Props to Clemson's Jadar Johnson. It's refreshing whenever a college player dispenses an honest #take about an opposing player besides "that lad is a top footballer."
What's wild is Johnson's comments would've come across as a well-written and fair critique of J.T. Barrett on 11W's Forums. But Johnson forgot a crucial thing about our fan base: We're the only ones allowed to critique the local team.
This isn't Johnson's first rodeo, either. Here's what he said about Lamar Jackson in September:
"That’s No. 8? I don’t really feel like we have to step out of our element or jump up another notch to really stop him. I feel like we have the tools and we have the skill set to limit him, and I don’t really see any worries with him. Not saying he’s not a good player — he’s definitely a good player. I haven’t really seen a quarterback as versatile as him, but I feel like we have a pretty good defense. So just my confidence in the defense and us as a whole, I don’t think it’ll be that much of a challenge.”
Jackson finished that game with 457 yards of total offense and three touchdowns, though Johnson did intercept him.
But poking Barrett is a bold play, especially given Urban Meyer's love of playing up "bulletin board material."
Zone-6 better strap up, too, because it's clear the Clemson defense doesn't think Ohio State can win through the air.
LET IT BE AN ARMS RACE. Ohio State has the biggest athletics war chest of any playoff team, but it spends the second least on recruiting.
From cbssports.com:
| CATEGORY | ALABAMA | CLEMSON | OHIO STATE | WASHINGTON |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATHLETIC REVENUE | 148,900,000 | 83,500,000 | 167,200,000 | 103,500,000 |
| ATHLETIC EXPENSES | 132,400,00 | 82,900,000 | 154,000,000 | 104,400,00 |
| SPORTS | 21 | 19 | 36 | 22 |
| FOOTBALL TICKET SALES | 36,900,000 | 19,700,000 | 52,200,000 | 21,400,000 |
| FOOTBALL SUPPORT STAFF | 3,200,000 | 3,300,000 | 3,000,000 | 2,4000,00 |
| RECRUITING EXPENSES | 1,300,000 | 884,960 | 614,619 | 452,610 |
| RECRUITING EXPENSES ATTRIBUTED TO FOOTBALL | 60% | 52% | 33% | 33% |
We already knew Alabama and Clemson were one-sport-shops, but Washington having only 22 sports teams low for a wealthy state institution.
Alabama dwarfing Ohio State in recruiting suspending wasn't a surprise like Ohio State spending $100,000 more on support staff.
Clemson spending more on recruiting than OSU might draw the ire of some fans, but remember: It's a helluva lot easier to recruit for Ohio State than Clemson. The Tigers have to spend a premium to convince talented #teens the spend the prime of their life in the backwoods of South Carolina.
SPIDER CAUGHT A COUPLE OF FLIES. Clemson is an odd matchup. Unlike Alabama and Michigan, I have a hard time conjuring disgust with the Clemson Tigers.
Outside of cheap-shot artist Ben Boulware and an engineer student named "Hunter," Clemson comes across as likable.
That extends to Freshman All-American defensive end Dexter Lawrence.
From si.com:
Lawrence isn’t a suit guy. He doesn’t need anything fancy. But he’d like to someday expand his wardrobe beyond sweats. Unfortunately, at 6’5” and 342 pounds with a size 16 foot, off-the-rack options don’t exist for Lawrence. Fortunately, the reason Lawrence can’t find anything remotely swagged out is also the reason he should someday have the means to have his clothes custom made. “I can pull off a lot of stuff,” Lawrence said. “I just want it to fit.”
Lawrence isn’t kidding. He might be one of the only people on the planet who can pull off full-body pink Spandex at his weight. Seriously. When teammate Christian Wilkins decided Tigers defensive linemen would be the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers for Halloween and threw the Pink Ranger costume at Lawrence, he created an image that should fuel the nightmares of ACC offensive linemen and quarterbacks. That guy is that big and looks like that in Spandex? “Nobody will ever believe this,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables thought to himself when the Power Rangers showed up at his house. So he snapped a picture that eventually found its way into cyberspace.
Clemson DLine dress as Power Rangers:
— Todd Summers (@ToddSummers7) November 1, 2016
D.Lawrence-Pink
C.Wilkins-White
J.Robinson-Blue
C.Ferrell-Green
C.Watkins-Black pic.twitter.com/BELV4IE7vZ
I haven't seen anything this creepy since The Gimp in Pulp Fiction.
But credit to Lawrence. He's a freshman and already the clear favorite to the question, "Which of these malformed, cheaply-costumed Power Rangers would you least want to fight to the death?"
Black is second. I'll take my chances with any of the other three.
MAKES YOU THINK. Alabama is undefeated and deservedly the No. 1 team in the country, but people are making a mistake by writing off Washington's chances.
Sure, 'Bama is the SEC champion, but this isn't your older brother's SEC, which needs a Bama victory to propagate its myth.
From espn.com:
Let's face it, 2016 wasn't exactly a banner year for the football programs in this conference. Other than Alabama's undefeated run to the College Football Playoff, the SEC limped into bowl season. Outside of the Crimson Tide, no one in the SEC has nine wins. To put that into perspective, every other Power 5 conference has at least three teams with nine or more wins. As a whole, the SEC finished 6-8 against Power 5 opponents for a Power 5-worst .429 winning percentage.
So even the folks around the SEC who hate Alabama will be secretly wearing houndstooth this weekend for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Washington, and will pull it out again if Alabama makes it to the national championship. SEC hatred is one thing, but Southern pride is loud and proud, folks, and a league that loves to boast about how much better it is than everyone else desperately needs a(nother) Alabama national championship to put away a relatively ho-hum 2016.
This is why I love college football: One team being good can inflate the confidence of an entire region, despite that region living under the iron fist of that one good team.
FSU: WE WANT TO TROLL HARBAUGH. Michigan plays Florida State on Friday night in a bowl game that's not a national semifinal. I won't watch, but it would seem Florida State has a masterplan for defeating the Wolverines.
From detroitnews.com:
“He’s a good coach,” FSU defensive back Marquez White said Tuesday morning. “He’s him. Everybody has their own personality. He feels like he’s the guy. I like to watch him on TV and see how upset he gets.
“Hopefully we can piss him off, that’s our plan going into the game. We want to piss off Harbaugh. We want to piss him off.”
Always the good sign for your team when your coach's lack of emotional maturity makes an opponent's scouting report.
LOFTY COMPARISONS. Some folks in the biz claim Curtis Samuel comes from an "old fashioned family" and will return to earn his degree next year. I'll believe it when I see it, because the NFL hype train already left the station:
Just started studying Ohio St RB Curtis Samuel--reminds me of Reggie Bush. Speed, balance, elusiveness & versatility.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) December 27, 2016
NFL praise will only get higher for Samuel when organizations dig into his character... and when he drops 600 yards of total offense and five touchdowns against Clemson and the winner of Alabama-Washington, obviously.
PROGRAMMING ALERT. Our friends at Time Warner SportsChannel Ohio are going all out for the game this week. Tune in tonight at 7 p.m. for a conversation with Jim Tressel and other members of Ohio State's 2002 national championship team.
THOSE WMDs. Police seek Amazon Echo data in murder case... The 15-year layover... Pennsylvania police search for woman accused of defecating in a parking lot... Al Capone's cell at Eastern State Penitentiary... Carrie Fisher on LSD, death, and sex with Han Solo.
