Ed Wide

No. 23 Boise State hangs on to beat Chris Petersen, Washington

By Zach BarnettSep 5, 2015, 1:55 AM EDT
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Boise State never loses at Bronco Stadium, no matter what sideline Chris Petersen paces. The 23rd-ranked Broncos survived a visit from their former coach and his Washington Huskies, 16-13, on Friday night.

Boise State held a commanding yet far-too-close 16-0 lead at halftime, holding the Huskies to 58 yards of total offense yet keeping the visitors in the game thanks to a turnover on downs and an interception in Washington territory.

Inevitably, the Huskies crawled back in the game in the second half… somehow. Cameron Van Winkle put Washington on the scoreboard with a 40-yard field goal with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter, and then Dane Pettis pulled the club within six on a 76-yard punt return less than 90 seconds later.

Van Winkle knocked in a 28-yarder midway through the fourth and had a chance to send the game to overtime, but his 46-yard try at the 21-second mark sailed wide right.

Washington remained in the game despite an offense that failed to get anything going nearly the entire night. The Huskies gained only 179 yards on the entire night – they did not have a play travel farther than 13 yards from scrimmage until their final possession – including a 185-29 deficit on the ground. True freshman Jake Browning earned the start (the first true freshman to ever start an opening game for a Petersen-coached team) and played all but a few snaps; he displayed poise beyond what showed up on the box sheet, completing 20-of-34 passes for 150 yards with an interception.

Browning did, however, take a sack when Washington had marched to the Boise State 29 on the game’s final drive that cost the Huskies their final timeout and 10 yards Van Winkle could have used on his fateful miss.

Boise State also played a first-time starter at quarterback – and he wasn’t much better than Browning. Sophomore Ryan Finley hit on 16-of-26 passes for a pedestrian 129 yards and an interception. Jeremy McNichols led all rushers with 24 carries for 89 yards and both of the Broncos’ touchdowns, but gained only 19 yards on his 10 second half carries. The Broncos gained only 100 yards of offense in the second half (excluding the final time-killing possession), saw two of its seven possessions lose yardage, and watched its most promising drive, a 43-yard jaunt, end in a Kelsey Young fumble at the Washington 32.

In all, Boise State committed two turnovers and got stuffed on a 4th-and-1 inside Washington territory. Those are the types of mistakes required to keep a team that averages just 3.14 yards per play and does not score an offensive touchdown in the game down to its final snap. And, ironically enough, they’re the types of mistakes Boise State did not make when Coach Pete was on the home sideline, not the visitor’s.

P.J. Fleck still has it, beats one of college football’s best CBs on stop-and-go route

By JJ StankevitzAug 25, 2015, 10:16 AM EDT
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Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck is only 34 years old, played wide receiver at Northern Illinois and spent a couple seasons on an NFL roster.

But it’s still pretty impressive he’s still able to do stuff like this:

That’s Fleck burning senior Broncos cornerback Donald Celiscar, who himself is one of the better cornerbacks in not only the MAC, but the country. The 5-foot-11, 183 pound Celiscar picked off four passes last year and broke up 17 others, giving him an FBS-leading total of 21 passes defended in 2014 (tied his teammate Ronald Zamort). In his three years at Western Michigan, Celiscar has 10 interceptions.

Fleck was already cooler than your coach, but not many others at the college level could run a stop-and-go route successfully *and* beat one of the nation’s better cornerbacks.

Rutgers wide receiver Leonte Carroo says he’s the best in the Big Ten

By Kevin McGuireAug 3, 2015, 11:28 AM EDT
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This season the Big Ten will have some pretty talented wide receivers, but none will be better than Leonte Carroo of Rutgers. At least, that’s what he says.

“I’m the best receiver in the Big Ten,” Carroo said at Big Ten media day, per Asbury Park Press. “I say that confidently. I say that proudly.”

Carroo has every reason to talk a big game. Last season Carroo was named to the Big Ten’s First Team offense by the voting media. Carroo finished second in the Big Ten with 1,086 receiving yards and third in the conference with 10 touchdown receptions. One of the two players with more touchdown catches in the Big Ten was Ohio State’s Devin Smith, who had the benefit of playing in 15 games during Ohio State’s postseason run to record his 12 touchdowns. Michigan State’s Tony Lippett had 11 touchdown catches last season. Both Smith and Lippett were seniors, making Carroo the Big Ten’s leading receiver back in 2015 in the touchdown department. Carroo was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list this preseason.

Carroo contemplated leaving Rutgers after last season to enter the NFL Draft, but he returns to the Scarlet Knights with no regret on his decision.

“I was sitting there and I was stuck on the TV knowing I could’ve been in the draft,” Carroo said. “Receiver after receiver after receiver was getting drafted and I was just like, ‘I wonder where I would’ve fell in this draft.’ It didn’t make me think I should’ve went. It just motivated me to be hungry to get there next year.”

Opposing Big Ten defenses will have their hands full trying to contain the 6′-1″ wide receiver from Rutgers, but he is just one of three starters returning to the Rutgers offense this season. There should be times when he Carroo will have to carry the offense early on as everything settles into place for the program.

After leaving Buckeyes to focus on med school dream, Frank Epitropoulos to walk-on at Mich. St.

By John TaylorJul 29, 2015, 10:40 AM EDT
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If you remember back to August of last year, Ohio State revealed that Frank Epitropoulos has decided to give up football to focus on academics. Specifically, the little-used wide receiver was leaving to “concentrate entirely on his biology and pre-med/pre-dental academic program.”

Nearly one year later, Epitropoulos is returning to play football — for one of OSU’s Big Ten East rivals.

Epitropoulos, whose father and uncle played for OSU, confirmed via Twitter on Tuesday that he has decided to resume his collegiate playing career for Michigan State.  Epitropoulos will be a walk-on for the Spartans who will be eligible to play in 2015 because he sat out the 2014 season.

Epitropoulos’ father confirmed to the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the receiver is still a pre-med student.  According to the dad, his son “got most of his hard stuff out of the way” during his brief sabbatical from the sport.

“To do how he did in school, and take the kind of classes that he took, I highly doubt that he’d been able to get the grades he needed,” John Epitropoulos told the Plain Dealer. “To try to go to medical school, you’ve gotta put yourself in a position to do that. There’s some minimal things you’ve gotta do, and that doesn’t guarantee you anything. I’m confident, and he said too, that he would not have been able to get the grades that he needed.

“That (football) part of his life slowed down so he would have a chance, because there’s no guarantee obviously. It’s very competitive. If you want to put yourself in a spot to do that, then that’s what you gotta do. I can tell you as a father, I’m fairly confident he wouldn’t have been able, or he would’ve had to switch his major out. To his betterment, he didn’t want to do that. That’s the right call for him.”

On the football field, Epitropoulos played in four games as a redshirt freshman in 2013. He had one career catch for six yards — vs. Purdue in early November

TBDBITL set to invade London… on NFL’s dime

By John TaylorJul 2, 2015, 5:05 PM EDT
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For the first time ever, an audience abroad will get to witness firsthand the magnificence that is The Best Damn Band in the Land.

Thursday, it was announced that the Ohio State University Marching Band will perform prior to the Oct. 25 Buffalo-Jacksonville game at London’s Wembley Stadium.

“We’re fortunate to have an international reputation thanks to shows that have gone viral on video or received widespread media attention,” interim band director Christopher Hoch said in a statement. “It will be a real thrill to have a chance to perform for the people of London.

“The NFL has requested a London-themed show, but left the creative elements up to us. We are planning a very special and exciting performance.”

OSU also noted in its release that “[t]he NFL will cover all of the band’s travel costs for the London trip.” Not noted in the release is that the appearance of TBDBITL will at least give those American football fans in attendance something worthwhile on the field to watch… especially if “Script Ohio” is part of the program.

 

(Photo credit: NFL UK)