of a scoring play. There is talk of a rather large punishment, including a six-figure fine and/or a loss of a Steeler draft pick.

Is this too far for the league? Not in my opinion. I believe the NFL needs to avoid this behavior at all costs. And a heavy punishment would be just the dissuasion needed.

A similar incident recently occurred in the NBA. Nets coach Jason Kidd purposely spilled his soda during the last 30 seconds of a game in order to get a play called and having no timeouts. The NBA let him off with a slap on the wrist, $50,000 fine. That’s a lot of money, but not to him. That is not dissuasion. Let’s hope the NFL provides it’s league with a better definition of dissuasion.

Where are the Silver Bullets?

Will the real Ohio State defense please stand up? I’ve been railing the OSU defense all season long. As I’ve written previously, I believe the Buckeye’s defense has the capability to play great and shutdown their opponents. However, we just haven’t seen it consistently... and in many games, not at all. Ohio State’s D has given up 41 points to michigan, 35 points to Illinois, 34 points to Cal, and 20 points to Buffalo. While the offense has been dominated, and sometimes downright unstoppable, the defense has let the team down. It hasn’t come to a loss, however, it might come to a loss of a National Championship chance. The perception of the Buckeye’s strength of schedule is low, therefore, the nation is expecting OSU to be blowing out their competition if they are a legitimate title contender. Because the defense is giving up so many points, the Buckeyes are not winning too many games in a convincing manner.

If OSU can defeat Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship, the defense MUST play better in order for the Buckeyes to have a chance at being #1 when it’s all over.