Post-Super Bowl PPM

I just realized that I did not do a PPM for the Super Bowl.
In and all honesty, I would have picked New England by 10-14, so for posterity-Here is the final PPM record for 2017-
137-71.

The PPM is a lighthearted part of following football and I've always enjoyed it without taking a ton of time to try to do well!

Hope you enjoyed following this year's PPM and this year's unofficial host-Amy Acker.
I'm considering a mild change to the PPM for next season so we will see how that goes...

PPM

The PPM hits the Conference Championships.

Last Week: 1-3
Overall: 136- 69

AFC: Patriots 27 Jaguars 19

NFC: Vikings 23 Eagles 13

PPM

The PPM returns with the college national title game and the beginning of the NFL playoffs

Last Week:5-4
Overall: 133-63

College
Georgia over Alabama 24-20

NFL
Chiefs over Titans 21-16
Jaguars over Bills 17-10
Rams over Falcons 30-23
Saints over Panthers 28-21

Victory slips through Browns hands in Pittsburgh.0-16 arrives

Photo Credit:Joshua Gunter Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Browns looked to have a chance to avoid the scar of 0-16 as the Browns reached the Pittsburgh Steelers 27 yard line for a 4th and two with under two minutes to play.
DeShone Kizer made a great play avoiding the Steeler rush and had an opening that he may have been able to run for the first down through, but quarterbacks aren't paid to run, they are paid to throw and Kizer did just that to Corey Coleman, who was wide open and the ball was thrown right to him.
Or should I say-right through him as in right through his hands ending the hopes of the Browns and sending Cleveland to 0-16 with a 28-24 loss to the Steelers.
DeShone Kizer threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns, one of those to Josh Gordon, who finished with over 100 receiving yards on the day.
No word on who the Browns will open with in September,but they are on the clock for the draft in April...

Brownie Bits

1) Corey Coleman was reported to be distraught in the locker room as he sat by his locker in uniform for 40 minutes with his head in his hands and it was "good" I guess to see that he cared that much.
Still, you have to catch that ball and if you want the most damning indictment of Sashi Brown and his stat-driven drafting style, look at what Michael Thomas ( one of those Buckeyes that the Browns are so averse to drafting) has done in two years in New Orleans compared to Coleman after being drafted a round after him...

2) DeShone Kizer played pretty well, I thought with the exception of the one bad pass in the fourth quarter that was his only interception of the day.
It's funny for the rookie from Notre Dame that his first game against the Steelers and his last game against the Steelers were among his better games in the debut season.
It was the games in between that were much of the problem.

3) The Browns also hopefully saw another highlight of some future stardom as Myles Garrett shed a block, stripped Landry Jones of the football and allowed Caleb Brantley to pluck the ball from mid-air.
Garrett finished the season with seven sacks and never seemed to be truly playing at full tilt.
Next year, Myles Garrett is going to show this league exactly what he is really all about.

4) Jabrill Peppers made his first interception as a pro in the first half.
I've been less than impressed with Peppers this season, although as a safety, that may be more due to Gregg Williams playing him out of position than his talents (at least I hope anyway or he is going to be a real bust), but Peppers has been a real disappointment returning punts.
For a player drafted with "Electric ball skills", Peppers spent more time calling for fair catches than trying to break big plays.

5) Looks like the Steelers have another good one in Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster, who returned a kickoff for a score and caught nine passes for 143 yards and another touchdown.
Why don't the Browns find these guys and the Steelers find the Smith-Schuster's (round two) and the Antonio Brown (Late Rounder) types?
Because the Steelers look for tough guys that can make the tough catches and play with a chip on their shoulder and the Browns like these diva types.
Until the Browns start getting some guys into town that don't mind getting dirty and playing dirty when they have to, things won't change.
John Dorsey has to see this.

6) It was nice to see Rashard Higgins grab his first two pro touchdown passes in the game, one of them a 56 yard score.
Higgins has always been the receiver out of the 2016 draft class that I have thought could be of value even if it's just as a third receiver over time given a chance.
I've always liked Higgins (and not just because he's the only Brown that follows me on Twitter) and I think as the Browns add talent at receiver, Higgins could be more productive in a role as third or fourth receiver.

7)  I'll be writing later in the week with a season in review and I have a podcast in the works with Scott Dryden on the season, but the big story is the unbelievable return of Hue Jackson.
Going 1-31 in two years and 0-16 this season and coming back in just beyond stupid and will set this team back.
John Dorsey deserves the chance to hire his coach and this is how I see this playing out-anything short of a 3-3 first six games, will see Hue Jackson either fired or resigned and the 2018 season wasted.
Jimmy Haslam continues to set this franchise back time and time again.

8) I admit two years that I thought Hue Jackson was a good hire and I will also say that if I had to choose which to keep between Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson, I would have chosen Hue Jackson.
All of that on the table- any normal franchise would remove Hue Jackson and I believe that it still could happen despite Jimmy Haslam's press conference after the game in Pittsburgh to the contrary.
I don't think it's likely that Jackson would go, but the Browns are even more of a laughing stock than normal anyway and keeping Jackson is a HUGE smack in the face to a fan base that needs to be massaged more than slapped.
There is a slim chance that with enough uproar Haslam's mind could be changed.

9) As far as this stupid parade goes, I'd like to see the whole thing canceled.
It started as an idea to give money to the Cleveland food bank, let's just give them the money and not draw any more attention to this disaster than there has to be.
It makes Browns fans look bad and makes light of a bad situation.

10) The Browns will have four of the first 35 picks in the draft as they hold the Texans first and second picks.
The injury to DeShaun Watson sent the Houston season down the drain and for once the Browns caught a break.
The Browns will have the first and fourth picks in round one and the first (33rd ) and third (35th) picks in the second round.
Cleveland also has the Eagles second-round pick, but that slot will not be determined until the Eagles lose in their playoff season...

PPM

The Final PPM of 2017 (although not of the 2017 season) features the final week of the NFL season with playoff implications, the college semi-finals and the finale for the 0-15 Browns.

Last Week; 7-2
Overall: 128-59

College:

Outback Bowl
Central Florida 31 Auburn 28

Rose Bowl
Georgia 30 Oklahoma 27

Sugar Bowl
Clemson 28 Alabama 20

NFL
Browns 33 Steelers 30
Saints 29 Buccaneers 17

Games of the Week
Jaguars 20 Titans 14
Falcons 28 Panthers 24
Bills 20 Dolphins 17
Chargers 24 Raiders 23

Buckeyes Do Dallas-Cotton Bowl Victory over USC

Damon Webb grabbed a Sam Darnold pass and returned it for a touchdown along with recovering a fumble that set up another first quarter score to lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to a 24-7 victory over the USC Trojans in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
All the points in the game were scored in the first half with J.T. Barrett rushing for the other two Buckeye touchdowns.
Ohio State finishes the season with a record of 12-2 with a Big Ten championship and a Cotton Bowl victory,
The Buckeyes return to action on September 1st in Columbus against Oregon State...

Olentangy Offerings

1) It's kind of strange, you finish 12-2, win the conference title, win a Cotton Bowl and it still feels a little disappointing to me.
I was on Facebook earlier before the game commenting with Ian McArdle as we bantered about the game, Ryan jumped in and commented that "you guys are spoiled" and maybe to a degree we are as fans of the Buckeyes, but still, we lost something on that day in Iowa City for the 2017 season and there was no getting it back.

2) It was the end of the J.T. Barrett era in Dallas after this game and that can be read with either exuberance or resignation.
I would imagine that plenty of Buckeye fans would line up on both sides of the Buckeye tree of that argument.
Barrett might look better in hindsight than he does now, but I still suspect that in the era of really great players going pro early, it's going to be the merely good players setting the career records at schools like Ohio State with more games on the schedule and bowl games now counting on the statistical sheet.

3) Ohio State's offense under Barrett really didn't click all night with only one scoring drive over sixty yards- an 83 yard drive that ended in a Sean Nuernberger field goal.
Barrett's offense was downright inept in the second half against the Trojans in gaining just three first downs in the second half- one of the three on a pass interference penalty.

4) Damon Webb's Pick Six and his fumble recovery that set up a nineteen-yard scoring drive were all the points that Ohio State needed on this night.
Perhaps Damon Webb will be the next defensive back to step up as the featured star at DB U, but there is not a "perhaps" on this- Damon Webb was the deserving MVP of the Cotton Bowl.

5) The currently featured star in the Buckeye secondary decided to pass on playing in the Cotton Bowl as the team announced before the game that Denzel Ward would be skipping the contest.
I understand why Ward wouldn't want to take a chance on an injury before the NFL draft, I really do.
However, if you aren't part of the team that is participating in the game, if I was running the program, you wouldn't be on the sidelines as part of the program.

6) Key to this win-the Buckeye defense with eight sacks and fourteen tackles for loss.
The relentless rush gave Sam Darnold zero chance to throw and gave the Trojan offense little opportunity to do much of anything through that took any more than a second to develop.
Darnold just had no time to throw.

7) Let's talk Sam Darnold.
Of the quarterbacks entering the draft, I liked Darnold and Josh Rosen the best.
I read lots of ripping Darnold after this game on Twitter and yes the pick six to Damon Webb wasn't the greatest throw in the world, but watch the replay, his receiver gave him next to no help at all and besides every quarterback makes a bad throw once in a while.
Darnold had no time to throw and even with all that was against him in this game, he still threw for 356 yards.
Want to know why tonight wasn't a huge coming out party for Darnold?
Try the best defensive line in the country against one of the worst offensive lines in the nation and see how any quarterback gets anything done.
I still like Darnold- he needs time to develop and the Browns would be best suited to find a veteran to play in 2018 to be the bridge person to teach Sam a bit, but I'm still a believer for the Browns to take Sam Darnold...

8) I've watched a lot of Pac 12 football this season, probably more than I have ever watched and I have to say this- the USC offensive line is the worst offensive line for a top ten team that I have seen in years and maybe ever.
When people criticize Sam Darnold for the season that he has had they haven't seen more than a game or two.
Harrassed constantly, forced to throw on the run and taking hit after hit, the stunning part to me is that Darnold and USC won the Pac 12 with a line that bad.

9) The Buckeyes didn't get a lot accomplished on the ground though as J.K. Dobbins rushed for just 39 yards on 13 carries and Mike Weber carried five times for 18.
Weber's role was likely light because he wasn't needed and he'll likely declare for the draft, but USC's run defense is strong and the game really came down to those first half turnovers.

10) This was actually a pretty dull game outside of the Webb interception.
The most exciting thing might have been the pushing match after the Malik Harrison late hit on Sam Darnold out of bounds.
The hit was late and give Darnold credit for trying to be a peacemaker afterward when things started to break loose.
It just wasn't a fun game to watch, although a boring win beats an exciting loss any day.

11) Another question is after this win, how do I feel about the Buckeyes not making it into the playoff now?
Same as before- I think they would have been underdogs to all four teams and despite a great defensive effort against USC, I'm doubtful that a J.T. Barrett led offense could put enough points on the points on the board to defeat any of the four playoff teams.
Could I see a scenario where this Buckeye defense dominates any of those four enough to beat them?
Yes, it's possible, but it's more likely that Ohio State would come short.

12) Now we look towards 2018 and what to expect.
Ohio State will lose some players on defense Sam Hubbard and Denzel Ward for sure, maybe a few others with J.T. Barrett, Billy Price on offense the major losses.
Dwayne Haskins will be favored to replace Barrett at QB but will have to beat out Joe Burrow and Tate Martell and there will be another great recruiting class coming into Columbus.
The major non-conference test will be TCU back at Jerry World, in conference, the Buckeyes get Michigan at home, but will travel to East Lansing and State College in games against the Spartans and Nittany Lions and the interesting out of division tests looks to be Nebraska at home with their new coach Scott Frost and at Purdue with Jeff Brohm looms as a possible trap game.

PPM

The PPM returns with Bowl games leading up to next Sunday.
As last year, we will be doing all of the "New Year's Six" games with next week's Semi-Final games.
In the spirit of the holiday season,the picture to the left is from when Amy Acker did one of those awful Hallmark Christmas films with enough sugar to bounce you off the walls for a month and that's from the premiere.
I would wager my house that the picture is better than the film without seeing one second of the film...

Last Week: 3-4
Overall: 121-57

Birmingham Bowl
South Florida over Texas Tech 38-30

Hawaii Bowl
Houston over Fresno State 30-26
Cotton Bowl
Ohio State over USC 29-27

Fiesta Bowl
Penn State over Washington 24-13

Orange Bowl
Wisconsin over Miami 24-16

NFL
Bears over Browns 20-14
Saints over Falcons 27-24

Games of the Week
Rams over Titans 27-17
Cowboys over Seahawks 23-20

O for Home-Ravens finish Browns home slate 27-10

The Cleveland Browns turned the ball over in their end zone and in the Baltimore end zone along with places in between as the Browns completed a winless home 2017 season with a 27-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Duke Johnson's 12 yard run in the second quarter gave the Browns a 7-3 lead and the only Browns touchdown of the day.
Cleveland drops to 0-14 on the season and travels to Chicago next week to face the 4-10 Bears.

Brownie Bits

1) DeShone Kizer threw two interceptions,fumbled in his own end zone and generally looked as inept as he has looked all season.
Kizer's interception to what seemed to be any one of three Ravens in the end zone in the fourth quarter was one of the worst throws that I've seen this year.

2) To make things worse, Hue Jackson sends Kizer back into the game then at the press conference talks about not starting him against the Bears.
To me, that's backward.
At this point, everything's shot to hell anyway, You start Kizer and use Kevin Hogan in a game if looking for a spark, but hey it's not like Hue Jackson is ever going to be confused with a winning head coach or anything.

3) And then we move to the pregame news that Marvin Lewis plans on leaving Cincinnati at the end of the season.
The ripples from that range from having Lewis joining Hue Jackson in Cleveland or even Jackson replacing Lewis in Cincinnati!
The Bengals would have to compensate the Browns if they want Jackson, but can you imagine having to sell that to your fan base?
Giving anything at all for a head coach that could be coming off two seasons with a combined record of 1-31?
I'd be satisfied with a Ken Anderson 7-11 Slurpee Cup and a Boomer Esiason Starting Lineup for Hue Jackson, so anything at all works for me.

4) The highlight of the day came on back to back possessions.
The Browns held the Ravens on fourth and goal from the one.
Cleveland's one thing that the team can say that has taken a huge leap forward this season has been the defense against the run.

5) Then the Browns took over and put together their one touchdown drive of the almost exclusively running game based drive.
Isaiah Crowell ripped off a 59 yard run and four runs later, Duke Johnson ended the possession with the Browns only touchdown of the day with a 12 yard run.

6) The Ravens controlled Josh Gordon in this one as Gordon was thrown to 11 times, but caught just five of those for just 47 yards and no big plays.

7) This is a shorter review than usual because yesterday was very hectic.
I do plan on a Browns piece later in the week..

PPM

The PPM is back with the beginning of bowl season!

Last Week:4-2
Overall: 118-53

Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon over Boise State 38-34

New Mexico Bowl
Arkansas State over Middle Tennessee State 30-23

NFL
Ravens over Browns 26-14
Saints over Jets 33-16

Games of the Week
Steelers over Patriots 40-37
Rams over Seahawks 20-17
Packers over Panthers 24-20

New Sheriff Dorsey Cuts Kenny Britt!

The Cleveland Browns announced the hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey to the same position today and it didn't take long for Dorsey to make his presence felt in his new role as he sliced Sashi Brown's biggest failure in free agency off the roster as the Browns released Kenny Britt after just twelve unproductive games.

I plan on a larger piece on the Dorsey hire later this week, but the move to quickly dispose of the divisive Britt showed that Dorsey has been watching this team and has some thoughts on just what he has in mind in how to improve the franchise under his guidance.
Britt was a surprising sign by the Browns coming off his career year in 2016 with the Rams where he barely topped 1,000 yards and the team was rumored to have been warned about him by Gregg Williams that Britt was difficult to deal with.

Signed to a four-year deal for over thirty-two million dollars, Britt struggled with drops. knee injuries and a general lack of effort that brought to mind another Browns receiving bust of the past to mind in Dwayne Bowe.
The 29 year old finished his Cleveland career with just 18 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns and might be best remembered for the towel that he kept over his head constantly as he sat on the bench or one might say that he threw in as far as effort goes as soon as he signed his fat contract.

I questioned the signing of Britt from the start as I wondered about giving a large contract to a player that had a track record of knee injuries, laziness,off the field problems and Britt managed to stay out of legal problems off the field, although he did miss curfew when the Browns visited Houston.
Britt's tenure proved to be a complete waste of time, which is much like the Sashi Brown tenure in a nutshell in itself.

As for John Dorsey, who I'll write more about next week, he immediately establishes that he isn't going tolerate mistakes and will be willing to cut losses no matter who they are as he attempts to use the current "in" phrase "Culture Change".
There are few places that need more change than the Cleveland Browns.
Kenny Britt was a good place to begin.

Browns fire Sashi Brown, Keep Hue Jackson

Photo Credit: John Kuntz, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Browns made my Thursday, but raised a few questions on a day where they could have made at least a little public relations, if not personnel advancement.

Sashi Brown was fired from his role as head of football operations, but Hue Jackson will return as head coach for the 2018 season.

Hue Jackson's hiring was applauded by me, but he has been a disappointment in Cleveland.
Odd play calls, strange personnel decisions, and awful clock management have marked Jackson's two years.
I can understand giving Jackson another year since his roster has been so weak, but his performance has been so bad, I could see firing him as well.
Jackson will likely have a short leash in 2018.

The firing of Sashi Brown was one that I strongly agree with.
Brown was never qualified to run a football personnel department, and the various maneuvering that has resulted in just one win in two years can mostly be laid at his feet.
Brown's rigid decision to stick to a plan even when given opportunities to keep players outside his box (notably Mitchell Schwartz and Terrelle Pryor) in free agency, signings of players such as Kenny Britt to large guaranteed contracts and his questionable use of numbers to evaluate college talent sent the Browns careening deeper down a hole that was deep to start with.

I was not in favor of Sashi Brown being hired from day one, and not because I was against his plan.
Teams in all sports have executed plans that saw teams tear franchises down to the floorboards and attempt to build them back up, and Brown shouldn't be ridiculed for that.

What he should have been was for the lack of talent that he selected to make his plan work.
Other Browns regimes have mastered the trade-down method as they attempted to emulate the building plans of the New England Patriots among so many, but Brown took it to an extreme, passing on elite-level talent in order to select quantities of mid-level talent.

Many Browns slaughter Brown for the trades that saw the team bypass Carson Wentz in 2016 and DeShaun Watson in 2017, and rightfully so, but there are other mistakes that show the limitations of Brown's evaluation of talent.

The Browns had tons of cap space and yes, Joe Haden and Demario Davis were overpaid for their production, but both would have helped this team and to give them away (Haden released, Davis traded for Calvin Pryor, who eventually was released) for nothing when the team could have afforded them was nonsensical.

I generally don't destroy teams for passing one guy for another in the draft, mainly because positional need does come into play and if you need a cornerback, it's hard to criticize years later for not taking a tackle, but the exception to that rule is when you miss on a player that turns out to be a star at a position that you chose another player over that player.

An example of this was when Brown's front office selected in the first round, wide receiver Baylor's Corey Coleman, who has struggled with drops and staying healthy, over Ohio State's Michael Thomas, who has become a star in his two years in New Orleans after the Saints selected him with a second-round selection.
That isn't excusable because that comes down to talent evaluation, and that is where the vaunted 'analytics' came up short.

It wasn't the battle plan; it was the generals executing that battle plan.
Brown's defenders claim that his drafts were so strong because so many players are on the team, but keep in mind that they are a one-win team in two years.

Only Emanuel Ogbah and Joe Schobert have shown anything more than average production from the 2016 draft and the 2017 draft has been better with Myles Garrett and the rare trade up for David Njoku, but even then the overdrafting of the tweener Jabrill Peppers has been a miss thus far and missing on Desmond King in favor of Howard Wilson (Injured in camp, to be fair) loomed large in the 2017 draft.

In the end, Sashi Brown seemed to be a nice guy who was simply miscast in a job that he was unsuited for and never should have been hired for to begin with.
I'm not sure who I blame more- Brown for wanting the job or Jimmy Haslam for thinking Brown was the right man for the job.

Back later with the boxing challenge and some words on the man who will be replacing Sashi Brown in charge of football operations for the Browns.

PPM

Editor's Note: I will have a detailed post tonight on the Browns firing of Sashi Brown from his personnel role.
This was prepared early, so look for that tonight or early tomorrow morning!.

The PPM comes out early this week with the Saints playing on Thursday night and with just one college game this weekend.

Since the schedule is light, I'll be adding a third NFL game until the bowls start.

Last Week: 10-3
Overall: 114-51

College
Army over Navy 23-20

NFL
Packers over Browns 16-13
Saints over Falcons 30-27

Games of the week
Rams over Eagles 27-20
Jaguars over Seahawks 23-20
Steelers over Ravens 20-17

I'm OK with the decision vs not OK with it

A few words on the decision by the college football committee.

I understood both sides of the decision and wouldn't have been furious either way.
Ohio State didn't want to lean on the importance of conference titles last year when Penn State won the Big 10 and now they do.
Cannot have it both ways Buckeye fans.

On the other hand, Alabama hasn't exactly solidified their case either when Nick Saban said last season "You should have to win your conference".
Cannot have it both ways Tide fans.

Here's my take: the committee changes the unofficial requirements to enter the tourney every year to fit their own narrative.
Last year, that worked for Ohio State, this year it worked against them, but neither case featured a consistent and cogent manner of deciding who should have gotten the spot by a defined set of guidelines.
This isn't from an OSU perspective, maybe if they hadn't given up 55 points to a team that lost in the same stadium two weeks later to Purdue, none of this would have mattered, but still one year conference titles matter, the next they don't, one year a tough non-conference game or two matters, the next wins over Mercer matters more.
It's just not consistent.,

Speaking of consistency, when is someone going to stand up against the SEC and their playing eight conference games rather than nine so they can play the Mercer's of the world later in the season.
The other four conferences are playing nine and are being penalized for improved scheduling rather than cash grabs.
Yesterday's decision will not be an immediate change, but it could change how teams schedule non-conference matchups.
The Big 10 has almost mandated that their teams not play 1-AA teams (which was why Youngstown State disappeared off the OSU schedule in 2015 after being scheduled to be the Buckeye opener) in order to boost the strength of schedule.
I'm actually not against 1-AA teams, but they need to be played in the first three weeks of the season and only once.
SEC teams since they play four non-con's can play one good team and then two or three teams from group of five or I-AA,so if it comes down to wins and losses-the SEC has a significant advantage.

I think that there are far too many persons of influence on the committee (Full Disclosure Ohio State's AD Gene Smith is on the committee) and too many people involved even with the standard recusal when your school comes up.
My solution? No one on the committee that draws a check from a school, conference or television network.
We can come up with a strong committee of former players, coaches, athletic directors and yes media members that have no dog in this fight to come up with a fair decision to avoid all conflicts.
To me, this makes sense and eliminates any questions of conflict of interest.

Do I think the committee made a mistake here?
No, and I would have said the same had Ohio State gotten in.
Both sides had very credible arguments and I'm sure not going complain now, although Nick Saban was far from gracious in taking shots at Ohio State before the decision (I get that, part of campaigning) and after (Was less than sportsmanlike after his team won the final berth) were less than needed.
I'm more than fine with Alabama.
Honestly, I think they are a little better than Ohio State (especially with J.T. Barrett at quarterback) and should make a better show vs Clemson, but there is plenty wrong with this process and there needs to be some repair.

I don't think this is a totally bad thing for one reason-the road to eight teams, which is the correct number, began yesterday with the inclusion of the second SEC team.
The road starts now...

Lightning doesn't strike twice-Chargers beat Browns 19-10

Photo Credit:Cleveland Plain Dealer

Lightning didn't strike twice as the only team that the 2016 Cleveland Browns defeated made sure that they weren't the 2017 victim as the Los Angeles (Nee' San Diego) Chargers struggled to a 19-10 win over the Cleveland Browns in Carson, California.
DeShone Kizer hit David Njoku with a 28 yard pass two minutes before the end of the first half for the only Browns touchdown that gave the Browns the lead for most of those two minutes before former Brown Travis Coons gave the Chargers a 9-7 halftime lead with a 22 yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
The now 0-12 Browns host Green Bay next Sunday in the Packers final game with Brett Hundley at quarterback before the return of Aaron Rodgers.

Brownie Bits

1) The return of Josh Gordon was somewhat of a mixed success.
Gordon did not miss a beat with his speed and athleticism and he looked really good with four catches for eighty yards with one sure to be touchdown overthrown by DeShone Kizer.
All and all, a excellent first game back.

2) Considering all of that, I thought either the play calling or DeShone Kizer locked in too much on Gordon (eleven targets) much like Brian Hoyer did during the last Gordon return.
I get that he is a number one receiver, but the Browns still need to move the ball around and not lock on Gordon.

3) There may be one more question to wonder about is it possible that the Browns could try to feature Gordon as much as possible in order to build his possible trade value?
That may be reading far too much into this, but I would not be surprised that should Sashi Brown be retained that Gordon might be moved for draft picks considering his past and ability.

4) I thought the Browns would be able to run the football against the worst run defense in the league and they did-by average four yards a carry.
The bad news is they only ran the ball 22 times and every time the Browns had some rhythm, they started throwing again.

Photo Credit:Cleveland Plain Dealer

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the Browns would try to run the ball and now with an elite pass catcher like Josh Gordon to open up the field what would happen with four games to go.

5) The play of the game as the Browns were driving down 19-10 on the Charger 15 with a third down,
DeShone Kizer gets stripped by Joey Bosa, fumbles-ball game.
I know I've drummed the Browns don't take Ohio State players in the draft, but this is yet another one that bites them.
I'm a big Joey Bosa fan and love the pass rush and high motor that he brings to the field and I understand the Browns not taking him after the trade down in the 2016 draft, but he's the type of disruptive presence that the Browns hope to get from Myles Garrett.

6) David Njoku finished with the Browns only touchdown and caught five passes for 74 yards.
Njoku down the seam might be the biggest beneficiary of Josh Gordon.
Njoku was drafted as a raw talent and has been erratic in his rookie season, but on occasion, you can see the athletic ability that might make him an impact tight end in this league.

7) Corey Coleman was supposed to thrive as the number two receiver with the arrival of Josh Gordon.
Instead, he disappeared as he didn't catch a pass of his four targets and disappeared from the offense with nary a whimper.

8) The defense bent but seldom broke as they only allowed one touchdown out of six Charger drives inside the Cleveland 20.
Keep in mind that this was a Charger team that scored 54 two weeks ago against Buffalo and 28 on Thanksgiving against Dallas, so this wasn't playing the 49ers.
Good all-around game for the defense.

9) The star was Joe Schobert, who finished with seven solo tackles, a forced fumble, a sack and two tackles for loss.
Schobert is rolling up big numbers for you fantasy IDP players out there and reminds me a lot of Zach Thomas, an old school tackling middle linebacker that can play in passing situations as well.

10) DeShone Kizer is running out of excuses for his problems hitting his receivers.
The accuracy problems continued with even more weapons than he has had all season.
It is the problems with accuracy that has haunted Browns quarterbacks for years and it doesn't look like Kizer is going to be the player that solves that issue.

11) The other player on the Charger defense that played well?
Desmond King, a rookie corner from Iowa that made six tackles, had a sack of Kizer among three hits of him, two tackles for loss and made plays on special teams as a kick returner with a 44 yard returner.
Longtime readers may remember how high I was on King coming out of Iowa and King was a Charger pick in round five!
The player the Browns picked ahead of King hasn't played all season due to injury (Howard Wilson of Houston, whom I also liked), so the jury is still out on that player, but King looks like another missed Brown draft pick.

12) The Chargers wore the royal blue uniforms from the Dan Fouts era, which looked OK, but they wore blue pants with them rather than the gold pants used back then.
The gold would have added a better look, I think, but no matter what they used, they wouldn't have been as good looking as the classic 60's powder blue, which is almost universally loved and the hard-headed Chargers refuse to use full time.

Remaining games in the chase to a win
Green Bay 6-6
Baltimore 7-5
at Chicago 3-9
at Pittsburgh 9-2 (plays tonight)

Buckeyes OutBadger Bucky- Win Big 10 27-21!

The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Wisconsin Badgers at what they do best-run the ball and shut down the opposing team's offense as the Buckeyes rushed for 238 yards and held spectacular freshman Jonathan Taylor to just forty as it was Ohio State claiming the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis 27-21.
J.K.Dobbins rushed for 174 yards on just 17 carries while J.T, Barrett threw for two scores and ran for another in a game that was deceiving by its score but was not decided until the final minutes of the game.
The new conference champions finish 11-2 in the regular season and will await the decision to see if they will enter the playoff or head to a New Year's Day Bowl instead...

Olentangy Offerings

1) The playoff.
Before I begin, the announcement is within an hour of this writing, so it's likely that this might not be posted until after the decision is released.
If that's the case, I'll add an Editor's Note.
I won't complain either way the decision is rendered because I think both sides have a reasonable argument.
OSU has two losses to Alabama's one, Ohio State has two top four, three top twelve wins and another top 25 win (at the time they played those teams) to Alabama's two top twenty-five.
Ohio State won their conference, Alabama failed to make their conference title game.
Ohio State's loss to Iowa is a bad one, Alabama doesn't have many good wins.
That's the decision: Which is more important? The number of good wins or the inexplicable loss?
I can see both sides.

2) Here is the problem: You have two teams with huge national brands and fan bases, so consider that a wash.
I think it's fair to say that if Ohio State's resume' was compared with Alabama's, but instead of Alabama, it was South Carolina- It would be clear who would get in.
Conversely, if the Buckeye record was Iowa's and it was Alabama with their season- It would be clear who would get in.
It's a tough call with two powerhouse schools with huge tradition, large fan bases and a massive amount of eyes that each bring to watch on television.

Editor's Note: Ohio State is fifth and is likely headed to the Fiesta Bowl and USC.

3) To the game. I give J.T. Barrett tons of credit for being a true warrior and playing through a knee injury that was operated on six days before the game.
More courage than I would have for sure, but even though those kudos were well deserved, J.T. Barrett still didn't play that well.
Barrett interceptions set up both of the Wisconsin touchdowns (one a pick six, the other a bad pass that gave Bucky the ball for a very short field) and he missed two wide open receivers that would have been touchdowns as well.
Kudos for fortitude, but you can make an argument that Barrett shouldn't have been on the field for his own health and you can make another argument that the Buckeyes could have been better off with Barrett not being on the field.

4) J.K. Dobbins was the best Buckeye on the offensive side and the only surprising part of the evening for Dobbins was that Wisconsin caught him from behind twice on long runs.
Dobbins may not have the numbers of Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor on the season, splitting time with Mike Weber helps there, but he certainly is Taylor's equal as a back and should be the star of next season's offense.

5) Jonathan Taylor was a complete non-factor in this one with only 41 yards on 15 carries and his longest run was just seven yards.
Wisconsin has always been a ground-based team and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the way to defeat the Badgers was to make Alex Hornibrook beat them.
Taylor's a very good back, but against really good teams, Wisconsin has to rely on a quarterback that usually is not of top ten caliber.

6) J.T. Barrett was helped by his receivers with the catch and run.

Parris Campbell's score was a five yard pass and fifty yard run and the bomb to Terry McLaurin was well thrown and McLaurin pulled away from the Badger defensive back.
The difference in speed and athleticism was glaring between the OSU receivers and the Badgers defensive backs.

7) The defensive star had to be Jerome Baker, who was all over the field including a run from across the field sack of Alex Hornibrook and finished with 12 solo tackles with two of those for a loss.
Baker has had a little bit of a disappointing year, but wow what a performance last night.

8) Denzel Ward's first-half interception not only kept Wisconsin off the board with a high wire act to stay inbounds, he showed the type of talent that is going to make him a top twenty pick in the draft.
Yet another powerhouse Buckeye defensive back off the factory line.

9) Never seen anything like the delay for the torn up Field Turf after the only offensive Wisconsin touchdown.
Give the turf repairman lots of credit for a stressful fix in front of lord knows how many people watching live and on television.

10) In closing.I've often been critical of J.T. Barrett and even in this post, but in this win, Barrett removed the name of Art Schlichter as the winningest QB at Ohio State.
For removing that stain alone, credit to Barrett.

Back today and tomorrow with Miguel Cotto's upset loss, the Browns only visit to the West Coast and maybe some thoughts on the Buckeyes omission from the Final Four.

PPM-Championship Week Edition

It's league championship Saturday in college football, so I'll be picking every league title game.

Last Week: 7-6
Overall:104-48

College

Pac 12 Title
USC 26 Stanford 23

American Title
Central Florida 44 Memphis 28
MAC Title
Toledo 39 Akron 26

Conference USA Title
Florida Atlantic 34 North Texas 20

Big 12 Title
Oklahoma 23 TCU 14

SEC Title
Auburn 24 Georgia 21

Mountain West Title
Boise State 38 Fresno State 34

ACC Title
Clemson 38 Miami 20

Big 10 Title
Ohio State 24 Wisconsin 21

NFL
Chargers over Browns 28-13
Saints over Panthers 30-24

Games of the Week
Eagles over Seahawks 29-23
Falcons over Vikings 34-28

Cleaning out the inbox:College Football

Cleaning out the inbox returns with another college football edition.

First, I have a series coming on college football that I think you'll enjoy.
If you listened to FightHeads on Monday, you know what it will be about and if not, you'll have to wait!

Also, I'm planning a podcast over the weekend on college football with all of these crazy movements and in one case that seems very close to happening- ridiculous hirings...


I'm firmly a Big 10 fan and the SEC isn't always my brand of fish, but I watch the Paul Finebaum Show all the time and learn a lot about the southern conference because of the show.
As much as I am a Big 10 fan, the Big 10 network hasn't managed to produce a program anywhere nearly as interesting as the Finebaum show or I'd be watching it!
Much of that is likely because of the length of time Finebaum has had to refine the show through the years on radio, but give all of his supporting cast credit-it's a smooth-running machine and is an entertaining few hours (unless you are Rachel, who doesn't find it such as all) each day.
John Crist of Saturday's Down South does a tremendous job for that site (I read his work almost every day) and Crist writes of his day spent behind the scenes with the Finebaum show with Finebaum, part-time co-host Laura Rutledge and producers John Hayes and Mark Kubiak here.
It's a great look at Finebaum, the show, and Rutledge, who you might remember from our recent Confessions as our pick for the next breakout star on ESPN.
Give John Crist a Twitter follow, even if you like college football and not the SEC, and try the Finebaum show on ESPN2, which is a one-hour preamble to the main course on the SEC Network.

Bill Landis of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has a great idea for the Ohio State-Michigan game and it would hopefully mean the end of these alternate uniforms in the game for the Buckeyes.
Have each team wear their home uniforms like both teams do in the UCLA-USC game with their red and blue.
The two teams apparently did this until the mid-'50s and haven't done it since,
It's a great idea to add to the rivalry by adding a throwback aspect to it-I'm all for it!

Michael Weinreb of the Athletic discusses undefeated Central Florida, their league-the AAC, and how the system is truly rigged against the Group of Five schools.
I've always thought the best system is an eight-team tournament-five conference champions, one from the group of five and two at-large selections.
I also wouldn't be against the group of five setting up an eight-team bracket from their schools as a "group of five" championship.
I think that might be even more fun to watch than the actual current championship!

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes of the Ashland Eagles of my old hometown and their budding Division II powerhouse in the D-II football tournament.
Of course in the classic sense, right after getting some publicity, coach Lee Owens team was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Owens has been at Ashland for 14 years after being fired by Akron and even though I have read nothing about Owens being a contender or even mentioned for their opening, I wonder if Kent State would be interested in Owens and if offered the job would he take it??
Chris Vannini of The Athletic discusses the pros and cons of the Kent State job here.

I'm just beyond words at the seemingly about to happen hiring of Herm Edwards at Arizona State.
Edwards hasn't coached for ten years (2008, but it'll be ten years when ASU next plays a game) and hasn't coached college football since 1989 and never has been a head coach there.
Considering all of that, Edwards age (63) and that Edwards has never been considered a great X and O guy-college football hasn't seen a disaster like this since Lovie Smith with his current struggles at Illinois and there are tons of parallels- Older NFL coach that hasn't coached in college in years, looking to cash in with one more big retirement check and schools that are often thought of as "sleeping giants" as in schools that should be so much better than they are and are desperate enough to move up the chain to make a hire such as this.
Unreal...

Flop,Drop,and Roll-Bengals bop Browns 30-16

Photo Credit:Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Browns hung in with the Cincinnati Bengals, but a late touchdown set up by a controversial penalty by Jabrill Peppers sent the Browns back to Cleveland with their second loss to the Bengals this season by a 30-16 score.

DeShone Kizer ran for the Browns only touchdown while throwing for 268 yards without an interception, Isaiah Crowell ran for 95 yards on the ground, while rookie kicker Zane Gonzalez kicked three field goals in four attempts for the Cleveland scores.
Cleveland drops to 0-11 with the defeat and will make their only West Coast visit of the season next week in Los Angeles against the Chargers, who have won their last two to improve to 5-6, but more importantly remember being the only team to lose to the Browns last season and the only team to lose in the Hue Jackson/Sashi Brown era.

Brownie Bits

1) Most mentioned play-the personal foul on Jabrill Peppers for a head-first hit and led to the clinching Bengals touchdown.
Peppers did lead with the crown of his helmet and in today's game, that is going to be called almost every time, but the contact wasn't dead on the helmet (he may have made minor contact) and was mostly on the shoulder pad.
I've critical of Peppers play, but he was at least trying to make a play, even if the execution was a bit off.

2) Zane Gonzalez was three for four on field goals, but the miss was wide left, which I read somewhere was in the same area that all of his misses on the season.
Gonzalez is going to be challenged next season-no matter who is in charge.

3) Corey Coleman had a great catch early in the game for a 44 yard gain that had he been hit in stride might have been six points, but he dropped a Kizer pass right in his hands in the end zone and the Browns settled for another Gonzalez field goal.
The drop was inexcusable and I don't recall ever seeing Coleman on the field after that.

4) Another key drop was corner Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who dropped a would-be interception also on a drive that would result in a Bengals touchdown.
The old joke is that defensive backs are receivers with bad hands, but this one would have killed a drive and given the Browns a chance late in the game.

5) I thought DeShone Kizer played pretty well.
The Browns settled more for field goals than I would have preferred, but his receivers still weren't tremendously helpful to him.
Still not ready to abandon the hope for a first pick quarterback, but I do see the occasional improvement from the Notre Dame rookie.

6) Another favorite was a taunting call on Bryce Treggs on a Browns completion that he didn't catch!
How dumb can a marginal player be???

7) Cleveland dodged a dagger when DeShone Kizer was able to return in the second quarter after being checked for a concussion.
In Kizer's absence, Cody Kessler entered the game for a three and out.
Kevin Hogan may not be anything to get excited about, but the Browns do seem to have a better chance to make things happen with Hogan in the second spot than Kessler.

8) I mentioned a drop of Briean Boddy-Calhoun earlier on a pick attempt, but he wasn't the only one.
Jabrill Peppers dropped once and Joe Schobert dropped one in the end zone that would have killed a drive.
Good teams make plays, bad teams say "almost"

9) We've given the run defense credit over the course of the season, but they took a step back as against the weakest running team in the league, the Browns allowed rookie Joe Mixon to run for 114 yards.
It never fails to occur-one step forward and then right back to the starting point.

10) The Browns are now 4-44 in their last 48 games-a number never matched in league history.

11) We wrap with the cozy hug before the game with backup A.J. McCarron, who you'll remember the Browns own ineptness kept them from making an awful trade of a second and third round pick for.
Hue Jackson wasn't a surprise, players and coaches that know each other do this all the time, but the surprise was Jimmy Haslem, who to my knowledge didn't know McCarron previously, acting like they were long time pals.
I don't think I've ever seen an owner do that before...

Remaining games in the race to a victory
At L.A Chargers 5-6
Green Bay 5-6
Baltimore 5-5 (Plays tonight)
At Chicago 3-8
At Pittsburgh 9-2

Cameragate! Buckeyes Hand Harbaugh another loss 31-20

Photo Credit:Detroit News

The Ohio State Buckeyes battled back from a 14-0 deficit to outscore Michigan 31-6 the rest of the way to earn a 31-20 win in Ann Arbor.
J.K. Dobbins rushed for 101 yards and was one of three Buckeyes (J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber) to score touchdowns on the ground.
Dwayne Haskins came off the bench to complete six of seven passes including the play that might have saved the day-a 27 yard bullet to Austin Mack on a key third and long.
Ohio State finished the regular season at 10-2 and their 8-1 record wins the Big 10 Eastern Division outright.
The Buckeyes are on their way to Indianapolis next Saturday night to face the unbeaten Wisconsin Badgers for what might be for Ohio State and definitely would be for Wisconsin for a trip to the college playoffs...

Olentangy Offerings

1) The big issue in the postgame was the pregame injury to J.T. Barrett that drove him from the game in the third quarter.
It turns out the reason was that a cameraman had collided with Barrett on the field before the game and aggravated a meniscus injury.
Urban Meyer was beside himself about this and if this is true, I can understand why, but until I know more I'm not sure what actually happened.

2) Dwayne Haskins cemented himself as the quarterback for next season and if Joe Burrow, Tate Martell or anyone doesn't like that fact then they need to come to camp loaded for bear and ready to go.
The throw that Haskins made to Austin Mack was the type of throw that big-time passers make by putting the football right where only Mack can catch between two defenders and the type of throw that J.T. Barrett isn't capable of making consistently downfield.

3) That's not as much of a knock on Barrett as it is how high I am on Haskins-Ohio State hasn't had a quarterback like this in a long time and no, Cardale Jones does not count.
There may similarities in size and arm, but Haskins is, even more mobile than Jones.

4) Michigan's quarterback play let them down.
I was discussing the game as it was played with my buddy Ian McArdle and as the game progressed into the second half, we both felt O'Korn would make a mistake that would make a difference.
O'korn did with the interception to Jordan Fuller that was simply an awful throw far away from his receiver Zach Gentry.
Gentry was open-O'Korn just missed him.
Ohio State's quarterback depth saved this day.Michigan's lack of it (two injuries this season) doomed it for them.

5) J.T.Barrett did start slowly with the Buckeyes going three and out on their first three possessions before erasing the lead on the next two Ohio State turns with the football.
A Barrett scoring run from 26 yards was followed by the only passing touchdown of the day as Barrett hit Marcus Baugh for a 25-yard score.

6) A play that might be forgotten about, but swung the game was Denzel Ward's blocked extra point in the third quarter off the edge after Michigan's score to break a tie and move ahead 20-14.
That play loomed larger in the mind of all as the game progressed, first on the J.K. Dobbins score that gave OSU a one point lead rather than a tie and made Michigan play for a touchdown rather than a field goal after Sean Nuernburger drilled a field goal from 44 yards and a 24-20 lead.
Ward's block did all of that.

7) Sam Hubbard finished with two and a half sacks on the day and was the most consistent pass rusher against the Wolverines.
Hubbard participated in Senior Tackle before traveling to Ann Arbor, which makes it pretty clear that Hubbard, who is eligible for the NFL Draft, but not a senior, will be declaring for the draft.

8) The one play that Michigan wishes hadn't gotten away was Josh Metellus dropping a Barrett pass right in his hands in the second quarter.
The score was 14-0 at the time and the Buckeyes would take advantage of the gift with the Barrett touchdown run for the first OSU score of the day.

9) We (among so many others) say it all the time and yet things never change-Ohio State wins when the running game sets up the run/pass from the quarterback.
Ohio State ran J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber a combined seven carries in the first half and twenty in the second.
J.T. Barrett ran eleven times in the first half with Barrett and Dwayne Haskins ran a combined seven in the second half and that's not counting passes by Barrett in the opening half.

10) Lots of complaining about the alternate Nike uniforms.
I'm torn.
I liked them better than the uniforms worn against Penn State, but still not a stitch or line of red on them.
Editor's Note: The aforementioned Mr.McArdle sent me a picture of the jersey-there is some red on it-A small O around the V-Neck.
Hard to see that on television-but it is there!
They would have been great if they were the Oakland Raiders.
I like the black helmets with red buckeyes far better than the matte finish w/o buckeyes worn in last year's win, but still couldn't we wear these things against teams other than Michigan?
For all that I dislike about the Wolverines, it is that school up North that is sticking to tradition.

11) On to Indianapolis (and I will be there or in Detroit next Saturday for the MAC title game) and the undefeated Wisconsin Badgers.
The Badgers in many ways are the toughest conference for over the last twenty years.
Wisconsin has been far more consistent than the Michigan schools or Penn State over that period of time and this team is typical of those squads.
Big, physical and run oriented-this team is going to be a test for the often inconsistent Buckeyes.
I'll either be in Indianapolis or be watching from some place in Ohio on the way from Detroit after watching Toledo vs Akron.
Ohio State is playing with house money at this point, I'll take it..

Thanksgiving Texas Football-Cougars,Red Raiders and Ed Oliver

Thanksgiving Friday often is thought of as "Black Friday", but I have always thought of it more as Rivalry Friday as there are usually rivalry football games or at minimum-important games.

I miss the days of some of those games from days gone by (I have a great idea on this for a post next week), but it is still a great day and the perfect setup for the next day with even more rivalries-especially The Game.

I've been working a lot of late, so I've been pretty tired, but I took a nap and got up at noon to see the newest team that I pull for as the Houston Cougars hosted the Navy Midshipmen.
I've been very effusive in my praise for Cougar defensive lineman Ed Oliver, who I think deserves the Lombardi and the Outland trophies for the top lineman in the nation.
Oliver is just a sophomore and is so dominant that I love watching Cougar games just to see him play.
Oliver was the dominant force in this one, a 24-14 win finishing with 14 tackles,3.5 of those for losses and two sacks and forced Navy to run away from him and run almost exclusively to the outside because they couldn't get the fullback to do anything against Oliver.
Oliver is so dominant that there is talk of a rule change involving blocking below the waist when a player is being blocked by multiple players because Oliver is being double and triple-teamed on every play!
Oliver injured his knee against Temple on one of these blocks and played through an injured ACL for a few games (This video is the week AFTER the MCL injury and Oliver is running downfield chasing down running backs!), so it has only been the last few games that he is back to full speed.


My favorite two Oliver plays are plays that I have to find a video of, but here's a description-
Against Texas Tech, late in the half, Houston put TEN guys back to defend against the deep pass and rushed only Oliver.
Oliver vs the Tech offensive line and yet it's Oliver who forced a hurry and just missed a sack-1 on 5!
The other came in the loss to Tulane (I think anyway) where Oliver is being blocked by multiple blockers, gets held and dragged to the ground, gets up and chases down the quarterback for the sack anyway!
If you like football and couldn't care less about Houston-watch their bowl game anyway, just for Ed Oliver.
I'm already making plans to see the Cougars when they visit Navy next year.
I always talk about when Ryan and I saw Randy Moss when he played for Marshall against Kent State live.
I want to say the same about seeing Ed Oliver live too.

It's been an interesting year to watch Houston. They finished 7-4 and will be in a bowl game, but it has been an odd 7-4 in the first year under Major Applewhite as the replacement for Tom Herman.
Big wins over South Florida on the road and this win over Navy at home are countered by inexplicable losses to bad teams on the road in Tulsa and Tulane.
And had they not collapsed against 25th ranked (as of today) Memphis in blowing a ten-point lead with less than seven minutes to go -it would be the Cougars traveling to Orlando next week for the AAC title game and an attempt to ruin the undefeated season of Central Florida.

I'm a newer Cougar fan because going back to their days in the SWC, my team there was always the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders have slotted into every other year's Thanksgiving game against the Texas Longhorns since Texas A&M left for the SEC.
The Longhorns insist on always being at home for their Thanksgiving day game since the Aggie's departure, so Texas Tech plays Thanksgiving at Texas in odd years with TCU getting the slot in even years.
Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury was thought to need a win to possibly save his job as the Red Raiders entered at 5-6 and needed a win to be bowl eligible.
I've never liked the Longhorns, although with Tom Herman taking the job as head coach there, my fondness for Herman has lightened the dislike for now.

I've been critical of the Big 12 for teams playing video game football with little defense, but there are some signs that there are a few steps in the right direction as TCU and Iowa State are playing decent defense and suddenly I'm seeing Tech play better on the defensive side of the football as it was the defense that stepped up made the plays (twice holding the Horns to field goals with drives that had first and goals inside the Tech five) to keep Tech in the game and then an interception by Justus Parker with just over two minutes to go that was returned 56 yards to the Texas 14.
That play allowed Nick Shimonek, the regular starter that didn't see the field until the 4th quarter to hit Cameron Batson for the game-winning score and a 27-23 Red Raider win.


After the game with Tech now 6-6 and bowl eligible, it was announced that Kingsbury would be returning for 2018.
I think that's a fair thing to do with the requirement to Kingsbury that 6-6 next season will not be enough to return for 2019.
Kingsbury's teams have never had problems scoring points, the problem has been a very porous defense even for the Big 12, which says a lot about the state of the Red Raider defense.
The tide may have turned in Lubbock with a defense that will return 10 starters and might be a sleeper team for 2018.
The question is which do I root for in September when the Cougars travel to West Texas for a rematch with the Red Raiders after this season's 27-24 Tech win.

I'll be back later with a quick boxing challenge for tonight's HBO tripleheader and of course later, we'll have our recap of "The Game"...