BASTA: A Way Too Early Look at the Foster Farms Bowl

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

Stanford was officially given a berth in the Foster Farms Bowl on Sunday, which has previously been dubbed the Emerald Bowl, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, and the Fight Hunger Bowl. It was held at AT&T Park for all of its previous existence, and now is being moved to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The bowl will remain at the venue for at least the next six years, after the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences signed a pact for the aforementioned time. The game will pit the Cardinal and the Maryland Terrapins on December 30th, a foe that Stanford has never played.

Both teams come into the bowl game with identical 7-5 records, although they can not be treated as equal. Maryland, for some reason, is geographically “close enough” to fellow Big Ten schools to become affiliated with the inferior conference. Some of their marquee victories include Syracuse, Penn State, and Iowa, not exactly world-beaters. Stanford would be the clear favorite in this matchup, independent from the fact that the bowl amounts to a home game.

The Cardinal will come into the game with tremendous confidence, after blowing out Cal and #9 UCLA in consecutive weeks. They also are much more physically talented than their record indicates, as 2014 was a season of gross underachievement for a team with one of the best defenses in the country. Maryland is particularly weak running the ball, as they are 106th in the nation in rushing yards per game. They are comparatively not as terrible through the air, but are still a modest 74th in the country in passing yards per game. Stanford should be able to bottle up the Terp’s poor rushing, and key in on shifty quarterback C.J. Brown. Brown is somewhat of a dual-threat quarterback, who has been mediocre through the air, but excels at running the ball and improvising. He is a sixth-year senior, stemming from a medical redshirt that he obtained after tearing his ACL in 2012, and brings experience to the table for the Terps. Despite Brown’s experience, the Cardinal defense will likely be too much for an underwhelming Maryland offense.

Stanford’s offense also holds a major advantage over Maryland’s defense. Maryland has been dreadful against the run, allowing over two hundred yards on the ground per game. Their secondary has been similarly mediocre, 80th in the nation in allowing 236.5 yards per game through the air. Quarterback Kevin Hogan and Stanford’s offense finally found its stride last Saturday against UCLA, a lethal combination of accurate passing and establishing the running game. Stanford controlled the game so well that Hogan only had to throw three passes in the second half. UCLA’s defense was no joke, second in the Pac-12 in total defense heading into the game, yet Stanford had their best game of the season against the unit. Once a weakness, Stanford’s offense should now be considered a strength, if Hogan continues to play at a high level. Stanford fans should hope that he does, which would help both in the short and the long term. Hogan has one more year of eligibility remaining, but could elect to spurn Palo Alto for the NFL with a quality performance in the Foster Farms Bowl. Stanford fans would certainly welcome his departure, as highly-touted recruits Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns would get to duke it out for the starting job.

Has Brady Hoke Reached Turbo-Fired Status Yet...???

((HT: Pac-12 Network))

So, just how fired is Brady Hoke right now...???

We ask because after a 26-10 loss to UTAH... yes, UTAH!!!

Rich Rodriguez is 4-0 and Michigan is not...

Here's the big story from the Big House


So, the HQ guesses you could say both the weather and Utah stopped the Wolverines.

OSG CFB: Just How Much Is Kirk Ferentz's Buyout These Days...??? Still Un-Buyoutable...

((HT: Iowa State Daily Online))

Iowa State beat Iowa today in the annual CyHawk affair on a last-second field goal by Cole Netten with two seconds left in regulation.

Netten missed his first attempt, but Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz had called timeout to try and ice him.

Didn't work and now the Cyclones are 1-2 after their embarassing loss to North Dakota State and the Hawkeyes (2-1) have now lost three of the last four in the series.

Here's Paul Rhoads talking about his kicker...


And, now, we address the larger question. Frankly, it's one of the larger questions in the state after a day like today.

It is commonly known that Ferentz has the worst contract for a state employee in the history of contracts for state employees short of Huey Long.

And, for that, he can thank AD Gary Barta for base salaries, longevity bonuses, and anything else resembling supplemental payments that Barta threw at him when the contract was signed and extended.

Patrick Vint over at Bleacher Report did a tremendously face-slapping awareness piece IN 2012 on the sheer madness of the contract and why a buyout will NEVER HAPPEN UNTIL THE CONTRACT IS OVER... and, then, it just won't be renewed.

In the year 2020... let that sink in for a moment...

His contract is SO BAD it cannot be bought out, so a program is stuck with him unless someone befriends Warren Buffet or T. Boone Pickensian-type folks over the next five years or so.

If we extrapolate Vint's base number for buying out in 2012 dollars using his "75-percent of his base salary" figure, and we fire Kirk Ferentz the second this story is published, we're looking at a minimum of 52 payments of $219,742 or $11,426,584...

And that says nothing of any kind of hidden settlements or other hidden paragraphs in the Ferentz-ian contract.

It's almost the Peter Principle of contracts and there's nothing the school or the state can do about it.

Barta is more than happy, apparently, to fire one of the more nationally recognized field hockey coaches in the country when he let Tracey Griesbaum go with three weeks before the 2014 season was going to start a month ago- allegedly when five players went to Barta and claimed that Griesbaum called a player "fat."

Barta fired Griesbaum without cause and went straight to the buyout portion of the contract for that sport- and, probably, ruined it on campus.

A particular paragraph late in the Black Heart piece by Vint speaks volumes about where Barta's head is in the Iowa Athletic Program:

"A football workout actually put nine players in the hospital not long ago, yet not one person was fired or even reprimanded; the strength coach responsible for the workout got a 'Coach of the Year' award from the program two months later. And if yelling at players is grounds for dismissal, then Gary Barta has obviously not watched the basketball coach he hired four years ago."

So, if anyone is looking for any kind of success in Iowa City- good luck with that until Barta and Ferentz are gone...

SIX YEARS FROM NOW!!!

Cupcake Saturday: Can We Swap #MACtion For The Big 10...???

((HT: Big Ten Network))

It was ugly...

Michigan State lost to Oregon as the Ducks scored the last 28 points in Eugene
Notre Dame shut out Michigan
Virginia Tech took care of Ohio State in front of the largest crowd in the history of the Horseshoe

But, it was silly elsewhere...

Rutgers beat Howard
Nebraska needed a late TD to beat McNeese
Penn State barely beat Akron
Minnesota beat Middle Tennessee
Maryland turned the ball over six times but a blocked punt gave them a win over South Florida

The bigger news came from two MAC teams that held on...

Central Michigan sprinted out to an early lead over Purdue in Lafayette and beat the Boilermakers- who are living up to the old nickname of "Pur-don't..."
((HT: CMU Sports))


The other not-so-shocking shocker was Northern Illinois taking care of Northwestern
Defense from guys like Paris Logan helps


So, in a day that could have solidified the Big Ten/12 as one of the power conferences this season, all Saturday did was confuse the issue and give one conference a big "I told you so..." for scheduling prowess. It proved that some teams are bad, some need work, and some just aren't there yet.

Ever Seen A Butt Punt? A Whole New Meaning To A Kick In The Ass From A Teammate

Just when you thought you have seen it all in college football Youngstown State brings you the "Butt Punt"

Penguin punter Joey Cejundo tried a rugby punt and it went so wrong and Jacob Wood got the point of the football right up the anal cavity.


By the way Illinois won the game 28-17.

A Navy SEAL Tries Out For Northwestern

((HT: Chicago Sun-Times/Lost Letterman))

Lost Letterman gets the credit for this story

Tom Hruby has had tours as a veteran in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now trying to stick with the Wildcats as a defensive player-special teamer. He is living in the dorms and is trying to make a go of it as a junior on campus.

Still as an active Navy SEAL...


Seth Gruen's article is a must-read about someone who has sacrificed, whose family is still sacrificing, and is looking toward that next challenge.

From the article:

“What’s the next step? How do we get out of here? And you’ve just got to stick to those thoughts, stick to what’s important, stick to what you know and just kind of have an attitude,” he said. “We all have an attitude of we’re always going to survive. There’s almost nothing that can beat us.”

And the HQ can't wait to see how Hruby attacks this challenge.

ICYMI: Ohio St. Takes Care of Business at Northwestern

It was a rainy night in Evanston, but it wasn't enough to stop Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde.

Hyde ran for 168 yards and 3 TD's, leading the Buckeye's to a 40-30 comeback win against Northwestern.

It wasn't always pretty, but the win moved tOSU to 6-0 on the season and cemented them as a BCS contender despite the overall lackluster state of Big 10 football.

Northwestern came out inspired and jumped out to 20-13 halftime lead and was looking for a statement victory.

They almost got it.

Wildcat QB Trevor Siemian threw for 245 yards and 2 TD's, but the defense, despite 2 fumbles and an interception by Ohio State QB Braxton Miller, couldn't slow down Hyde.

Ohio State gets next week off, Northwestern, now 4-1 has a trip to Wisconsin next week.

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