Too Many Cooks? The Uncertain Future Of The Ohio State Buckeyes Quarterbacks

Too Many Cooks? The Uncertain Future Of The Ohio State Buckeyes Quarterbacks

Penn State Vs. Ohio State: When A Replay Review Isn’t A Replay Review

Penn State Vs. Ohio State: When A Replay Review Isn’t A Replay Review

Urban Meyer’s Biggest Recruit: Larry Johnson Sr.

Urban Meyer’s Biggest Recruit: Larry Johnson Sr.

Starting Lineups: Maurice Clarett Is Not Who You Thought He Was

Starting Lineups: Maurice Clarett Is Not Who You Thought He Was

Urban Meyer and Braxton Miller Are Good, the Eagles Stink

This weekend was about as bad it gets football-wise for me. Penn State, following a very hard-fought first half, got completely blitzed in the second half to lose 35-23 to Ohio State, while the Eagles got flat out embarrassed by the Atlanta Falcons, giving Andy Reid his first regular-season loss following a bye week of his head coaching career.

Honestly, there's not too much to go over for either game, though there are a few things I'd like to note about the Penn State-Ohio State game. For starters, I can't say enough about the make-up of this Penn State team. Even after missing several blown opportunities to make big plays — namely a slightly off-target pass to Allen Robinson that Robinson still probably should have brought in and a sure-fire pick six dropped by Stephen Obeng-Agyapong — the Nittany Lions played tremendous defense and took a 7-0 lead on a blocked punt my Mike Hull, and even when they fell behind, they never quit, making the final score respectable.

I will say that it's disappointing that the referees' horrid call extended Ohio State's final drive of the first half, which directly led to a tired defense that thought it had gotten off the field surrendering a momentum-altering touchdown to tie it up just before half. The defense played outstanding in that opening half, but you can only contain Braxton Miller for so long. If Penn State does get that stop and then manages to score before halftime, or even just take that 7-0 into the break, who knows how things play out.

Still, that terrible (and I mean terrible) call aside, this game was lost in the third quarter. Coming out of the break, Matt McGloin tossed an atrocious pick six, the type of throw that he became known for prior to this season, and the game spiraled out of control from there. Urban Meyer and Luke Fickell flat out outcoached Bill O'Brien and Ted Roof from there on out, the first time all season really where the new Penn State staff has been overmatched.

The Ohio State defense, which came into the game struggling, was dominant, completely shutting down Penn State's exciting attack. Fickell was clearly ready for this one and overwhelmed O'Brien and his players.

As for Meyer, he found a way to let his quarterback loose even as he was struggling to throw the ball, and Braxton Miller simply took over in the third quarter. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, this one was all but over.



Like I said, credit to Penn State for not giving up and laying down, fighting until the very end, but the Buckeyes simply outclassed the Nittany Lions on Saturday in the second half.

It was a nice measuring stick, and while the outcome was not desirable, it's proof that Penn State hasn't fallen off as dramatically as some suspected — at least not yet — and that O'Brien and his staff are still headed in the right direction.

As for the Eagles, what can you really say about that 30-17 embarrassment other than not a single player, unit or coach looked even remotely good? Everyone sucked. The defense couldn't stop the Falcons to save its life, looking worse than if ever did under the admittedly underqualified Juan Castillo. The offense was inept and laughable. And the special teams is the special teams.

There's not much else to say about this team other than the longer this goes on, the more it feels like the Andy Reid era is coming to a close. Speaking of Andy, the most entertaining thing about Sunday was former Eagle Asante Samuel's remarks about his former coach after the game.



The 2012 Philadelphia Eagles suck.

Penn State And Ohio State Showing Their Mettle

Penn State And Ohio State Showing Their Mettle

College Football Is Coming

Last night I got a text from Arkansas Fred that simply said, "Big 10 network, 830."

Naturally, I knew some iconic Penn State football game was airing, and when I checked the programming, there it was: Penn State-Ohio State at Beaver Stadium in 2005. That, my friends, was my senior year at Penn State. After an exciting but frustrating freshman year, in which Penn State won nine games and Larry Johnson rushed for more than 2,000 yards, Penn State sucked so hard my sophomore and junior years.

But then 2005 happened, with Michael Robinson and Tony Hunt leading the freshmen wideouts of Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and even cornerback/receiver Justin King and Paul Posluszny winning the Butkus and Bednarik awards on a deep, talented defense. Suddenly, Penn State flipped a switch and went out and won the Big 10, finishing a god damn play away from reaching the National Championship game.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of that season was this game. Penn State fell behind 3-0, then went on to win 17-10 behind an insanely dominating performance by Posluszny, capped by Tamba Hali's sack/forced fumble on Troy Smith. This game was the original and only legitimate "White Out" at Penn State (though I still wore by blue Brandon Short jersey). It was the single greatest college football game and second best football game period I've ever attended (only behind the Eagles beating the Falcons in the NFC Championship game), and easily the greatest football atmosphere I've ever been a part of. It's hard to describe just how awesome this game was, but here's a hint: Last night, I watched every single second of that replay, some six years later. And loved every minute of it.









Needless to say, this got me all sorts of amped for football season. The regular season is just a few short weeks away.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

The dynamite went boom on a couple occasions this weekend. Like Andre Iguodala blowing up Brian Cardinal on Friday night.



Of course, the Sixers still lost to the Mavericks and then followed that up with another loss in Texas, dropping to the Spurs on Saturday.

Since I decided to stay in and watch nothing but basketball on Friday to save some pesos, I then turned my attention to the Thunder-Blazers game, and I'm glad I did. With Portland leading late, Durant went the hell off to lead Oklahoma City to the come-from-behind win.



Boom goes the dynamite indeed.

Boom went the dynamite in a couple of senses Saturday afternoon in Columbus as well. Boom, as in the Nittany Lions inexplicable dominating the first half on both sides of the ball and building a 14-3 halftime lead that should have been 17-3. It was stunning.

After Ohio State got a big play on a 49-yard completion from Terrelle Pryor to DeVier Posey to set up a field goal, Penn State took over thanks in large part to the spark plug former walk-on quarterback Matt McGloin and a motivated offensive line.



Under Joe Paterno, Penn State had never thrown a touchdown pass in the Horseshoe, never scored more than 13 points and has only won once. Yet in the span of 17 minutes, Matt McGloin had reversed two of those three trends and looked be on his way to bucking all of them. After a quick three-and-out on the first possession, McGloin engineered back-to-back touchdown drives of 75 and 82 yards, both of which were capped off by touchdown passes by the sophomore. The first was a just-in-the-nick-of-time release to Justin Brown, who embarrassed a linebacker on a wheel route.



Brown was featured well on the drive, catching three straight passes — an 11-yarder, 12-yarder and the touchdown — proving he has the playmaking ability to be a stud. He led all receivers with five catches for 64 yards. Of course, he saw the ball very little in the second half. Please, for the love of god just Free Justin Brown.

The second touchdown was to Derek Moye, who again had a great first half and like the rest of the team disappeared in the second half. McGloin was fired up and playing nearly flawless football, blowing up on the national scene. Penn State was being aggressive, converting on two fourth downs and stunningly had the lead.

Up 14-3 with less than two minutes left and facing a 4th and one at the Ohio State 20, Penn State had a chance to go up two touchdowns with a field goal. But sticking with the aggressiveness they showed the entire half, they elected to go for it. At the time, I didn't agree with it — kick it and go up 14 — but I have to applaud the coaches for trusting the guys and going for the jugular. Penn State was a huge underdog, playing in the Horseshoe, and if they convert there and get another touchdown to go up 21-3 before the half, it would have been huge. Sadly, they didn't pick it up, as Silas Redd was stuffed for no gain, and that proved to be a bad omen for the rest of the game.

Penn State played about as good as it possibly could in that first half. Sustaining it was going to be tough, and you knew Ohio State was going to come out of the gate roaring in the second half. When Penn State's opening drive stalled, that's exactly what happened. Ohio State marched 96 yards in 12 plays to make it 14-10. And it was all because of another Boom, this time Boom Herron.

On a crucial third and 6 at their own 8, Pryor hit Herron in the flat. Bani Gbadyu was in position to make the tackle and prevent the first down, but Herron made him look foolish, juked him and got the first. That's nothing new, Gbadyu failing to make a play. In fact, he really hasn't made a single play in four years. Then Herron went on to score the touchdown that made it a four-point game, and he did nothing but dominate from there. When it was all said and done, Herron finished with 190 yards rushing on 21 carries, gashing the Lions to help lead to 35 unanswered points from the Buckeyes.

But the game didn't completely turn on that 96-yard drive. No, it turned four plays later, when Matt McGloin made an absolutely horrific decision, trying to hit Michael Zordich out of the backfield but instead hitting Devon Torrence right in the hands for a pick-six, 17-14 Ohio State. The game was over right there, as McGloin completely blew up. After a brilliant first half for McGloin and his team, that play changed it all.

From there, McGloin looked every bit like the former walk-on he is, throwing another pick-six and completely failing to do anything in the second half. He made terrible decisions, terrible throws and got absolutely no help from his teammates or coaches. Ohio State played about as well as they could in the second half, just as Penn State had played its best in the first. The difference is Penn State's best this year was only good enough for a 14-3 lead, while Ohio State's best was able to win the second half 35-0.

Penn State had to play perfect to beat the Buckeyes. For 30 minutes, they did. Then boom went the dynamite, as McGloin blew up and Boom Herron led the charge for Ohio State to dominate and win going away.



Finally, boom went the Flyers with yet another victory, this time a 5-2 win over the Panthers that included two goals apiece by Mike Richards and Claude Giroux to help celebrate Jeff Carter and his 11-year contract extension with the Flyers.

While it was Carter making headlines before the game with his contract, it was a pair of other centers stealing the show. Giroux has been nothing short of amazing all year, and he continued that with a pair of goals Saturday night, one of which came on a breakaway.



The moment he blocked the shot, I said, "That's a goal," and never even questioned the statement. I honestly can't remember ever seeing Giroux miss on a breakaway, and he certainly didn't there. The guy is simply unreal.

And he wasn't alone. Because with Giroux enamoring the fan base and Carter inking his long deal, it was the captain who continued to lead the way.

Matt P. said it better than I ever could when it comes to Richards. The start of his tenure as captain may have been rocky, but I don't think there's any question now that he's the right man to wear the C. He's unselfish, willing to sacrifice his body and more than willing to share the spotlight with the Girouxs, Carter, Brieres and Bobrovskys on this team. A year ago, his leadership was in question all the way up until that exhilarating playoff run. Now, he's the unquestioned leader of a club that currently sits three points out of the top spot in the entire NHL.

It's Friday, Time to Dance

Tomorrow, Penn State travels to the Horseshoe to take on Ohio State. As you may recall, the last time the Nittany Lions traveled to Ohio State, in 2008, they defeated the Buckeyes 13-6 en route to the Big Ten title during the greatest weekend ever.



Aaron Maybin was on that team. Now, he can't even manage to get on the field for the Buffalo Bills despite being an entirely too early first-round pick, and some have even called him the worst player in the NFL. Now he has his own rap song on his website, and let's just say he's even worse at rapping than he is at playing football. Here's a snippet:



Go to his site to listen to the whole thing. It's horrible.

I Refuse to Work Video Links

It's Friday, I had a horribly busy week at work — stuck in meetings, being asked to go back and fix a whole bunch of shit the person before me fucked up, more meetings, technology update training, all on top of my usual work — and frankly, I just don't feel like doing a god damn thing the rest of the day. So I'm not going to.

Three links …

-The rest of America, take note, Philadelphians actually are a classy bunch when you aren't lumping everyone together with the assholes that usually stand out. Just ask Ian Laperriere:



"I've been here for 7 months and for them to show me how they appreciate what I do, I don't have any words to describe that. It was unreal. I'll never forget that." 

-Eight years ago today in Philadelphia Sports HIstory:



Not a game, not a game.

-The Ohio State sure seems pretty gay, and yes, I mean that in every sense of the word:



Seriously, is this what people in college are doing these days? I mean, seriously, what the fuck? Wasn't there any drunk student in attendance that could have fucked this up? Honestly. College is the time you're supposed to do all the stupid things you can't when you become a real adult, get drunk/high as often as possible and try to have sex with as many people as you possibly can before you're thrust into the real world, never being around thousands upon thousands of people of the opposite sex in such a confined vicinity ever again. Not doing incredibly lame choreographed dances in whatever your school calls what Penn State called the HUB. This makes me hate Ohio State even more. And seriously, that Journey song sucks balls.

Shit, I just realized they play that shit at every Penn State home game, along with Living on a Prayer, Sweet Caroline and every other horrible song that is so far from being appropriate from football that I'm certain a bunch of assholes at my alma mater are going to do something like this. In fact, they probably already have. I hate college kids these days. Seriously.

Now, for something we can all enjoy:



P.S. Rumor has it Simon Gagne will play tonight, and Roy Halladay must be slipping. I mean, two earned runs, three walks? Come on, Roy, we expect better than that. For real though, how awesome is it having this guy? I'd go to the zoo with him.

UNC is 'Big'

Ever since the NCAA basketball schedules were set, I've been looking forward to watching North Carolina take on Ohio State in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, particularly to see the development of Ed Davis and get a glimpse of freshman John Henson. Immediately upon laying eyes on the Tar Heels, one thing stands out above the rest: This team is big.



UNC right now has six legitimate talented players in their rotation with power forward/center size: senior Deon Thompson, sophomores Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller, and freshmen David and Travis Wear and John Henson. Add in senior leader Marcus Ginyard, who goes around 6'6" and Will Graves (also 6'6"), and this team clearly has an abundance of size and skill in the frontcourt.

And believe it or not, from what I saw last night the 2009-10 version of the Tar Heels reflects Tom Hanks' character in the movie "Big." In the movie, Josh Baskin, whom Hanks played, wishes to break from what he's known his whole life and become big. His wish is granted, as he awakens the next morning in the body of a full-grown adult. He's excited, thrilled and freaked out about his new body, and for a long while, he's extremely awkward and trying to find his way in his transformed, bigger body.

This is not unlike this Tar Heels squad. For the past three seasons, North Carolina — despite always having good size — was dominated by tremendous guard play, led by the smallest man on the floor most nights, Ty Lawson. And Wayne Ellington provided more excellent guard play, to combine with Tyler Hansbrough for an efficient, lethal team.



The team wished to win a national championship, and that wish was granted. But the next day (this season), UNC woke up in an entirely new body. The familiarity of Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green was gone. A transformation has taken place, from a guard-oriented team to one dominated by the frontcourt. With all the talent and newfound size on the front line, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 4 nationally, as people were excited, thrilled and a bit freaked out. But just as Hanks struggled to adjust initially, so too are these Tar Heels.

Yes, they won the game last night 77-73 to remain unbeaten in the early going, but this team is clearly awkward and still finding itself. The new body isn't quite as familiar and efficient as the old one just yet, which is understandable when you lose the top four players from the year before. At times, UNC looked dominant, building an 18-point lead. But turnovers and shoddy guard play, not to mention more missed free throws, allowed Ohio State to creep back into it and forced the Tar Heels to really turn it on the final minutes to prevent blowing what was once an enormous lead.

North Carolina is no longer a team with the most reliable backcourt in America. In fact, their guards are the biggest weakness. Lawson and Ellington were two players who took care of the basketball, ran the team incredibly well, and could score and create shots for themselves or others routinely. This year's backcourt is not there yet, evident by the team's 20 turnovers a game average, and the 19 last night that kept them on such a pace. Sophomore Larry Drew II and freshman Dexter Strickland are clearly still trying to adjust to the college game, and they don't resemble Lawson in the least. Last night, it was evident that neither could generate their own shot when they had too, at least not yet, and the Tar Heels don't seem to have that guy on the team. The size is plentiful, but this team will be a work in progress, just like it was a work in progress for Josh Baskin to get used to being big. The Tar Heels must do the same thing … learn to adjust their game and style to fit their new, big body.

At the end of the movie, Josh realizes that he wasn't quite ready to be big and wanted to return to his old form. He wanted that familiarity back. Hopefully the Tar Heels can be successful this season the way Josh was in his job at the toy company, and just like in "Big," the Tar Heels will go back to resembling a squad that more closely reflects their old self, with the arrival of Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock to reload the backcourt, giving Roy Williams the opportunity to get back to his up-tempo, push, push, push style.

In the meantime, UNC will have to adjust and adapt in its new body, and find a way to make it work, just as Josh did until he returned to form.

Perhaps You'd Like to Kick My Dog While We're at It

Talk about a terrible week. The Phillies lose the World Series on Wednesday. Then Penn State loses Saturday, and the Eagles lose last night. Not only that, the Phils lost to the Yankees, Penn State to Ohio State and the Eagles to the Cowboys, three teams that I absolutely hate. It was one of the worst weeks in recent memory. Basically, the complete opposite of this.

With the Phils bowing out earlier in the week, I was looking forward to big weekend of football to get my mind off the tough loss and begin to lick the wounds. I planned on starting that process Friday night, heading out to State College with Adam EatShit and his girlfriend to meet up with some old friends and hit up our old college town. On Friday night, I should have known things were not going to go well. The three of us arrived in State College around 10:45 p.m. with the intentions of heading downtown and meeting up with our roommate, who made the trip earlier in the day, and a bevy of his friends. Well, we did meet up with them, but we couldn't get in a single bar. They were all packed to the gils, with lines spanning the small blocks in our college town. I forgot just how incredibly packed the bars get on Ohio State weekend.

Instead of drinking our faces off at all our old favorite bars, we wandered around in the cold for an hour before finally deciding just to head back to the house we were staying at and drinking there. We didn't even have the real ability to enjoy the bar scene at our school. Talk about a bad omen.



Saturday started off about as good as you could expect. The weather was unseasonably beautiful for State College — bright and sunny and in the 60s. A perfect day for a tailgate. Our large crew headed to the stadium and got started early, eating a buffet of delicious food and downing some brews. Arkansas Fred, who piss-poorly couldn't come for the entire weekend, met us there, and even a buddy of mine who I hadn't seen in literally over a year showed up. All signs were pointing to a good day. Shit, things were going so great that we were even fortunate enough for the cowboy hat wearing douchebags from our section to not be in attendance, at least not in their normal seats around us. Then the game happened.

What a complete shitfest that was. Twenty or so minutes before the game was set to kick off, Iowa finally lost one of the games that they deserved to lose, dropping to Northwestern and losing quarterback Ricky Stanzi, opening the door for Penn State to still win the Big Ten title. All they needed to do was beat Ohio State — then Indiana at home and Michigan State on the road — and then root for the Buckeyes to knock off Iowa in the Horseshoe next weekend. There was only one problem with that: The Buckeyes also had a little extra incentive, now knowing they controlled their own destiny for the Big Ten title. Beat Penn State and Iowa, and then all that would stand in the way of an Ohio State conference championship would be Michigan. Well, Ohio State got the memo and came out and played a solid, if unspectacular game. Apparently, the Nittany Lions did not.

It was easily one of the most uninspired, poorly coached football games I've ever seen Penn State play. Right off the get-go, on their first punt, they gave up a 41-yard return which led to Ohio State's first score. Their special teams have been dreadful all year, and they haven't gotten one ounce better. Jeremy Boone is the only bright spot, booming high, long kicks routinely, but the coverage is pathetic, has been all year. Same thing with the kickoff coverage, though that has improved steadily throughout the year. Conversely, the return teams are a joke. There is no threat back there, and their alignments are borderline retarded. On punts, they put two guys back to catch the ball. Two. And neither one of them has the ability to take it to the house. And they're both white. Graham Zug and Drew Astorino have no business being back there. None. One of the best returns the Nittany Lions have had all year came the one time they decided to put true freshman Justin Brown back there, a player with size and speed and a threat to go the distance. It was his one and only time back there returning a punt. It makes no sense. On kick returns, Chaz Powell isn't terrible, but again, why not try a guy like Brown or some other younger, more explosive player that has already blown their redshirt? I don't get it. And keep Jerome Hayes away from the returner. Having him as the up man is stupid. He wants to catch the ball every time, and he has no business doing that. Yet he screwed up the first kick return of the game, getting in Powell's way and letting the ball drop. Add to that the terrible blocking, awful placekicker and general ineptitude on special teams, and you have yourself a phase of the game that completely hinders the team's ability to win. And sometimes even Boone hurts them, taking too long to get the ball off his foot, but he was fine Saturday. It was the rest of the team that sucked.



Offensively, Penn State looked timid, conservative and, frankly, scared. Derek Moye has been a tremendous big threat for them all season, and he had the ball thrown to him down the field once all game. He drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone that set up their only score. Then they didn't take a shot to him the rest of the game. He finished the game without a catch. Why? Because Penn State has some terrible play callers, that's why. Galen Hall and Jay Paterno are just plain dumb sometimes, and Saturday was a prime example.

Not that the coaches had much help from the players. The offensive line, which had played progressively better each and every week since the loss to Iowa, regressed back to that terrible unit that took the field against the Hawkeyes. Ohio State's defensive line won the battle in the trenches virtually every play, giving Daryll Clark little time to pass, Evan Royster no room to run and the offense no chance to succeed. That's where the game was lost. And it didn't help that when he was given time, Clark, one of the biggest frauds to ever takes snaps under center at Penn State, was dreadful. He finished the game 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) for 125 yards and a pick. Graham Zug had 7 of those catches (for 96 yards). The rest of the Lions had 5 catches for 29 yards combined. No one else even had more than one catch. Andrew Quarless, who has had a quietly good season thus far, dropped a pass early in the game, and then he wasn't targeted after that. Chaz Powell had one catch for 0 yards. Moye was shut out. And Royster was rendered ineffective due to his lack of room, gaining just 36 yards. It was awful. Penn State couldn't move the ball at all. They couldn't even muster any first downs, and Ohio State was in control virtually all game. They won the battle of field position, were coached must more wisely and didn't make mistakes. They were the better team Saturday, no question about it.

But the game was winnable. The coaches just didn't put the players in position to get that win. Terrelle Pryor, who can't throw worth a shit, didn't have a big game statistically, but he was in command back there. He made several big plays with his feet, which were made possible by Tom Bradley's insanely idiotic defensive philosophy in the game. Pryor is a guy who uses his legs to make things happen, a guy who relies on them and takes off at will. He's a terrible passer, but a tremendous athlete. Naturally, you'd expect a defensive coordinator to make sure his guys got the message on keep contain on Pryor, and you would think they'd put a spy on him to follow him around, a guy with the same type of athleticism, a guy like Navorro Bowman. Makes sense. But you would be wrong. Instead, Penn State's defensive ends were getting sucked in routinely, allowing Pryor to get outside, and instead of having a guy like Bowman spy him or playing speedier linebackers like Bani Gbadyu and Nate Stupar in place of Josh Hull, he kept playing the plodding Josh Hull, who could be seen chasing and then getting pulled away from Terelle Pryor. It made absolutely no sense.



I don't think Hull could catch me in a race, let alone Terrelle Pryor. Pathetic. Speaking of pathetic, I really liked the way Drew Astorino played last season for Penn State. He has good instincts and seems to get to the ball a lot. And he's done that this year as well. But damn, what the hell happened to the guy this year? He was a sure-handed tackler last season, but this year, he can't make a tackle to save his life. Every week, he misses at least five tackles. Frankly, it's getting ridiculous. Though it wasn't Astorino who was to blame for the big play that sealed the victory for the Buckeyes. My boy, D' Anton Lynn, got beat bad by DeVier Posey, and Nick Sukay was too late on the help. The resulting 62-yard touchdown pass was the straw that broke Penn State's back. I'd show you the highlights, but there were none. It was an awful performance, all the more maddening given what was at stake.

This game proved that Penn State simply isn't that good this year. They played an absolutely absurd schedule, so easy they should be ashamed of themselves, yet they still find themselves with two losses. And both those losses came at home. And they were really the only two games against good teams. You don't deserve to go to a BCS bowl when that happens, and Penn State certainly won't. It was not a great way to cap off the weekend, though we tried to make the best of it by actually getting into some bars Saturday night. And I found out I had a ticket to the Eagles-Cowboys game Sunday night, so I was holding out hope that the week could be salvaged.

After a night of drinking and a return trip to Philadelphia, there was something to look forward to despite all the carnage that had taken place for my teams to that point in the week. Again, it was unseasonably warm and beautiful in the city, hitting 70 degrees, and Adam EatShit and I headed to the stadium to tailgate along with two of our roommates and few other friends. It was beautiful outside. I was in short sleeves and feeling mighty fine. We grilled up some meat, ate some grub and drank down some brews. The atmosphere was great. That was, again, until the game happened.



In much the same way that Penn State played a sloppy, poorly coached game, so too did the Eagles. And just like Penn State, the Eagles were playing for something big, in this case sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Then after stopping Dallas on the opening drive, the Eagles faced a 3rd and 5 on their first possession of the game. The Eagles made a perfect play call, with Jeremy Maclin wide open over the middle. Donovan put the ball right there. It went right off Maclin's hands, and then into the arms of a Dallas Cowboy. The Cowboys took the ball over and then went 37 yards and into the end zone. Minutes in, the Eagles faced a 7-0 hole because a rookie wide receiver, a first round pick who is getting paid an insane amount of money to catch the football, couldn't do the one thing he's paid to do — catching the fucking football — and his tipped ball landed in the hands of Dallas. Great start.

Things didn't get much better from there. The Eagles played an incredibly stupid game, making boneheaded, costly penalties, running plays that made absolutely no sense, giving up the big play, and generally doing everything they could to lose. On the very next possession following the turnover, the Eagles ran the ball for three yards with LeSean McCoy. Then they ran it again with Leonard Weaver for six yards. So what do they do on 3rd-and-1? Naturally, they decide to pass the ball, fail to get a completion and are forced to punt. On the two preceding plays, the Eagles just ran the ball for 9 total yards. If my math's correct, and I think it is, that's 4.5 yards per carry. The Eagles needed one. Leonard Weaver, who just got six yards on the ground the play before, weighs 250 pounds. Every fucking time the Eagles have 3rd-and-1, Leonard Weaver should get the football. He did not, and the Eagles didn't convert. I wish Andy Reid would just drop dead.



The Eagles had some baffling calls in the first half, no doubt, and they failed to get in the end zone, but the score was 10-6 at half and neither team looked particular good. It was in the second half where the Eagles really went to shit. On the opening kickoff in the 2nd half, Ellis Hobbs went the distance, returning the ball 96 yards for a touchdown. Well, we thought he had. Turns out, Moise Fokou, who started at linebacker as well in place of injured Chris Gocong, was called for holding. Still, the Eagles put together their first and only complete drive of the game, going 62 yards in six plays, capped off by McNabb's touchdown pass to Brent Celek, who is simply becoming a beast. At that moment, I thought the Eagles were going to win. The stadium was going nuts, the Eagles had taken the lead. It was time to step on the Cowboys' throats and began to pull away. And it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen.

On the ensuing drive for Dallas, Sheldon Brown intercepted Tony Romo and returned the ball deep into Dallas territory. The Eagles not only had the ball, but they had it in prime scoring position. Until they didn't. After the pick, the Eagles were called for an illegal chop block. Instead of starting deep in Dallas territory, the Birds had the ball at their own 1. Instead of getting ready to score again, they were pinned deep. The Eagles did move the ball out of trouble and faced a 3rd-and-2 and the 41. McNabb threw a pass to LeSean McCoy that seemed to be good for a first down, but the officials ruled McCoy short. Right when I saw the spot, I knew it was the right call. McCoy had come back on the ball on his own, and he went backwards on his own. His forward progress wasn't impeded by the defender, therefore, he was down where he was touched, 4th and inches. Andy, the worst coach at challenging plays in the history of the league, threw the flag, despite the fact that I, from section 217, could see plain as day that the ref had made the right call. It cost them a timeout in a tie game in the 3rd quarter, a timeout you would think they'd need later. To make the challenge even more mind-numbingly stupid, Reid decided to go for it on 4th-and-short. He could have simply saved the challenge and timeout and gone for it anyway. Dumb. And then said 4th down was even more dumb. Two or three Cowboys jumped across the line and into the neutral zone. All Jamaal Jackson needed to do was snap the ball when he saw not one, but two or even three Cowboys jump offsides and the Birds would have gotten the first down and continued their drive. He did not, and moments later, Jason Peters (barely) flinched, getting called for a false start. Had Jamaal Jackson simply used his head, done what every center in Pop Warner is taught to do and snapped the ball on a 4th and short when you see the defense jump offsides, the Eagles would have been in a good position. Instead they failed to even get the snap off, being forced to punt. Two horrible decisions in the matter of seconds. Pathetic.

The Eagles D made a great stand and got the ball back, but then on the first play, McNabb took a shot deep to Maclin. The ball was thrown poorly, and it was picked. Another chance to seize momentum for good gone by the wayside. The Cowboys turned that turnover into three points, tying the game. Two interceptions by Dallas led directly to 10 of their 13 points. Not good.



In a tie game in the 4th quarter, a whole slew of people in our section left. In a tie game. Against the Cowboys. Every one of those people who left should do everyone a favor and stay home from now on. Let real fans who want to watch the entire game have your tickets. You bunch of assholes. That pissed me off to no end. Almost as much as Andy Reid and the Eagles.

On the ensuing drive, the Birds faced a 3rd-and-1 at the Dallas 45. They needed one yard. Leonard Weaver ran roughshod over the Giants the week before and was getting four and five yards a clip last night. He can get you a yard in his sleep. He wasn't even in the game on this key 3rd-and-1 in the 4th quarter. Did I mention that I hope Andy Reid drops dead? He did give the ball to LeSean McCoy, and I thought he got the first down. The officials disagreed, marking him about a foot short. I couldn't believe it, but the Eagles just needed a foot. Surely they could get that, right? Wrong. McNabb looked like he got enough on the 4th down QB sneak, but he was marked short. It was tough to tell, but it was a hard pill to swallow for a number of reasons. For starters, you have to be able to convincingly get a foot. The Eagles didn't. That's frustrating. Secondly, I really do think McCoy got screwed, that he got that first down. Third, I'm 100 percent confident that Leonard Weaver would have gotten you a yard on 3rd-and-1.

Andy decided to challenge again. He had already blown a timeout early in the third because he or Marty didn't get the play in early enough, and then lost another timeout on a moronic challenge. He lost again. There was 10:49 remaining in the game, a tie game, and the Eagles had no timeouts left. Have I told you that I wish Andy Reid would drop dead? Because I do. Just thought you should know.

The Cowboys got the ball back and got called for a penalty to make it 1st and 20 at the Dallas 45. Then Will Witherspoon, who is the man, got Marion Barber for a four yard loss, bringing up 2nd and 24. The Cowboys got 10 of it back, but they still faced a 3rd and 14. Somehow, on that 3rd and 14 play, Sheldon Brown and Quintin Mikell let Miles Austin, who had exactly 0 catches for 0 yards until that point, get behind them. Romo hit him on the numbers, and Austin took it 49 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. It was unbelievably awful, inexcusable defense. Romo put forth an unconvincing, go-through-motions pump fake, and Sheldon bit on it, jumping the route. Romo pulled it back and caught Brown flat-footed, and hit Ausin. Mikell, who seemed to be the deep help, was too slow to get over and also allowed Austin to get behind him. It was absurd that two veterans would allow that to happen, especially on a third and 14.

The Eagles did manage to get a field goal with just under 5 minutes left, but they had no timeouts remaining. Then on the very first play, they allowed Marion Barber to gain 16 yards. It was the fake pass delayed handoff draw that the Cowboys had been running all night. And the Cowboys had a four-point lead with less than 5 minutes to play knowing the Eagles had no timeouts. They were going to run the ball every play they could. Everyone in the stadium knew it. And the Eagles were still unprepared for it. Barber followed that up with another six-yard gain on the next play, the exact same play call. Dallas ran it again, then got the first down on a well-designed pass to Jason Witten to seal the game and run out the clock.

With first place on the line, the Eagles looked more like the team that lost to Oakland than the one that dismantled the Giants. It was inexcusable. The offensive game plan was just brutal. The Eagles, notorious for spreading the ball around and keeping defenses off-balance, seemed to run the game completely through Jeremy Maclin. Almost every pass play was aimed his way. Brent Celek, who has been impossible for anyone to cover this year, only had three catches for 39 yards. DeSean Jackson, the most explosive player on the team and one of the most reliable big-play guys in the league, had two catches for 29 yards, and was targeted only a handful of times. Jason Avant made two big catches, but wasn't thrown to besides that. All these supposed weapons and the Birds couldn't get it to any of them. That's terrible. That's a team that was unprepared and unwilling to adjust. That's on the coaching staff as much as it is on the players. And after running the ball for 9 yards on two plays in the first quarter, they passed on 3rd-and-1. Later in the game, they faced a 3rd-and-4, a prime time to pass. So they ran, and failed to get the first down. It just makes no sense.

This team is so god damn frustrating. For 11 years now, they've been a Jekyll and Hyde team. For 11 years, they've been making the same mistakes: poor clock management, terrible challenges, questionable play-calling, failing to come through in the clutch. It's getting so old and so tired. I'm so over dealing with it all. Something has to change, because the same thing year in and year out isn't cutting it. Yes, the team has had a lot of success, but the failures are routinely the same. How long does it take to realize they're never going to change, never going to get corrected before you finally cut the chord. There's a lot of season left, no doubt, and I fully expect the Eagles to play well and fight for the playoffs. But if and when they get there, does anyone have confidence they'll correct all these recurring problems all the sudden and finally get over the hump? Because I don't. Not one bit. They sure didn't do anything last night to instill that confidence.

What an awful week.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Over the past month-plus, Philadelphia's collective sports attention has been focused on the Phillies and their quest to repeat as World Fucking Champions. Sadly, that journey ended one game too early Wednesday night, with the Phils failing to defend their crown. Football, though it has been played and gone on as usual, was sort of put on the back burner. But no more, and there couldn't be a better weekend of games to take our minds off baseball. That's because this weekend features two heated rivalries, two games that make any football excited. Tomorrow, at 3:30 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania, Penn State takes on Ohio State. Of course, I'll be there. And then on Sunday night, the Eagles host the Cowboys for first place in the NFC East.



Last season, the Penn State-Ohio State game was part of the GREATEST. WEEKEND. EVER., as the Nittany Lions went into the Horseshoe and upset the Buckeyes 13-6 en route to winning the Big Ten. This time around, the game is Beaver Stadium, and once again, these two teams clash with identical records. Sadly, this game has much more Big Ten title implications for Ohio State than Penn State, but the Lions can wipe away any hope of the Buckeyes capturing that crown with a victory.

I have a feeling this game will be quite similar to last year's, a low-scoring, sloppy game. The team that makes the least mistakes will win. These are two defenses loaded with talent and playing at a high level. Whichever offense can muster up the most points will have the edge. Looking at the season thus far, that would seem to favor Penn State. They have a fifth-year senior at quarterback, very talented running backs and a slew of no-name receivers that really have performed well. Add in a breakout season from the tight end and an offensive line that has improved week in and week out, and Penn State's chances are looking pretty good. This is a team that is balanced, they can beat you through the air and on the ground.

Ohio State cannot say the same. The savior Terrelle Pryor so far hasn't been quite what he was cracked up to be. This "dual-threat" sophomore quarterback, who spurned his home-state school for nuttier pastures, has been anything but. Terrelle Pryor is an awful passer, and he really hasn't gotten any better. Some say he's even gotten worse. And that bodes well for Penn State. The Buckeyes have to be successful running the football to score points, and the Nittany Lions don't give up many yards rushing, what with the likes of Jared Odrick, Ollie Ogbu, Navorro Bowman and Sean Lee clogging things up. And an improved Penn State secondary should shut down any threat of an Ohio State passing threat. One-dimensional teams typically don't do well against a Tom Bradley defense. I'm thinking Penn State matches up well with Ohio State this year. The only question is has this young offensive line matured and improved enough since that debacle at Iowa to handle a very talented, very good Ohio State defense? That will be bar-none the biggest matchup of the game tomorrow. I can't wait.



Then, to cap off a huge Big Ten battle, we get the Eagles taking on the Cowboys at the Linc Sunday night, first place on the line. Both teams come in at 5-2, and both are coming off some excellent performances. I wouldn't expect the same outcome that happened the last time these two teams met, the 44-6 beatdown that simultaneously knocked Dallas out of the playoffs and got Philadelphia in, thanks to a helping hand from Oakland. Yes, that Oakland. The same one the Eagles lost to this season. Maybe the Birds were just returning the favor the Raiders bestowed upon them last season.



I fully expect this game to be a shootout. Both offenses are clicking this season (for the most part), and both teams have plenty of weapons. The good news is the Eagles have an excellent secondary, so they should be able to handle the Dallas wide receivers, even the red hot Miles Austin. Of course, the big keys will be how the Eagles handled the three-headed monster rushing attack, and of course, how they deal with Jason Witten, a notorious Eagles killer, as are most tight ends in the league. And as always, the Eagles know the best way to beat Dallas is to hit Tony Romo over and over again. For a mobile guy, he really doesn't handle pressure and getting hit well, which is why he's had such little success against the Eagles and even less in the playoffs.

Offensively, the Eagles have to continue to work on the continuity on the offensive line. A repeat performance of the Giants game would go a long way. Against a very talented New York front four, the offensive line kept McNabb clean most of the game, and he was able to sit back there and take some big shots. If the offensive line can give McNabb time, I expect the Eagles to win. And I'm looking for Brent Celek, the new Jason Witten, to have a huge game. With the Cowboys' defensive scheme, I just can't imagine that Celek won't find plenty of holes and mismatches. That guy is becoming a premier tight end pretty quickly.



A win against Dallas would be a great way to cheer up the city mourning a tough to swallow World Series loss.

It was fun being distracted by the Phillies early in the football season for the second straight season, especially with Penn State putting forth a clunker against Iowa and the Eagles somehow losing to a dreadful Oakland team, but I have to admit, it's good to have football back in the forefront. I haven't been this excited for two games in one weekend for a little while now. And two victories would go a long way in helping to heal the wounds from Wednesday night.

Line of the Day

Now, I know that Ohio State is probably going to destroy Penn State in November. The Penn State offensive line is atrocious and the OSU defensive line is awesome. But so what? That doesn't mean I can't take great joy in Spencer Hall's hilarious commentary on Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel:

We’ll Always Have Tempe scouts Terrell Pryor and comes away with unkind words for his feet. He is only a sophomore, meaning Jim Tressel has two more years to not develop him as a quarterback before turning him loose in the Arena Football League. (We’re Florida fans. Believe us, we know from college qbs groomed for the CFL, AFL, Finnish men’s club leagues, and grad school flag football squads.)

I just wish the same wasn't true of Daryll Clark. But alas, it is. Daryll Clark is a fraud.

Air Conditioned Links

I live in a house with four other guys, making it a total of five men in one three-story household. Four of us are friends. I've known two of them since junior high/high school and the four of us who are friends all went to the same college (one transferred after a year, but still). But the fifth roommate, well, he's just an awful, awful person. Honestly, I can't even describe it. You have to meet him to fully appreciate how awkward, annoying and needy he is. It's terrible.

To top things off, he is stupid. Like, borderline brain-dead stupid. This stupid ass continually, even after a profanity-laden tirade by myself directed at him, turns on the air conditioning in our house without telling anyone and without shutting any of the windows.



As any human being with a few functioning brain cells knows, leaving the windows open with the air conditioning on makes the air conditioner have to work harder because the open windows allow all the hot air to come in and the cool air to go out of the house. Thus, it takes much more energy, which makes the electric bill skyrocket. Hey, fucko, it's a mother-fucking recession! Close the God damn windows, asshole! Honestly, if I could murder him and get away with it, I probably would. Too bad murder isn't legal.

Now the links …

-Antone gives Philly some love, first with a block by Theo and then with a dunk by Temple alum Eddie Jones on then-Sixer Shawn Bradley at the Spectrum:





-Roman explains why Phillies-Mets is the best rivalry in baseball.

-Yesterday, I highlighted the Philly kids in SLAM's Fresh 75. Today, SLAM has the Fresh 50 2010, including Penn State guard Talor Battle's little brother, Taran Buie, who has already committed to Penn State:



36 Taran Buie 6-3 SG/PG Bishop Maginn (NY) Penn State Ryan Jones’ soon-to-be favorite player is a smooth combo guard who can run the show, score from deep with his reliable stroke or going to the hole, using his effortless athleticism.



43 James Bell 6-5 SF/SG Montverde (FL) Villanova Bell, a high-flying swingman, has become a deadly shooter from the outside and is one of the more fundamentally-sound athletes you’ll see.

-Check out Raul Ibanez's stool. Seriously, click there. It's hilarious.

-Another humorous Raul photo.

-Steven Nash did a bang-up job as Letterman's NBA Finals correspondent:



-Why does Ohio State get a free pass?

Finally, I got an e-mail from Lavar's Love Child today, and it was classic:

They had the celtics nba trophy here today. i touched it. i tend to pick my nose a lot at work and may have rubbed some boogers on it. i feel like a better person for it

Excellent work, my friend. Excellent work.