Right: Hmm, maybe its your practice apparel that’s giving your balls the itch?
USCFootball.com Photo

The news out of USC’s football camp is that roughly 25 percent of the roster is suffering from a problem with their balls, and not footballs, according to David Wharton and Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.

The article tries to paint the picture to their readers that on a daily basis, a number of Trojan players at practice have a “pained expression and an uncomfortable gait, feet spread wide, stepping gingerly across the turf.”

As head coach Pete Carroll calls it, “a skin irritation,” but the medical term is tinea cruris, or “jock itch.”

According to the article, the condition seems to have spread by way of new compression shorts, or tights, worn under their football pants.

Or maybe it came from Rey Maualuga’s pink, lacey thongs.

Carroll later said it was chafing, then added:

We’ve had to adjust to some new equipment that we’re wearing that didn’t work out right. It’s funny how that happened.”

Junior running back Stafon Johnson also added, while laughing:

Sometimes they can’t walk. I don’t know what it is, but I’m staying away from it.”

I have a feeling Snoop Dogg has something to do with this.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Heard earlier today on WBNS-AM 1460 the Fan in Columbus on “The Big Show” with Bruce Hooley, and later found on the Internet thanks to Doug Lesmerises of The Plain Dealer, it appears that Ohio State’s top returning pass-catcher may miss the Buckeyes’ home-opener against Youngstown State on August 30.

Senior wide receiver Brian Robiskie was seen recently leaving the Les Wexner Football Complex wearing a sling on his right arm to protect an injured shoulder.

According to The Plain Dealer, offensive coordinator Jim Bollman was quoted as saying this:

I hope he doesn’t miss any games, but that’s out of my hands. I think it’s going to be OK in time. We’re going to be cautious and smart.”

The Buckeyes will scrimmage Saturday, but Robiskie will be on the sidelines for this one.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Senior quarterback Curtis Painter might be the best signal-caller in the Big Ten.
AP Photo

This is the ninth in a series of previews on the 11 teams in the Big Ten in the order I predict them to finish.

Purdue
Predicted finish in Big Ten: Tied for 2nd, 6-2

When I decided to make my Big Ten predictions, I wanted to go against conventional wisdom and shake things up a bit, not mirroring what every other mainstream publication was saying.

Within the conference, there’s Ohio State who should contend for a national title, and then there’s several good teams below the Buckeyes. I’m not saying that it’s a down year in the Big Ten, but it just appears on paper in the preseason that everyone’s pick to win the league title is head-and-shoulders above the rest.

But Purdue is one of those sleeper teams that just might surprise a few or a lot. Having played the game of tackle football, I know full well that emotion plays a big part in the sport.

Boilermakers’ head coach Joe Tiller is entering his 12th and final year at the helm, going 83-54 in 11 seasons guiding the Black & Gold, and is just two victories away from becoming Purdue’s all-time winningest coach.

Tiller has already handpicked his successor, hiring Danny Hope from Eastern Kentucky, who was an assistant coach under Tiller from 1997-2001. Hope will be the offensive line coach this season before taking the reigns next year.

As a mentioned above, emotion plays a huge part in this game, and with this being Tiller’s swan song, you know that everyone on Purdue’s roster wants their coach to exit as a winner.

One benefit Tiller has is senior quarterback Curtis Painter, who’s arguably one of the best on the Big Ten after throwing for 3,846 yards with 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2007.

Painter’s top returning receiver is 6-foot-3 senior wide receiver Greg Orton, who had 67 receptions for 742 yards and three scores last season.

Orton, though, is the only returning starter in the receiving corps, but there are two seniors waiting in the wings with Desmond Tardy and Brandon Whittington after Dorien Bryant graduated and Selwyn Lymon was dismissed from the team.

While Purdue passes the ball far more than they run it, the Boilermakers do have a nice combo of speed and power in the backfield with a pair of senior tailbacks in 6-foot, 206-pound Kory Sheets, and 5-foot-10, 180-pound Jaycen Taylor.

Sheets led the Boilers in rushing with 859 yards on 168 carries and 11 touchdowns, while Taylor toted the rock 107 times for 560 yards and four more scores.

Three offensive linemen return which is anchored by 6-foot-7, 325-pound senior left tackle, Sean Sester, who has made 38 consecutive starts for the Boilermakers.

Clearly, Purdue can put points on the scoreboard. Last year, the Boilermakers led the Big Ten in scoring offense (34.3 ppg) and total offense (435.9 ypg). But can they stop anybody? This is where things most improve for the Boilermakers if they plan on climbing the ranks within the Big Ten.

Six starters return from a defensive unit that was seventh in total defense (389.2 ypg), and eighth in scoring defense (26.5 ppg) in the Big Ten for the 2007 season.

Purdue strength lies in their defensive line, where three starters come back from last year’s squad. Senior defensive end Keyon Brown, along with senior tackles Ryan Baker and Alex Magee will need to stuff the run and get consistent pressure on the quarterback.

The only returning starter among the linebackers is senior MLB Anthony Heygood, the Boilermakers’ top returning tackler with 80 stops last year.

If there is a weakness in Purdue’s defense, I believe it’s in their secondary, though two starters return with senior cornerback David Pender and senior free safety Brandon King.

In 10 of 12 games last year, Purdue scored 24 points or more. The only time they failed to reach that number was against Penn State (19) and Ohio State (7), and the Buckeyes pitched a shutout for 59 minutes, 50 seconds until Painter threw a 1-yard touchdown pass with 10 ticks left on the game clock.

Given that Purdue’s defense is their weakest link, it looks like a lot of their final scores will resemble those found in the Arena Football League, but they will end up with more “W’s” and losses.

Oct. 4 vs. Penn State, Win
Oct. 11 vs. Ohio State, Loss
Oct. 18 at Northwestern, Win
Oct. 25 vs. Minnesota, Win
Nov. 1 vs. Michigan, Win
Nov. 8 at Michigan State, Loss
Nov. 15 at Iowa, Win
Nov. 22 vs. Indiana, Win

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Junior running back P.J. Hill will be expected to carry the load offensively for the Badgers this season.
Athlon Sports Photo

This is the eighth in a series of previews on the 11 teams in the Big Ten in the order I predict them to finish.

WISCONSIN
Predicted finish in Big Ten: Tied for 4th, 5-3

When I was gathering my information to compile my Big Ten predictions, I did more than just the scratch the surface. Sure, the first thing I looked at was how many starters are returning from the previous season, and how balanced those starters are on both side of the ball, but I went much deeper than that.

While on paper Wisconsin may be a Big Ten title contender in the preseason, I think once everything is settled at the end of the November, the Badgers will be looking up to a few teams ahead of them in the final conference standings.

The biggest reason, which is documented below, is UW’s schedule. None of the other eight teams in the Big Ten since 1993 have drawn Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State on consecutive Saturday’s to begin conference play.

Another scheduling snafu is that whoever put together this schedule, and it just may be former head coach turned athletic director, Barry Alvarez, but the Badgers have no bye week once conference play begins.

Sure, they have an extra week to prepare for Michigan. But while the other 10 teams in the Big Ten finish on November 22 playing a conference rival (Ohio State-Michigan, Indiana-Purdue, Illinois-Northwestern, Minnesota-Iowa, Penn State-Michigan State), Wisconsin will take on Cal Poly, an FCS (Division I-AA) opponent.

Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema enters his third season at the helm for the Badgers, who went 9-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big Ten last year.

I am predicting more of the same by the team from Madison this year

One question that appears to be already been answered in fall camp is who will replace last year’s starter at quarterback, Tyler Donovan. That will more than likely go to fifth-year senior and Kansas State transfer Allan Evridge.

Evridge lost the battle against Donovan during spring and fall camps last season, and played in seven games while attempting just 12 passes and completing five of those for 66 yards in 2007.

The bulk of the passes tossed by the Badgers last season went to their tight ends. Senior Travis Beckum hauled in 75 receptions for 982 yards and six touchdowns. Junior Garrett Graham caught another 30 balls for 328 yards and four scores.

The top returning wide receiver is sophomore Kyle Jefferson, who had 26 receptions for 412 yards and two TDs.

No other wide receiver on Wisconsin’s two-deep roster had more than eight receptions in 2007.

An inexperienced quarterback plus wideouts with only a few games under their belt will mean that the Badgers will run the ball, a lot. But Wisconsin does have the backs to grind it out on the ground, get some yardage and control the clock.

Junior P.J. Hill rushed for 1,212 yards on 233 carried with 12 touchdowns, while sophomore Zach Brown toted the rock 119 times for 568 yards and five more scores in 2007.

One benefit that both Evridge and the running backs will have is that four starters return on the offensive line, plus sophomores John Moffitt and Bill Nagy who also got some game experience last season.

Defensively, Wisconsin’s strength is in their linebacking corps, with all three starters from last year’s team back for 2008. Senior weakside linebacker Jonathan Casillas is the top returning tackler with 96 stops last season, and he will be joined with senior strongside linebacker DeAndre Levy and junior middle linebacker Ejiah Hodge, though sophomore Culmer St. Jean may start in place of Hodge.

Three starters return on the defensive line, as senior defensive tackles Jason Chapman and Mike Newkirk, along with senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy have combined to make 82 starts. But all three have spent time rehabilitating injuries since November.

Chapman tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Ohio State last year, Newkirk missed most of spring practice following shoulder surgery, and Shaughnessy broke his right fibula two days before the spring game.

There’s mot much experience in the secondary, and the Badgers may start sophomore Aaron Henry or freshman Mario Goins to go along with senior Allen Langford at cornerback, though Henry and Langford are also coming off injuries. Both tore their ACLs during spring drills.

If any of these injuries are a factor once the season begins, Wisconsin doesn’t much depth to fill these holes, and a pretty mediocre unit last year may become even worse this year.

Last year against Ohio State, Wisconsin held a 17-10 lead with 6:53 left in the third quarter before the Buckeyes rattled off 28 unanswered points to claim a 38-17 win in Columbus.

Beanie Wells rushed for 128 of his 169 total yards in the second half, and the Badgers could not stop him. He had touchdowns runs of 31, 30 and 23 yards during OSU’s scoring barrage as the Buckeyes went from seven points down to winning by three TDs in the final 21-plus minutes.

The bottom line is this, with an inexperienced quarterback, Wisconsin will tend to be pretty one-dimensional, running the ball most of the time. The Badgers’ better opponents may go ahead and put “eight-in-the-box,” daring UW to pass the ball to beat them.

On defense, can Wisconsin overcome a rash of injuries to key personnel and improve as a unit from last year?

In 2007, the Badgers were fifth in the Big Ten in total offense (408.8 ypg) and sixth in scoring offense (29.5 ppg). On the other side of the ball, Wisconsin finished sixth in both total defense (356.6 ypg) and scoring defense (23.2 ppg).

In fact, out of the 17 team statistical categories complied by the NCAA, the Badgers were sixth or worst in 12 of those among all Big Ten teams. Along with the three listed above, Wisconsin was seventh in passing offense, sixth in rushing defense, seventh in pass efficiency defense, seventh in turnover margin, just to name a few.

Defensively, Wisconsin gave up 30 or more points six times in 2007 to such offensive juggernauts like The Citadel and Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers, who didn’t win one Big Ten game last year, piled up 34 points and 501 yards of total offense against the Badgers.

I just don’t see much, if any, improvement with Wisconsin’s cast of characters for 2008.

Big Ten Schedule

Sept. 27 at Michigan, Loss
Oct. 4 vs. Ohio State, Loss
Oct. 11 vs. Penn State, Win
Oct. 18 at Iowa, Win
Oct. 25 vs. Illinois, Win
Nov. 1 at Michigan State, Loss
Nov. 8 at Indiana, Win
Nov. 15 vs. Minnesota, Win

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