Tag: Terrelle Pryor (Page 8 of 15)

2010 College Football Week 2 Top 25 Primer

Ohio State University quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass against Marshall University during the first quarter of their NCAA football game in Columbus, Ohio, September 2, 2010.  REUTERS/Matt Sullivan (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

Schedule, game times and interesting tidbits about the top 25 action in Week 2 of college football…

(Games are listed by date and time)

Thursday, September 9

No. 21 Auburn vs. Mississippi State, 7:30PM ET
The Tigers have won eight of the last nine meetings between these two teams, including four straight on the road. After throwing for 186 yards and three touchdowns as well as rushing for 171 yards and two scores in a 52-26 win over Arkansas State last Saturday, Auburn’s Cameron Netwon was named the SEC’s offensive player of the week. He’ll have to be on top of his game tonight in Starkville, after Mississippi State held Memphis to only 41 yards rushing last Saturday in a 49-7 victory. This will be both teams’ conference opener.
Odds: Auburn –1.5 (56.5)

Friday, September 10

No. 23 West Virginia vs. Marshall, 7:00PM ET
This will be the fifth straight meeting between these two teams, as the Mountaineers have won the previous four meetings by a combined score of 141-43. Marshall was crushed 45-7 by Ohio State last week, while West Virginia routed Coastal Carolina, 38-0. Thundering Herd head coach Doc Holliday faces his alma mater and former boss Bill Stewart in this contest, and hopes that Marshall’s defense can improve on the 529 yards of total offense they allowed last week to the Buckeyes.
Odds: West Virginia –12 (47)

Saturday, September 11

San Jose State vs. No. 11 Wisconsin, 12:00PM ET
One week after getting crushed by Alabama, the Spartans will once again play the cupcake role when they take on a Badgers team that rolled UNLV 41-21 last Saturday. Wisconsin hasn’t lost a home opener since Colorado beat them 43-7 in 1995. This will only be the second meeting between these two programs, as the Badgers lead the all-time series 1-0. For San Jose State to have a chance, it’ll have to slow down a Wisconsin running game that amassed 278 yards on the ground last week.
Odds: Wisconsin –38 (56)

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What we learned: Dion Lewis needs help; so does USC’s defense

Now that college football is back and we no longer have to spend our time over-analyzing off-field issues, let’s turn our attention to over-analyzing what we’ve seen in one night the play on the field.

The first night of games was pretty vanilla — outside of Utah’s overtime win over Pittsburgh, as Anthony pointed out earlier — but it did give us a little bit of insight into a few teams, and what we could possibly expect to see from them down the road.

Let’s take a look at three things we learned on Thursday night: Continue reading »

2010 College Football Predictions

Jan 1, 2010; Pasadena, CA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes players huddle before the 2010 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks. Photo via Newscom

Conference winners, sleepers, power rankings and one big, fat national championship prediction.

Enjoy.

Big Ten

Champion: Ohio State
Yes, it’s true – the Buckeyes need Terrelle Pryor to be more consistent in the passing game this year if they expect to win a national championship. But stop acting like that’s the difference between OSU winning the Big Ten and them turning into Vanderbilt. Choke on this for a second: The Buckeyes return all three leading rushers from 2009 in Pryor, Brandon Saine and Dan Herron, the secondary features three senior NFL prospects, and they own the best defensive end in the nation in Cameron Heyward. Pryor is also coming off a dominating performance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and reports state that he has committed himself this offseason to being a better teammate. Sorry Buckeye-haters, but the gap between them and Alabama is closer than you think.

Conference Champion Sleeper: Michigan Slate
My biggest concern with the Spartans is that despite pulling off an upset nearly every year, they also manage to lose a game they shouldn’t. But they have a slew of playmakers and plenty of depth on both sides of the ball, plus feature a ton of offensive firepower in Larry Caper, Edwin Baker, Keith Nicol and Mark Dell. Oh, and linebacker Greg Jones is the best defender in the nation. If this team can avoid being tripped up by an inferior opponent, they could easily surprise this season.

Conference Power Ranking: #1 Ohio State, #2 Iowa, #3 Wisconsin, # 4 Penn State, #5 Michigan State, #6 Northwestern, #7 Michigan, #8 Purdue, #9 Illinois, #10 Indiana, #11 Minnesota.

I admit that I had Michigan rated too high when I did my Big Ten preview last week. Having any sort of trust in Rich Rodriguez right now is a dangerous proposition for obvious reasons. Just when you think he’s going to figure things out in Ann Arbor, he makes a decision to muck everything up. Penn State might be ranked a little high given their quarterback concerns. Wisconsin is going to give teams trouble this year and Northwestern is going to be a tough opponent every week as well.

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2010 Big Ten College Football Preview: Ohio State back on top

COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 26: Quarterback Terrelle Pryor #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes hands off to running back Brandon Saine #3 of the Buckeyes during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Ohio Stadium on September 26, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Here’s a quick and dirty look at how I see things playing out in the Big Eleven this season:

#1 Ohio State
Some believe the Buckeyes’ offense might be close to catching up to their defense in terms of dominance, which is saying something with the way OSU’s D played a year ago. The Buckeyes return all three leading rushers from 2009 in Brandon Saine, Dan Herron and quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who some believe has become a more committed teammate over the offseason. The key to OSU becoming a national title threat is Pryor, or more specifically, whether or not he’ll make opponents respect his passing game. The good thing for him and the Buckeyes on a whole is that they return four starters to a veteran offensive line that will open up plenty of holes for a deep and talented group of running backs. Defensively, OSU was a top five unit last season and could be once again this year assuming they can generate a pass-rush and the safeties can hold up in coverage. Cameron Heyward is one of the nation’s best defensive ends and Ross Homan is a playmaker at the outside linebacker spot. The secondary isn’t flashy, but cornerbacks Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence are solid. From a schedule standpoint, if they can beat Miami in Columbus in the second week of the season, they should be 6-0 heading into Madison on October 16. From there, they’ll be tested by Wisconsin, Penn State and Iowa, but this is your clear favorite to win the Big Ten.

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Pryor quiets critics by leading Ohio State over Oregon in Rose Bowl

Terrelle Pryor has taken his fair share of beatings this season from fans and critics alike – and for good reason.

Entering his second season, this was supposed to be the year in which Pryor took the next step as a passer. But instead, he regressed. He showed the inability to lead the offense, struggled with his accuracy and with turnovers, and displayed little to no potential.

But to his credit, Pryor saved his best performance of the year for his last. He gave an incredible effort in Ohio State’s 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl and led the Buckeyes with not only his feet, but with his arm as well. He finished 23-of-37 for 266 yards and two touchdowns, while also leading the Buckeyes with 72 rushing yards on 20 carries.

Pryor kept drives alive with his feet, limited mistakes and kept his team in the game from start to finish. He wasn’t quite Vince Young against USC in the national championship, but he was damn near Vince Young against Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl. If Pryor’s junior year resembles that of Young’s third season, then Ohio State has plenty to look forward to next year.

If you were surprised that the mighty Oregon offense only scored 17 points, don’t be. They took a back seat to Florida and Alabama this season, but Ohio State’s defense was just as good as the Gators and Crimson Tide’s defensive units this year. The Buckeyes’ front four created problems for the Ducks’ high-powered rushing attack by shooting the gaps and using its speed to get into Oregon’s backfield quickly to disrupt plays. The Ducks still rushed for 179 yards, but they certainly weren’t as explosive as they had been in the regular season.

Another key to the Buckeyes’ win was the play of their secondary. Oregon is a run-first team, but they had a lot of success mixing the pass in with the run to keep defenses off balance this season. But today, Jeremiah Masoli completed just 9-of-20 passes for 81 yards and one interception. OSU’s secondary completely shut down Oregon’s passing game and made them one-dimensional, which was key late in the game.

This was a nice win for the Big Ten, which improved to 3-2 on the bowl season this year. Had Northwestern cashed in on all of their opportunities today against Auburn, the Big Ten would be rolling right now in bowls.

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