Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, September 2, 2015
A little history for you on this Wednesday morning: Kyle Austin of Mlive.com takes a look at the other times Michigan State has begun a season ranked No. 15 or higher.
I have a feeling this squad will go down as one of the best ever in school annals.
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Jim Harbaugh says he has told his team who will start at QB. But, ?mum? is the word.
I will be surprised if Jake Rudock isn?t the guy under center at Utah on Thursday night. His experience from having played at Iowa is invaluable, especially with the Wolverines playing on the road. But I also would not be surprised if Shane Morris also got some playing time. I don?t think there is a huge difference between these QBs. Game action may bring more clarity to the position.
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I am happy to report that Joey ?Big Toe? Julius has won the Penn State kicking job. The 5-10, 260-pounder already is my favorite Big Ten kicker.
Keep an eye out for Julius when he comes to a stadium near you. You can?t miss him-literally and figuratively.
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Star Rutgers DT Darius Hamilton has been ruled out vs. Norfolk State. No problem. He won?t be needed.
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Kyle Flood also has met with investigators concerning his contact with a professor. Unlike Hamilton, Flood will be in action on Saturday.
"I have no reason to believe that I wouldn't be the person leading the football team on Saturday," Flood told reporters this week. "My portion of the process ended yesterday and now until there's a resolution I really need to be respectful to that process and I won't have any further comment."
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Ohio State has released its depth chart. And Cleveland.com has five interesting bits of news.
The depleted wideout corps has James Clark listed first among the options at the starting outside receiver spot with Johnnie Dixon and Terry McLaurin sharing a three-way OR. Clark isn't a name that Urban Meyer has mentioned much when talking about the receivers, but Clark had been getting first-team reps, and that was true even before Noah Brown's season-ending injury.
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Zach Pereles of InsideNU.com tells us what to expect from Northwestern redshirt freshman QB Clayton Thorson, who will make his debut vs. Stanford on Saturday. Thorson will face a largely rebuilt Cardinal defense. I am eager to see how Thorson does, who is a nice combo runner/passer. The kid will be helped by a running game that figures to be leaned on heavily by OC Mick McCall.
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Rick Brown of HawkCentral.com has a good week-by-week breakdown of Iowa?s schedule. It?s a pretty forgiving slate.
Brown says the importance of the first two games-vs. Illinois State and Iowa State-can?t be overstated. And, he?s correct. What if the Hawkeyes go 1-1? Or, god forbid, 0-2? But, a 2-0 start could lead to big things. BTW: Game No. 3 is vs. Pitt.
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Remember Bo Pelini? Sure you do! He?s coaching FCS Youngstown State. Dirk Chatelain of Omaha.com has a nice look at the former Nebraska coach. This is a deep and rich read. Good stuff.
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There is a lot I like about the 2015 Hoosiers, who I think have a great shot to reach a bowl for the first time since 2007. But, I am worried about the secondary. How scary is it? Five true freshmen could play in the back end. Will the unit hold up? Will it let down a defense that has a nice-looking front seven but still a lot to prove?
?Some of those young guys out there (in the secondary) are really kind of too young to know any better,? QB Nate Sudfeld said. ?I really think that, by no means, are they gonna be holding us back this year.?
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| About Tom Dienhart | BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section. |
