Good morning everyone and welcome to another glorious Kickoff Eve in Columbus.
Sure, nothing beats actual gameday but I love how that last bit of anticipation provides a little bit more #juice as I finish out the work week knowing a date with the Buckeyes is but one sunrise away.
Tomorrow's tilt is made all the more interesting in that it features programs that are going through incredibly different situations.
First, Ohio State is riding an Urban high with the entire fanbase rejuvenated and downright giddy over the new man in charge. Conversely, Cal's Jeff Tedford is losing supporters thanks to a 13-14 record dating back to the start of the 2010 season. A losing 2012 campaign appears within reach, though John Wilner writes it could cost the school a minimum of $7 mil to can Tedford.
Second, scanning the rest of each team's non-conference slate, the Buckeyes have what should be a couple lay-ups in Cal and UAB while the Golden Bears are embarking on what is the toughest two-week stretch in school history.
Taking on the #12 Buckeyes tomorrow and #2 USC next weekend marks just the 10th time in school history that the Bears have taken on Top 12 teams on the road in consecutive weeks. As you'd expect, Cal has performed miserably in those previous nine instances going 1-16-1 dating back to 1976.
Considering what we've seen out of the Bears thus far, 1-18-1 looks like a foregone conclusion.
BRAX ON BRAX ON BRAX. Ohio State's dependence on Braxton Miller has been well-documented and his deadly talents are certainly not lost on the Cal defenders. Safety Josh Hill said flat out, "he is their offense" and, "if we let him run around, we will lose -- that's fact."
No doubt the Bears are a little gun shy as they've been scorched a handful of times over the past three years by dual-threat QBs thriving in a spread attack. Jeff Faraudo explains:
- Cody Fajardo rushed for 97 yards while passing for 230 more in Nevada's 31-24 victory in the season-opener two weeks ago.
- UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince ran for 163 yards in a 31-14 win last season.
- Nevada's Colin Kaepernick, now the No. 2 quarterback with the 49ers, carved up Cal for 148 rushing yards and three TDs and 181 passing with two more scores in a 52-31 rout in 2010.
It will be interesting to see how Cal picks their poison, though daring him to throw clearly makes the most sense. I look for another 17-ish rushing/scrambling attempts but the real story will be how Miller's accuracy plays out if Meyer/Herman opt to air it out closer to 30 times, which could very well be the case. I'm calling a career high in completions (currently 18), bettering his current mark by at least four.
MY GRANDMAMA GAVE ME THAT CHAIN. Word out of Starkville is that Mississippi State defenders cracked the code the Auburn coaching staff used to signal in offensive plays in last week's 28-10 win over the Tigers.
Defensive back Corey Broomfield sums it up nicely:
"We do a great job of preparing and we knew what the play was before they ever ran them. That's not a joke. We knew what they were doing, where the ball was going and who was getting it before the ball was snapped."
Broomfield's claim in bolstered by the fact Auburn QB Keihl Frazier was intercepted three times while the team turned it over five times total and was limited to 216 yards.
Linebacker Cam Lawrence backed Broomfield's assertion offering:
"My teammates and I got into [Frazier's] head and that's one thing I'm going to do every game if you're on offense against me. He would call out the signals and I'd tell everybody what the play was and he'd get that confused look in his face."
In a contradictory response, Gene Chizik first said he wasn't aware stealing signals occurred then backed that up by touting an ability to "rectify that problem". Which is it, Gene?
That's some embarrassing stuff right there. I can't even imagine the outrage if the Buckeyes ever fell victim to such laziness.
All your friends will be there.A DISTANT FOURTH. Following a pathetic weekend in which the B1G went 6-6 against non-conference competition, the league can be ranked no better than 4th in any set of Conference Power Rankings.
The SEC, Pac-12 and Big-12 each have at least five teams in the current Top 25 and combine to produce a 47-12 record in non-conference play while the B1G is just 16-8 in non-conference matchups.
Interestingly, though the B1G is 0-3 in matchups against the current Top 25 thus far, the SEC, Pac-12, Big-12 trio is just 1-3 against the current Top 25.
Michigan State (-6) should give the conference its first W against a Top 25 team this year when they welcome #20 Notre Dame in primetime.
Unimpressively, the ACC is nipping at the B1G's heels, also with three Top 25 teams and an 0-3 mark against the same. The ACC stands at 15-3 versus out-of-conference foes.
BY THE NUMB3RS. Following that vile 6-6 weekend, Dave Revsine dug up some interesting stats on the conference teams including:
- Ohio State has put up at least 410 yards in each of the first two games after eclipsing that mark just once a season ago.
- Illinois' four pass plays of 10+ yards or more is good for the fourth-fewest in the nation.
- The 653 yards Nebraska surrendered to UCLA marks the worst effort by a Cornhusker defense in over 50 years.
- Iowa has scored zero touchdowns in six trips to the red zone.
- Sparty is one of only three teams (TCU, Florida State) to have not yet given up a touchdown.
That last one is beyond meaningless, however, as TCU has only played one game (Grambling State) and the Seminoles have battled the likes of Murray State and Savannah State.
COMMERCIAL BREAK. I know we've touched on this once or twice since Tuesday's announcement but I wanted to take a sec and ask that each of you please consider taking part in Eat Too, Brutus 2012.
As a staff, we've been on a crazy ride for the last few years and can't stress enough how lucky we feel to have such a generous, intelligent and passionate readership. It's rewarding to meet folks that share our passion for the Buckeyes, especially under the backdrop of coming together to raise money for charity. Karma points, y'all.
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