Look Around The Nation In College Football

Interesting stuff coming out early this week around the college football landscape.

Ohio State and College Programs Under the Microscope: Oh my god, ever since Terrelle Pryor and his teammates and coaches screwed up the system at OSU, the NCAA is not showing schools, particularly Ohio State, any mercy at this point in time, penalizing the school once again for some ridiculously, egregiously small violations. Urban Meyer and his new school are taking a beating before he even gets a chance to coach. Here are some of those violations:

"Meyer said “good luck” to a potential recruit prior to a Pennsylvania high school state title game in mid-December.  Such game-day contact is forbidden.Five OSU players took the same number of recruits on visits out to a movie in mid-December.  In part because of a cab ride to the movie, the players were $1 to $5 over the maximum of $60 allowed by the NCAA, so a secondary violation was deemed to have been committed.An OSU assistant coach purchased 20 “JT” bracelets for $5 each to honor his former coach last fall.  He sold several of the bracelets to players for $15 apiece in order to avoid any type of NCAA issue for giving away freebies; despite the 200-percent markup, it was still considered an NCAA no-no as players were given something not available to the general public.Assistant coach Mike Vrabel was penalized for dipping chew on the sidelines during games last year.“On Aug. 20, assistant coach Dick Tressel responded to a text message from the parents of recruit Warren Ball asking which gate to use to enter Ohio Stadium for a scrimmage. Texting the parents of a recruit was a violation."

Before I call out the NCAA for being a pest here, I would like to say that it’s important to monitor programs so that they don’t commit violations that put their school at a competitive advantage over other schools. There are rules in place for a reason, these rules should be followed and it’s paramount to any game in college sports that the NCAA has boundaries to keep competitive flow. Also, I realize that everybody is playing under the same rules. It’s also worth noting that I have no idea what the penalties for these violations entail, and Urban Meyer will probably still get every player necessary to compete for a B1G title sooner than later, no matter what those penalties carry.

That said, the NCAA is being a pest here, like a tiny gnat that just stays around your ear buzzing in and out but you can’t get your hand on it to smash its pestiness. I cannot even begin to believe that any of the above violations has given anybody a competitive advantage or disadvantage and it is a joke that any rules are being enforced in all of these cases. It’s a mockery of sports in general to even have these as rules. Something is wrong here and I’ll just come right out and say it. The NCAA needs to get off its high horse and assess the foundation of regulations, judging the “Spirit of the Rule” when it comes to violations like these. I mean you can’t respond to a text that asks which gate to use? You can’t honor anybody with actual memorabilia? Can’t say “Good Luck” to anybody? Really? NCAA get over yourself! One writer from Repmycollege.com put it very well:

"These are the most ticky tack violations in that you could even consider. The NCAA is making up for 15 years of total absence. It can be closely compared to Police Officers handing out tickets for jaywalking while a bank is being robbed in the background so that they can hit their quarterly quota."

The Passing of a Former Coach: Moving on, former WVU coach Bill Stewart has passed away at the young age of 59, leaving Mountaineer Nation in mourning. He was by all accounts a stand up guy and a loyal leader and follower of the program. He had signed a 6 year contract in 2008 but after some rifts with the higher ups about the hiring of appointed “head coach in waiting” Dana Holgerson, he decided to resign in 2010. Athletic Director Oliver Luck (who appointed Holgerson), had this to say about Stewart: “Coach Stewart was a rock-solid West Virginian and a true Mountaineer. His enthusiasm and passion for his state’s flagship university was infectious. We join all Mountaineers in mourning his passing.”

Pac-12 Recruiting: Oregon’s done it again, getting a commitment from the 53rd ranked player in the land, Dontre Wilson. The kid is the prototypical Oregon RB at 5’10, 180 out of DeSoto TX. He reminds me a bit of LaMichael with his burst and quickness in the hole. He’s a single cut and go type of guy but has the ability to scoot around laterally in the open field to avoid defenders. To top it off it looks like he plays in a one back, option read action offense, which is quintessential to the Oregon attack. Just overall a really perfect fit for Chip Kelly and the “O”.

All for now, keep it tuned to Allcougdup for more Cougar news.