Buckeyes try to move on after debacle at Iowa
COLUMBUS, OHIO » Two days after Ohio State’s stunning beat-down by unranked Iowa, coach Urban Meyer still didn’t have much to say publicly about how and why it happened. It’s possible he doesn’t have the answers.
Ohio State was outcoached, out-schemed and outplayed at Kinnick Stadium Saturday as the thenNo. 3 Buckeyes watched their national championship hopes dissipate amid a chaotic storm of turnovers, penalties and panic. The 55-24 loss marked the most points ever scored against a Meyercoached team.
Saturday’s loss came a week after an exhilarating 39-38 win over Penn State put the Buckeyes back in the hunt for the College Football Playoff and thrust quarterback J.T, Barrett into the Heisman Trophy conversation. All that came crashing down in Iowa City.
At his news conference on Monday, Meyer shrugged off questions about play calling, player discipline and other weak links.
“I think Iowa played well, and we didn’t play very well,” he said, noting that everything is being evaluated.
“The question you have to ask is why. Not so much how, but why did it happen?” he said. “Are we not practicing (efficiently)? Do we have the right people playing? All those types of things.”
Barrett followed up what was perhaps his most heroic collegiate game against Penn State with one of his worst. He was 18 for 34 for 208 yards and threw three touchdown passes but was intercepted four times — including a pick-six by Iowa safety Amani Hooker on the first play from scrimmage.
Barrett didn’t talk to reporters after the game, and Meyer said Monday he hadn’t talked to his quarterback about everything that went wrong.
“He’s been on a nice roll with efficiency, taking care of the football,” Meyer said. “That was not normal by him, so we are watching it closely. I felt like he forced it, especially right before the half.”
Meyer said he felt Ohio State still had control of the game when it was tied 17-17 in the second quarter. Then defensive end Nick Bosa was kicked out of the game for targeting. Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley took advantage, tossing a 25-yard TD pass to tight end Noah Fant. Barrett threw into double coverage and was picked off again on the next series, and the rout was on.
“A bunch of three-andouts, and (the defense) couldn’t get off the field,” Meyer said. “Then you start panicking on the offense, and that’s
Ohio State (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) plummeted from No. 3 to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll and will be out of striking distance when the College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday. The Buckeyes are tied with No. 13 Michigan State atop the Big Ten East with the Spartans visiting Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Wins over Michigan State (7-2, 5-1) and Michigan would put the Buckeyes in the conference championship game, likely against No. 6 Wisconsin. not good for
Georgia QB Fromm in rare territory for a true freshman
anybody.” ATHENS, GA. » Jake Fromm hardly looks like a guy less than a year removed from high school.
Poised and confident, he was thrust into a starting role in his very first game at Georgia. Fromm quickly gained the respect of his teammates, guided the Bulldogs to one win after another, and now he’s got them positioned to make a run at the biggest prize of all.
Jamelle Holieway can
He remains the only true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title in the modern era.
Back in 1985, Holieway took over for the Sooners after Troy Aikman went down with a broken leg in a loss to Miami. They didn’t lose again, going on to claim the No. 1 spot with a victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
“If he does win it, he won’t understand what it all meant until years later,” Holieway said Monday, referring to Fromm. “When you’re a freshman, you just want to play and make a difference on the team.”
Fromm began the season as the backup to Jacob Eason, who started for the Bulldogs in 2016 as a highly recruited relate. player high school.
Then, as it did 32 years earlier with Holieway, fate intervened.
Eason sustained a knee injury in a season-opening victory over Appalachian State . Fromm took over and the No. 2 Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0) just kept rolling, claiming the top spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings and clinching a spot in the Southeastern Conference title game. right out
No. 1 Alabama loses linebackers Hamilton, Wilson to injuries
of TUSCALOOSA, ALA. » Alabama’s already short-handed linebacker group must absorb two more big blows.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide lost starter Shaun Dion Hamilton for the season after he had surgery on his right knee, and key backup Mack Wilson is likely out for four to six weeks with a foot injury, coach Nick Saban said Monday. It leaves one of the nation’s best defenses relying on replacements heading into a stretch run that starts Saturday night at No. 18 Mississippi State.
“I don’t think this is something that anybody should sit around and say, ‘Wow, I’m going to have to pick up my game now,”’ Saban said. “I think everybody should have been picking up their game to start with. Everybody has to be who they are and do what they do and be a good teammate, support the players that are out there, play together as a unit, do their job. That’s the way we need to go about it.”
Both were hurt in Saturday’s 24-10 win over LSU. It leaves a bigger void at a position that has seen five linebackers miss games with injuries.
The Tide lost Terrell Lewis (elbow) and Christian Miller (biceps) to season-ending injuries in the opener against Florida State.
Alabama, which is second in the College Football Playoff rankings, did have some positive injury news.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick will miss practice Monday with a left hamstring injury, but Saban said he could return for some work on Tuesday.
No. 4 Clemson eager to close out season on strong note
CLEMSON, S.C. » The focus is now on the finish for No. 4 Clemson.
The Tigers (8-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) regained their footing and their grip on the ACC Atlantic by rallying for a 38-31 victory over then-No. 20 North Carolina State on Saturday. The push for the finish line starts this week, when Clemson can lock up the division and gain a spot in the ACC title game against struggling Florida State (3-5, 3-4).
“Man, that’s what I love about this time of year,” Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell said. “Every week, we’re playing for something big.”
While the Seminoles may not have had the season many projected, they’re a dangerous opponent looking for a big takedown to brighten up a horrible year.
“The guys who’ve been in this battle before, they know they’re going to get the best” from Florida State, Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said.
Clemson has gotten the best from many programs and mostly come out on top. The win over the Wolfpack was the fourth time this season the Tigers toppled a Top 25 team, following victories over Auburn, Louisville and Virginia Tech earlier in the season.