EXCLUSIVE: JULY 31, 2007
Big Ten Interested In
Missouri Compromise
THE OHIO STATE AUTOPSY | A REPORT IN THREE PARTS
Bitter Taste of Buckeyes’ Loss Lingers
Paul Smith | If ever reality bit, it was on the infamous night of Monday, January 8, 2007, a day where all around it, Ohio State's dream of a sixth national football championship came crashing down in a crescendo of a broken gameplan, resulting in broken plays and ultimately, a collective broken will.
» Part I: The Game
» Part II: The Aftermath
» Part III: What’s Next
THE HEISMAN TROPHY
An Urban Legend Takes the Trophy
Paul Smith | There are hundreds — possibly thousands — such tales involving God’s children en route to textbook climbs out of their dreary existences. Troy Smith could easily have been one. Growing up in one of America's truly scary environments, the Glenville section of Cleveland's east side, he saw the filth, poverty, drugs, violence, broken homes, broken lives all around him. » Full Story
BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
How Florida Hoodwinked the Voters
And Hopped Over Michigan for No. 2
Paul Smith | So the University of Florida, by dint of beating an Arkansas team that got slammed at home the previous weekend by L.S.U., routed by U.S.C. earlier in the season and basically self-destructed in the S.E.C. title game Saturday, leapfrogs over Michigan in The Associated Press poll by 3 votes, 1,529 votes to 1,526. And in the Coaches Poll, 1,470-1,444. » Full Story
» The Coastal Awards, Presented by the West Coast Watcher
OHIO STATE 42, MICHIGAN 39
A Preview of Things to Come
Paul Smith | Make no mistake, top ranked Ohio State's 42-39 victory Saturday over its classic archrival Michigan, unmistakably the nation's second best team, was but a preview of the national championship game. » Full Story
To Bo Schembechler, R.I.P.
Michael B. Sisak 3d | After Bo Schembechler died at age 77 on the morning of Friday, Nov. 17, of a heart attack while preparing to tape his weekly football show 30 hours before the kickoff of yet another Michigan-Ohio State game, the Maize and Blue mourned and remembered his intensity, emotions, tears and humor. » Full Story
» Football Legend Bo Schembechler Passes Away
» Career Highlights and Records
» Statement: Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman
A Lesson From History on the Eve of The Game
Paul Smith | This Saturday, beginning at 3:30 E.S.T. the 103rd renewal of college football's best metaphor will unfold in Ohio Stadium, in front of over 105,000 of the sport's most thunderous fans. » Full Story
Trouble On the Way to The Game
Paul Smith | Inevitably, inexorably, the No.'s 1-2 teams in the country, just two weeks away from a showdown-of-showdowns, finally got caught looking ahead. » Full Story
It’s Not Just The Game,
It’s a National Title Preview
Paul Smith | Bowl officials, usually a congenial sort, are usually somewhat tight-lipped about in-depth type bowl scenario looks. » Full Story
It’s Not Pretty in West Laugh-at-it, Ind.
Paul Smith | Yes, one knows, the name of this town is West Lafayette, but after Saturday's three hour re-enactment of The Original Football Follies, what better name for a backdrop that included... » Full Story
No. 1 Buckeyes Bounce Hoosiers
On Another Saturday in Columbus
Paul Smith | Before they entered Ohio Stadium, to be seated in the extreme west wing of the south end zone bleachers, and adjacent Section 29 AA and with a few thinly scattered in 29 A and even fewer in a traditional enemy seating area, sections 8-10-12 AA in the old colossus' northeast corner, some of the less than 2,000 Indiana fans began crowing about their 4-3 team's 2006 accomplishments. » Full Story
At Midway, Can Michigan and Ohio State Go All The Way?*
Paul Smith | *At least until the Big Game. A look forward and back at the Big Ten and the rest of the midwest football scene. » Full Story
Loss to Irish a Building Block for Boilermakers
Paul Smith | If you are a longtime Purdue fan, you look at last Saturday's 35-21 loss here through a few prisms. The first — "They were just toying with us," one John Purdue Clubber moaned just before halftime, where No. 12 Notre Dame built a 28-7 after fulltime receiver/part-time extra point/field goal holder Jeff Samardzija raced 5 yards untouched on a fake field goal. » Full Story
Buckeyes Win an Industrial-Strength Scrum
Paul Smith | It was a day where Penn State grew up a whole lot in the face of a 28-6 defeat, the final result of which was as deceptive as Bill Clinton looking Chris Wallace straight in the eye and playing Pinocchio for half an hour. » Full Story
No. 1 Buckeyes Open Big Ten With Penn State
Paul Smith | It's not like the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) need any extra incentive for Saturday's 3:30 p.m. ET Big Ten opener with young Penn State. For one, the ESPN group some playful college football fans call The Three Stooges, anchor Chris Fowler, former O.S.U. quarterback Kirk Herbstreit and the irrepressible former college coach of sorts, Lee Corso, is buildup enough. » Full Story
Bruised Irish Head to Michigan State
Paul Smith | In a sport bursting with cliches, it is one of the oldest. It was one Charlie Weis chose not to use last Sunday as he assessed his Notre Dame team's stunning 47-21 beatdown at the hands of No. 6 Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium, an event not even the cockiest Wolverines fan saw coming. » Full Story
No. 4 Notre Dame KOs No. 19 Penn State
Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis conducted a coaching clinic. He said he had watched all 11 Penn State tapes from last season (did he forget Game 12 against Florida State?) and decided to keep the defense on the field long, force turnovers and pick on the secondary, as Faust, who sat in the press box, had done in 1984. » Full Story
» Photo Gallery
The Buckeyes of Texas Are Upon No. 1
Paul Smith | You could forgive the always cocky Longhorns fans if they were thinking they were watching an optical illusion unfold before them Saturday night in Darrell K. Royal Stadium, a football sanctuary that reeks of similar tradition to the Bucks’ “Big Horseshoe.” » Full Story
Penn State at Notre Dame: A Clash of Hype and Tradition
Paul Smith | So here we are, two days removed from the first head-knocker between the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions in South Bend since the 1992 early-evening, snow-backdropped finish that produced a last minute 17-16 Irish victory on a touchdown and two-point conversion. » Full Story
Also: Buckeyes Warm Up For Texas With N. Illinois
West Coast: Hope For An End to Westwood Blues
West Coast Watcher | USC will introduce its version of the Four Freshmen, UCLA hopes a new attitude and coaching staff will put an end to the blues in Westwood and pollsters could be singing "California, Here I Come" when the Pacific 10's marquee teams open the 2006 college football season Saturday. » Full Story |
