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Here are four thoughts for the upcoming college football weekend...
1. MAKE A STATEMENT
In a season in which big-name quarterbacks Andrew Luck, Cameron Newton, Darrin Thomas, Matt Barkley and Kellen Moore have seemingly rotated week to week with big-game performances in the clutch, it’s time for Terrelle Pryor (remember him?) to have his signature moment. Up against Iowa in Iowa City on Saturday, with a sixth straight Big Ten title for Ohio State hanging in the balance, it’s time for Pryor to emerge from the all-too-familiar shadows and prove he belongs among college football’s elite.
Again.
You see, it’s not that Pryor hasn’t been good this season. He has. Statistically, he’s having his best campaign yet. It’s just that he hasn’t been, well, great. For Ohio State fans, it’s an all-too-common “Yeah, but …” theme.
In one year under center (or, out of the shotgun, in this case), Cam Newton has been everything Ohio State fans have been hoping Pryor would be for the past three seasons. Though injured and out for the remainder of the year, it’s a safe bet to assume Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa will take home first-team All-Conference honors at the position. Pryor’s been solid this season, and spectacular vs. Miami, but not the All-World quarterback Buckeyes fans have been waiting for since he first stepped on campus in ’08.
With more hype surrounding him than arguably any freshman in the past 10 years, Pryor’s had a solid college career. But following his MVP performance in last year’s Rose Bowl, there were expectations for more than just “solid” in 2010. There was hope for greatness; hope for dominance.
If you recall, the knee-jerk reactions following the Rose Bowl win were similar to those for Vince Young. In Young’s sophomore season, he, too, lit up the Pasadena night sky in a Rose Bowl MVP performance over Michigan. The following year, Young took his game to an entirely different level, leading the Longhorns to an undefeated campaign, a win in Columbus over the Buckeyes in the regular season, and an unforgettable MVP performance in the BCS Championship Game against a USC team that ESPN had prematurely selected as the greatest college team of all time a few days earlier.
With a similar amount of starters returning around Pryor as Young had in his junior campaign in ’05, there was Heisman buzz, a No. 2 preseason ranking, and expectations for a weekly show of razzle-dazzle similar to what we saw from Pryor on New Year’s Day against Oregon.
Instead, Ohio State’s junior quarterback has been good. Yep, good. But that’s all.
In his three years as the Buckeyes’ quarterback, Pryor is 28-5, has won two conference titles and been a Rose Bowl MVP.
But against top-10 teams, he’s just 6-4. In those games, he’s thrown six touchdown passes and five interceptions.
In front of a national television audience, it’s time for Pryor to have his moment on Saturday. With the top three ranked teams all idle and Boise playing on Friday night, the third Saturday night in November belongs to Pryor. The last time he had a stage like this, he flourished in Pasadena. He needs to do the same in Iowa City.
The Buckeyes always have played well at Kinnick Stadium, winning six of their past seven there. Pryor’s never played there, but has the opportunity to make it his statement game of the season. With a win, Ohio State’s incredible Big Ten title streak remains alive for another week. With a loss, it’s a forgotten season.
The Rose Bowl MVP performance was a memorable one last January. But it’s November now.
Anything less than a big effort on Saturday, and Pryor’s much-anticipated junior season will be viewed as a disappointment.
2. THE SEC BEST
Though LSU has been mathematically eliminated from the SEC title chase, its BCS title chances are still very much alive. Go figure. Since the system was put in place in 1998, only one team has competed for the BCS title without winning its division, the 2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers, who finished second in the Big 12 North before getting their doors blown off by Larry Coker’s ’01 ‘Canes.
LSU, however, at No. 5 in the BCS standings and the top-ranked one-loss team in the nation, could find itself Glendale-bound with a few fortunate bounces. If the Tigers win out, and Auburn falls (maybe twice) and Oregon drops a game, there could be a whole lot of purple and yellow walking around the greater Phoenix area on Jan. 10.
Though Big Ten diehards would have a conniption if a one-loss LSU team that failed to win its division were to get a BCS championship game berth over a one-loss Big Ten champion, it’s quite possible. Les Miles, a Michigan man, himself, thinks it makes total sense.
According to Miles, “The highest-ranked team to come out of this conference should well have an opportunity to play in the national championship game.”
I can’t argue. The SEC West has been the best division in all of college football this season. As of now, five of the six SEC West teams are in the Top 25. LSU is positioned behind No. 2 Auburn, but if Auburn were to lose to Alabama in the Iron Bowl and South Carolina in the SEC championship game, the Tigers surely would jump them. The way it looks now, there’s a chance they could find themselves in the top two, even if Boise State and TCU each win out.
“Those other teams are just coasting through their schedule,” quarterback Jordan Jefferson said this week. “They play a few teams that probably can give them a challenge but … no comparison with what we play every week.”
Jefferson must have conveniently forgotten last week’s colossal bout vs. Louisiana-Monroe, but he’s got a point. LSU’s had as difficult a schedule as any team in the country.
Yet, with all these BCS scenarios being tossed around this weekend, it’s imperative that the Tigers don’t look beyond Ole Miss this weekend. The Rebels have won the past two meetings with the Tigers, with LSU being ranked in the Top 25 both times. Those Ole Miss teams were both nine-win squads, though. This one? They’re the SEC West’s one non-ranked team, fighting through a miserable 4-6 campaign. But if they win out, they could be bowl eligible and salvage what’s been a forgettable season.
LSU’s stars don’t even want to consider such a possibility.
“We are tremendously hot right now,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said this week. “We are definitely riding off each other right now. This defense is lots of fun to be around, and I just can’t wait to get out there again Saturday.”
I’d like to say this one will be an easy ‘W,’ but with Miles and Co., nothing’s ever easy.
3. THE TUNE-UP
The No. 19 Nevada Wolf Pack has had next Friday’s battle with unbeaten Boise State circled since the schedules were released.
Owners of a dubious 10-game losing streak against the Broncos, the 9-1 Wolf Pack host Boise State next Friday night in Reno, but Chris Ault’s boys can’t look ahead of lowly New Mexico State this weekend. If anything, they need to get whatever kinks they have in the system out on Saturday before the conference’s game of the year.
Next Friday night’s showdown nearly meant nothing at all, as the Wolf Pack needed everything in its arsenal to get past a feisty Fresno State squad in a 35-34 WAC shootout last week. Colin Kaepernick, my pick for the WAC Offensive Player of the Year (yes, over Kellen Moore), played the role of superhero last weekend, leading Nevada from behind for his third career fourth-quarter comeback.
A year after ranking tops in the nation in offense, the Wolf Pack rank third in the FBS with 542.1 yards per game and fourth in points at 43.3. Kaepernick needs one touchdown pass on Saturday to set the school mark and is 54 rushing yards away from becoming the first player in history with three seasons of 1,000 rushing and 2,000 passing yards. He should have both those feats in his back pocket by the end of the first quarter. And if I'm Ault, that's exactly when I take Kaepernick out of the game.
Huh?
Hear me out. New Mexico State’s starting a freshman quarterback on Saturday, the seventh freshman to start for the Aggies this season. Their sophomore running back is hardly a threat. The way I see it, the Wolf Pack should treat this one like an NFL team does its Week 17 games. If the game is in hand early, Ault — who needs no coaching advice from little old me — should take out his starters to ensure they're both a) healthy for next week and b) not revealing anything on film.
I’m curious to see just how much we see out of Nevada’s offense. If they’re up early, look for the bare bones for the final three quarters.
After all, they’re going to need every trick in their bag for the Broncos next week.
4. FAKIN’ IT
Cal’s gotten a lot of negative press this week for the reported faking of injuries to slow No. 1 Oregon last week. A source within the Cal program admitted to The Oregonian this week that the Bears’ plans for slowing down Oregon's high-tempo offensive attack included some tomfoolery.
"I know any time anybody goes down against Oregon, (Duck fans) always think that's the case, but it's not the case,'' Cal coach Jeff Tedford said when asked if the injuries were faked.
The “source” told The Oregonian that the injury faking was "a big part'' of the defensive game plan against Oregon.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long until the conspiracy theorists came out with video evidence.
Check out this clip: It’s our generation’s version of the Zapruder film.
Stanford-Cal is always a treat. Let’s hope for a clean, hard-fought game. And let’s hope for no injuries.
Real or fake.
Schrager BCS Bowl Projections Through Week 11:
Sorry, TCU, but if Oklahoma State wins the Big 12 championship game, there’s no way the Orange Bowl is going to pass on Nebraska, if they’re available. Undefeated might not be good enough for the Horned Frogs this BCS season.
Schrager Heisman Ballot Through Week 11:
1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
2. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
