TIME TO STEP UP

November 5, 2009

The regular season is in the home stretch. Goals have changed for some teams. A month ago, Michigan was 4-0 and looked at as a threat in the Big Ten. Now, they are fighting to just be bowl eligible. Two individuals (one a player, one a coach) have games this Saturday that will show me exactly who they are.

In August, Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor was announced as the Big Ten Pre-season Offensive Player of the Year. I found that odd. Pryor certainly came in to OSU with a lot of hype. He was named the starter after a few short weeks in his freshman year. He may end up being a great QB. However, a pre-season award like that is normally presented to the most accomplished returning player. Not even the most ardent Buckeye supporter would claim that description fit the sophomore from Jeannette, PA.

Now, nine games into the season, Pryor has the chance to show Big Ten fans why he deserved that honor. He has played well at times against over-matched teams, but he has yet to earn a signature win. Saturday afternoon he’ll have an opportunity to keep the Buckeyes in the hunt for the Rose Bowl when they visit his home state to face the Nittany Lions.

Will Pryor display the talent that made him the most sought after recruit in the country in 2007? Or will the Penn State defense contain him as they did last year?

While Pryor tries to live up to the hype, a head coach that may be headed for the College Football Hall of Fame has some stepping up to do himself Saturday.

Pete Carroll has shown time and again that he is a great recruiter and the best big game coach of my lifetime. Last year, I dubbed his team the USC “Red Light” Trojans, because when that red light comes on, no one is better. The problem has been staying focused for an entire regular season. They’ve lost games as heavy favorites each of the last four years.

Due to the 47-20 shellacking the Oregon Ducks laid on them last week, USC is all but eliminated from contention for the Rose Bowl. They either need Oregon to end up in the BCS Championship game (leaving the Rose Bowl Committee the chance to snag them from the pool of at-large teams as a replacement), or have the Ducks lose not once, not twice, but three times.

With the exception of 2001 (Carroll’s first year at USC), the Trojans have never played a regular season game where they had no shot at the national title, the Rose Bowl or at least a share of the Pac 10 crown. That is until now. USC has four games left this season. It’s time to see how good a motivator Pete Carroll is.

On a separate note… if the season ended today, the BCS games would be…

Rose Bowl – Iowa vs. Oregon

Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs. Cincinnati

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. TCU

Orange Bowl – Penn State vs. Georgia Tech

BCS Final – Florida vs. Texas

Games of the Week:

LSU @ Alabama – The two meetings since Nick Saban took the Bama job have been classics. Last year, the Tide stayed perfect with a 27-21 OT win in Baton Rouge. If Bama wins, the SEC Title Game rematch is officially set. Both teams have struggled to move the ball through the air. Bama is at home, and they have Mark Ingram. That’s enough for me.

Ohio State @ Penn State – Unlike PSU, the Buckeyes still control their own destiny for the Rose Bowl. Last time these two met in Beaver Stadium, OSU Todd Boeckman came out throwing and lit up the Lions for 253 yards and 3 TDs. I don’t see Pryor coming to life in that way. He has started to tuck it and run more the last few weeks. Last year, PSU dared him to win the game with his arm, and he couldn’t. Look for Clark to outplay Pryor, and the Lions to pull away for another win.

USC @ Arizona State – As I documented earlier, USC hasn’t been in this situation in eight years. The national title, Pac 10 crown and Rose Bowl are likely gone. Now they have to go on the road. The Sun Devils have four losses, but two of those came in the last 5 seconds. Their season could go either way right now. Losing back to back league games would crush most teams, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to get up for a wounded Trojan squad. Sparky smells blood… too bad it’s his own. Trojans roll.

Upset Alert – Oregon @ Stanford – We’ve all seen how difficult it is to beat anyone coming off a big game win. Stanford is 5-3 on the year, 4-2 in the Pac 10. RB Toby Gerhart is just six yards shy of 1,000. The Ducks held Cal RB Jahvid Best in check, but will they be ready for a physical road game after such a huge home victory? I think Masoli will pull it out, but don’t be surprised if it takes everything the Ducks have to best the Cardinal.