Oklahoma Jumps to the Top

The Oklahoma Sooners (4-0) are now the number one team according to the AP rankings as of September 28 since the formerly ranked number 1 team USC Trojans lost at unranked Oregon State in an upset of 21-27. The Sooners just crushed the TCU Horned Frogs, previously the ranked number 24 team, in a blowout of 35-10. There were several ranked teams who lost their games over the weekend. 5 of these ranked teams lost at home: Georgia, Florida, Wake Forest, Clemson, and East Carolina. With a lot of ranked teams losing lately, should Oklahoma be worried that that they could be the next ranked team to suffer an unexpected loss and drop in the polls? The Sooners starting quarterback Sam Bradford expresses no concern about their ranking. Bradford says, "At this point, being No. 1 means absolutely nothing." He is more focused on getting prepared for the next game.

Oklahoma's defense has been key in its many victories this season. The defense has set the tone for the opponents. Just last weekend, the opposing kick returner broke past the defenders and was tackled at Oklahoma's 15 yard line. Now the Sooners defense had to prevent the number 24 TCU Horned Frogs from gaining these 15 yards and a touchdown. The Sooners came out strong and even pushed TCU backwards for -4 on the next 3 plays and forced them to kick a field goal. With a strong defense like Oklahoma, the offense can go out and play their game without thinking that we need to score to stay in the game. The pressure came off the quarterback to score on every single drive and he was able to relax and have an impressive game. The Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford went 411 yards through the air on only 19 completions with 4 touchdowns and not a single interception. Ever since NFL star Adrian Peterson left the Sooners to play for the Minnesota Vikings, Oklahoma has never had a strong running game. As long as Bradford had a solid passing game, the running game will open itself up and running backs will be able to gain pretty good yardage when the defenses are trying to prevent the passing game. Expect the Oklahoma running game to get stronger as the season goes on and more people realize the threat of their throwing game. If the Sooners offensive and defensive teams continue to play strong in the upcoming games, Oklahoma will be a hard team to stop.

Penn State Offensive Powerhouse

Penn State has one of the best offenses in college football, and in my opinion, is the most diverse. They currently are nationally ranked in the top eight in scoring with 52.8 points per game, rushing with 274.3 rushing yards per game, and total yards with 538.5 yards per game. The No. 12 Penn State offense is led by their quarterback Daryll Clark with seven touchdowns and only one interception. This team looks practically unstoppable on offense.

So what is it that makes this team so great? First of all, they have a solid running game with four regular ball-carriers. Evan Royster leads the ground game with an average of 8.1 yards per carry, and his back-up Stephfon Green has an average of 7.3 yards per carry. So which one of these all-star running backs do you put most of your attention towards? Go for one, and the other will punish you. Not only do the opposing defenses have to watch the running backs, but the quarterback as well. The mobile quarterback Daryll Clark is averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Defenses need to be aware of Clark so that he doesn't scramble away for a big gain when the defenders are focused on the running backs.

Not only can Clark scramble for a first down, but he can also throw the ball to one of his many talented receivers. Penn State has three big target receivers who are all averaging over 14 yards per carry. This means Clark has several recievers that are all capable of making big plays, delivering a stike to opposing defenders. Opposing defenses cannot go asleep against this guy, or he will throw it deep and hit a receiver for a huge gain.

Penn State is 4-0 right now and have blown their opponents away by a minimum of 31 points. Is there anyone who can stop this offensive powerhouse? We will have to wait and see.

Purdue Football…Declining?

Purdue Footballs student support is like France…whenever something bad happens it just rolls over and dies every time a challenge arises. I mean when Purdue loses one game it seems as if the season is over and there is no more football. For instance during the Oregon game the crowd got silent when Oregon started to show up and play and the student section seemed as if they went mute. Come on fellow boilers we need to cheer even when were down that is the only way the team will have faith in themseleves. Another example is when the Chippewas went ahead by one with the two-point conversion I saw some people leave in disgust when there was still time left for a miracle. Come on now a Boiler never gives up on their team so we must never give up on our team and walking out before the game is over is giving up. I believe that Football Team should just start everything over I mean it seems as if the Offensive Coordinator has no “balls” to go for anything because he never signals to go for a 4th down conversion or to go for that two-point conversion. Coach Tiller is just a story in itself, his legacy ended with Drew Bree’s and if you don’t believe check the stats because Purdue has declined significantly since he has left. So the best way to improve our Boiler football is to incorporate fanfare and raise fan support, hire a new head coach and offensive coordinator with some “balls,” and recruit and scout players much better. All in all Purdue Football ain’t that bad but could use some work.

Boilers Prevail Over Chippewas...by LUCK?

How sad would it have been if we would have lost to the Directional School Michigan, a.k.a. Central Michigan Chippewas. I mean just the name sounds dumb, who would want to be called a Chippewa and how did it originate. All this really doesn’t matter; all that really matters is that, my boy, Kory Sheets juked the entire Central Michigan Secondary to score and win the game with a minute left. Kory Sheets showed the entire Ross-Ade Stadium what is was to be CLUTCH. Although, he was not having one of his greatest games he finished strongly and helped the Boilers beat the incredibly resilient Chippewa’s. When Purdue faced them in the 2007 Motor City Bowl the outcome was decided by a clutch field goal, which gave the go ahead points to Purdue. So, this win was kind of of the same for the boilers except instead of a boring field goal our runing back juked the entire secondary and scored.

Although, the entire offense needs to step up , for real, since when is it okay to almost lose to a MAC (Mid-American Conference) team. I mean come on IU loss to a MAC team (Ball State) but Purdue can never lose to a MAC team or our season is in deep trouble. Although, I will give Central Michigan some credit because they do have an amazing athlete in their quarterback, Dan LeFavour who rushed for over 100 yards and passed for over 250 yards, that’s just beast. Their defense on the other hand was not that good although they held us pretty well against the run, except for Kory’s game winner. We played like crap on offense and defense though, so we need to step it up this week for Notre Dame although both teams are in a slump as of late. All in all, the win was good for moral of the team after the heart wrenching double overtime loss against Oregon, but our team does need to step up and show that we do not fold over if something goes bad or we get behind and we need to actually play football in the second half of games!!!

Career Ending Injury For Love

During the first quarter of the Indiana and Ball State football game Saturday, Ball State's top receiver, Dante Love, was taken off the field, by stretcher, and transferred immediately to Bloomington Hospital and would eventually be moved to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. All this happened as Love caught a short pass when one of Indiana's corner backs, Chris Adkins, hit helmet to helmet with Love.

Dante Love was on the ground, motionless, for 15 minutes before they put him on the stretcher to be taken off the field and escorted to a hospital. He said he felt numbness in both his arms and legs as they strapped him to the backboard. Love had a cervical spine fracture and a spinal cord injury. After a 5 hour surgery at Bloomington Hospital, Dante was able to move his arms and legs under his own power. This is a good sign for the Ball State receiver to his recovery towards a normal life. However, Dante Love will never be able to play football again.

I think helmet collisions are the most dangerous and threatening hit that a defender can give to someone. You never know how much harm you can do. Not only can you give each other concussions, but you can do some serious damage to the opponents back. This is exactly what happened to Dante Love on Saturday. I don't think the hit was meant to hurt anybody, but I think there should be a penalty for helmet to helmet hits.


Love ended his career holding the school record with 2,129 kick off return yards. He was also ranked second in Ball State history in receptions and receiving yards with 199 receptions for 2,778 yards. Not only did Love leave his mark in the record books, but with his fellow teammates as well. The team still considers him part of the team even though he will never take the field again. They are more concerned with his health and safety rather than the fact that he is not going to play with them again. This is the best attribute that you can look for in teammates. They care for each other on and off the field.

Love's physical presence may be gone, but he will always be a part of the team. We will have to watch and see how the Ball State Cardinals do without their star receiver, Dante Love.

Notre Dame Tight End out for Game

Notre Dame’s tight end Will Yeatman will not play this Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers. This could help us a lot because he is one of the best blocking tight ends in college football and Notre Dame needs all the help in the world to get their running game going; being ranked 111th, averaging 78 yards a game. This could be the decision factor of of the game against Purdue as long as we play well. Anyways before I went off on that tangent, Will Yeatman was arrested on charges of consumption of alcohol by a minor and resisting arrest after being caugth at a party. This arrest brings a key factor because less than a year ago he was arrested for drinking and driving but was told if he did not get in trouble for a year the only charge that would stay on his record would be the wreckless driving charge. So this could bring up the drunken driving charge which may mean that jail time could be a possibility, which then in turn would ruin his chances of playing football.
Coach Weis said, "As you go through growing pains you try to educate and teach and let them know that you weren't perfect going through the growing experience yourself. You just try to educate them as best as you can and give them as much guidance as you can,"
He said he talks to the team regularly about alcohol and other societal issues.
"I'm not here to play judge and jury. The most important thing is for me to look out for the interests of the kids and the team and the university," he said. "I have to try to have those to mutually coexist peacefully and do what's in best interest of all three."
This being said Will Yeatman could be in for some troubling times ahead and being that he is the second string tight end for Notre Dame, they are in a deep hole having to play a player who was not even supposed to play this season but as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross says, "I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime"

Strong Finish

Purdue came out flat against the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday. Other than Purdue's very first drive that ended with a field goal, it seemed that the Boilermaker offense could not get anything going their way. Receivers kept dropping passes. Running backs were stopped at the line of scrimmage. Painter was sacked for losses. The game looked like it was going in the wrong direction for the Boilers.

Both teams went into half time with the scored tied 10-10. Not only was the Purdue offense struggling to execute, the defense was having a hard time stopping their running game. A big part of this battle came from the Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour. LeFevour was a double threat that the Boilers could not figure out how to contain. He was a great passes as well as an excellent scrambler. Purdue capitalized on one of his first errors in the game when safety Frank Duong intercepted a pass and took in all the back for a touchdown.

Central Michigan scored a touchdown and completed a 2-point conversion to take a 25-24 lead over Purdue with 1:28 left in the game. Purdue needed a great drive to score, and that is exactly what they did. Purdue's kick returner Desmond Tardy had a great return of 39 yards added with a 15 yard face mask penalty. The Boilers were within striking distance of the end zone. With a minute left in the game, Kory Sheets broke loose with a 46 yard rushing touchdown to give Purdue a 32-25 advantage over Central Michigan. Central Michigan did not give up however. They were connecting on several passes during their final drive, but Purdue's Dwight Mclean intercepted the final pass of the game with 27 seconds left in the game. Purdue won the thrilling game against the Chippewas. Not only did Kory Sheets run for an amazing game winning touchdown, but he also broke the Purdue rushing touchdown record previously held by Mike Alstott.

Congratulations to Kory Sheets on his achievement!

College Soccer Star

Akron’s Steve Zakuani, who is only a sophomore, has received three more individual awards this week including Mid-American Conference Player of the Week for the second straight time in two weeks. He was also included in the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. Steve Zakuani was born in the Congo and was raised in London and moved to the United States to play soccer for Akron University. He has had three goals and two assists in six games this season. He is very skillful with the ball and works very hard on improving his game. The team’s record is 3 wins 1 loss and 2 ties and are now ranked number 10 in the top 25. The team has definitely been helped by the explosiveness of Steve Zakuani’s play. The Akron soccer team is still in contention for championship but needs to improve some areas to make it. All in all Steve Zakuani is an amazing soccer player and will be heard more about as he grows as a young man and soccer player.

Could Tim Tebow be Only the Second Player to Win the Heisman...Twice?

The Heisman is a glorious award to any College Football player and every little boy that ever plays football knows the stance that goes along with the name of the award…Heisman. Although many players have gone on to greatness by winning the Heisman only one player since the beginning of Collegiate Football has won the award more than once for themselves. That player is Archie Griffin from the Ohio State Buckeyes. This fact could become obsolete because there could be another player that may be doubling up with the Heisman Trophy and that young man is Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. Tim Tebow is one of those all around quarterbacks, which means that he has the arm strength of a Brett Favre, the pin point accuracy of Joe Montana, and the running ability of Michael Vick. He is such an uncontrollable force that defenses set up around what Tim Tebow will do. In 2007 he won the Heisman trophy mostly because of the numbers that he put up including throwing for 3286 yards with 32 touchdowns and 66.9 percent completion percentage and rushing for 895 yards and 23 touchdowns. That is a spectacular season and just shows his diversity between the rushing and passing game. Although this year he has yet to run for a touchdown and has only threw three touchdowns, which compared to last year is far in the shadows from his optimal performance in my opinion. I believe that in that his passing and rushing touchdowns will increase greatly by the end of the season. This is because they finally have Percy Harvin back to 100 percent. The Associated Press stated that Florida receiver Percy Harvin hasn't felt this good since 10th grade. This is bad news because against Tennessee last year when he was not even 50 percent he had nine rushes for 107 yards and a touchdown. This just shows that Tim Tebow now has the chance to double up twice with the impervious Heisman Trophy.

Impressive Boiler Secondary

During the game last weekend against the Oregon Ducks, Purdue showed strengths and weaknesses on defense. Purdue's defensive line and linebackers allowed the Duck's running back, led by LeGarrette Blount, to gain an impressive 306 yards on the ground. However, the Boilermaker's secondary defense looked strong out there on the field. The corner backs and safeties did a terrific job in shutting down the quarterback and wide recievers.

Although many of the Duck wide recievers dropped several passes, Oregon's quarterback Justin Roper was shut down by the Boiler defense. Only completing 20 of 48 passing attempts for197 yards, the Ducks were unable to catch and run for a big play last Saturday. 42% pass completion percentage for a quarterback is not good at all, especially for a big school like Oregon. Pressure on the quarterback caused Justin Roper to toss up some poor decision passes, and he was picked off twice by Purdue's secondary. Overall, Purdue looked strong in the secondary, but they could use some work in stopping the run. Expect to see some great things from this Boiler defense throughout the course of games yet to come this season!

Fans Get Louder

During Purdue's season opener against Northern Colorado, the Boilermaker's fans were loud but not ever effective. The purpose of being loud is to make it so the away team can not hear their quarterback at the line of scrimmage. Northern Colorado's quarterback could be heard by everyone on the field without any mistakes. At that game, the fans were loudin cheering for Purdue after a great play or scoring a touchdown, but we did not do much in making noise to mute thier quarterback. The big advantage of being the home team is the fans, and we need to do our best in making as much noise as possible to help our our Boilermakers on the field.

The Oregon game last week is a completely different story. The fans were much louder and made it more difficult for the Ducks to hear their quarterback. Numerous times, the Oregon quarterback, Justin Roper, was running back and forth along the line of scrimmage yelling because his offensive line and wide recievers could not hear the play that he was trying to call. Maybe fans were louder at the Oregon game because Oregon is a big league team, and the game was close the entire time with much to get excited about. Purdue started the game with a huge run for a touchdown by Kory Sheets which got the Boiler fans excited and screaming right off the bat only 15 seconds into the game. If fans continue to raise the volume of games, expect the Boiler defense to step up and make big plays as well.

Recap: Oregon at Purdue

Sadness…this was the feeling throughout Ross Ade stadium after the extremely heart-wrenching loss of the Purdue Boilers against the mid-ranked Oregon Ducks. Although Purdue was thought to not have much of a chance against this formidable opponent; they had a showing of leadership and immaculate play by both the offense and defense. Within the first two plays of the game Purdue’s, Kory Sheets had an eighty yard run that put Purdue up by seven points. By the end of the first half Purdue had proved to the Oregon players that they came to play and that they would not give the game up that easily; although being underdogs.
Consequently, the Ducks brought their A-game in the second half. They started the second half out by going three and out and Ross Ade was going crazy it had been twenty some straight games that the Boilermakers had gone without beating a ranked opponent. Then suddenly in the blink of the eye, with four minutes left in the third quarter Oregon’s punt returner, Jarius Byrd, saw the opening but then suddenly it closed up but with a quick step to the left then a spin to the right there it was again and he was gone for a touchdown. Ross Ade went silent and in the student section you could hear whispering of “WHAAAAAA…how in the hell did he do that” or “DAAAYYYYMMMM…did you see that bro.” This was the turning point for the Purdue Boilers for after that they started falling apart; although they really didn’t have much of a showing coming out of the locker room after halftime. Anyways, two drives later Justin Roper and LeGarrette Blount created a drive that ended with LeGarrette Blount scoring his third touchdown of the season. A field goal by each team was then provided by each kicker and the score was tied, 23-23, with 5:06 left on the clock in the fourth quarter Purdue had the ball and a chance to win the game. As Purdue began to gain momentum and drive down the field they suddenly got stopped on the twenty seven yard line and began to panic, then the game was up to Junior Kicker Chris Summers who had made all his pats and field goals up to this one. It was a forty-forty yarder with a cross wind. Then right before he was about to kick it Oregon called a timeout to try and ice him. It worked because when the ball was hiked he kicked and the ball went wide left. Which meant OVERTIME!!!!!!!!!
In overtime Purdue went three and out and then kicked a field goal as did Oregon. Then in double overtime Purdue had the ball first and scored a field goal and then when Oregon got the ball they made a run and LeGarrette Blount scored the game winning overtime touchdown. Purdue put up an amazing fight but in the end could not get the job done.

Summers Fails to Finish

Purdue failed to execute at the end of regulation during last weekend's disappointment against the Oregon Ducks. With only a couple seconds left in the fourth quarter and the score tied, Purdue's field goal kicker Chris Summers had a chance to put the game away with a clutch kick from 44 yards out to seal the victory for the Boilermakers. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

With the last few seconds winding down in the fourth quarter, Purdue's head coach Joe Tiller called a timeout with only enough time for one last field goal attempt. Chris Summers took the field and was ready to kick the game winning points. When Summers was lined up and the ball about ready to be hiked, the Oregon coach called another time-out in attempts to "freeze" the kicker. "Freezing" the kicker is when the opposing team calls a time-out right before the kicker is about to hit a field goal. During the time-out, the kicker then thinks about all the pressure that is on him to make the points and he begins to get nervous since he can see what is on the line with his one last kick. Oregon's attempt to "freeze" Summers worked. The kick had the distance, but was just wide of the posts. The players take the field again for the greatest thing in college sports...overtime!

At the end of the Duck's first overtime drive, Oregon had to settle with a field goal. Purdue did the same on their drive with a 22 yard field goal when the offense failed to come up with a touchdown that would have won the game yet again. At the start of the second overtime, Purdue had the ball first with the ability to set the tone for this overtime series. Again Purdue had to settle with a 47 yard field goal, but Summers sent the ball just wide of the uprights. Purdue was scoreless on their drive and had to prevent the Ducks from coming away with a single point during their possession. The only chance Purdue had was to rely on their defense to prevent Oregon from even getting a field goal, but the Oregon Ducks scored on a run from their half back. It was over. Oregon had won. Summers had missed his chance to win the game for the Purdue Boilermakers. Chris Summers is not the clutch kicker that Purdue had hoped he was.

Game of the Week

It's now time for the game of the week which is between the teams Ohio State and USC (University of Southern California). This game is going to be one for the history books; USC is ranked number one in both polls while Ohio State is ranked number five in both polls. USC has and always will be OVERRATED; just because they can beat a BCS team opening day at their home by about 45 points does not mean that they are the “best.” Sure they have one of the best offensive and defensive lines, probably the best defensive player in Rey Maualuga (linebacker) and Mark Sanchez. Mark is a mechanics quarterback in that he knows the USC playbook well, has great footwork, strong, accurate arm, and a quick release. On the other hand USC defense is extremely quick and hard hitting so that should slow down the offense a little bit. Now on to Ohio state they have an exact replica of USC’s quarterback because he shows all the same traits but his receiving core is not as good as USC’s. The running game is definitely better than USC’s because of Chris “Beanie” Wells who is an amazing runner and finds gaps where there may not even be one. ESPN.com reported, “Ohio State coach Jim Tressel says it's doubtful that starting tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells will play Saturday night against top-ranked USC. If Ohio States running back is out for good then they are going to have a hard time against USC’s massive defense line because then the running game will struggle translating to the passing game struggling. Ohio St. is pretty much out of contention in this game if Wells is not healthy by game day.

Purdue Basketball, Gains and Losses

The basketball team is looking great with all five returning starters and their entire bench except for two players. The recruiting period picked up three players including Lewis Jackson (PG), John Hart (SG), and Ryne Smith (SG). Lewis Jackson was in the top 50 of his position in High School throughout the Nation, while John Hart was from a small town in southern Indiana called Beech Grove. He averaged 25 points a game and led the team in points and free throws and helped lead their team to their first ever sectional championship. The other player that they lost was Scott Martin who was the number one recruit last year. Other than that the team is looking really good with all the returning starters and the talent acquired throughout the offseason. Hopefully we can make it to the final four and have a good ‘ol time whooping up on IU without their beloved Eric Gordon.

Boilers vs. Ducks, Winner?

In week two of Purdue’s football season we face the Oregon Ducks one of the Best football teams in college. Oregon ranked 16 in the Associated Press poll and 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll will be one of the hardest games of the season. I mean they did blow out their first two opponents by about an average of 40 points but Purdue blew out a sad Northern Colorado team by 32. Purdue’s chances of winning relay solely on if their defense comes to play because Oregon’s two running backs Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount are a tag team of slice and dice. Jeremiah Johnson is the senior running back and coming off of Knee surgery looks to be the main weapon for the ducks because of his vision running the ball, knowledge of the offense and his ability to line up at any position. The backup running back LeGarrette Blount is a huge 6’ 2” behemoth with the size to bust up the middle for short games and the speed to break it past the secondary for the open field. The signal caller (quarterback) is Justin Roper who is a 6’ 6” gunslinger whose size gives him an advantage as he can watch the plays develop and then pick his target. He also has played in big games including the 2007 Sun Bowl in which he threw for a record four touchdowns against South Florida’s speedy defense. Enough about the damn Ducks though, the Boilers have a real chance of upsetting the Oregon. Curtis Painter is one of the best mechanics quarterbacks in the nation because he does almost everything right for one he has only one sack, no interceptions and no fumbles. Unlike Justin Roper who has had an interception in both of his first games. Kory Sheets is also one of the best weapons we have as he is averaging 6.6 yards per game and is very quick and elusive to would be tacklers. The boilers receiving core is solid and one of the best I have seen since before Kyle Orton’s breakdown. Although, Oregon’s number one ranked offense will be a challenge for our “pretty good” defense, Purdue may be able to come away with a surprising upset.