Randy Edsall responds to James Franklin’s Maryland comments

By John TaylorJun 17, 2014, 1:46 PM EDT
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Last month, James Franklin commenced a mini war of words with a pair of schools moving into the Big Ten this season, Maryland and Rutgers.  Essentially, the first-year Penn State head coach stated that he and his coaching staff have already planted their recruiting flags in the two states in which the football programs reside and need not bother looking for prospects in those areas.

“I consider [Maryland] in-state. I consider New Jersey in-state,” Franklin said while speaking to the Penn State fans and alums assembled in Baltimore in early May. “[T]hey might as well shut them down because they don’t have a chance.”

Tuesday, one of the head coaches of the two football teams set to embark on a B1G change responded… sort of.

“Talk is cheap. We’re not gonna boast and brag,” Terps head coach Randy Edsall said at a charity golf tournament in Pennsylvania. “We’re more about substance at Maryland. We’re gonna find guys that fit the profile we’re looking for. We’re gonna worry about ourselves and not worry about anything else.”

OK, it’s not exactly Steve Spurrier vs. [insert coach here], but what exactly could Edsall say? Franklin’s actually correct for the moment.

The Nittany Lions are currently rated No. 3 — behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson — in the Rivals.com 2015 recruiting rankings. Of their 16 verbal commitments in that class, four are from the Terps turf of Maryland (three) and Washington D.C. (one). Two of the four are four-star prospects, the other two are three-stars.

Additionally, another three verbals are from the state of New Jersey. All three of those are four-star prospects.

Maryland is currently No. 36 in 2015 rankings, Rutgers No. 49.  The former has pulled no commitments out of Franklin’s state, the latter four.  Only one of those four, though, is rated higher than two-stars.

So, yeah, Franklin has a point. And the right to toot his Happy Valley horn… for now.

Wyoming to honor late Joe Tiller during Homecoming Game

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By John TaylorOct 21, 2017, 8:08 AM EDT
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Earlier this month, Purdue honored Joe Tiller. Later this month, the program that propelled him to West Lafayette will do the same.

Tiller passed away Sept. 30 at the age of 74 at his home in Buffalo, Wyoming. From 1991-96, Tiller served as the head coach at Wyoming, guiding the Cowboys to a 39-30-1 record during his six years with the football program.

For UW’s Oct. 28 Homecoming game against New Mexico, the Cowboys will wear helmet decals with Tiller’s initials to honor their former head coach.

His last season in Laramie, the Cowboys went 10-2. The school hasn’t won more than eight games in a season since he left to take over at Purdue after that 1996 season.

Army on cusp of rare back-to-back bowl seasons for first time since 1984-85

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By Kevin McGuireOct 20, 2017, 7:03 PM EDT
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Army is taking on Temple on Saturday afternoon with a chance to punch the first postseason bowl ticket of the 2017 season. Other teams may already be bowl eligible, but Army will be the first team to have a chance to accept an invitation to a bowl game on Saturday if they can manage to get by the Temple Owls.

Army has a spot waiting for them in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth as long as they are bowl-eligible this season. At 5-2, the Black Knights can start making their bowl plans as soon as they win one more game. If they do clinch their bowl eligibility on Saturday, it will be the first time Army will go to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since the 1984 and 1985 seasons. Army played in and won the short-lived Cherry Bowl in the 1984 season and the Peach Bowl in the 1985 season. After going to the Heart of Dallas Bowl last season for their first bowl trip since the 2010 season, Jeff Monken and his program are looking to make going to a bowl game a regular thing.

Army defeated Temple in the season opener a year ago, and Monken is aware that can be a motivating factor for Temple despite these Owls being a much different team from the AAC champions of last season.

”This is a tough football team that won their conference last year,” Monken said. ”They’ll have a ton of confidence and they feel as though they have to come in and win this game. We had the chance to come out with a win at their place, and I’m sure they’d love to return the favor.”

Monken took over the Army football program in 2014 after a successful run as head coach of Georgia Southern, then a powerhouse FCS program. His run at Army took a couple of years to get going, but Army has shed their losing ways under his watch, and that was highlighted by a long-awaited victory over Navy in last season’s Army-Navy Game. Picking up a win against Temple will continue to prove Army is continuing to improve as a program, and that also means Monken will potentially be finding himself on the radar in the coaching rumor mill. The Nebraska job has had some people mentioning Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, but perhaps Monken would be a name to keep an eye on as well. As long as that means Army is winning games, so be it.

Keep in mind this would not be the first time Army would have back-to-back bowl eligible seasons since the mid-1980s. The Knights have had winning seasons on multiple occasions since last going to back-to-back bowl games, but the bowl game picture was quite different in the 1980s than it is today. With an oversaturation of bowl games available to schools today, Army stands a much better chance of going to a bowl game this season even with just six or seven wins than they would have 30 years ago.

Ohio State unveils alternate helmet for Penn State game

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By Kevin McGuireOct 20, 2017, 6:21 PM EDT
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Contrary to previous internet uniform rumors, Ohio State’s alternate helmet for their big division showdown with Penn State next week is far closer to home to the traditional Ohio State look than some of the outside-the-box helmet designs that had been floating around in various rumor mills in Ohio State circles lately.

Ohio State is rolling out with an alternate gray uniform, for some reason (recruiting!), next week when the Buckeyes host Penn State. And to keep the look from head to toe, Ohio State will wear a gray helmet with a slightly abstract pattern seemingly mimicking camouflage.

Two years ago when Ohio State hosted Penn State, the Buckeyes took the field in an all-black uniform. The Buckeyes have also worn all-white uniforms (excluding the helmet) for road games against Michigan and Penn State in recent seasons.

Penn State, barring any unforeseen announcements, will stick with their traditional all-white look for the road game. Although, Penn State did wear a specially designed uniform this season a few weeks ago. It’s a new era, so never say never.

Ohio State is off this week. Penn State hosts Michigan Saturday night. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions meet in Columbus next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Big Ten lines up Thursday and Friday night football for 2018

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By Kevin McGuireOct 20, 2017, 4:44 PM EDT
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The Big Ten is planning ahead to buckle down and try to make Thursday night and Friday night football a thing in the conference. After breaking the ice on Thursday and Friday night football in the 2017 season, the conference has officially moved five games on the 2018 conference schedule to Thursday and Friday nights.

Purdue will host Northwestern in the Big Ten season opener on Thursday, August 30, marking the second straight season the Big Ten will kick off the college football season with a Thursday night football game. Indiana hosted Ohio State in a Thursday night season opener this season. The opening week of the season will continue the following night with Michigan State hosting Utah State and Wisconsin hosting Western Kentucky on Friday, August 21, 2018. This will mark the second straight season Wisconsin will open the season at home on a Friday night in Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers hosted Utah State on Friday, September 1 this season.

The three games on Thursday and Friday night in the opening week of the 2018 season keeps the Big Ten on the primetime lineup on various TV partners between ESPN, FOX Sports, and the Big Ten Network, although the programming specifics will come later on. But the idea of adding games to Thursday and Friday nights has been designed to add programming to TV partners and add content across all partner networks as part of the latest contracts with ESPN and FOX, along with the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten has moved two additional games Friday nights next season as well. Illinois will host Penn State on Friday, September 21, 2018. Minnesota will host Indiana on Friday, October 26, 2018.