Redemption Accomplished! Ohio State wins National Championship!

    The Ohio State Buckeyes scored touchdowns on their first four possessions, added a field goal on their fifth, and then held off a furious late rush from Notre Dame to win the first CFP title 34-23 in Atlanta.

Quinshon Judkins rushed for 100 yards with two rushing touchdowns and a receiving score with Will Howard throwing for 231 yards and rushing for 57 more to pace the Buckeye offense.

With the national title trophy in tow, a different group of Buckeyes will start defending their title in August at home against the Texas Longhorns.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Ohio State scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and their fifth resulted in a field goal and would only score three points after that point.

However, that includes only three more possessions, the first ended on an Emeke Egbuka fumble after a big gain at the Notre Dame 24, their only punt of the game, and the final drive that resulted in the field goal that salted away the game.

2) Emeka Egbuka's fumble was the only Ohio State turnover of the game and it didn't result in any lost points as Notre Dame missed a field goal. Still, Ohio State would have likely scored on the drive, which would have helped Ohio State fans relax earlier in the fourth quarter.

3) Emeka Egbuka caught six passes during the game and became the all-time leader in receptions for the Buckeyes breaking the record of K.J. Hill.

Egbuka played in more games than the other Ohio State greats at the position and stayed for four seasons, unlike some of the recent stars at wide receiver. But hey, that's how K.J. Hill set the record, and Egbuka will have a better NFL career than that of Hill, who caught ten passes in two seasons with the Chargers.

4) TreVeyon Henderson had been the standout running back in the postseason before Monday but it was Quinshon Judkins taking over in the title matchup, scoring two rushing touchdowns, catching another one, and ripping off a seventy-yard run that set up one of his two scores.

Judkins may have scored on that run but he was concerned about someone coming from behind and punching the football away and he visibly slowed late in the run.

5) Both Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson moved over the one-thousand-yard mark in rushing during the win, which makes them only the second running back duo at Ohio State to accomplish that feat.

Archie Griffin and Pete Johnson did this in 1975 and Carlos Hyde along with Braxton Miller did the same in 2013 but Miller was the quarterback during that season.

6) Will Howard completed his first thirteen tosses and finished seventeen of twenty-one on the game but his running was perhaps even more impressive as Howard's designed runs gave him fifty-seven yards rushing on sixteen carries.

Howard came to Columbus heralded more as a runner than a passer but his running had disappointed somewhat this season.

7) Notre Dame took the opening kickoff and punished the Buckeye defense with the running game on the seventy-five-yard touchdown drive.

I thought that would change as the game played out as Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was taking some serious hits on his nine carries on the drive.

Whether it was from the punishment or playing from behind, Leonard would run on only seven occasions after the first drive.

8) The biggest play came late in the fourth quarter with Notre Dame having scraped back into the game down only eight points with two and a half minutes to play, Ohio State faced a key third down and eleven on their own thirty-four.

If Notre Dame could come up with a stop, a touchdown and two-point conversion would tie the game.

Notre Dame decided to gamble that Ohio State would run the football to run the clock to the two-minute timeout and left their corners in man coverage.

Big mistake as Will Howard found the most electrifying freshman in the nation, Jeremiah Smith, for a fifty-six-yard gain to the Notre Dame ten as the hammer blow to the Fighting Irish's comeback hopes.

Smith finished with five catches, eighty-eight yards, and a touchdown but he's never made a bigger catch than the one he made on third and eleven.

9) Marcus Freeman had his struggles in his first game on the championship stage but of his two questionable decisions, I think Freeman is being unfairly criticized.

Notre Dame was down sixteen with just under ten minutes to go facing a fourth and goal at the Ohio State nine and Freeman sent kicker Mitch Jeter for a twenty-seven-yard field goal attempt.

Jeter clanged the kick off an upright giving Notre Dame nothing for their drive and some say even if it was good, Notre Dame still needed two scoring possessions.

My argument would be this- now two touchdowns win the game rather than needing two touchdowns and two successful two-point conversions to merely tie it.

Notre Dame needed their defense to step up to have those two possessions (they would have two but one was with only seconds remaining and out of timeouts) but Ohio State had generally kept the Irish under wraps other than the first drive and a few big gains based on bad tackling and Notre Dame needed nine yards on one play.

I'm not saying I would have kicked the field goal but I can see why Freeman decided to.

10) It's tougher to excuse Freeman for his other call,  a fake punt on fourth and two on his own thirty-three, down 28-7 in the third quarter.

Notre Dame had called fake punts several times throughout the season and Ohio State was ready, keeping their defense on the field, and forcing an incomplete pass.

Under the circumstances, few believed Notre Dame was going to actually punt and Freeman may have done better with his best players on the field and trying to gain those two yards on fourth down.

11) I did wonder a bit on the final Ohio State drive before the pass to Jeremiah Smith about the decision to do nothing other than send Will Howard forward to run the clock.

It made me think that they were afraid of a turnover (justified) but gave the feeling of coaching scared that has haunted Ryan Day in big games.

Fortunately, Ohio State shrugged that aside with a courageous play call.

12) The national title is the ninth in program history with Ryan Day the fifth coach to win one along with Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer.

It was a wild ride to get to this point and it wasn't always smooth but Ryan Day and the Buckeyes managed to get through the season and the criticism of many (including myself) to earn the national title.

There are plenty of other items to explore and explain about this championship season along with thoughts on the 2025 season but those will wait until the near future (I hope in the next week or so) to write.

I Tell Ya' Herbie

  Back again with another column of thoughts on the college football world, a little thing we call I Tell Ya' Herbie.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The season isn't over but my choice for coach of the year (and it could change) might be Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State.

Arizona State was predicted to be one of the cellar-dwellers in the Big 12 and the Sun Devils are 8-2 entering a home game against BYU that a win could clinch a Big 12 title game slot for the winner.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            If it's not Dillingham for coach of the year, the default winner could be first year coach Curt Cignetti at undefeated (just imagine saying that in November!) Indiana, who travel to Columbus to battle Ohio State.

I do think that it's fair to question Indiana's opponents (they haven't beaten a ranked team in their ten wins) and they didn't dazzle in beating a five and five Michigan team by five points last week but even projecting the Hoosiers to lose in Columbus, they will be heavily favored to beat rival and last place Purdue to finish 11-1.

I Tell Ya' Herbie: 

                             I'm not sure it's the best game of the week but it might have a case for the biggest if certain things come into play as unbeaten Army meets once-beaten Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium.

Army has beaten each of their nine foes by eleven points or more and a win here may move the Cadets closer to Boise State for the Group of Five automatic bid.

Notre Dame still has just one loss, that inexplicable loss to a 6-5 Northern Illinois in September, and with a win over Army, would have only a road trip to mediocre USC in the way of a CFP home game.

The Fighting Irish are fifteen-point favorites in the Bronx.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I was surprised to see Florida Atlantic fire Tom Herman midway through his second season.

The Owls are 2-8 overall, 0-6 in the AAC, and were only 6-16 under Herman but Florida Atlantic isn't an easy place to recruit and play in a tougher conference than they did in their successful run under Lane Kiffin.

Herman must have wanted to get back into coaching badly to accept the FAU job for another reason.

Florida Atlantic places stipulations in coaches' contracts that if they are terminated and want to receive their full buyout, they must report to a mundane athletic department job away from the football program.

Herman's buyout is 4.1 million but the contract clause states that should Herman decide not to report to the job, Herman would paid a much smaller sum.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The ACC will go down to the wire with several possible scenarios.

SMU (6-0) holds their destiny in their hands needing wins over two 5-5 teams (Virginia and Cal) to clinch the league title.

Clemson is in the clubhouse at 7-1 and Miami is 5-1 with games against 4-6 Wake Forest and at 7-3 Syracuse, which could be a difficult game.

If Miami wins out and SMU splits their games, the league would have three teams at 7-1 for two title game slots.

If SMU and Miami win out, SMU is in but there will be a tiebreaker needed between Clemson and Miami at 7-1 and without a head to head option, I'm not sure which would earn the title game ticket.

 

                            

                            

                            

I Tell Ya' Herbie

       Our weekly notes about the world of college football start with bad officiating.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:  

                            The spot of the ball late in the Northern Illinois upset of Notre Dame was the worst that I've ever seen.

Northern Illinois had a third and two and a first down would have allowed the Huskies to wind the clock down to a field goal attempt as the final play of the game.

Northern Illinois running back Gavin Williams appeared to easily pass the first down marker but was ruled a full yard short.

Northern Illinois kicked the eventual game-winning field goal but the bad spot allowed Notre Dame over thirty seconds and keep one timeout for a final drive.

Notre Dame attempted a sixty-two-yard field goal for the win that Northern Illinois blocked but the game should have been completed long before then.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Oklahoma has won its first two games but the Sooners and their fans have to be concerned after a 16-12 win at home over Houston.

The Cougars were predicted to finish next to last or last (depending on the source) in the Big 12 and for the Sooners to win by only a few points and score only sixteen may not bode well for the Sooners in their first season in the SEC.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I've always rooted for both Iowa and Iowa State a little bit unless playing one of my teams and didn't really have a dog in the hunt for the Cy-Hawk trophy but I had to feel good for Iowa State and their 20-19 win with six seconds remaining.

It's always nice when the second team in the state wins a close one because when the second team wins the rivalry grows hotter and it's better for the game.

The win was only the second for Matt Campbell in eight games against the Hawkeyes and it may have re-established Campbell as one of the top head coach candidates in the 2025 silly season.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Boise State took a top-ten-ranked Oregon team to the wall in a 37-34 Ducks win in a very entertaining game and brought two questions to mind.

The first is that perhaps Oregon may be a bit overhyped in their first season in the Big Ten.

We will know for sure when Oregon hosts Ohio State in October but close victories over Idaho and Boise State will make you wonder about the Ducks.

The offense scored only 24 pts against 1-AA Idaho and their defense allowed 34 pts to Boise State, so there are questions that need to be answered in Eugene.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The second concerns Boise State and the Group of Five slot in the playoff.

With a possibility of an undefeated Conference USA champion in Liberty, who plays in the softest conference in the nation, or Boise State with a three-point loss at a top-ten team as their only defeat, the stage would appear to be set for a controversy.

It would be a difficult choice but I'd think Boise State would have the edge under those circumstances.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             The closest call that doesn't look so close came in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in Alabama's 42-16 win over the visiting South Florida Bulls.

Entering the fourth quarter, the score was 14-13 in favor of Alabama before the Tide outscored South Florida 28-3 in the final quarter.

South Florida battled Alabama close last season in the Tide's final season under Nick Saban, so this shouldn't be taken as a knock on new coach Kalen DeBoer but Alabama may be a step below their usual level.

Alabama visits Wisconsin this Saturday before an off week before a home game against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

Ohio State nudges past Notre Dame 17-14!

     Chip Trayanum burrowed his way into the end zone with one second to play to give the Ohio State Buckeyes a 17-14 win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in South Bend in a game that will be remembered for a long time by both teams and their fans.

Kyle McCord finished with 240 yards and notched his name into Buckeye history with a final drive that saw him throw for third or fourth down conversions three times.

TreVeyon Henderson finished with 104 yards rushing with sixty-one on a third-quarter touchdown gallop with Emeke Egbuka leading the receivers with seven catches for ninety-six yards.

Ohio State improves to 4-0 and will have next Saturday off before playing currently undefeated Maryland in two weeks,

Olentangy Offerings

1) Jim Ross used to call particularly intense matches in pro wrestling as "one of the most physical battles etc...." and that phrase came to mind watching this game as both teams pounded away at each other with offenses that may not have been terrific but with power.

The hitting was hard and the grit was through the roof, so that's what one loves to see from high-level college football.

2) Ryan Day may have given Buckeye fans what they have been looking for with his post-game comments with NBC's Kathryn Tappen (more on that later) but his play calling again ranged from great to questionable.

His going for it in this first half rather than kicking a field goal made the game-winning drive more stressful than it had to be and I wondered about his play call on 4th and one with a jet sweep with Emeka Egbuka.

Day talked about toughness after the game which I liked but with the game possibly on the line, Day rolled the die with a finesse play.

3) The winning touchdown drive by Kyle McCord was one that no matter how McCord's career plays out will make him a player memorable to Ohio State fans.

McCord's cool demeanor allowed him to convert two third downs, including a third and nineteen to move the ball to the Notre Dame one and a fourth down on the final drive to give OSU the win.

I wouldn't say that McCord has taken away every worry about the offense but he did come through when Ohio State needed him most.

4) The forgotten play might be Kyle McCord hitting Julian Fleming for exactly seven yards on a fourth and seven.

McCord put the ball exactly where he needed to and give Julian Fleming credit for driving forward against the Notre Dame tackler because where Fleming caught the ball, he needed to push past the defender to be assured of reaching the first down line.

5) Some of the reasons that Notre Dame began to wear down the Buckeye defense was the amount of time that the defense was on the field in the second half.

Ohio State had only two possessions in the third quarter and one of those drives lasted only one play when TreVeyon Henderson ran sixty-one yards for a touchdown.

When a physical team like Notre Dame has the ball for that much time, any defense will wear down a bit.

6) Still, the Ohio State defense stood tall against Sam Hartman and looked very good for most of the game.

They didn't force turnovers but for the most part, they made the stops when they needed to (with the exception of the last Irish score) and it is easy to be generally happy for the defense.

7) And the final drive never happens if the defense doesn't step up and stop Notre Dame on five plays shortly after Ohio State was stopped on a fourth and one.

Sam Hartman hit Rico Flores for a twelve-yard gain on first down and Aurdic Estime ran for eleven on the next play, and it wasn't unrealistic to think one more first down could put Ohio State against the wall and two could mean never touching the ball again.

8) Instead, the Buckeyes dropped Sam Hartman for a loss of five, J.T.Tuimolau blew up a Hartman screen pass, almost intercepted the ball, and he would have walked into the end zone then and there for a score before stopping a run play for three yards to force a punt.

9) In the first half, Chip Trayanum was barreling over the Irish, and with a third and goal from the one, Trayanum came out and Miyan Williams came in and was stopped cold.

Ryan Day decided to go for it and Kyle McCord's pass was incomplete, leaving the Buckeyes with nothing to show for a strong drive.

10) My issue with Ryan Day's playcalling in clutch situations is this- all too often the play he calls on third down suits fourth down better and vice versa.

Take the example of number nine, the time to catch the defense off guard when they expect a run and have Kyle McCord throw is on third down and on fourth down, when the defense has to count for any possibility, that's when you slam the ball at them.

11) The short yardage game needs some work, failing on two fourth and one opportunities, and making the Chip Trayanum game-winner much closer than it had to be, especially against what proved to be only ten Irish defenders.

You can bet your Buckeye that Penn State, Michigan, and Wisconsin are watching the Buckeye struggles in short yardage and taking notes.

12)  Marvin Harrison Jr. injured his ankle in the third quarter but did return to the game after checking out medically.

Harrison did move the chains with a diving catch for nineteen yards on the final drive but I'm glad that Buckeyes have an off week next Saturday to give Harrison some time to hopefully return his ankle to the lineup.

13) Finally, the Ryan Day promo to Kathryn Tappen.

Day was fired up by something former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz had said earlier in the week, picking Notre Dame because Ohio State was always soft in the clutch.

Day got pretty emotional about Holtz's comments and discussed his teams' toughness along with the doubts that some in the media have had on the topic.

Ryan Day hasn't always been easily accepted by the fanbase as someone from outside of Ohio as the head coach and his rant has to be embraced by Buckeye fans.

I understand why he is sensitive to the criticism of the program's perceived toughness and it has to feel good to win a game than came down to toughness to a degree.

14) I really liked the Notre Dame green jersey and like it better than their regular navy blue version.

Wish the Irish would consider using them more often.

15)  All things considered, this wasn't the smoothest game ever or the biggest win but it might rank near the top for Ryan Day, and it might be a win that helps a young team gain confidence in themselves for a road win against a top ten rated team.

How important it eventually becomes will play out over the season but it was a win that Ohio State needed for their state of mind and for the perception of the program.

Second Half Comeback Lifts Buckeyes over Irish

   C.J. Stroud threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner late in the third quarter to Xavier Johnson of twenty-four yards, to help the Ohio State Buckeyes overtake the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and win their opener 21-10 in Columbus.

Stroud completed twenty-four of thirty-four passes but finished with a surprisingly low 223 passing yards.

Emeka Egbuka caught a thirty-one-yard touchdown pass among his nine catches for ninety yards while Treveyon Henderson and Miyan Williams combined for 175 rushing yards with Williams contributing a touchdown to lead the Buckeyes in the victory.

Notre Dame led 10-7 at halftime but never threatened to score in the second half and punted on all four of their second-half possessions.

Ohio State will next host the Arkansas State Red Wolves, who won their opener yesterday over Grambling State (and Grambling's new head coach Hue Jackson) 58-3.

Olentangy Offerings

1) The big news was the injury to standout wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was injured early in the first half and attempted to return a few times later in the half before sitting out the entire second half.

Smith-Njigba caught two short passes for a total of three yards before suffering the injury to his knee or lower leg.

Ryan Day spoke after the game and stated that he thinks Smith-Njigba could return to the field as soon as next Saturday's game against Arkansas State.

2) While the injury doesn't appear to be a long-term issue, it was a shot to the Heisman hopes of the junior wide receiver.

Notre Dame is the crown jewel of the Buckeyes non-conference schedule and easily the glamour game for the first Saturday of the season and the injury took the skills of Smith-Njigba away from the large national audience.

3) With Smith-Njigba out and Julian Fleming unable to start, the Ohio State passing game flowed through Emeka Egbuka, who grabbed a thirty-one-yard touchdown pass among his nine catches.

4) However, the feel-good story was another wideout in former walk-on Xavier Johnson, who caught the go-ahead score in the waning minutes of the third quarter and his two catches in the game were the first of his career for the fifth-year senior, who is better known for his manic play on the special teams' coverage units.

5) Johnson wasn't above his coverage assignments even after his touchdown catch as on the resulting kickoff, Johnson blew down the field and crunched Notre Dame's fastest player in Chris Tyree with a tackle in the open field at the Notre Dame thirteen-yard line.

Notre Dame would move the ball forward on that drive, crossing midfield for the only time in the second half before punting but the Johnson kickoff kept the crowd roaring and kept the momentum rolling toward Ohio State.

6) C.J. Stroud was pretty average until those final few drives but he did avoid making a big mistake (zero interceptions) that could have handed the Irish good field position or an easy score.

7) Give Notre Dame and their defensive coordinator, former Miami and Temple head coach Al Golden, plenty of credit as they came up with a game plan that rarely allowed Stroud to hit his receivers in stride and kept the yards after catch numbers low by keeping everything in front of the linebackers and defensive backs as C.J. Stroud's longest completion was the thirty-one score to Emeka Egbuka in the first half.

8) Jim Knowles is being paid lots of money to upgrade the defense from a poor season in 2022.

Knowles did his job as his defense didn't allow a point in the second half and other than on the first offensive play by Notre Dame when Tyler Buchner beat a blitzing Denzel Burke by just a second with his release and hit Lorenzo Styles for a fifty-four yard gain.

Styles is the son of former Buckeye Lorenzo Styles and the older brother of OSU freshman Sonny Styles.

9) The two players that clearly have benefited from the Jim Knowles system are linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and defensive tackle Michael Hall.

Eichenberg was a target of many barbs that were critical of the 2021 defense but he was all over the field on this night as Knowles used him in several manners, finishing with two sacks and three tackles for loss along with a total of nine tackles on the evening.

Hall, a redshirt freshman, has been the one player that has been mentioned in camp to Buckeye media members as the player that was going to surprise people this season.

Hall was regularly able to apply pressure up the middle to the pocket and his sack on the final drive of Notre Dame, deep in their territory forced a punt at a time that the Irish needed to go for it.

Notre Dame would never touch the football again.

10) The offensive line allowed only one sack of C.J. Stroud and the question dating back to last season about the line's physicality is shoved aside for now after the line wore Notre Dame down in the second half.

11) The line opened holes on the final scoring drive for the more physical Miyan Williams, who had more success in the second half than the more spectacular Treveyon Henderson, that pushed Notre Dame aside in crunch time.

Williams may not be the home run hitter that Henderson is but in move the chains situation, Williams's ability is equally as valuable.

12) This wasn't the offensive explosion that many expected and the Notre Dame defensive alignment will be one that will be copied for future opponents to try against Ohio State but this is the type of game that Ohio State lost twice last season and they grabbed a win.

I'll take it.

Paul Hornung

   I started writing a cleaning out the inbox on recent football passings and before I knew it, It was almost an entire post on the career of Paul Hornung. 

I decided to finish it with some small edits as a post devoted entirely to the Golden Boy.

I'll continue to try to catch up over what seems to be an incoming huge snowstorm.

Paul Hornung's recent passing at the age of 84 was more than the loss of yet another legend of days past, it brought memories of what sports used to be, and how sometimes a player is more than just the numbers.

The 1956 Heisman winner from Notre Dame as the only Heisman winner to ever play for a team with a losing record (2-8) is a member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the first overall pick by the Packers in the 1957 draft.

Hornung didn't hit his stride until Vince Lombardi was hired before the 1959 season and was considered a disappointment after two mediocre seasons with bad Green Bay teams.

Hornung's 176 points scored in 1960 with the Packers set a league record that survived until 2006 when LaDanian Tomlinson exceeded that number by ten points.

Hornung's total is still second in that category as of this writing.

When you look at Hornung's numbers through a modern lens, Hornung's numbers aren't Hall-worthy.

He never rushed for more than 681 yards (1959, Pre-Lombardi), caught more than 19 passes only once (28 in 1960), and scored eight or more touchdowns only twice ( thirteen in 1960, eight in 1961).

However, there are more than just numbers involved with players from the pre-merger era.

Hornung played only four seasons with double-digit games played under Vince Lombardi, only once did he play an entire 14 game season, missed the entire 1963 season (for gambling reasons) with his loss likely costing the Packers another title, considering the 1963 Bears were the weakest champions of the decade and he was the definition of the "Swiss Army Knife" player before the Swiss Army Knife became a term for versatility.

What Paul Hornung did for the Packers is to keep every team that played against him prepared for every aspect of the offensive game- run, throw, block. and kick.

Hornung was at his best in big games with the best example being his performance against the Browns in the 1965 NFL championship game, the last one before the Super Bowl started. 

Hornung's all-around game was also on display in the 1961 NFL Championship game as Lombardi's Packers won the first of their five titles with Hornung scoring a record 19 points in the game.

That record wasn't broken until James Wilder's 20 points 56 years later.

Hornung rushed for over one hundred yards against the Browns in the 1965 game compared to a season total of 299 yards in twelve games.

After Hornung was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 1967 expansion draft, but never played due to injury, Hornung retired and commentated on the NFL for CBS and the WFL in syndication for TVS.

Hornung also didn't mind tweaking his nose at the NFL either as Hornung did commercial work for years for a gambling tip service.

Hornung would deliver his lines and his pager would go off with Hornung turning to the camera saying "Dallas QB injured, excuse me,  I've got to go make a call" with a big smile.

To this day on occasion, I'll contact Ryan (or even vice-versa) and say/type "Dallas QB injured" and the other will respond with the other part of the line.

On occasion, some players are more than the numbers and Paul Hornung was one of those players.

Hornung was glamorous for the time as Namath before Namath image as the "Golden Boy"

Those types of players are more than the statistics that they leave behind in notebooks, files, and websites.

They reside in our memories more than players with superior statistics and arguably at times even superior players- Paul Hornung was that memorable...  

15 College Football Games that should be Happening! 6-10

We now move to the middle point of our series of college football games that should be happening, but aren't.
The first part of the series can be found here.

6) West Virginia vs Marshall
This is one that almost made into our top five.
Marshall has only been D-I for twenty years, but being the only other D-I school in the state, they should be playing the flagship school in the Mountaineers.
The Thundering Herd has never beaten WVU in their eight modern meetings and went zero for seven in their series that ran from 2006-20012, but still, it makes sense for this series to be played.
The issue appears to be that Marshall wants the series to alternate between Huntington and Morgantown, while the Mountaineers want two home games for them for every trip to Marshall.
It's too bad that the state capital in Charleston doesn't have a suitable stadium to hold the game or that would be the perfect compromise for the third game.
Those that say there is no rivalry between the schools, well my response to that is-Wait until Marshall wins one ( and they will) and then watch it thrive.

7) Notre Dame vs Michigan
Longtime readers may be surprised since I don't like either of these teams and usually try to avoid this September game like the plague.
However, that game was usually a close affair, exciting and with two schools with deep tradition, this game needs to be played every year.
Like the Notre Dame-Purdue series, this series was one that was stopped by the Irish light affiliation with the ACC, which means that the Irish will play five ACC opponents a year.
Notre Dame being an independent meant they could have a lot of rivals with games with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Navy, USC, Stanford etc and something had to give with their ACC agreement.
The two teams will play home and home in 2018 and 2019 and hopefully there can be a way to bring this back to every year status.

8) Texas vs Arkansas
This rivalry dating back to the days of the old SWC with Darryl Royal (Texas) and Frank Broyles (Arkansas) battling for SWC titles and occasionally even national championships.
The 1969 "Game of the Century" (Just watched this today on Longhorn Network,- BOOM, TV upgrade today) saw number one Texas nip number two Arkansas 15-14 and is still remembered to this day.
It just wasn't an SWC game in those days of one or two games a week without it involving one of these teams and their encounter usually had a national television audience
The teams have played five times since the Razorbacks left for the SEC (two of those bowl games), but not since 2008 in the regular season and have no future games scheduled.

9) Kentucky vs Indiana
The former battle for the Bourbon Barrel (both schools eliminated the trophy after an alcohol-related death in 1999, although they could have changed the name to Bronze Barrel, I guess) saw the Wildcats and Hoosiers play almost every year (a few gaps in the early 80's) from 1979 to 2005, but haven't played since.
Neighboring states with a big rivalry in basketball along with both usually being among the weaker football programs in their respective conferences make this a series that would be worth renewing.

10) Maryland vs Virginia
The Terrapins and Cavaliers were longtime conference rivals as the two most northern teams in the ACC (until expansion), they were the closest to each other and battled often for the same recruits.
A trophy was never involved between these schools and despite teams having other rivals (Maryland had various rivalries with other ACC schools, depending on who was strong during in a particular era while Virginia played Virginia Tech every year before VT joined the ACC), their conference rival was consistently each other.
The conference changes saw each add a "rival" in conference (Maryland with Penn State, who doesn't look at them as such and Virginia with Virginia Tech) and could use a non-conference rival currently.
The two will play home and home in 2023 and 2024, so maybe there is hope for reviving this rivalry.

Look for the top five sometime soon!

Buckeyes hit the Fiesta!

Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a Fiesta Bowl record tying four touchdowns and 149 yards as the Ohio State Buckeyes bullied and ripped their way through the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on their way to a 44-26 Fiesta Bowl victory.
J.T.Barrett threw for over 200 yards and another touchdown in the win.
Ohio State finishes their season at 12-1 and next plays Bowling Green at the Horseshoe in September...

Olentangy Offerings

1) This game looks closer than it was.
As someone always looking for a way to find a way to lose as I watch-I never had that feeling that the Buckeyes were remotely challenged at all.

2) Ezekiel Elliott finished his OSU days by physically beating down Notre Dame.
You could clearly see the Irish wincing at bringing Elliott down and the Buckeyes dominated at the line of scrimmage.

3) Joey Bosa was ejected for targeting in the first quarter.
Had Bosa not been ejected (by the letter of the law,the ejection was warranted,but still a dumb rule),this game would have truly been a massacre.
Ohio State was up 14-0 when the play happened and it allowed a Vonn Bell interception to come off the board.
Between that and Bosa destroying off the line of scrimmage,OSU looked on the way to a huge win,if 16 isn't enough already...

4) Yes,the targeting rule is dumb.
Joey Bosa's helmet did hit the ND player-in the chest!
Add into that that the quarterback was on the move and you could argue that the targeting rule needs some revising.
All things considered,the rule should be revised for a 15 yard penalty (at best) for plays that did not involve helmet to helmet and no ejection.

5) Even with the Notre Dame scores,the defense still played pretty well considering that the Buckeyes played without three quarters of their defensive line.
Tommy Schutt (broken foot),Adolphus Washington (suspension) and Bosa weren't on the field by the end of first quarter,but Sam Hubbard took up some slack.
Ohio State still ended the game with four sacks,so imagine what could have been!

6) Braxton Miller touched the ball just four times,but I wanted to take a minute to thank a player that graduated early,always worked hard and never complained about his situation.
I'm not sure about Miller's NFL future,but he's a high character guy-someone should take a look..

7) Next season is a rebuilding one.
Now this is Ohio State,so it won't be that bad,but they go to Michigan State and Wisconsin next year,get underrated Bowling Green and add Oklahoma at Norman for non-conference,so a four loss season isn't out of the question.
However J.T. Barrett is back and Urban Meyer often does his best work when underestimated so one never knows,but the people that complained about schedules shouldn't have much to say next year.

8) The mass exodus of talent is part of a rebuild,but the recruiting class is supposed to be strong.
So strong that some analysts rate it as tops in the country.
I'm not a recruiting guru,so I'm taking the word of others,but the step back will be a small and fast one...

9) Finally,the what might have been.
Yes,the play calling still makes me wonder against Michigan State and yes,the Buckeyes would have been a better ratings draw and I think would have offered better competition in the final four.
Howevee,no matter how great they looked vs Michigan and Notre Dame,that loss meant they didn't deserve to be there.
Even if they might have been the best team...

10) Let the cries for 8 teams begin.
I plan on talking about this tonight on the podcast!
Yep,there will be a podcast tonight and another on Monday-Enjoy!

11) Anyone know just what Battlefrog is or does?
They sponsored the Fiesta Bowl and I have never heard of them or whatever they make/do etc..