Happy Labor Day to all. I hope you do as little of it as possible today.
Word of the Day: Abet.
GOOD MORNING. If *you’re* salty about a noon kickoff for Ohio State’s biggest non-conference game in like four years, just remember that at least you don’t have to tune in at 9 a.m. local time.
Oregon, meanwhile, is getting some breakfast football. And they ain’t really happy about it.
“We had those initial conversation back in, I believe the original contract was done in 2011 or ‘12, much like when we did the Michigan State contract,” Mullens told The Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this summer. “We had that very conversation with both league offices and our TV partners and said, ‘Hey if we’re going to do this both ways we want to find a time slot that works for both teams whether it’s in Columbus in the Eastern time zone or in Eugene in the Pacific time zone.’ That (Noon Eastern) wasn’t what was discussed, but it is what it is. We’ll go out there, we’ll be prepared and we’ll compete. ... It would have been fun to see that game in prime time on the East coast but it is what it is.”
...
“It’s a big thing if you make it a big thing,” Cristobal said. “We practice at 8:45 a.m. When we get to that game we’ll deal with it. We have a plan for all time slots.
“I don’t think it has to be a thing. I think that anytime you coach you want to look for every advantage you can get. I don’t look at it as a disadvantage. I’m really so not focused on that at all.”
Personally, I can think of nothing better than rolling out of bed to Buckeye football, so. I feel no sympathy.
STROUD'S STRUGGLES. It's wild that a quarterback can throw for 294 yards and four touchdowns in his debut start and still have to hear about his "struggles."
But when the standard is Justin Fields and Dwayne Haskins, it sure ain't easy for anyone else to measure up, Stroud included.
The new Ohio State starter flashed his big arm and mobility at the position, but he also displayed suspect accuracy on tight-window throws. He finished the night in Minneapolis with more negatively graded throws than positively graded ones. That’s something Fields never did in a game for the Buckeyes. Stroud ended up throwing a quarterback-fault incompletion on 27.3% of his attempts, not including several other catchable but inaccurate throws. For reference, that’s more than 10 percentage points higher than Fields’ worst game of 2020 and over 15 percentage points higher than Fields' career average.
Stroud did make a couple of impressive big-time throws in the second half, helping him record a 74.1 passing grade upon first review. A few blown coverages by Minnesota resulted in open receivers, big plays and a more impressive box score for Stroud, but regardless, he did improve a little as the game went on.
At the end of the day, though, Stroud still finished with a positively graded throw rate that was lower than any of Fields’ performances as the Buckeyes' starter. His ball placement on plays that required him to get the ball out quickly was a bit erratic. On throws that were within three seconds of the snap, Stroud earned a 50.6 passing grade (over eight grading points lower than Fields’ career-low mark in a single game, for what it’s worth).
I will say, Stroud was not perfect on Thursday night, but I definitely feel a hell of a lot better about his performance after watching pretty much every other quarterback across the country this weekend, two national title contenders included.
Is he Justin Fields? Probably not. But he doesn't have to be, either.
HASKELL THE RASKELL. This sure did not take long.
Were excited to drop an exclusive Haskell the Raskell tee on https://t.co/8gujX1sQHF! @HaskellGarrett_
— nilmanagement (@nilmanagement) September 4, 2021
#ImpactByHG #NILmanagement pic.twitter.com/LQqAVwfewy
I have no idea how much money he's going to make off of this, but it very much rules that he's simply allowed to do it and can act quickly enough to profit off of it.
It sucks that J.K. Dobbins couldn't make a "J.K. ALL DAY" shirt, or Johnnie Dixon a "JOHNNIE D!" shirt, or Cardale Jones a "CAR-DALE-JONES" shirt, or Denzel Ward a "HURT MY FEELINGS" shirt.
Basically, Gus Johnson + Ohio State Player = $$$
MICHIGAN MEN IN SEPTEMBER. I can't express this enough, there's just something about Michigan Men in September. It's my favorite genre of Twitter. They have an absolutely unmatched level of swagger and confidence for absolutely no reason.
Behold.
Minnesota is laying out a helluva blueprint
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) September 3, 2021
A blueprint for... whom? Buddy, Mohamed Ibrahim ain't walking out of that tunnel in November.
And then there's this, from my fantasy football pal Ace, after beating a directional Michigan.
feeling a dangerous amount of optimism
— lifelong orlando magic fan ace (@AceAnbender) September 5, 2021
I can't wait to see how this plays out! I'm sure it will definitely be very different than the past two decades!
SONG OF THE DAY. The text to your first item.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. How I escaped my father's cult at the age of 30... The secret society of lighting strike survivors... How to grieve for a very good dog... When the punk band Butthole Surfers finally scored a hit, their fans never forgave them... A restaurant owner is arrested for selling pizzas with cocaine... Inside the increasingly violent world of US flight attendants... A French war bunker is reborn as a guest house...
