NCAA 2009

[Ed Anger]

With Spring practices starting, it is time to light the fires and begin the long, agonizing wait for the upcoming season.

To start off:

Fuck you Tim.

and...

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=930559

Ohio State offense begins anew with Pryor

Tom Dienhart
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

Ohio State tied for the Big Ten title last season and finished with another loss in a BCS bowl.

Still, rather than piling on about the bowl loss, most observers gave Ohio State credit for getting into the BCS with a true freshman quarterback.

Terrelle Pryor's presence makes the Buckeyes a potentially dangerous offense, but one of the priorities this spring has to be overhauling the wide receiver corps. Defensively, finding two new starting linebackers will be the most important task.

Here's a look at the Buckeyes as they prepare for spring practice.

Ohio State AT-A-GLANCE
Terrelle Pryor will have to get used to a new group of backs and receivers.
THE BASICS
Coach: Jim Tressel
Last season: 10-3, 7-1 Big Ten. Lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl.
Spring dates: April 2-25
RETURNING STARTERS
Offense (4): C Michael Brewster, T Bryant Browning, G Jim Cordle, QB Terrelle Pryor.
Defense (8): CB Chimdi Chekwa, SS Kurt Coleman, E Thad Gibson, T Cameron Heyward, LB Ross Homan, FS Anderson Russell, E Lawrence Wilson, T Doug Worthington.
Special teams: None.
Positions of strength

The loss of cornerback Malcolm Jenkins hurts, but OSU will conduct spring practices with a veteran corps of defensive backs that may end up being the strength of the defense. The defensive line returns six players who started at least two games and four who started at least seven. Pryor should be one of the nation's most dynamic players.

Help is needed

There will be only two scholarship quarterbacks and running backs in spring drills. Another quarterback and three more running backs will arrive in June. With limited bodies at both key positions, the coaches must be prudent in how they conduct spring practices. Ohio State needs two new starting linebackers and two new starting wide receivers. A new starting tailback is needed, too.

Keep an eye on

G Justin Boren: He earned the respect of coaches and teammates while sitting out last season following his publicized transfer from Michigan. Boren, a junior, will be part of an offensive line that's replacing two starters. Boren better be ready.

RB Dan Herron: With Chris "Beanie" Wells off to the NFL a year early, all eyes will be on Herron. He showed flashes in a few starts last season when Wells was out with a toe injury. Is Herron capable of being the feature back?

LB Austin Spitler: James Laurinaitis is gone, putting the spotlight on Spitler. His eagerness earlier in his career resulted in some dubious personal-foul penalties; it's time for the senior to shine for a young group of linebackers.

His time is now

Defensive end Lawrence Wilson has missed big parts of the past two seasons because of injuries. Now a senior, Wilson needs to shine as a rusher off the edge. And if fellow senior end Rob Rose – who still is in search of a signature season – becomes a force, the Buckeyes could have one of the top lines in the nation.

The buzz

The defense teems with experience, so most eyes will be focused on the offense this spring. Pryor must continue to develop as a passer, and he'll need to develop chemistry with new targets now that Brian Hartline and Brian Robiskie are gone. Is Herron ready to take over for Wells behind an overhauled line?

[MadImmortalMan]

Herron is encouraging sometimes. He doesn't have Wells' size or strength, but when he hits the pile, it moves forward. Unlike Maurice, who bounces off.

[Ed Anger]

Herron is encouraging sometimes. He doesn't have Wells' size or strength, but when he hits the pile, it moves forward. Unlike Maurice, who bounces off.

If Brandon Saine ever emerges, they would have a Reggie Bush type back. But he'll likely be lost behind Herron and the incoming freshmen. Although St. Tressel may convert him to a WR.

[Neil]

Ohio State gets ready to send it's next class of busts to the NFL draft.

[Ed Anger]

Ohio State gets ready to send it's next class of busts to the NFL draft.

I bet Robiskie busts at least.

[MadImmortalMan]

Ohio State gets ready to send it's next class of busts to the NFL draft.

I bet Robiskie busts at least.

I remember thinking that about Holmes when he went in the draft early to support his baby mamma. 

[Berkut]

Arizona is looking forward to football season.

WTF is wrong with that sentence?

[Ed Anger]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=539375

personally, I don't buy it. <insert Timmay smiley>

Michigan's interest in Paulus raises red flag

Posted: April 16, 2009

Look closely, everyone. It's whipping in the wind, snapping and flapping right over Schembechler Hall.

That's a red flag you see -- and suddenly, things are a little more intriguing this offseason at Michigan.

"Every day that I threw the last couple of weeks," Greg Paulus said Thursday, "it has gotten better and better."

And now look: The guy who played point guard for Duke the past four seasons, who hadn't picked up a football in four years before, you know, getting his arm loose recently, could be the starting quarterback at Michigan this fall.

Maybe it's not really a red flag.

Maybe it's time to panic.

It's not Paulus' fault he wants to delay the inevitable of playing point guard in Bulgaria. The most hated player in college basketball -- why again is he hated, because he busted his tail? -- could soon be the most hated player in the state of Ohio.

Paulus says Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has invited him to compete for the starting quarterback job. Why, you ask? Because Rodriguez has nothing else.

Or at least, he has nothing yet.

Paulus has one semester of eligibility left. If he graduates from Duke in May, he can enroll at a school as a graduate student and play this fall.

Greg Paulus, Wolverine?
Hayes: Sign of desperation
TSB: Is Michigan serious?
TSB: RichRod-olution of Wolverines football
The news: Duke says no way he's a QB
If Rodriguez wants Paulus to compete for the Michigan job -- Paulus hasn't accepted the offer yet -- that can only mean a number of things. Among them:

# The impressive numbers heralded recruit Tate Forcier put up in the spring game (11-of-13, 141 yards, four touchdowns; 41 yards rushing, one TD) against second- and third-team defenses don't tell the whole story. If Forcier were locked in atop the depth chart, if he picked up the offense quickly and was on track to assume control Sept. 5 against Western Michigan, there's no way Rodriguez tells Paulus he will have an opportunity to compete for the starting job.

Why get inside the head of a freshman -- only 15 practices into his college career and still comprehending the monster that is expectations, a new playbook, schoolwork and living on your own -- and make it significantly harder?

# Rodriguez isn't interested in 3-9 again -- which he'll get if 2008 part-time starter Nick Sheridan is forced to play because Forcier isn't ready or doesn't pan out.

# Rodriguez isn't waiting around to see if freshman Denard Robinson is the answer once the pads go on in August. Rodriguez thought it could work with Justin Feagin last fall, and now Feagin can't crack the three-deep at wideout.

There's no one else, people. If walk-on David Cone were the answer, he'd have played last year.

That's why Rodriguez has turned to Paulus, who four years ago was one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse. He set state records and threw for 11,763 yards and 152 touchdown passes in 45 career games, and had scholarship offers from Miami and Notre Dame.

But training for basketball and training for football are completely different ends of the spectrum. Paulus' 6-1, 185-pound body can't handle the weekly pounding in college football, and he'd have about four months to put on 20-30 pounds of "good" weight (see: muscle, not fat).

He hasn't kept up with defensive trends, hasn't read coverages, hasn't thrown to receivers, hasn't run the spread option offense, hasn't taken a hit in four years. Now, magically, it will all come back to him.

And this is someone who will compete for the starting quarterback job at Michigan?

"It's difficult when you haven't been playing quarterback in a long time just to step back in a pro-style offense and play," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who told Paulus he couldn't play quarterback in the Blue Devils' pro-style offense. "They've had quarterback issues (at Michigan), and certainly that offense would be more friendly with an athletic quarterback."

Earlier this decade, Rodriguez pulled a similar move at West Virginia when he allowed former prep phenom J.R. House to compete for the starting quarterback job after professional baseball didn't pan out. House was third on the depth chart because he wasn't really a fit for the offense and didn't fully comprehend the nuances of the position in the complicated scheme.

Fortunately, a freshman named Pat White emerged midway through the season and eventually became the most prolific quarterback in school history. Michigan can only hope that same scenario plays out again.

Or that red flag quickly will become white.

Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News and is an analyst on NFL Network's College Football Now. E-mail him at [email protected].

[grumbler]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=539375

personally, I don't buy it. <insert Timmay smiley>

If RichRod is serious, then this is just injury insurance.  Paulus would only have a year of eligibility (which would be this season) and wouldn't get a scholarship, so there is no downside to bringing Paulus on, and having a warm body as a cleanup or emergency substitute wouldn't be all bad.  I don't know how Paulus would affect team chemistry, though.

In the end, I don't think it is gonna happen, though.

[Ed Anger]

I am now: impatient for the season to start.

The old games they are showing on ESPN classic and the Big Ten network has fired me up.

hell, I'm thinking of going to the Ohio State Spring game on the 25th. I need a hit man.

[charliebear]

I've recorded three of these classic games:

- 2006 MSU v Northwestern, where MSU set a record for the biggest comeback in NCAA football history

- 1990 MSU v UM, where MSU won in the final seconds of the game

- 1998 MSU v OSU, upset city



Glory days.

[CountDeMoney]

hell, I'm thinking of going to the Ohio State Spring game on the 25th. I need a hit man.

Well, I guess you like the Laurenitis cock after all.

[Ed Anger]

hell, I'm thinking of going to the Ohio State Spring game on the 25th. I need a hit man.

Well, I guess you like the Laurenitis cock after all.

Tressel's actually. While he is wearing the sweater vest.

[CountDeMoney]

God, you're a useless twat.  You are hereby christened : Midwest Martinus.

[Ed Anger]