The Rest of College Football

[Paul L]

From ESPN:
"We're laying in the weeds," Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio says with a half smile. "We've beat Michigan the last four years. So where's the threat?"

Keep talking ass clown, keep talking.

[Hannibal]

Winter is coming, Sparty.

[drok]

The cold winds are rising

[Rob F]

I also heard they offered her a free first class airline ticket to anywhere in the US. She declined, stating she'd rather ride coach.

applause

Between that quote and the video that followed, I had tears from laughing so hard. Keep up the good work, Ent!

As for Dantonio, he's so full of himself and so full of s*** ---wait, that's one -and-the-same, isn't it!

[Tony G]

Michigan could drop from top 25 early

April, 19, 2012Apr 19
9:02
AM ET

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Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesDenard Robinson and Michigan might not fare as well against Notre Dame this time around.
College football teams will not be made in September, but some could certainly be broken by the looks of their September schedules.
Take the Michigan Wolverines, for example. No one within the shadow of Michigan Theater would want to think about or consider it, even with a veteran team, but going 2-2 in the first month is well within the realm of possibilities for the Wolverines.
They aren't the only team with high preseason expectations that could stumble early, either. And we can identify the top candidates to slip out of the top 25 coming out of the gate just by looking at the schedules.
In Michigan's case, it's borderline criminal to follow up a riveting BCS victory in the Sugar Bowl with the defending national champions in a neutral-site game. But it could be worse, in a sense. With so many new starters on defense and at skill positions on offense, the Alabama Crimson Tide are probably more vulnerable in Week 1 than they will be by, oh, November, when Nick Saban's team has an even firmer grasp of its identity. Plus, even if the Wolverines drop that one, there's still plenty of time to get back into the national title discussion -- and, of course, it has no bearing on the Big Ten goings on.
But win or lose, Michigan will be licking physical wounds after that tussle in Jerry World. Then it immediately has to prepare for Air Force's frustrating and tough-to-stop option offense. Troy Calhoun is likely pleased to follow the Tide, even if the game is in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines get a respite with UMass before going on the road Sept. 22 to play a Notre Dame Fighting Irish team looking for revenge from last year's classic matchup, in a game that could establish the tone for both teams' seasons.
Here are a few top-25 teams (or close to it) that will have early challenges and run the risk of falling out of the rankings within the season's first few weeks.

Kansas State Wildcats

Tough early matchups: Week 2 versus Miami, Week 4 at OklahomaSome think K-State is a potential Big 12 dark horse. We'll know early on, after a Sept. 22 trip to Norman in the teams' conference opener. As a reminder, the Sooners had won 39 consecutive games at Owen Field until Texas Tech knocked them off a year ago. As another reminder, the Sooners won by 41 last season in Manhattan.
The Wildcats also welcome Miami for the return end of a home-and-home. They were fortunate to escape with a victory this past season in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/LandShark/Sun Life Stadium.
Despite the surprising 10-win regular season in 2011, the one thing that seemed to trip up K-State was speed: If the other teams had it, the Wildcats were in trouble (see losses to OU, Oklahoma State and Arkansas).
Still, Bill Snyder proved last year that there are plenty of ways -- unconventional ways -- to win games. With grind-for-every-yard quarterback Collin Klein, all 6-foot-5 and 226 pounds of him, K-State just might survive and advance in September (and if the Wildcats do, a more manageable schedule in October and November awaits).
Michigan State Spartans

Tough early matchups: Week 1 versus Boise State, Week 3 versus Notre Dame, Week 5 versus Ohio StateThese are three challenging games, without question, but all three come with an inherent bright side: They're all in East Lansing. That's a positive, considering the program's winningest quarterback, Kirk Cousins, will be on an NFL roster by the end of the month. Some training wheels will be applied for Andrew Maxwell, in the form of a lot of green around him in the stands (Maxwell could miss the rest of spring practice with a sprained knee).
The Spartans sort of lucked out, too, in that Boise is likely to take a step back, or at least start slowly, after losing a slew of impact players to graduation, including four-year starting QB Kellen Moore. That would have been a giant land mine in recent seasons.
Later, the Irish come to Michigan State on the heels of a trip to Ireland to play Navy and their home opener against Purdue. Perhaps Notre Dame will be fatigued by the time it sees the Spartans. How many college football seasons begin abroad, after all?
Urban Meyer has talked at length this spring about finding playmakers. Is Sept. 15 enough time to identify the burners? Maybe to some degree? You know the Buckeyes, without a postseason, would love to be Big Ten spoilers along the way.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Tough early matchups: Week 1 versus Southern Miss, Week 2 at UCLA, Week 3 versus Arkansas State, Week 5 versus WisconsinThis start for the Huskers might not immediately strike fear on the basis of name-brand opponents, but there is an alarming common denominator for NU: All three teams have new coaches. That means it's not as if you can throw on the video from last season and expect to know what to get from the Eagles, Bruins and … Red Wolves. (It is Red Wolves, isn't it?)
It's tough to know what to make of Southern Miss, with the "Space Cowboys" staff of head coach Ellis Johnson, offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle and defensive coordinator Tommy West. But it's a place with a proven track record of winning and, at the very least, competing.
Jim Mora Jr. has generated a buzz in Brentwood, where the Bruins quietly backed into the initial Pac-12 title game last season (even if USC would have been the choice, if eligible).
After those mysteries, then Gus Malzahn brings Arkansas State to the sea of red. Did you know the Wolves went 10-3 a year ago, including an 8-0 season in the Sun Belt? Probably not. Add Malzahn and his in-constant-motion offense, and you add intrigue.
It would be surprising to see Nebraska slip up, but it's not inconceivable. And of course, awaiting the Huskers in their Big Ten opener is last year's champ, Wisconsin.

Washington Huskies

Tough early matchups: Week 1 versus San Diego State, Week 2 at LSU, Week 5 versus StanfordThe Huskies are likely a fringe preseason top-25 team, at best, but they deserve a mention simply because of how brutal their 2012 slate is. San Diego State is a better first-week opponent than most might glean. The Aztecs hung around in games last season against Michigan and TCU before falling. SDSU won eight regular-season games, including against Washington State and Air Force.
The Sept. 8 challenge is all but self-explanatory. A trip to Death Valley is never pleasant, especially if the game winds up being a night kick. (They most often are.)
Granted, Andrew Luck is gone, but Stanford still returns enough talent to cause fits (and last year's matchup between the two teams wasn't even close). Even if the offense will be working to fill holes, Luck most notably, the defense returns eight starters. That includes linebacker Shayne Skov, who missed the majority of last season with a knee injury.
The Huskies' rough stretch doesn't end in September; Pac-12 favorites Oregon and USC kick off the season's second month.
Here are some other notable treacherous Septembers -- all in the SEC, and one involving a potential top-10 team:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Tough early matchups: Week 3 versus Alabama, Week 4 versus Rutgers, Week 5 at Texas A&MQuick take: Sure would be nice to have a proven head coach for that three-week run, wouldn't it? The turmoil in the Razorbacks' program could make pollsters more inclined to jump off Arkansas' bandwagon early, if it loses one or more of these contests.

Auburn Tigers

Tough early matchups: Week 1 versus Clemson (Georgia Dome), Week 2 at Mississippi State, Week 4 versus LSUQuick take: Hope the Tigers' new coordinators are ready to be thrown into the blaze. Auburn was outscored by this trio of opponents 117-75 last season.

Missouri Tigers

Tough early matchups: Week 2 versus Georgia, Week 3 versus Arizona State, Week 4 at South CarolinaQuick take: Welcome to the SEC, Mizzou. This might be the toughest three-game stretch the Tigers face all season.

Texas A&M Aggies

Tough early matchups: Week 1 at Louisiana Tech, Week 2 versus Florida, Week 3 at SMU, Week 5 versus ArkansasQuick take: Welcome to the SEC, Ags. At least the scheduling folks were kind enough to give A&M its first two conference games at home.

[WM Wolverine]

A loss to Bama early doesn't hurt M much if at all, its expected... A loss to ND however would be pretty devastating. I don't see it happening but this rivalry has more than its share of twists and turns.

[Hannibal]

I think that a blowout loss to 'Bama would hurt. I expect Michigan to be good enough to make it a tight game. I'll be disappointed if they aren't competitive in that one. I think that the Big Ten champion this year would be.

[Jeff Buchanan]

We really don't know squat, at this point , about either team and I know a lot less about Bama than I do about M following spring practice.

This has been mentioned but worth mentioning again. If the OL does not gel by September 1st and start seeing the kinds of things that have been pointed out elsewhere (in the mgoblog diary I mentioned in another thread) that they didn't see and performing at a level that Denard needs them to perform to run Borges' offense, the Tide D is going to stonewall M's offense.

Alabama's front 4 are NFL caliber players in the making. The biggest concern for this defensive line was the loss of Josh Chapman at nose guard, but Saban just shuffled some of his 4 and 5 star defenders around and the word is that the loss won't matter much. Senior Damion Square is back as a starter at defensive end. There are new players at different spots than they played at last season. M fans know how hard it is to overcome that sort of thing. Fingers crossed that they don't get it by game 1.

I remember opening games under Bo in that day. The games were ALWAYS defensive battles .... ending up 10-7 and 14 10. Sure, offenses were different back then but the defenses were usually WAY better than the offenses. I expect we're going to see that at Jerry World. I'd give Mattison and Hoke- with Denard capable of a game breaker any time he touches the ball, the edge in that kind of game.

[iam416]

Blowout.

[lineygoblue]

And it really doesn't matter, unless we get our hopes set on making the MNC game. I'm not even thinking of that.

If Michigan goes 2-2 in September, it still keeps them in line for a CCG berth, and a trip to the Rose Bowl. While a trip to the MNC game would be awesome, I'm going to be satisfied to see us involved in a season where we are playing for a Rose Bowl berth.

Sugar Bowl berth/win in 2012, then a Rose Bowl berth in 2013. That would be a great start to the Brady Hoke era.

[WM Wolverine]

Not very worried about the OL, its loaded with upperclassman who've been here 4-5 years. Bama d-line will test them as much as anyone; o-line might not be a strength but I wouldn't worry about it being embarrassed... Bama is loaded in talent on defense but it'll be largely untested with so many first year starters. M's offense has an opportunity to give Bama's defense some of its first mistakes to learn from being its many are in their first starting experience...

Bama will be improved offensively (they were very good last season), even without Richardson. They are terrific on the o-line, have talented receivers, a ton of strong 4-star, five star running backs and will only need a QB who can not make mistakes to move the ball... M is weak in the middle of the d-line with losses to Martin, VanBergen & Brink. M's front seven/eight will need to keep Bama from running right over them. They'll need to force Bama into 2nd, 3rd and longs to force Bama to convert through the air...

In the end, I expect Bama to have its way on the ground against an inexperienced, undersized and not overly talented M d-line. To keep it close or win, M will need to keep Bama out of the end zone in red-zone situations and they'll need Denard and the rest of M's offense to be electric.

[Tony G]

Report: Alabama player in hospital


Updated: April 19, 2012, 4:46 PM ET
Associated Press

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An Alabama football player was hospitalized after an early morning fight where shots were fired, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
Receiver DeAndrew White is being held Thursday at DCH Regional Medical Center, the person told AP on condition of anonymity because neither Alabama nor the police has identified the individual.
Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit commander Loyd Baker said police responded to reports of a fight and shots fired at 2:10 a.m. local time.
He declined to identify the 20-year-old man involved in the fight or provide any details of his injuries.
Baker said a 31-year-old man was found unconscious with severe head injuries on the sidewalk about a block from where the fight occurred.
"We're not 100 percent sure there's any relation," Baker said.
Baker said two 22-year-olds -- Ryan Javaris Hamilton and Quamayne Rakesh Tolbert -- are charged with reckless endangerment for firing handguns in the air.
"They say to disperse the crowd," Baker said, adding they weren't involved in the fight.
White, a sophomore, caught 14 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns last season.

[entropy]

Poor guy. His son is the walkon long snapper whose girlfriend got killed in the tornado last year.....

**********

There but for the grace of God go I. And you. And everyone but Carleton Tinker.

Yes, this is breaking news. Tinker is the Alabama Crimson Tide football parent, that guy, the one. He is the unfortunate soul who on Saturday last touched the crystal football the Crimson Tide won for the 2011 BCS Championship before the trophy fell off its pedestal and shattered.

And all there is to say is that if one parent had to shoulder the burden of embarrassment that comes with destroying the most coveted bauble in college sports, Nick Saban did another good recruiting job.

Five days later, Tinker, who lives in Tennessee, can laugh about it. And once you get past the wave of nausea that hits all of us as we consider standing in his shoes, it is pretty funny.

"I'm not really sure how the thing fell off," he said.

Carleton and his son, Carson, the Tide's senior long-snapper, stood along with several other people in the second-floor lobby of the Mal Moore Athletic Facility on Saturday admiring the new trophy, the eight-pound Waterford crystal football valued upwards of $30,000. Alabama played its A-Day Game on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, a half-mile or so down Paul W. Bryant Drive.

Carleton Tinker watched several Alabama recruits pick up the trophy to see what it felt like. How could you not? How many people have that opportunity? When the American Football Coaches Association, which awards the trophy, sends it on tour during the season, the trophy has two minders: They allow fans to ogle it, and to have their picture taken with it. But touching, is not allowed.

"I didn't walk away with it," Tinker said. "I set it back down on the stand and turned to walk away, and had my back away from the trophy when I heard it tumble. So I looked back at it."

What happened next is a script for one of those old "Wanna get away?" ads that Southwest Airlines ran.

[+] EnlargeBCS Trophy
Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesAlabama's $30,000 crystal BCS trophy shattered into little pieces on Saturday when Carleton Tinker, parent of Tide long-snapper Carson Tinker, tripped on a rug and knocked over the display table.

"In my mind, it was slow motion," Tinker said, "as it rolled off the top of the trophy case onto the table onto the floor. I'm not sure if I bumped the table when I turned around, or if my foot caught on the large tablecloth they had draped and puddled on the floor. That's exactly what happened."

Tinker can say that because he has seen it happen over and over again.

"At night, as I went to sleep, every time I closed my eyes," Tinker said. "I kept seeing it roll off and hit the floor. That marble floor in the trophy room - it wasn't going to be a soft landing. It shattered. It spread out all over the place."

The recruits and other parents in the room scattered. Assistant coach Mike Groh went for help, if not a broom. Tinker, having turned away and turned back, kept saying, "I think I broke the trophy."

You can imagine how he felt.

"It's that whole sinking feeling in your stomach, then your heart up in your chest," Tinker said. "& As that thing's rolling off the top, and it only took a second, all of those thoughts go through your mind. 'Why couldn't it have been the person before me? Or the person after me?' But things happen."

“

It's that whole sinking feeling in your stomach, then your heart up in your chest. As that thing's rolling off the top, and it only took a second, all of those thoughts go through your mind. 'Why couldn't it have been the person before me? Or the person after me?' But things happen.
” -- Carleton Tinker

You don't have to tell the Tinker family that things happen. A year ago next week, a massive tornado engulfed Tuscaloosa and took the lives of 53 people, including Carson Tinker's girlfriend, Ashley Harrison.

Carson and Ashley had been huddled in a closet in his house when the storm picked them up and flung them into a nearby field. The physical injuries that Carson suffered - a concussion, a deep gash on his right ankle, a detached ligament in his right wrist - paled before the loss of the woman he expected to marry.

Carson Tinker bounced back, his faith in God stronger than ever. And in the course of a year when his son suffered a low so deep and reveled in the high of winning the BCS Championship, Carleton Tinker found it easy to gain the proper perspective.

"One of the things that we said," Carleton Tinker said referring to life after the tornado, "is that we were really going to take everything in and enjoy all of it, the good and the bad. That's what you do. Take it and go with it, because in the grand scheme of things, even Coach Saban said that, it's a glass trophy and you can replace it."

Saban spoke with Carson Tinker on Monday.

"(Saban) said, 'Look, he didn't mean to do it. Nobody was hurt. We'll get another one,' " Carleton Tinker said. "That kind of makes you feel better."

Carleton Tinker is worried that fans will blame his son. Carson Tinker is worried that fans will ostracize his father. Perhaps Alabama fans, who have been known to misapply their passion, will stop and think.

In the meantime, the new trophy already has been ordered.

"I told them, 'If you want to put me on the payroll," Tinker said, "I can come down and work weekends. We'll work something out.' " The athletic department declined his offer.

[Tony G]

Ex-MSU coach John L. Smith replaces Petrino for one season, AP source says

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1stbjr6un

[Hannibal]

LMAO. Poor Arkansas fans.