Middle Tennessee State Football

The biggest game of the Sun Belt season is less than 24 hours away as Troy and Middle Tennessee set to do battle Tuesday night on ESPN2.

The annual Battle for the Palladium pits the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (3-1) against the Troy Trojans (2-2) at Movie Gallery Stadium in Troy, Alabama. This game will help determine if the Blue Raiders can stay on track toward a conference championship, after a great start with wins over Memphis and Maryland.

The Trojans have won the last three games in the series including a heart-breaker in 2006, which saw Troy come back from down 13 with two minutes to play.

This game still stings, as a Blue Raider victory at home would have given coach Rick Stockstill his first outright conference championship as a rookie head coach.

These two teams look to be the class acts of the Sun Belt this season, and a victory by either side will immediately make them the favorites for a New Orleans Bowl bid.

The Blue Raiders will be looking to continue their impressive air and ground attack led by junior Quarterback Dwight Dasher. Dasher has become the state's best quarterback, amassing over 1,000 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in four games. He has accounted for 10 Blue Raider touchdowns this season.

The Trojans counter with an in-state product at quarterback in Levi Brown. The Mt. Juliet (TN) native has a completion percentage nearing 65 percent as well as close to 1,000 yards passing this season.

Both teams employ a spread installed by Tony Franklin, Franklin is the current offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee.

The key to this game will come down to the defense of the Blue Raiders and the attitude of the Troy Trojans.

The Blue Raider defense has shut down the running attack of Memphis along with forcing four turnovers in a road victory against Maryland.

Defensive ends Chris McCoy and Jamari Lattimore will be looking for another big day against a pass happy team. These two ends have combined for five sacks in this young season.

To combat Troy's affinity for the pass, the Blue Raiders will be relying on an experienced secondary to not allow the big play. Big plays nearly cost the Blue Raiders in Maryland as they gave up 37 and 64 yard passes to Maryland.

Troy will bring the Sun Belt's best defense to take on Middle's spread. The team known for their NFL caliber defenders, (DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyiora, Leodis McKelvin) will once again bring talented players to the contest.

Defensive end Brandon Lang led the Sun Belt in sacks last season. Defensive tackle Kevin Dixon is a transfer from Nebraska. Troy's other Defensive end, Cameron Sheffield was sixth in the league in sacks last year.

That's just the defensive line.

At linebackers, the Trojans have two of the best names in college football: Boris and Bear. Seniors Boris Lee and Bear Woods combined for over 220 tackles last season, they roam all over the field.

Troy's defense was good enough to give Florida fits for a quarter, it will be imperative that the Blue Raiders come out of the gates quickly and put some points on the board.

For all of Troy's statistical success, the team tends to have periods of almost playing on "auto pilot." Games where Troy is ahead, they tend to let teams back in. If the Trojans do happen to fall behind, they tend to lose their swagger.

Troy could easily be compared to the Sun Belt's version of Southern California. They tend to lose at least one game they shouldn't in conference.

With that in mind, the experts in Las Vegas have put Troy at a 4.5-point favorite for Tuesday's game.

Predicting a winner will come down to whether or not the Blue Raiders can establish an offensive rhythm and put touchdowns on the board as opposed to field goals. If Troy can hold Middle Tennessee to threes, momentum will certainly favor Troy.

If Middle falls behind quickly, they have the offense to get back in the game, but it certainly will be to their advantage to try to take out the home crowd with a quick score.

With that in mind, I expect the Blue Raiders to be able to score around 30 points, as Dwight Dasher is only getting better in the Tony Franklin spread, as both a running and throwing threat. Troy will be hard pressed to keep up the scoring with the Blue Raiders.

Prediction: Middle Tennessee 34 Troy 30.

A Houston Cougar loss this weekend has lessened the media attention on the success of "mid-major" programs in college football. All of that can turn around, tough, when ESPN airs Tuesday night's Middle Tennessee and Troy contest on prime time, 8 PM ET.

The Blue Raiders have made the biggest impact for the Sun Belt, a conference with minimal coverage on a national scale. Coming into this game the team is 3-1 with non-conference wins over Memphis, and Maryland.

The Terrapin victory looks even better, 32-31 on the road, with Maryland's victory over Clemson this weekend.

The Troy Trojans have been the most successful member of the Sun Belt, beating teams such as Missouri, and Oklahoma State, while also putting scares into the likes of LSU, Florida State, and Georgia.

The Trojans have won or shared the conference championship for three straight years.

The Blue Raiders come to Troy's Movie Gallery Stadium preparing for their fourth road game in five contests. The good news for the Blue Raiders is that they will have ten days to prepare for their biggest game of the season.

With the Sun Belt only having one guaranteed bowl tie-in, every conference game is crucial, an 8-4 Troy team was left out of Bowl season in 2007.

The Blue Raiders non-conference victories have started to gather the interest from ESPN, who is rumored to be planning to air their next home game against the SEC's Mississippi State Bulldogs.

A decision will be made official Monday, one day before the ESPN2 airing of Troy and Middle Tennessee.

With a win against Troy the Blue Raiders will be 4-1 with another impressive victory to add to their 2009 resume. A prime time game, one where no other football games are available, would ensure Middle Tennessee's first opportunity to show if they are truly worthy of national attention.

Currently, the Blue Raiders poses one of the nation's most potent game breakers in quarterback Dwight Dasher. Dasher is on pace to throw for 3,000 yards and run for another 1,000.

The game Tuesday night will give a national audience their first look at Sun Belt football since the "Murfreesboro Miracle" game, when Middle Tennessee beat Florida Atlantic on a hail marry with no time on the clock.

If the Blue Raiders are able to leave Troy with a victory, expect even more coverage coming to the Sun Belt conference. Currently, only one Blue Raider game is unavailable through media outlets, whether through the ESPN family of networks or on-line such as ESPN360.

Will the Sun Belt have their day in the sun? I'll have my pick for this game tomorrow.

Everybody loves a good homecoming story, the return of the local hero to where it all started.

Tony Franklin has no such story.

The current Offensive Coordinator of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders career can be summed up in one word: tumultuous.

Tony Frankin's college career began at the University of Kentucky in 1997 where he was hired as the running backs coach. Three years later Franklin would be promoted to offensive coordinator transforming Kentucky into the second best passing team in 1-A.

In 2001, Franklin wrote a book, First Down and Life to Go. This look at the insides of Kentucky Wildcat football put Franklin on the fast track to forgotten in all levels of college football. Strike One.

Six years after Franklin was thought to be done with college football forever, Larry Blakeney took a shot on him. Tony Franklin had fallen from SEC to SBC, the Sun Belt Conference.

All Franklin did for Troy was pull their offense from 109th overall to 16th. He also helped Troy win their first bowl game, a victory 41-17 over Rice. Tony Franklin had turned around his image, he was now a hot commodity in major college football.

Franklin returned to major college football as an offensive coordinator for the Auburn Tigers. Having been hired during the Bowl season, Frankiln's offense was rushed onto the field against Virginia Tech.

The Tigers posted 423 yards of offense. The Tony Franklin system looked to have finally returned to the SEC.

It wouldn't last long.

The 2008 season saw Auburn rank 104th in total offense following a 4-2 start. Tony Franklin was immediately fired on October 8th 2008. Strike Two.

With the Tony Franklin experience seemingly dead, another Sun Belt school reached out to the offensive guru. Middle Tennessee had just lost their offensive coordinator G.A. Mangus.

Tony Franklin was a free agent, and the Blue Raiders were looking to create the basketball on grass attitude. Franklin promised that, and he has delivered.

Currently Middle Tennessee State is ranked 19th overall in passing, ranking 39th overall in total offense.

Tony Franklin has not struck out.

Now Franklin returns to Troy to take on his former squad for Sun Belt supremacy. Troy continues to throw the ball, after the tweaking of the Franklin system, averaging nearly 279 yards a game.

Can Tony Franklin and co. come home and get a win for the Blue Raiders and return the Palladium to Middle Tennessee?

We'll see LIVE on ESPN2, Tuesday, October 6th.

A common occurrence among college football fans is the discussion regarding the best conferences in football. Whether you're an SEC guy, Big 12 man, or Pac-10 fan, you, the fan, know who's best.

But what happens if you're a fan of a smaller conference? Say the Sun Belt?

You know you're not close to being the best, but are you truly the worst?

Many people emphatically will choose yes, but perception is not reality.

Perception: I've never heard of these schools, and my favorite teams beat these guys up all the time.

Reality: The conference started playing 1-A, FBS football in 2001. It's impossible to expect to catch up to 100 years of tradition in only 10 years. Furthermore, some of these schools are even less experienced in their FBS history.

Perception: These guys can't beat anyone.

Reality: Some notable wins for the Sun Belt include: Alabama, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kansas State, Central Michigan, Memphis, Rice, Akron, Minnesota, and Texas A&M. So, they've beaten BCS qualifiers and non-BCS teams as well.

Perception: Who comes from the Sun Belt?

Reality: DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyiora, Jake Dellhome, Leodis McKelvin, Kelley Holcomb, Brandon Stokley, Ike Taylor, Charles Tillman, and Mean Joe Green...just to name a few.

So let's look at each Sun Belt Squad and see if this conference has truly proven its perception as the worst around.

Middle Tennessee:

The Blue Raiders were underdogs the first three weeks of the college football season. What did they do? They won two of the three, thrashing Memphis and beating Maryland on the road. Clemson is the only team to beat the Blue Raiders this season. Two impressive wins for the conference already.

Louisiana-Monroe:

The Warhawks, formerly known as the Indians, are 2-2 with loses to Arizona State and Texas. Their wins came against Texas Southern (FCS) and Florida Atlantic, a Sun Belt squad, on the road. A neutral judgement for the Warhawks.

Troy:

Troy has been the banner squad for the Sun Belt. They've beaten ranked squads as well as played tough with teams such as Ohio State and LSU just last season. This year, Troy has defeated UAB and Alcorn State. An opening season loss to Bowling Green was shocking because the Trojans were favored to win the game. Troy's other loss came at Florida.

Troy's decision to play bigger squads have either been feast or famine for the conference.

Louisiana-Lafayette:

The Ragin' Cajuns have beaten Kansas State and Southern University this year. Their two loses have come to LSU and Nebraska, certainly acceptable when considering their opponents.

Florida International:

The Golden Panthers were once the laughing stock of the league, but times have changed. The team is 0-3, but they've played tough with all of their opponents. Losses to Alabama, Rutgers, and Toledo have been close but losses nonetheless.

Western Kentucky:

The worst thing about the Hilltoppers, is that this is their first full season in Division 1-A. WKU has yet to win a game, but they played tough against Navy following a disappointing Central Arkansas (FCS) defeat. It's not going to be as easy as Hilltopper fans had expected to make the leap to major college football.

Arkansas State:

The Red Wolves, formerly Indians as well, have beaten Mississippi Valley State while losing to Troy and Nebraska. Nebraska has feasted on Sun Belt squads, including the Red Wolves.

North Texas:

The Mean Green (Eagles) defeated Ball State as an underdog, and they put Ohio into double overtime before falling as the result of a personal foul call. North Texas has certainly improved from a one-win team from 2008.

Florida Atlantic:

The Owls are currently on a two-game bowl winning streak. They defeated Memphis in 2007's New Orleans Bowl and upset Central Michigan in the 2008 Motor City Bowl. This year's squad has lost to South Carolina, Nebraska, and Louisiana-Monroe. FAU is another team that can increase the conference's reputation with a less demanding schedule.

Overall, the Sun Belt has done more for their reputation than in previous years. The league has two BCS wins as well as an undefeated record against the CUSA. The league has also created secondary bowl tie-ins for the St. Petersburg, Independence, Papajohns.com, and Motor City Bowl.

The Sun Belt conference has moved from body bag game to trap game. It's not where you'd want your conference to stay, but it is does show much improvement in such a young league.

The year was 2005. The Andy McCollum era was on the way out and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders were looking for a new head coach. The team had under-achieved for another season, this time with a 4-7 record.

Two men came to Murfreesboro promising change. Enter Chris Massaro and Rick Stockstill.

Chris Massaro brought Middle Tennessee athletics out of the dark ages. With his leadership the astroturf was finally replaced, along with a new video board, the "blue tube."

Middle Tennessee was looking to be a higher profile football team, and it was time for the impact to show on the field.

Rick Stockstill inherited a team in scholarship hot water. The previous regime had higher-risk athletes, creating a loss of future scholarships for the Blue Raiders. Stockstill took over in 2006, and in his first year MTSU went to its first-ever bowl game as a Division I school.

The Blue Raiders' only sour note in 2006 was their last conference game against Troy. Leading 20-7, the Raiders gave up 14 points in the final 2:19 of the game to lose and eventually receive an at-large bid to the Motor City Bowl.

In 2007 the Blue Raiders played tough against No. 8 Louisville in a 58-42 shootout, and later beat Memphis 21-7 in the Liberty Bowl. They also hosted their first BCS opponent, the Virginia Cavaliers, that year. Virginia won by a last-second field goal, but the Blue Raiders knew that if they could start getting their young players ready, a special season was on the horizon

But with those successes, MTSU still finished a disappointing 5-7.

In 2008 MTSU earned its first non-Vanderbilt BCS win in a 24-14 victory over Maryland. The Blue Raiders were also within one yard of upsetting Kentucky the following week.

MTSU played a memorable game against the Florida Atlantic Owls that season, also, which aired on ESPN. In what has become known as the "Murfreesboro Miracle," quarterback Joe Craddock hit Malcolm Beyah with no time left on the clock to tie the game. Alan Gendreau kicked the PAT for the Blue Raider comeback.

Despite those two noteworthy victories, the Blue Raiders underperformed, finishing 5-7 and missing out on a bowl berth.

This year the Raiders have finally gotten it together. After losing to Clemson, a game that was closer than the score shows, the Raiders beat Memphis and Maryland in back-to-back games. Going in to this weekend's big game against North Texas the Raiders are 2-1.

MTSU is still in its infancy when it comes to major college football. This is only the team's 10th year and already the Raiders have an impressive resume:

• 5-1 against Division I programs in Tennessee
• five BCS wins
• one bowl game appearance

The team has gotten enough publicity around the nation that ESPN has considered picking up its next home game against Mississippi State.

Is MTSU the best team in Tennessee? Maybe not, but it certainly is not the fourth best, as many would assume.

Chris Massaro and Rick Stockstill have given the Blue Raiders the opportunity to win every football game on their schedule.

The creation of the 12-game schedule has allowed teams the ability to get BCS opponents to leave the comfort zone of home games against cupcakes. If you want to play these "lower tier" teams, you'll have to come to their place.

Next year Minnesota will play at Johnny "Red" Floyd stadium, and the Raiders will play on the road against Ball State, Memphis, and Georgia Tech. This schedule will give the Raiders the chance to win three OOC games.

In 2011 the Blue Raiders will return to Knoxville for the first time since 2002. The team will be different two years from now, but it will certainly allow the Blue Raiders a chance to measure up against Tennessee's "best."

There’s nothing like being on location, and this week, Carrying On About College Football comes to you from inside the press box at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky.

And as always, we start our weekend wrapup of everything college football with an in-depth game profile…coming up next, the on-location analysis you’ve been waiting for: it’s Diamond in the Rough!

1.  DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: LOUISVILLE 42, MIDDLE TENNESSEE ST. 23

They say it’s not how you start, but how you finish, that counts.

Good thing for Louisville.

And their quarterback, Hunter Cantwell, for that matter.

Thanks to a pair of Cantwell interceptions in the first nine minutes, the Cardinals spotted Homecoming guest and double-digit underdog Middle Tennessee State a quick 14-0 lead on Saturday afternoon, but then proceeded to score 42 of the next 45 points to squash the Blue Raiders’ upset hopes.

After the early aerial inaccuracies, Coach Steve Kragthorpe ordered a heavy dose of the running game to turn the tide, and his newfound philosophy paid off handsomely. 

Freshman running back Victor Anderson piled up 161 yards, including a momentum-swinging 88-yard touchdown for the Cards’ first points, and Brock Bolen added three rushing touchdowns for Louisville, which won its second straight game to improve to 4-2.

Of course, offensive fireworks are expected when the Raiders and Cardinals hook up; last year’s meeting merely produced a HUNDRED points and a mind-boggling 1284 yards of total offense.

However, new UL defensive coordinator Ron English should be commended; despite falling into an early hole this weekend, his unit really controlled the line of scrimmage most of the afternoon.

After performing admirably against the earlier BCS-conference teams on its schedule (defeating Maryland at home and coming up one yard short of upsetting Kentucky), Middle Tennessee State has to be disappointed with the way the final half played out in Louisville Saturday. 

MTSU took a 17-14 lead into the locker room at intermission, but it was all downhill from there.

Speaking of the Raiders, an old football cliché says that “when you have two quarterbacks, you really don’t have any.” 

Meet Joe Craddock and Dwight Dasher.  Dasher sparked the Raiders off the bench a week ago with his run-first approach, and Middle Tennessee couldn’t resist the temptation to stick him in against the Cardinals. 

Sorry folks, but it’s Boeckman/Pryor all over again.  Do you really think it’s a great idea to simply toss your momentum and rhythm out the window, dump the whole playbook, and put Mr. Spread Option Runner in?  

Editor’s note: This is not a rhetorical question.  The answer is no.  End editor’s note.

In addition to helping the Raiders jump out to an early lead, Craddock also has experience shredding the Louisville defense. He threw for almost 300 yards against the Cardinals a year ago, but that must not have been enough for MTSU coach Rick Stockstill. 

Pulling him on and off the field Saturday was stupid…and the Blue Raiders suffered; in fact they didn’t score a point with Dasher at the helm.

After the game, I asked Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe if he was surprised at how much playing time Dasher got, and if his team prepared differently for the two MTSU signalcallers.

His reply: “We weren’t [surprised], they had done it quite a bit last week.  They both do an excellent job of running with the football; we knew they were going to play both guys in the game, and both could not only throw it, but run it.  

Kragthorpe also told me that one of the keys to his team’s success was that they “did a much better job in the second half of containing the quarterback on the run”. 

Agreed, Coach…I’d say pretty much everything was better for Louisville in the second half.

Here’s my random thoughts on this week’s “Diamond in the Rough”:

-Middle Tennessee State works faster on offense than any team I have ever seen.  As I wrote in my notes, “these guys flat out don’t believe in huddling.”  It’s like watching a hurry-up offense while holding the fast forward button.

-I think I could write a whole section about special teams…starting with the fact that Cardinal kicker Ryan Payne attempts extra points and field goals barefooted.

Barefooted?  Ouch!  That’s some serious “payne” right there.

-While we’re on the kicking game, Middle Tennessee State’s punter, David DeFatta, has to win the “Flattest Kicks in America” award.  If there is such a thing. 

If there isn’t, I recommend we inaugurate one.  DeFatta punted seven times and probably only got one of them more than five feet off the ground. 

In a funny way, though, it almost serves as an advantage, because the punt returner is used to the ball coming…oh, I don’t know…DOWN to him.  However, as the afternoon went on, I was just waiting for one of these ugly-duckling kicks to get blocked…and sure enough…

-Johnny Patrick scored a fourth-quarter touchdown for Louisville when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.  Quickly becoming a special teams standout, Patrick also blocked a field goal last week for the Cardinals in a victory over Memphis.

-I confess to being interested and amused by people's names.  For example, Louisville fullback Joe Tronzo.  Doesn't Tronzo just sound like a fullback name?  Or how about MTSU QB Dwight Dasher?  "Dasher" strikes me as a perfect name for a running quarterback...

...or a reindeer, I guess.  I must admit I kept looking for Comet and Blitzen... 

-At one point in the first quarter, Louisville QB Hunter Cantwell had completed all four of his passes; two to Cardinals, and two to Blue Raiders.  His official stat line at that point: 2-4, 9 yards, 2 INTs.  Not good. 

-The view from the press box is definitely unique.  It’s almost surreal to watch the game through the glass windows, because you can hear so little.  Kinda like watching a full-wall television on mute.  Outside of a Cardinal touchdown or occasional huge hit, I heard nothing of the almost 40,000 fans that were cheering wildly below.

-While we’re talking about the view, looking over the top of the stadium and seeing all the Six Flags roller coasters in the background is pretty neat.  What can I say?  I like being random!

-I loved that Kragthorpe referred to tailback Brock Bolen in the press conference as “deceptively slow.”  Bolen appears to be the master of the one-yard touchdown…at one point, he had 11 carries for only 13 yards, but that included three touchdowns!

-Ivon Hickmon played well for MTSU’s defense in a losing cause.  In addition to some highlight-reel hits, Hickmon had an early interception to set up the Raiders’ second touchdown.

-After Hickmon’s pick, the Raiders only needed one play to stretch their first-quarter lead to 14-0.  They ran a wide receiver pass, swinging the ball backwards to Patrick Honeycutt.  Great execution, too. 

When Honeycutt caught the ball, he did a fabulous job of starting to move and juke like he wanted to run, buying time for Phillip Tanner to get open downfield on the other side. 

When Honeycutt was finally ready to throw across the field, Tanner was more than open.  He could have run for at least 200 yards before a defender got near him.

That’s it from Louisville…do you want your team’s upcoming game profiled?  Is your favorite school’s big game flying beneath the media radar?  I can be convinced...e-mail footballcolumn@yahoo.com if you want to see your team featured in “Diamond in the Rough”.

2.  MAYBE BROADCASTING IS EASIER THAN I THOUGHT

Here are this week’s wacky and weird announcer quotes:

Referring to 2-4 Purdue’s bowl chances:

“They need to win three of their next four to be bowl-eligible.”  Pam Ward

Which would make them…5-5 with two games to play.  C’mon Pam…do the math.

“Hatch is back in at quarterback.  So is Trindon Holliday.”  Mike Patrick

I guess LSU isn’t one of those boring teams that only plays one quarterback at a time.

Don’t forget to watch games with your notepad handy!  If you hear an announcer quote worthy of “Maybe Broadcasting Is Easier Than I Thought”, send it to footballcolumn@yahoo.com: you could make it into next week’s column!

3.  THAT CAN’T BE RIGHT

The ridiculous stat lines and improbable scores that make you think the sports ticker has malfunctioned...

Tulsa 28, UTEP 28…with almost three minutes left in the first quarter.  (The final was 77-35.)

Boise State’s Brandon Thompson had 3 INTs against Hawaii Friday.

And a reader submission from Joe…

What’s going on with all the passing offense?

The game between Central Michigan and Western Michigan featured 819 total passing yards, and 1,044 yards of total offense.  That was eclipsed by the 1,165 total yards put up by Oklahoma and Kansas, which includes 825 passing yards. 

Then of course, you have the matchup between Southern Miss and Rice, which featured two 400-yard passers, resulting in 905 passing yards and 1,159 total yards.

One more…

How do you spell schizophrenic?  M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D

I mean, really…can anybody explain the Maryland Terrapins to me?  Anyone?  Scott Van Pelt?  Anyone? 

The Dr. Hyde version of the Terps barely beat Delaware, lost to Middle Tennessee State, and got shut out by a struggling Virginia team. 

The Jekyllites from Maryland have wins over ranked foes California, Clemson, and most lately, a baffling 26-0 whitewashing of Wake Forest. 

In other words, if I ever think I have college football figured out…please do me a favor and remind me that it’s impossible.

4.  THANK GOODNESS FOR MY DVR

Here’s what was worth rewinding for this week:

This may not make anybody else’s highlight list, but I thought the NC State fans were worth rewinding for on Thursday night.  During the game against Florida State, they held up cards on one whole side of the stadium to create a Wolfpack logo, then turned the cards over and made a different logo.

That’s some great coordination and crowd participation, At Purdue, we can’t even get fans to wear the right color most of the time, let alone hold up cards on cue!

Corny, I know…but I thought it was pretty cool.

We also have a reader submission: it's Brian Hartline's 56-yard reception for Ohio State while being sandwiched between two defenders.

He makes the catch in traffic, takes a pretty good hit, but somehow manages to stay upright and bring the ball all the way to the one.

While we’re talking about the Buckeyes, Terrelle Pryor should probably have his own separate category.  The man has serious moves when he’s running the football..I think he might have a Playstation juke button hardwired to his uniform. 

Here's a late addition...I usually don't add anything to the column after I publish it, but a reader from Oregon sent this link, and I literally laughed out loud:  someone tell the referee he's not supposed to make tackles.

5.  SINCE I DO LIVE IN OHIO... (news from around the Big Ten)

A few weeks ago, I was boldly explaining why Wisconsin was the best team in the Big Ten.

And now, they’re 0-4 in the league, thus proving a point that you should know by now: don’t pay any attention to what I say!

The Badgers dropped a 38-16 decision in Iowa City on Saturday to remain winless in the conference…oh, how the mighty have fallen. 

Give credit to Ferentz and company for a big win, and special kudos to Shonn Greene, who racked up an eye-popping 217 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Also in Big Ten news, former Ohio State defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio met up with his mentor and former boss, Jim Tressel in East Lansing this weekend…and we all know what happens when teacher meets pupil.   

Final tally: Buckeyes 45, Spartans 7.  Score one for the mentor.

 

6.  MAYBE COACHING IS EASIER THAN I THOUGHT

For this week’s coaching error example, we return to Louisville and discuss strategy with Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill. 

Here’s the situation: the Blue Raiders are down 42-17 in the final minute of the game, playing against Louisville reserves, and score a touchdown.  So tell me…why on earth do you go for two when you’re down 42-23?  Give me one good reason!

The game is basically over…it’s the final minute.  Even if you are in the “well, we could still get an onside kick and score and get another onside kick and score again” camp, getting the two points here doesn’t change anything. 

You’re down 19…kicking puts you down 18…going for two could put you down 17…and you need to be within 16 to cut the lead to two possessions.

Most teams don’t have a lot of two-point conversion plays anyway…what, you want to show one of them off in a game that’s out of reach?

Maybe coaching is easier than I thought.

7.  EVEN THOUGH SEVENTEEN IS A RANDOM NUMBER

Here’s the Top 17 ballot I submitted earlier today:

1.  Texas           (I did NOT expect them to be up 35-3 at halftime.  No way.)

2.  Alabama        (Texas was much more impressive, so I drop the Tide to No. 2)

3.  Penn St.        (Took the Lions a while to warm up, but they disposed of U-M eventually)

4.  Texas Tech    (Check out the next four weeks: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma)

5.  Oklahoma       (Congrats to Sam Bradford for a team-record 468 passing yards)

6.  Florida           (Must be nice to have an extra week to enjoy demolishing LSU)

7.  Oklahoma St.  (Ready or not, it’s Texas next.  Is this league tough or what?)

8.  USC              (Trojans had three 100-yard rushers in 69-0 laugher)

9.  Utah             (Utes are thrilled to be 8-0, but TCU & BYU still await)

10. Ohio St.        (Buckeyes’ backfield improving by the week, statement win on the road)

11. Boise St.       (Is it just me, or does watching the Smurf Turf mess with your eyes?)

12. Georgia         (Solid win over ranked Vanderbilt team; now it’ s on to Death Valley

13. LSU              (Defense came to play after horrible showing in Gainesville a week ago)

14. Ball St.          (7-0 Cardinals enjoyed a well-deserved week off)

15. Tulsa            (77 points?  Tulsa hoops team scored less than that 20 times last year!)

16. South Florida  (Matt Grothe and Bulls back in Top 17 after sixth win of the season)

17. TCU              (Who expected the Horned Frogs to beat BYU by 25?  Yeah, right.)

Remember, you can have an impact on the Top 17, but you have to take the time to write!  Send an e-mail to footballcolumn@yahoo.com and make the case for your favorite team!

8.  COMING ATTRACTIONS

I don’t know why anyone would need a reason to be excited about the upcoming college football weekend.  But if you do, here’s three:

a. “Worth buying a ticket for”:  a matchup that deserves the hype.  I’m sticking with my hometown conference for the Big Ten showdown between Penn State and OSU in Columbus.  The Buckeyes and Lions are the only two undefeated teams left in the conference, and the winner is in the driver’s seat for a BCS berth the rest of the way.

b. “Heat check”:  this team’s playing great, but faces a serious test.  Alabama heads into Knoxville trying to keep its dream unbeaten season alive.  While the Vols may not instill quite as much fear as they would in previous seasons, this road test will tell us more about the Crimson Tide, who have played to (well, just above) the level of their competition so far this fall.

c. “Diamond in the rough”: an in-depth profile of a game that deserves a closer look.  “Carrying On” will be on location for the second straight weekend: this Saturday’s Big Ten clash in West Lafayette, Indiana pits a surprising Minnesota team against a disappointing Purdue squad.  The Gophers look to extend their record to 7-1, while Purdue tries to put the brakes on a nasty skid and get their offense untracked.  Check back next weekend for another edition of “Carrying On About College Football” direct from the press box; I’m excited to take all of you readers and friends inside Big Ten Country.

 

9.  OVERTIME

This week’s mailbag question comes from Joe: “Will any team make it through the season undefeated?  If so, will they play for the BCS title?”

This is an interesting one; I’m going to go out on a limb and say none of the BCS-conference undefeateds (Penn State, Alabama, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State) will survive the season unscathed. 

I think there’s a good chance at least one of the mid-majors could (Tulsa, Ball State, Utah, Boise State), but Utah is the only one of those that might have a realistic chance at the BCS title game.

The first set of BCS rankings came out tonight, and none of the mid-majors cracked the top ten, which means there’s at least five one-loss teams that the computer thinks have a better shot at the title game.  We’ll see how it plays out…each week seems to get crazier in college football!

Thanks for “carrying on” with me, See you next week!

Tim Cary (yes, Cary…as in “Carrying on”) is a resident of Springfield, Ohio and a die-hard college football fan (especially when it comes to the Purdue Boilermakers).   To submit thoughts, ideas, questions, arguments, or anything else for “Carrying On About College Football”, e-mail: footballcolumn@yahoo.com.  Send in your ideas throughout the week...and check out the latest installment of COACF each Sunday night on BleacherReport.com.

As summer is drawing to a close, college football is right around the corner. You know what that means: predictions.

Every college football fan in America will don the Lee Corso mask and go around spouting off, myself included. But what is the majority opinion on the fate of the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders?

Ask any member of Blue Raider nation and they will tell you that this year isn't going to be the best. This year, the team is a growing group of players. Just look at the roster. Out of the entire team, only ten players are graduating. The team lacks age, but don't give up yet. There are still PLENTY of strong players on this team.

Take Joe Craddock. He slipped up last year, partly due to injuries, and gave up some time to Dwight Dasher. This senior is back and looking to get that starting spot. It's his spot to take, and he just needs to grab it.

He played great in the Blue and White game, throwing three touchdowns and running for one more. Among all that, he has motivation. He will lose his job if he starts to slip. Dwight Dasher is right behind him and ready to take snaps.

That gives Craddock the fight to play the best he can play because his job depends on it. For now though, he's the conductor of this orchestra.

That's just one of the many players that are very talented and make up the team. There's the stunning playmaker, Desmond Gee, who is on the preseason All-Sun Belt team. Also making an appearance on the preseason All-Sun Belt team is DB Alex Suber.

Suber is very physical, very smart, and extremely reliable when covering guys. Patrick Honeycutt is the standout receiver on the team, Lonnie Clemons is the leader of the LB corps, David Defatta will lead the special teams group, and there are countless other young guys ready to take to the field.

This team is very talented and is led by a good coach, but they lack in that all-important experience. That may become Achilles' heel for the team, but we won't know anything for sure until they take to the field against Troy on Aug. 28.