Buckeye fans everywhere breathed a small sigh of relief today when they heard that Texas quarterback and Rose Bowl MVP, Vince Young has opted to leave school a year early to enter the NFL Draft. Ohio State has a rematch with Texas in Austin on September 9, and the prospects for a Buckeye victory just got a lot better. Texas has no other scholarship player on the roster who has ever taken a snap at quarterback in a game, although you can bet there are numerous high school all-stars lined up to compete for the job.
Ohio State figures to come into Austin this Fall ranked in the Top 5, and it's safe to assume that Texas would have been ranked No. 1 had Young decided to return for his senior year. But it's not all good news for Buckeye fans this week. Safety Donte Whitner and cornerback Ashton Youboty have now both declared for the NFL Draft as well, leaving the Bucks with only three defensive starters returning in 2006. The green Texas QB, whoever that turns out to be, will be looking at lots of equally green OSU defenders across the line.
If I were a betting man, and I had to bet today, I'd put my money on Texas. They will be very tough to beat in Austin, and the OSU defense will still be finding themselves. Of course I hope I'm wrong, because otherwise the schedule shapes up nicely for the Buckeyes to win it all in 2006, what with Michigan and Penn State at home, and Wisconsin not on the slate. The O-Zone has a look at how the offense shapes up for the 2006 Buckeyes.
College Football Ramblings
One in a Row
The "three-peat" talk all season long about the USC Trojans has made me crazy, and I'm so glad it's over. Yes, USC had a remarkable winning streak, they have a fine program, and Pete Carroll is a recruiting star. But they have won exactly ONE National Championship in this decade.
All of the university Presidents and administrators got together several years ago and agreed on the BCS system as the method for determining the official championship of college football. The winner of the BCS Championship Game gets that nice cut glass football as the trophy emblematic of winning the title. Last year (2004 season) USC won the trophy. In 2003, LSU won the BCS Championship Game, and walked away with the glass football. I distinctly remember Nick Saban and his LSU Tigers leaving the field with the glass football firmly in their grasp. What is so hard to understand about this?
In 2003 the AP writers voted USC as the No.1 team in the country after the bowl games were over. So eff'n what? In the olden days, the opinions of the AP writers had a bearing on the National Championship. Not anymore. Either we have a system for determining the National Championship, or we don't. One in a row. Nice going, Trojans. (Yes, I'm still bitter about 1974 and 1979.)
UPDATE 1/10: This billboard has the right idea.
Irish Bowl Streak
A work colleague of mine has a theory about why Notre Dame has lost eight consecutive bowl games, and I think it holds some water. They are consistently overrated, and so they end up in bowl games in which they are overmatched. Another idea is that their bowl matchups are less about competitive balance and more about dollar payouts, TV ratings, and the free-spending Notre Dame fan base. This past season Notre Dame beat two teams with winning records: Navy (8-4) and Michigan (7-5). They played USC tough, and lost. That one game does not convince me that they were one of the Top 10 teams in the country in 2005. On the flip side of that, they are having a monster recruiting year, and Weis has 20-some high school All-Americans coming in as freshmen in the Fall. All of a sudden, the Buckeyes are in a contest to keep Ohio's best players in-state.
Vince-Mania
Count me among the believers that Vince Young will develop into an outstanding NFL quarterback if he goes to a solid franchise with good talent around him. I had told friends after Young's Rose Bowl win against Michigan last year that I thought that was the greatest performance by a single player I had ever seen in one game, and I believe that Young topped that performance in this year's Rose Bowl.
Ridiculousness
I remain unable to grasp why in the world this is a 15-yard penalty. I understand the rule. It's just a stupid rule....
...speaking of which, Bill Simmons wrote a "running diary" of the Rose Bowl, and had some thoughts on dumb rules:
All right, is there a dumber sports rule than "If your knee hits the ground, the play is over ... even if if you weren't touched" in college football? That's right up there with "You can't just intentionally walk someone, you have to throw four balls," "You don't get an extra foul for overtime," "You can call a timeout while you're in midair" and "You aren't allowed to punch A-Rod in the face during a game" in the pantheon of Dumb Rules That Only Make Sports Less Fun.Posted by dan at January 9, 2006 2:21 AM