It's time for the conference championship week edition of Stock Up/Stock Down.
There were so many storylines circulating around college football over the last weekend and trickling into Monday that it is hard to get to them all, but I am going to do my best to touch on a few things I find noteworthy as we start the postseason in college football.
We'll start with Ohio State, which seems to be dominating the headlines left and right leading up to its game in Indianapolis. While most of the storylines appear to be negative (more on those later), we will start on a more positive note today.
Stock Up
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback
After weeks of fans calling for Haskins to start over J.T. Barrett, Haskins had slowed down in his performances, at least in backup duty.
Haskins got plenty of playing time against Illinois in the week prior to The Game, and struggled at times, putting the ball on the ground resulting in a scoop-and-score for Illinois' first touchdown of that game. That play infuriated Urban Meyer so much that he yanked Haskins and re-inserted his starters into the lineup, then turned to Joe Burrow before going back to Haskins.
When Barrett aggravated a knee injury in the third quarter against Michigan, however, Haskins got the call and led Ohio State to three scoring drives, and set up a fourth only to have a field goal missed. That performance should bode well for him and the Buckeyes heading into the Big Ten title game if Barrett can't go.
Jeff Brohm - Purdue head coach
If you had Purdue making a bowl game this season, raise your hand. Now put it down because you are lying.
The Boilermakers had been dreadful under Darrell Hazel for four seasons, never winning more than three games in a year. All Brohm did in his first season was win the rivalry game against Indiana and get Purdue into a bowl game for the first time since 2012-13.
I think Brohm is a rising star in the college coaching profession and unfortunately for Purdue, I don't think he will be there long. Brohm is going to be a hot commodity following next season, assuming he builds on a successful (by Purdue standards) 2017 campaign. Buy stock in Brohm, because he will be taking over a prominent program before 2020 in my opinion.
Troy Fumagalli - Wisconsin senior tight end
Why am I buying stock in Fumagalli? Because the Badgers play Ohio State this week and the Buckeyes still haven't figured out how to slow down opposing tight ends.
If John O'Korn hit a few more throws in the first quarter, Michigan might have led 21-0 in that game. Wolverines tight ends were running free for the better part of the first half against the Buckeyes, and that is not a good sign for Ohio State, as the top tight end in the conference will be lining up against its defense on Saturday.
Fumagalli is a matchup nightmare for a defense and regardless of the outcome in the Big Ten title game, he is going to get his against the Ohio State defense. I am not confident the Buckeyes will be able to stop him. The best they can do is slow him down.
Stock Down
Sideline photographers
Okay, who did it? You might as well confess because the longer Urban Meyer has to look for you, the more angry he is going to be, and I have never seen him more angry than he was after the Michigan game. Imagine making Meyer so mad he can't enjoy a win over Michigan. That photographer did it, and I would not want to be that man or woman that took out J.T. Barrett's knee right now.
For the record, I have a very hard time believing that someone would intentionally try to take out Barrett, but I also have a hard time ruling the possibility out altogether. Regardless, the sideline space at Michigan is ridiculously tight, probably worse than any other stadium in the Big Ten outside of Michigan State. Putting the band on the field is just asking for a major injury, yet both Big Ten schools in the Big Ten do it. How is that still allowed?
If you were the photographer or videographer or disgruntled fan that intentionally or unintentionally took out Barrett, the chances of you ever being on the sideline again are slim, so I would just take your last paycheck and go home.
Tennessee Football
I won't spend much time on this because the Tennessee fan base and administration has done enough to where I don't need to point out why they fall into this category.
I won't speak on the Penn State allegations against Greg Schiano, but just based on his coaching qualifications, what is so wrong with him as Tennessee's next head coach? Yeah I know, they expect Jon Gruden, but Volunteer fans need to make like a single man on Bumble and lower their expectations. The smoking hot girl isn't swiping right on you, mainly because your program is a dumpster fire that hasn't won 10 games in a season since the second Bush administration.
Lower your expectations, Tennessee. You aren't the powerhouse program you once were. The sooner you realize that, the better. Now, you are going to have to throw an insane amount of money at a coach to even get him to consider coaching for your crazy fan base – and in all likelihood, a new athletics administration – that will already have a short leash following this debacle of a coaching search. Good luck to whoever takes that job. You're going to need it.
