1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
He went and did it, all right. Told everyone who would listen he could, then went to work on getting it done in all of three seasons.
Love him or hate him, America, he did it: Urban Meyer has built a sleek, sophisticated SEC team in the middle of the boring Big Ten. What better way to show off that fancy new Ohio State machine than doing what no one could imagine.
Like winning the whole damn thing.
“Before I left, I saw them,” Meyer said of his Ohio State team while speaking at last week’s College Football Playoff press conference in Orlando. “And I can see a nice look in their eye.”
MORE: SN All-American team | All-Freshman | Player of Year | Coach of Year
Before you think Ohio State lucked into that final spot in the College Football Playoff; before you talk about TCU’s better resume or Baylor’s better wins or the sad state of the Big Ten or how the Buckeyes can’t possibly beat No. 1 Alabama, understand this: 59-0 answered a whole boatload of questions.
Let me put it another way with a boiled-down, plain to see, black-and-white explanation: if Alabama’s 59-0 win over Texas A&M in October made believers out of everyone, you better believe Ohio State’s 59-0 win over Wisconsin should do the same.
You don’t win 59-0 against a 10-win team in a conference championship game. You certainly don’t do it with a third-string quarterback starting his first game of the season, with the pressure of everything – the Big Ten title, a CFP spot – riding on the game.
Unless, that is, you’ve become what you said you would.
“Their speed,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, “is one of the strengths of their team.”
When was the last time any coach said that about any Big Ten team in a postseason game?
When was the last time any Big Ten offense forced any SEC defense to cover the field sideline to sideline in a major bowl game?
When was the last time any Big Ten defense was so athletic and disruptive in the front four?
When was the last time any Big Ten team carried such a swagger, playing with such raw and unfiltered confidence and bravado, into the postseason?
Then Urb happened. The coach who made Florida the best team in college football and then left the program in steaming heap, decided to return to the game less than a year later at Ohio State – where the previous elite coach went against everything he believed to protect a quarterback who ran afoul of the NCAA police. And lost.
When Meyer arrived in Columbus, he heard the SEC comparisons and instead of running from them, he embraced them. Why shouldn’t Ohio State compete for national championships? Why can’t Ohio State, which had grown predictable under Jim Tressel, become unpredictable and look nothing like it had for decades?
Why couldn’t this Big Ten program become an SEC program in the middle of the Midwest?
There are a handful of holdover players from the previous staff, but the majority of this Ohio State team has Meyer’s SEC blueprint all over it. He said he would lock down the state of Ohio and get key elite recruits from the south, and he did it with players like star QB J.T. Barrett (Texas), DE Joey Bosa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and LB Raekwon McMillan (Hinesville, Ga.).
He said his spread option system would make stars of quarterbacks who put in the work, and it did with Braxton Miller, Barrett and -- on the last game of the season with the coronation near completion -- Cardale Jones.
The one true and defining factor about Meyer’s Florida teams was their ability to play big in big games. So after the Buckeyes stumbled around for a couple of quarters in eventual blowout wins over Indiana and Michigan to close the season (and looked shaky in doing so), they rolled into the Big Ten Championship Game with doubt shrouding everything and produced 59-0.
You better believe Ohio State can win it all. You better believe Ohio State will be part of the CFP discussion for years to come.
“It’s a very exciting time in Columbus, Ohio, because our guys are competitors,” Meyer said. “You don’t know how competitive they are until you get in the grinder with them, and they are grinders and they are competitors.”
It has taken them this far. Why not two more games to remove all doubt?
Urban Meyer has an SEC team in the Big Ten, all right. Even the guy who stopped him the last time they met in the SEC Championship Game in 2009 may not have enough to stop him this time around.
2. Defense wins … what?
So that old coaching adage that defense wins championships?
Only Alabama, at No. 4, has a top 10 scoring defense among the four College Football Playoff semifinalists. Ohio State (23rd), Oregon (29th) and Florida State (30th) are respectable, but far from elite.
If we’re looking at total defense, none of the semifinalists have a top 10 unit, although Alabama is just outside the margin at No. 11. While Ohio State (15th) is strong, Florida State (51st) and Oregon (81st) aren’t even close to elite.
This, of course, leaves us with the one real possibility the CFP dreaded all along: a hot team arriving at No. 4, and the No. 1 vs. No. 4 semifinal playing out as the defacto national championship game. At least to numbers crunchers.
3. Earning the grade
Louisville coach Bobby Petrino. (Getty Images)
A look at the first-year coaches in Power 5 conferences, and how their seasons played out.
Bobby Petrino, Louisville (B+)
Record: 9-3 overall, 5-3 ACC
The high: Finding the quarterback of the future (Kyle Bolin) in the unlikeliest of places: after an injury to the backup quarterback (Reggie Bonnafon), who was playing for the injured starter (Will Gardner) in the last game of the regular season.
The low: Blowing a 17-point lead on Florida State and losing what would have been a mega statement game.
The future: As long as Petrino stays at Louisville (so far, so good), the Cardinals future in the winnable ACC is very bright. He’ll attract recruits and he has proven he has few peers on game day.
MORE: One reason to watch every bowl | Bowl gift guide | Bowl schedule
James Franklin, Penn State (C+)
Record: 6-6 overall, 2-6 Big Ten
The high: A 31-24 overtime loss to Ohio State. A year ago, the Buckeyes won by 49 with a worse team. This time around, Penn State played with poise and passion and should have won the game.
The low: The failure to find a way to protect star QB Christian Hackenberg. No quarterback in the college game took a beating like Hackenberg (42 sacks), whose regression can be directly pinned to Penn State’s inability to protect.
The future: The scholarship limitations from previous seasons will still have a major impact, but Franklin continues to recruit at a high level. It might take two or three years, but Penn State will again be playing for championships -- something that was a decade away with the original NCAA sanctions.
Charlie Strong, Texas (B)
Record: 6-6 overall, 5-4 Big 12
The high: The three-game run of impressive wins over Texas Tech, West Virginia and Oklahoma State by a combined 95-36 and a glimpse into what could be in 2015 and beyond.
The low: The unraveling in the Red River Rivalry, a game Texas could have won over its bitter rival Oklahoma.
The future: Strong started slowly at Louisville, then built a monster of a program that eventually beat an SEC heavyweight in a BCS bowl. He’ll get there at Texas, too – it’s going to take patience and better quarterback play (hello, Jerrod Heard).
Steve Sarkisian, USC (B)
Record: 8-4 overall, 6-3 Pac-12
The high: The emergence of the USC offense of old: a dynamic unit that can beat you from any of the three critical positions (quarterback, tailback, wide receiver) – positions that are full of young talent.
The low: Losing three games (Boston College, Arizona State, Utah) – two in the last seconds -- they had no business losing.
The future: The framework of the program looks like it’s built to grow and sustain. The painful last-second losses can be attributed to a team growing in transition, but they can’t continue to happen in Year 2 and beyond. Not with that much talent in Troy.
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt (D)
Record: 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC
The high: The merciful end of the SEC season. Every league game was painful to watch.
The low: The complete collapse of nearly everything James Franklin built at Vandy – most important: confidence to compete in the meatgrinder league – and the ugliness that ensued. It began with a shocking Week 1 blowout loss to Temple, and didn’t stop.
The future: A huge question – and that’s being generous. Maybe Mason spent the entire season working to get players to buy in. At this point, it doesn’t matter. All that’s important is Vandy didn’t win a league game – something that better change quickly.
Dave Clawson, Wake Forest (D)
Record: 3-9 overall, 1-7 ACC
The high: The 6-3 double overtime victory over Virginia Tech. Hey, when you’re scraping for hope, even ugly looks pretty.
The low: Quite possibly the most telling statistic of any team in any NCAA division: Wake Forest ran for 479 yards on 378 carries (1.25 yards per carry). Tailback Dezmond Wortham is 6-feet-1; if he gets to the line of scrimmage, falls forward and lands on his stomach with the ball stretched out, that’s a minimum of six feet – or 2 yards per carry.
The future: Clawson is known as an offensive innovator, a guy who many in his profession proclaim in the “smartest guy in the room” at coaching conventions. He better figure out how to run the ball in a decent Power 5 league, or he’ll be the smartest unemployed man in the room.
Chris Petersen, Washington (B)
Record: 8-5 overall, 4-5 Pac-12
The high: A 24-point win at Cal after the first loss of the season. It’s not like Cal is the league’s elite, but after beginning the season 4-0 in non-conference games, the Huskies lost a grinder to Stanford and then went on the road to play a surging Cal offense. The Bears got seven points and 304 yards.
The low: The failure of QB Cyler Miles to develop into an elite thrower. Maybe it had something to do with his offseason troubles, but Miles struggled early and never found a groove. Not a good sign for a coach (Petersen) with a history of developing elite quarterbacks.
The future: The move to Washington still has the same critical question: can Petersen and his staff recruit to Montlake and land enough elite talent to compete with Pac-12 heavyweights? The days of outcoaching others at Boise State are long gone.
4. The shell game
A quick update: When last we spoke, I told you of Clemson’s intended (but not public) game of deception with the ACC and Orange Bowl committee.
Guess who had ACL surgery last week – coincidentally, after Clemson found out it wasn’t chosen for the Orange Bowl. Funny how that all works out.
5. The Weekly Five
Five things overheard at Wisconsin bowl practices with interim coach/athletic director/king Barry Alvarez:
1. “You’re mine for the next 15 practices – or until I run off the next coach. Whichever comes first.”
2. “This is your program. Just don’t ever forget who built it.”
3. “This is not about winning and losing, it’s about how smart you can make me look.”
4. “We don’t need no stinking quarterback. We’ve got me.”
5. “Don’t ever forget the three Fs: football, family and faith -- in me.”
6. Fear The ‘Stache
A look at the Pitt football program in the years since Dave Wannstedt was fired after winning 27 games in his final three seasons (9 wins, 10 wins, 8 wins):
— The program has hired three coaches, and the man making those hires — AD Steve Pederson — was relieved of his duties on Wednesday when it became official that Pitt will have its fifth coach in six years when the 2015 season begins:
A look at those bold, daring Pederson moves:
Mike Haywood: barely made it past his introductory press conference before getting arrested and eventually fired for getting arrested.
Todd Graham: Barely made it past Year 1 before leaving for his “dream job” Arizona State. As much as I love all things Sparky, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard any coach ever call ASU his “dream job.”
Paul Chryst: Barely made it to .500 all three seasons before leaving to become the next coach Barry Alvarez runs off.
— The program hasn’t won a championship since Wannstedt’s last season in 2010 when the Panthers were co-Big East Champions (if you don’t understand this concept, ask the Big 12).
Maybe, I don’t know, Pitt should have kept the one guy who would never leave Pitt, who loved coaching Pitt, whose sole (and really, soul) professional purpose was returning his alma mater to its once elite status.
Instead of hiring coaches who can’t wait to get out.
7. Victor’s Valliant search
Michigan is taking its own sweet time in finding a football coach, including the hiring of a search firm to help identify coaches.
Why would a university, steeped in history, tradition, national championships (so it’s been a while, big deal) and All-Americans, need a search firm to find a coach, you say.
Because the last two guys who led the search (Bill Martin and Dave Brandon) didn’t exactly – how can I put this delicately? – find a Michigan Man. You know, that elusive, elite coach who knows all things Michigan and bleeds Bo.
MORE: 10 potential candidates in Michigan coach search
Martin didn’t return Les Miles’ agent’s phone calls back in 2007, and wound up with Rich Rodriguez — a terrific hire but an outsider who Michigan Men tried to run off from Day 1. Brandon blew his opportunity so badly in 2010, he wound up with Brady Hoke, a nice guy who in no way was ready for the enormity of the job.
Hoke took the roster Rodriguez built, won 11 games and went to a BCS bowl because the Sugar Bowl was desperate to sell tickets. Three years and a 20-18 record later, he was out.
Now, are you really wondering why Michigan has hired a search firm?
Yeah, me neither.
When all else fails, remember this: what a search firm can’t handle, $48 million over six years can.
8. The Legion of Boom
So Auburn returns a majority of its two-deep on defense, gets star DE Carl Lawson back from ACL surgery and is on the verge of landing a top five recruiting class that includes numerous four-star defensive players.
Auburn also has the greatest offensive mind in the game (Gus Malzahn), and just hired the one coach who is about as close to a Nick Saban clone as you can get to coach its defense.
I'll take Auburn vs. the field in next year's SEC race, thank you.
BRADLEY: With Muschamp joining Malzahn, Iron Bowl just got that much bigger
9. The other Pac-12 QB
USC QB Cody Kessler could be an intriguing draft option if he declares. (Getty Images)
One of the downsides of Marcus Mariota’s near perfect season: it overshadowed a spectacular effort from USC QB Cody Kessler.
A season so impressive, it has now come to this unnerving reality for Trojans fans everywhere:
“Kessler is one of those guys that could absolutely kill it at a Pro Day,” an AFC scout told Sporting News. “Once that happens, it’s a quick ride to the first round.”
MORE: Mariota wins Heisman | All-time Heisman winners
Kessler says he’ll seek information from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, but he clearly has become an intriguing option for many NFL teams. He has decent size (6-1, 215 pounds), but more important, his accuracy increased to 70 percent this fall and his touchdown to interception ratio 36/4 is among the best in the nation – and just behind Mariota’s 38/2.
Here are his options: if he stays, he’ll lead a team that is very close to reaching the level of play it once had under former coach Pete Carroll and he’d be a big favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and lead his team into the College Football Playoff.
If he leaves, he could work his way past a deep class of quarterbacks, including Jameis Winston, Mariota, Brett Hundley, Sean Mannion, Garrett Grayson and Bryce Petty. He has shown arm strength to make the tough NFL sideline throws, and no one in the college game throws a better deep ball.
By the time USC finishes this season, Kessler could have 40 TDs – the Trojans are playing in the Holiday Bowl against a Nebraska team that lost its coach -- and might just be auditioning for NFL scouts.
10. The Puke Bowl
The conflict of all conflicts for Georgia fans: whom do you want to see fail more in the Belk Bowl:
Dawgs offensive coordinator/whipping boy Mike Bobo, or Louisville defensive coordinator – and former Georgia defensive coordinator/whipping boy – Todd Grantham?
Take your time, Team UGA. You’ve got 13 days to figure it out.