The Buckeyes are a hot topic in this week's mailbag:
From Maurice in Jacksonville, Fla.: I have a question, why are all of you sports writers always voting Ohio State in the top five and/or in the BCS Championship game? They (the Buckeyes) never give the people a good game. They are 0-9 against SEC schools, you all know that they are not the team that some make them out to be.
Feldman: They're in the top five because they have a lot of talent back on defense, arguably the top RB in the country in Beanie Wells, who by the way ran for almost 150 yards against a great LSU D last year, and an experienced QB. People are kidding themselves if they don't think OSU has talent comparable to some of the SEC's top teams. Also it wasn't that long ago that OSU gave -- and won -- a good game in the title game against a Miami team that was stacked with NFL talent.
From Blake in Jenks, Okla.: Two Buckeyes Bruce in your top 10? Is that to go along with the two defensive flops in the past two NC games? Not trying to be harsh but since you are from Ohio and grew up a Buckeye fan it seems very obvious you are biased.
Feldman: True, I did grow up as an Ohio State fan, although I'm actually not from Ohio. I also think if it comes to talking about James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins, a lot of folks would come across as biased. They are great football players.
From Sylvain in Calgary, Alberta: Just wanted to know why Florida's Major Wright wasn't added to your list of biggest impact defenders, leading the SEC in forced fumbles in a true freshman season and leaving a swagger is pretty impressive.
Feldman: You make a good point. He is a terrific young player and merits even more consideration for that Most Indispensable top list because UF is pretty thin at the safety position. Still, I feel like the biggest impact guy right now on Florida's D is Brandon Spikes, but I do think it's close given Wright's breakout rookie season. If I'm a Gator fan, I'm certainly fired up about where he's headed.
From C.J. in New York City: Do you think all of Howard Schnellenberger's big talk about playing Texas will come back and bite him? The guy seems crazy to rile UT up.
Feldman: Maybe, although it's not like UT was going to go easy on FAU anyhow.
From Kevin in Chicago: I loved your bold prediction that Chase Daniel was going to win the Heisman and would also take down the Horns. Daniel somehow gets overlooked in the Best QB talk, but in Pinkel's system, he's perfect. He reminds me of Stefan LeFors who was incredibly efficient running Bobby Petrino's offense at Louisville.
Feldman: Thanks. I think a lot of times some people get caught up in talking about great college QBs and drift into who is being touted as a first-round draft prospect. That's pretty unfair and can also be quite misleading. What I admire about Daniel and a few other college QBs, especially in the Big 12, is their ability to dissect a defense, knowing which match-ups to exploit as well as exemplify leadership. If you're accurate and also tough, you can be a great college QB because at this level, more so than in the NFL, you will have plenty of places to target and can live off the mismatches. To paraphrase Mike Leach (paraphrasing Bear Bryant): offenses screw up 50 percent, so defensively you only had to figure out how to stop the other 50 percent.
Leach's counter to that is many times defenders get themselves in a spot they're not supposed to be, too. Find a QB who can exploit that and you'll have a very dangerous offense, and I think Mizzou has that right now.
RANDOM STUFF
• Schnellenberger has always been the master promoter and he's at it again. This time touting his QB Rusty Smith as a "sure-fire" first-round draft pick:
"It is a done deal," Schnellenberger told the Orlando Sentinel. "Some are getting drafted that aren't as good as he is right now. I don't understand why anybody questions me."
• DaQuan Bower, the touted freshman DE at Clemson, might start against Alabama,
Will Vendervort reports:
Bowers, who was in a tight battle with Kevin Alexander for almost all of fall camp, will likely get the start due to a stomach illness that attacked Alexander this week, keeping him out of practice. He did not practice Thursday and is listed as probable for the Alabama game. Bowers has really come on as of late and finished camp with a flourish.
After starting camp at 275 pounds, he has dropped to 268, where he says he is feeling better and subsequently is playing better. "(Coaches) wanted me at 275 and I felt I was a little overweight, so over the course of time I have dropped the weight…It felt like I was getting tired faster than I usually do and that was a big problem with the conditioning, so I feel like I can be better since I dropped some weight," Bowers said.
• Promising KU RB Jocques Crawford has something to prove…to the video game makers at EA Sports apparently, reports Case Keefer:
Crawford, a touted JC transfer, couldn't find his #3 guy on the game's KU depth chart, so he figured it might be a player listed as "#21". But …Even if No. 21 is supposed to be representative of him, he thinks the ratings are off. The game rates each player on a number of categories, with 0 being the worst and 99 being the best. No. 21, for example, has an 87 speed rating and a 74 strength rating. If No. 21 is supposed to be Crawford, he thinks he should rank higher. "I don't think they rated anyone right," Crawford said. "Our guys have much more abilities than what they put on the game."
• Former blue-chip DT prospect Torrey Davis can't stay out of the doghouse at UF, Jeremy Fowler writes:
"Davis has a pre-trial court date of Sept. 22 after pleading not guilty to two counts of driving with knowledge of a suspended license.
Davis, a sophomore who currently resides in Urban Meyer 's doghouse, has been cited twice for the offense since April, according to a court records request. This comes after two citations in 2007 for unknowingly driving with the suspension."
• Sonny Lubick is settling into life after football, Jim Benton writes:
"I can remember that first day when practice started, we were just leaving town," he said. "It was coincidence, nothing else, but I talked to several of last year's coaches that got jobs. They either called me or I called them. And then I kind of felt the pang.
"I'd been doing this for 47 years. I've been on the field at this time of year hollering at somebody as an assistant or head coach. Yeah, it's something to get over, but when you're driving to Montana or flying to California, your thoughts go to something else."
Bruce Feldman
