Category: Football

Ohio State assistant Jeff Hafley confirmed as next head coach at Boston College

Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has been officially announced as the next head coach at Boston College.

Up until now, it was pure speculation and sourced rumor, but we now have confirmation from Boston College itself. Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jeff Hafley will be the next head coach at Boston College.

Pretty credible sources began to come forward earlier this week that a deal was in the works and that things were a mere formality, but nothing concrete had been released. Then yesterday, we got even more credible reports that a deal was done, but we didn’t hear officially from Ohio State or Boston College.

Until today when Boston College announced the hiring of Hafley on its official Twitter account.

Hafley came to Ohio State when Ryan Day lured him from the San Francisco 49ers. He was brought in to help improve an Ohio State defense and secondary that struggled giving up the big play in 2019.

It has been a resounding success.

Ohio State is 2nd in the country in passing yards allowed, 8th in rushing defense, 3rd in scoring defense, and 2nd in scoring defense heading into the College Football Playoff.

Now, it appears Hafley will be moving on to Boston College after just one very successful season in Columbus. He’ll finish out the year and be along for whatever ride Ohio State goes on in the postseason.

NFL Prop Bet Payday – Week 15

Analyzing key Week 15 NFL prop bets that seem poised for a pay day, featuring props around Aaron Jones, Tom Brady, Christian McCaffrey and Sean Payton.

With the holidays right around the corner, we’re looking to help out those looking for a little extra spending money. We’ve teamed up with the oddsmakers at BetMGM.com and our friends at The Huddle to find prop bets that go against the conventional wisdom of the number. Looking for extra cash for presents? Consider these bets for Week 15. Odds last updated Saturday at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Trial and Aaron

Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch – USA TODAY Sports

Who is the only coach that can consistently limit Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones? His head coach Matt LaFleur. For some reason, he has forced Jones into a timeshare with Jamaal Williams, limiting his rushing attempts to 13 or less in 10 of 13 games. As a result, Jones’ Over/Under for rushing yards against the Chicago Bears Sunday is 59½ (-118 on both the Over and Under). In his last two home games, he has rushed for 93 yards against the Carolina Panthers and 134 against the Washington Redskins. The Packers will be looking to control the clock offensively and Jones should hit 70 or more rushing yards. Take the OVER 59.5.

New to sports betting? Every $1.18 wagered will profit $1 if Jones finishes with 60 rushing yards or more.

Looking to place a bet any of the Week 15 NFL games? Get some action on the games or other sports at BetMGM. Sign up now!

The Story of a Man Named Brady

Photo Credit: Troy Taormina – USA TODAY Sports

This one is a little surprising, given the struggles of the New England Patriots pass offense, which basically has been limited to Tom Brady trying to find Julian Edelman. The Over/Under for Brady passing yards is 258.5 (-118 on both sides). This number is based more on Cincinnati’s defense being bad, but 258 yards is a lot, especially with a receiver corps that looks more like a receiver corpse at this point. Brady had thrown for 216 or fewer yards in three of his last four games and, while we believe he can get close to this number, getting there won’t be easy, especially if the Pats got off to a double-digit lead early. Take the UNDER 258.5 (-118) on Brady’s total passing yards.

The Passion of the Chris

Photo Credit: Bob Donnan – USA TODAY Sports

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has been putting together an MVP season and the Seattle Seahawks’ biggest defensive problem has been stopping the run. However, the prop bet we’re looking at is McCaffrey on the receiving end of things. The Over/Under on receiving yards for McCaffrey is 55.5 (-118 on both sides). This is a big number for a running back, but McCaffrey has exceeded that number seven times this year, including each of the last four. He has been targeted 48 times in the last four games, catching 38 passes for 330 yards. We see him catching seven or eight passes. If he breaks one for 20+ yards, it be almost impossible to keep him under the number. Take the OVER 55.5 (-118) on McCaffrey’s total receiving yards.

Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?

Photo Credit: Chuck Cook – USA TODAY Sports

We have a bonus prop bet for you. Few head coaches hold on to his challenge flag for less time than New Orleans Saints’ Sean Payton. He will throw a challenge flag to get a ball moved a yard or two. There is a prop bet in Monday night’s game as to who will use a coach’s challenge first: Saints -115, Indianapolis Colts -115. Given his propensity to throw the red handkerchief (and usually lose), if you want to go off the board with a prop bet, banking on Payton to be the first to launch the laundry as a good bet. Take PAYTON -115.

Now that you have the skinny on what to do with each player, visit BetMGM to place a bet on your favorite NFL Prop Bets now. For additional sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com now and for a complete set of today’s live odds, access them at USA TODAY Sports.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Former Ohio Sate and current LSU quarterback Joe Burrow wins Heisman Trophy

He’s done it. Former Ohio State and current LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has won the 2019 Heisman Trophy. Well done.

Former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow has won the Heisman Trophy all while surrounded by two current Buckeyes who also went to New York as finalists.

The story of Burrow is quite amazing. He came out of small-town America in Athens, Ohio as a four-star recruit in 2015. He committed and enrolled at Ohio State, and was expected to eventually compete for the starting quarterback position in Columbus once J.T. Barrett moved on. He did indeed do that in the spring of 2018, but eventually graduated early and transferred to LSU after not being named the starter.

At LSU, he won the starting job last year and had modest success before developing into what we all witnessed in 2019. All Burrow did this year was set all sorts of SEC passing records, including throwing 48 total touchdown passes and eclipsing the single-season passing yardage mark.

Now, amazingly he is a Heisman winner, and a graduate of The Ohio State University. Other programs can say what they will about Buckeye fans rooting and calling him a Buckeye, but he is an Ohio State alum. He is also a full-fledged LSU Tiger.

Even Burrow himself paid homage to both programs and his roots.

There’s nothing but good things to say about a kid that has handled himself with class and made his dreams come true — even if it has been with another program in the SEC.

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The 1954 Heisman vote for Alan Ameche of Wisconsin

Alan Ameche became Wisconsin’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1954.

Before there was Ron Dayne in 1999, the Wisconsin Badgers gained their first Heisman Trophy winner in 1954. Alan Ameche made history for the Badgers, en route to the College Football Hall of Fame and a significant piece of NFL immortality.

When you mention Alan Ameche to a sports fan on the street (and that sports fan is at least 50 years old), you will almost always get one answer among people who actually remember the running back: “Oh yeah, right, he was the guy who scored the winning touchdown in overtime of the 1958 NFL Championship Game.” Ameche won one of the most important and consequential football games ever played, a game widely credited with giving professional football the publicity and the sizzle needed to emerge into America’s most popular sport in the coming decades.

The process by which the NFL grew into a commercial juggernaut — amplified by NFL Films, aided by Commissioner Pete Rozelle, fueled by Vince Lombardi, enhanced by Joe Namath’s victory in Super Bowl III, strengthened by the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, catapulted by the runaway success of the emergent Super Bowl concept — began in many ways with a game in which Alan Ameche played, a game which ended on a touchdown Ameche scored. That is no small place in history for the man nicknamed “The Horse.”

Here is how the 1954 Heisman vote went down:

Ameche won a close vote with 1,068 points. He gained 214 first-place votes, which was 34 more than runner-up Kurt Burris of Oklahoma, who collected 180 such votes. Burris had 838 points. Ameche might have lost the Heisman had Burris won more second- and third-place votes, but Ameche exceeded Burris in those categories as well, with 46 more seconds (157-111) and 36 more thirds (112-76).

The 46 more seconds provided 92 points. The 36 thirds added 36 points, meaning that Ameche outdistanced Burris by 128 points on votes other than first-place tallies. Given that Ameche won the first-place category by 102 points over Burris (34 more first-place votes at three points per vote), a complete flip of 128 points to Burris would have given the Sooner lineman the victory. This was not a runaway created by first-place votes, but a case of Ameche being slightly better in first, second, and third-place results.

Howard “Hopalong” Cassady of Ohio State finished third with 810 points, right behind Burris’s 838. Instructively, Cassady collected 139 second-place votes. Fourth-place finisher Ralph Guglielmi of Notre Dame — who had 691 points and was also competitive in the top tier of the 1954 Heisman race — hauled in 128 second-place votes as well. Cassady and Guglielmi split the vote with Burris, which contributed to Ameche’s victory.

Four Heisman contenders — Ameche, Burris, Cassady, and Guglielmi — all gained more than 110 first- and second-place votes, making the 1954 Heisman one of the more deeply competitive and balanced Heisman races of all time.

A Wisconsin Badger and future Baltimore Colt came out on top, just as he did four years later in the 1958 NFL season.

One immortal and iconic moment in New York on a football field was preceded by four years in the very same city, when Alan Ameche lifted the Heisman Trophy at the Downtown Athletic Club.

Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts finishes second in Heisman Trophy race, loses to LSU’s Joe Burrow

It was completely expected. Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts became the fifth Heisman finalist for the Sooners in the last four years. 

It was completely expected.

Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts became the fifth Heisman finalist for the Sooners in the last four years.

Unlike the two quarterbacks prior to him, Hurts did not win the 2019 Heisman Trophy. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was just announced as the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner.

No consolation, but Hurts finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Hurts finished with more points than Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and Ohio State defensive end Chase Young.

Burrow set the record for highest percentage of first-place votes, most points as a percentage of possible points and most ballots named as percent of blocks.

Hurts had a remarkable season, throwing for 3,634 yards at a 71.8 completion percentage, ran for 1,255 more and also accounted for 50 total touchdowns.

LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner and Oklahoma’s Heisman Trophy runner-up will matchup in the College Football Playoff at the Peach Bowl on Dec. 28.

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Chase Young says the plan is for him to return to Ohio State for his senior season. Umm, okay.

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was quoted by TMZ Sports about returning to Ohio State next year. That ain’t happening folks.

In case you missed what amounted to a perceived bombshell earlier today, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was quoted by TMZ Sports as saying he’s not thinking about the NFL Draft right now, and that his “plan” is to return to Ohio State.

Okay, forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.

I know Young loves being at Ohio State and all of that, and he’s clearly speaking out of the emotion of the moment. But do we really believe when it’s all said and done that what might be the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is going to forego millions of dollars for “the love of being a college student.”

No way, no how.

There is absolutely nothing to prove for the 6-5, 265 lb. game-wrecker if he were to come back for another fantastic run. Sure, maybe he picks up more steam on his Heisman campaign, or perhaps he wants to set the NCAA record for single-season sacks, or sacks in a career. Either way, that pales in comparison to what he’d be risking if he were to stay a so-called amateur.

There’s about as much of a chance of that happening as Jim Harbaugh becoming a spokesman for Levis jeans.

Young would be able to get insurance to cover himself in his graduation year should he sustain an unfortunate injury, but that won’t cover everything that goes with any signing bonus and long-term type deal he can get as a high, high draft pick.

So while it would be fun and a bit unfair to watch one of the greatest defensive ends in the history of the college game to come back and mess with the game plans of college defensive coordinators again, I wouldn’t put any stock in these comments.

But hey, maybe he meant the plan was to come back to Ohio with the Cincinnati Bengals? That is something many Buckeye fans could get behind as a consolation prize.

15 Alabama Football players graduated on Saturday

On Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide had 15 football players graduate from the University of Alabama. 

On Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide had 15 football players graduate from the University of Alabama.

Raekwon Davis, Trevon Diggs, Anfernee Jennings, Terrell Lewis, Ben Davis, Mac Hereford, Jalen Jackson, Mac Jones, Sean Kelly, Scott Lashley, Jared Mayden, Joshua McMillon, Tevita Musika, Tyrell Shavers and Taylor Wilson all graduate on Saturday.

Anfernee Jennings actually graduated with a second bachelor’s degree on Saturday.

A big congrats and Roll Tide to all of the Crimson Tide graduates!

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Do we really appreciate what Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has done this year?

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has had a year for the ages. But do we really appreciate what he’s done in 2019?

By now everyone has heard about the dominance of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. I’m sure other teams have gotten tired of hearing just how great he is, but in reality, the guy is truly a phenom that we are watching.

We might know it, but do we really know and embrace it. There may not ever be another guy like him at the defensive end position on the Banks of the Olentangy. Or at least, not for a very, very, long time.

While his accolades speak for themselves, the amount of awards he’s picked up during the college football awards circuit is astounding. In case you haven’t already been made aware, Chase Young added five trophies alone in the last week. Here’s a quick run down of all that’s happened for the junior defensive end.

Ready for this? Young averages more sacks per game than 37 teams in the country. That’s equal to about a quarter of all the teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Let that sink in for a minute. Especially seeing how he had to sit for two games because of accepting and paying back a loan from a family friend.

Let’s not mention the fact that the games he did play in he didn’t even play in all four quarters. Ohio State was so dominant in 2019 that he wasn’t needed often at the end of blowout wins. The point here is that the stats could have been even greater, like single-season NCAA record-setting greater.

While Buckeye fans love to compare the junior gamed-wrecker with the Bosa brothers, but their productivity didn’t even touch what Young has put on tape. Young has statistically had a better season than either brother ever had at Ohio State, and the games aren’t even over yet. All he did set the single-season sack record in Columbus with 16.5 sacks in just eleven games.

Then there’s tackles for loss. Young is tied Joey Bosa with 21.5 tackles for loss in just one season at Ohio State, but lets us not forget big brother Joey played 15 games, to again — just eleven for Young. There’s a good bet that record will fall as well on December 28.

While we will always look back at the Bosas with fond memories of their dominance, we’d be remiss not to mention the fact that we are watching arguably the best defensive lineman in OSU history.

Now all Young needs to do is score a touchdown. He’s done everything else after all.

The 1999 Heisman Trophy vote for Ron Dayne of Wisconsin

More on Ron Dayne’s 1999 Heisman.

Ron Dayne, when he made Heisman Trophy history for the Wisconsin Badgers 20 years ago, beat out some special college football players for the famed stiff-arm piece of hardware.

Here is how the 1999 Heisman Trophy vote turned out at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York:

Dayne won with 2,042 points, based primarily on 586 first-place votes, worth three points apiece. He also received 121 second-place votes at two points apiece.

The runner-up in 1999 was Joe Hamilton of Georgia Tech. He gained 285 second-place votes, by far the most second-place votes in the field. He finished with 994 points, making Dayne’s victory a comfortable one.

Joe Hamilton was a fine college player, but it’s the next four players on the Heisman voting list from 1999 which show how excellent Dayne’s season was. He beat out players we still remember today. One will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The third-place finisher in the 1999 Heisman voting was none other than Michael Vick. He was a freshman who led Virginia Tech to that season’s BCS title game, the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Vick — a predecessor to Lamar Jackson in playing style and overall dynamism on the field — electrified college football at a level few other players had matched. Ron Dayne’s 1999 season stood above Vick’s. That is a statement about the Wisconsin running back and his considerable quality.

The fourth-place finisher? Drew Brees of Purdue. Ever heard of him? I gather you might have. Before Brees won a Super Bowl and became a genuine NFL legend, he was a Purdue legend, winning the Big Ten one year after the 1999 season. He guided the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl against Washington, giving him a piece of football immortality in West Lafayette and giving him his first great moment in black and gold (the college version) before moving to New Orleans and donning those same colors as a pro.

Chad Pennington — hardly an all-timer but not a scrub, either — finished fifth in the 1999 Heisman voting tally. Peter Warrick, arguably the best big-game player in the 1999 season, given what he did to lift Florida State to Bobby Bowden’s second national championship with the Seminoles, finished sixth. SIXTH!

Ron Dayne didn’t beat a weak Heisman field in 1999. He beat a strong one. This can’t be forgotten or diminished, 20 years later on Heisman Night.

The X Factor player for Ohio State Against Clemson is …

If Ohio State hopes to dethrone Clemson and get into the national championship game, it’ll need this player to come up big.

While it seems that everyone is picking Clemson to win the titanic struggle in the desert, maybe there is one specific player that can make all the difference in the world for Ohio State.

In the Big Ten Championship game, KJ Hill was crucial to the success of Ohio State with his ability to catch the underneath routes to balance the deep threat ability of Chris Olave. Everyone has raved about Olave since he emerged last year against That Team Up North, but KJ Hill is as reliable as it gets and is often overshadowed and underappreciated.

In the Wisconsin game, Hill had a game-high seven receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. His performance in the second half is what allowed Ohio State to open up the deep passing game to Olave.

The tandem of Olave and Hill is crucial to the success of Ohio State, but without the underneath routes, the safeties can stay high and limit the deep threat. Hill is second on the team in touchdowns, but he often gets the tough and dirty underneath yardage that isn’t nearly as glorious.

In order to reach the pinnacle of where this Ohio State team hopes to end up in 2019, it’ll need to rely on the experience of Hill to keep the defense guessing in the passing game. The fact that Hill is Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions says he’s up to the task.