What Big Ten coach said "Special teams were awful" on Saturday? There's no way to know, because it applies to too many teams.
Michigan State's Charlie Gantt began a wild celebration by scoring the winning points against Notre Dame on a fake field goal in overtime. But Big Ten teams weren't generally smiling about their special teams after Saturday's play.THIS WEEK’S BEST NATIONAL GAMES
1. No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Arkansas, Saturday, 3:30, CBS: Arkansas, with the No. 3 passing offense in the nation, faces Alabama’s No. 2 scoring defense and passing defense. Crimson Tide should become unanimous No. 1 team with a win, or Razorbacks’ Ryan Mallet could become early Heisman favorite with upset.
2. No. 24 Oregon State at No. 3 Boise State, Saturday, 8, ABC: Broncos’ last national stage game of the season is getting full attention, shown to a full nationwide audience and with an ESPN GameDay visit. Needing style points, they may try to score 70.
3. No. 16 Stanford at Notre Dame, Saturday, 3:30, NBC: Stanford is a team to watch, with a rising star in QB Andrew Luck and the best pass defense in the country. Could be a long day for the Fighting Irish.
THIS WEEK’S BEST BIG TEN GAMES
1. Temple at No. 23 Penn State, Saturday, 3:30, BTN: Nittany Lions lead all-time series 35-3-1, with Temple’s last win in 1941. Owls are 3-0 off a win over Connecticut with a great coach in Al Golden, and Penn State is playing a freshman quarterback ... could it be?
2. Eastern Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State, Saturday, 3:30, ABC: Since Jim Tressel took over in 2001, Ohio State has the fourth-best record in major college football. In same time period, Eastern Michigan has the second-worst record, ahead of only Duke.
3. Ball State at No. 18 Iowa, Saturday, Noon, BTN: “We have the potential to be a good team, but this was disappointing,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said after Saturday night’s loss Arizona. Time to lick some wounds.
HEISMAN WATCH
1. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan, Soph., Odds: 5-1, vs. Bowling Green: Leads nation in total offense with 1,230 rushing and passing yards, 133 yards ahead of second place.
2. Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas, Jr., Odds: 11-2, vs. Alabama: Got the big win in a big play, beating Georgia with a TD pass in final minute. Alabama defense will prove how good he is.
3. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State, Jr., Odds: 6-1, vs. Eastern Michigan: Sixteen straight completions was record worth noting, he’s 16th in nation in total offense, 23rd in passer rating.
4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford, Soph., Odds: 7-1, at Notre Dame: Four more touchdowns, now has 10 TDs against no interceptions and lots of eyes on him this week against Fighting Irish.
5. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State, Jr., Odds: 10-1, vs. Oregon State: Had 370 passing yards in win over Wyoming, but only two touchdowns to go with an interception. Big chance this week.
6. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama, Jr., Odds: 25-1, at Arkansas: Ready to say farewell after missing the first two games of the year, but he returned with 151 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.
7. Jake Locker, QB, Washington, Sr., Odds: 1,000,000-1, Off: Really saying goodbye this time. His Heisman hopes have exploded after completing just four of 20 passes, with two interceptions, in a loss to Nebraska.
DOUG’S TOP 25
1. Ohio State; 2. Alabama; 3. TCU; 4. Oregon; 5. Nebraska; 6. Arizona; 7. Boise State; 8. Oklahoma; 9. South Carolina; 10. Texas; 11. Stanford; 12. Arkansas; 13. Florida; 14. Wisconsin; 15. LSU; 16. Auburn; 17. Utah; 18. Iowa; 19. Miami; 20. Michigan; 21. Michigan State; 22. West Virginia; 23. USC; 24. Penn State; 25. North Carolina State
Explaining my ballot
The Buckeyes remain No. 1 on my ballot, as Ohio State got five first-place AP votes and three in the coaches poll. With Alabama playing Arkansas next week while Ohio State hosts Eastern Michigan, it may be difficult for the Buckeyes to keep my vote.
I had been voting Michigan higher than anyone in the country, with the Wolverines No. 8 after week one and No. 9 last week. But after getting a scare from FCS school UMass, and after both Connecticut and Notre Dame — the previous Michigan victims — lost this week, the Wolverines’ resume was weakened and they’re now No. 20.
Last week Arizona didn’t make my ballot, but after beating Iowa, the Wildcats jumped all the way to No. 6, their highest ranking by an AP voter. They’re No. 14 in the overall poll. After winning their first two games by a combined score 93-8, then taking down a quality Iowa team, to me Arizona clearly earned a spot in the top 10.
In the real polls, the Buckeyes stayed at No. 2 in the both the AP and coaches poll. With Michigan State joining the Buckeyes, Wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State and Michigan in the top 25 of both polls, the Big Ten has six teams ranked in both polls for the first time since Sept. 13, 2004.
-- Doug Lesmerises
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- What Big Ten coach said this after Saturday's games?
"Special teams were awful."
There's no way to know, because it applies to too many teams.
So far Ohio State's special teams issues -- allowing a blocked field goal for a touchdown against Marshall, a punt return and a kickoff return for touchdowns against Miami and a blocked punt against Ohio on Saturday -- have been a nuisance. The Buckeyes and Jim Tressel are searching for answers and need to find them, but so far they haven't had a game turn on special teams.
Nearly every other big game in the Big Ten on Saturday was absolutely decided by special teams, for good and bad. While teams work to fix the holes, they should also be working to exploit everyone else's problems. Conference play is two weeks away, with a schedule of lesser opponents this week. Eight Big Ten teams are playing MAC schools, with Penn State's game with Temple the stiffest test, so there should be some extra time in the week for everyone to work on what the Buckeyes drilled so much last week.
Why? Special teams win and lose games.
Exhibit A: Michigan State beat Notre Dame in overtime on a touchdown pass off a fake field goal. People are saying it's the call of the year. The play -- brought about in part by a lack of faith in the Spartans' young kicker -- isn't the mark of good special teams.
Exhibit B: Wisconsin beat Arizona State, 20-19, because safety Jay Valai blocked the Sun Devils' tying extra point with 3:34 left on a new kick block call the Badgers hadn't used before.
"I just closed my eyes and made the play," Valai told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Coach told me to go for the block. I just jumped over and made the play."
But the Badgers were only pushed to the brink in part because they allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and nearly allowed another kickoff return on the last play of the first half that was stopped on the 1 as time ran out. They were saved by good special teams, but put in that position by bad special teams.
Exhibit C: Iowa lost to Arizona, 34-27, after allowing a blocked punt that led to Arizona's first touchdown and a 100-yard kickoff return for a score that extended the Arizona lead to 21-7.
The Hawkeyes were a dark horse national title contender playing a good, but not great, team two time zones away. Though they rallied to tie in the fourth quarter (while missing an extra point that would have given them the lead) they came home losers because they put themselves in an early hole with bad special teams.
Exhibit D: Michigan, searching for a reliable kicker, missed a 38-yard field goal, then allowed a blocked punt in the fourth quarter that led to the touchdown that cut the Michigan lead to 42-37 over UMass. Given the league trend, maybe it was a surprise that the Minutemen didn't recover the ensuing onside kick, as the Wolverines covered it and ran out the clock.
This wasn't the worst special teams performance of the day, but Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez did give the "special teams were awful" quote that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany may soon be looking to turn into a bumper sticker.
Exhibit E: Reeling after a loss to South Dakota the week before, Minnesota was hanging with a more-talented USC team when the Golden Gophers took a 14-13 lead in the third quarter. Next play? USC's Robert Woods returns the kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and USC never trailed again.
Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said it was the turning point in the game, and if Brewster is out of a job after this season, when a victory over the Trojans could have bought him more time, he'll be having special teams nightmares.
Exhibit F: So Ohio State, don't worry about it. Sure, this has been the Buckeyes' most glaring flaw this season. But once conference play begins, the special teams issue may fix itself. Or at least Tressel, by comparison, won't feel so bad about it.