Michigan State Gets Head...Coach: Researching new State coach Mark Dantonio, I learned quite a bit. Major players in college football like Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, and Jim "Sweaty Vester" Tressell all sung his praises upon being hired. Dantonio came over from Cincinnati after a 3-year run spawned from his job coordinating the BCS national champion Ohio State Buckeye defense in 2002.
While he's yet to appear in a mental breakdown halftime highlight (like the man he supplanted), he does have the Spartans at 4-0. Which could, you know, be more important.
Drew Stanton = He Gone, Who's The New Q?: Good question. They call him Brian Hoyer. What initially surprised me about the junior was his numbers from last year; he threw for 863 yards in a mixture of garbage time and Stanton injuries. That's a lot more experience than most first-year starters have going in. And so far, it's helped. Hoyer's numbers through four games: 7 TD, 3 INT, 57.1 CMP%, 769 YARDS.
Not too shabby.Although, half of those touchdown throws did come against Notre Dame, but still. My biggest concern is the completion percentage.
For those of you who are still in heartache over Stanton's departure to the NFL, and, more specifically, the Detroit Lions injured reserve: fear not, he has an official website. But it might be fake, as the "official" myspace it links lists just 90-something friends. But he is on the Lions, so you never know.
Best Offensive Player?: They seem to be platooning running backs. Javon Ringer (399 YDS, 4.9 YPC, 1 TD) leads the team in yardage, but if college fantasy football was more popular, you might want to start Jehuu Caulcrick (300 YDS, 4.6 YPC), who leads the team with 6 rushing TDs.
Wide receivers Devin Thomas and Kellen Davis have 3 TDs a piece and have racked up a combined 25 receptions. So they're contenders as well.
Throwing Out Stats, What's This Team's Ceiling?: It's hard to say. As far as college football goes, I'm a big advocate of you are who you've played, and as of now, it's been slim pickings. That changes this week as the Spartans face a stiff test in Wisconsin. They might win this one, but I still say they lose to Michigan. Sorry, Sparty.
Cleaning the lens to take a glance at the rest of the college football world...
The College Football Bandwagon Continues: Every year, once my favorite teams have been eliminated from the national title picture (by, you know, losing just one game), my buddy Ryan and I create what we call the "College Football Bandwagon" which mostly consists of a list of all the undefeated BCS conference teams minus Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and sometimes others (this year, Florida & Boston College). Special exemptions are made for the Utahs, Boise States, and Hawaiis of the world. The goal of the CFB is to fake feel good about yourself when your "team" makes the national championship. Last week, after the Wisconsin loss, Ryan texted me telling me that "we" were beating Washington State pretty badly. It made the sting of the Wisconsin loss go away much quicker. Yes, it's pretty shallow. Nonetheless...
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BANDWAGON 2007
USC - The Dynasty.
Hawaii - Pass, Pass, Pass. Brennan and Co. should light up the scoreboard this week against Idaho.
Clemson - Next three games are very winnable (Central Michigan, Maryland, Duke).
Kansas - Some crazy guys on this local Iowa football show picked them to win the Big 12 North if they win this week's game.
Oklahoma - Boise-based karma payback still paying dividends.
West Virginia - But we still still don't believe in you
Oregon - Dixon aims to take out Cal this week. Fear it.
California - Cal aims not to be taken out by Dixon this week.
Arizona State - Watch out for those co-eds, boys.
LSU - Gotta love that schedule.
Kentucky - Ride Andre Woodson as far as he can take you.
Rutgers - Ray Rice Rules (that's alliteration, people!).
Michigan State - Preview and all.
Cincinnati
UConn
I have nothing to say about Cinci and UConn. I'm just surprised they've made it this far.
You have a decision to make: Woodson, Dixon, or Both - Senior QBs Andre Woodson and Dennis Dixon are absolutely carrying their squads this year. If you're in the market to root for a cool QB on a contending team that's not your own, you've gotta play the hot hand with these guys. It's like a Vince Young/Michael Vick redux, but without all the prison and low Wonderlic scores.
I chose both. If you cared.
Tonight! #5 West Virginia at #18 South Florida - One Big East team is about to get a helluva lot of momentum. And with Louisville out of the picture, only Rutgers will be left.
#6 Cal at #11 Oregon - This tops USC-Nebraska for most excited I've been for a game this season. Now, hopefully it can top the actual USC-Nebraska game, which shouldn't be hard. Oregon has the aforementioned Dennis Dixon and his legs and his arm. Cal has freak athletes and a vendetta against the Pac 10. Should be tons of fun.
Ohio State was really impressive last week, albeit against the team that lost to Duke: Blink in the first quarter and you might have missed OSU's four touchdowns against Northwestern. On pace for 100+ points, Tressell called off the dogs. Or nuts. Or whatever.
RIP, Indiana: Fall flat on face in Big Ten opener against Illinois.
***
Matchup of the Week: Michigan State (4-0) at #9 Wisconsin (4-0) - I'll finally get my first look at the Spartans once I return home from the Iowa-Indiana crap-fest at 11AM. I feel obligated to pick MSU after hosing them in my Michigan game prediction. So let's do it. Wisconsin is horribly overrated, and they will fall at some point. Maybe it's this week. Did I say maybe? I meant definitely. Press that!
Others of Interest: #21 Penn State (3-1) at Illinois
(3-1) - Traditional football meets Ron Zook football.
Watch only with hands over your eyes: Notre Dame (0-4) at Purdue (4-0) - I should just change the name of this section to "The Purdue Game." It's like they never, ever play anyone. At least not until next week.
Big Ten Power Rankings
1) Ohio State - The realest deal the Big Ten has to offer.
2) Michigan - Until further notice.
3) Michigan State - Time to prove it.
4) Wisconsin - Overrated.
5) Purdue - It kills me to put them in the top half of the Big Ten, but they are undefeated.
6) Penn State - Another season ended by Michigan
7) Illinois - Is Illinois really this high? Really? Hey, more Big Ten wens than Penn State.
8) Indiana - I get hope, then they lose to Illinois. Disrespectful.
9) Iowa - Untimely injuries and questionable play calling are the recipe for a mid-season downward spiral.
10) Northwestern - Absolutley manhandled by the Buckeyes last week.
11) Minnesota - To paraphrase Rush Propst, they are "the worst, the worst...the worst."
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Comments
I agree with Rickhouse...USC is the best college team there is.
LOOOVE the state preview, Go Green, respect.....I know what you mean, we have not proven ourselves, but I think the key this year is discipline and Dantonio brings it. If we beat Wisconsin, which I also think we will after seeing that game against Iowa, I truly believe we are going to take down those faggots from Ann Arbor, sorry bro....but great article!!!
Great job man, I do have to say this is the first time Rush Probst has been quoted in a post. Woodson has been my guy going back to last year, it's good to see him get some attention this season.
My other big college football thought is this: how do people think LSU is ever close to USC? USC is just the most dominant college juggernaut of our time. LSU is a fine team, but they would get rolled if they ever matched up with the Trojans. We'll probably never see it anyways considering the Tigers will probably have to go through Florida twice. I'm just shocked at how many people have LSU atop their blog polls.