Profile Stories

This first link is a profile of Northern Illinois’ quarterback Jordan Lynch, who is in the middle of a season that has gotten Heisman praise. The profile talks about his numbers, and makes obvious comparisons of his style of play to current Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

This second link is a  from my favorite (tongue in cheek) people in college football, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer. It’s a tiresome topic about the coach having to balance his life and work in order to avoid another “health scare,” or as we in the state of Georgia call it: “Losing Tim Tebow.”

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The Maria Torres Story: Influenced By Her Father, Motivated By Trade Rumors

Maria Torres, a University of Georgia journalism student, does not claim that she knew from the moment she was born that she wanted to write about sports. In fact, it took Torres until her early teens to discover a burning love for baseball that still resides within her today.

Growing up, Torres’ father was always a big baseball fan. He rooted for the Yankees, and Torres justifies this by saying he roots for the brand, not the team in which she is not too fond of today. But when her dad was engulfed in the 2003 World Series between “his” Yankees and the Florida Marlins, Torres discovered that there was something there that sirened her towards the draw of the sport.

Giddy about her new passion, Torres found herself in uncharted territory.

“It was never really on my radar,” Torres said. “I did not play sports growing up, as my parents never really emphasized that, and I never really thought about watching sports on television.”

But it was too late. A passion was quickly struck for the hometown baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, and particularly for one of their better players: Andruw Jones.

So when Jones trade talks heated up in 2006, Torres got her first taste of interacting with the baseball media, calling into a radio show to voice her opinion on the rumors.

“I wrote it down, and knew exactly what I was going to say,” Torres said. “I just went off on a tangent on how I did not want him gone because he helped the Braves go from the 90s funk that they got through, all the way to 2006, and helped the Braves along. I was insistent on the fact that they could not trade him!”

Today, Torres finds herself in a sports writing class within the Grady College of Journalism at UGA, and covers the women’s softball team for the school paper, the Red & Black.

Torres continues to bond with her father through the game of baseball, as they are able to relate the sport to any other life conversations that may come up along the way.

“We talk about sports stuff,” Torres said. “My dad is my go-to for anything, whenever I am having a crisis for anything with journalism and sports.  I learned from him what I know about baseball.”

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PHOTOS: UGA Women’s Volleyball Hosts Mississippi State

The link to my photo gallery for this event can be found RIGHT HERE.

Northern Illinois Must Continue Winning Big In Hopes of BCS

The Northern Illinois Huskies beat the Eastern Michigan Eagles to the tune of 59-20 this past Saturday. And if the Huskies have plans of returning to a BCS bowl in 2013, the blowout wins must continue.

In the most recent BCS standings, the Northern Illinois Huskies have moved up to No. 17, just one spot away from the automatic bid into a BCS bowl, assuming they can hold on from there.

The BCS mandates that if a team from a non-automatic qualifying conference were to be ranked in the top 16, they are to receive a bid to a BCS game. This is how the Huskies got a berth into the Orange Bowl last season, and seemingly how they will repeat as “BCS buster” again in 2013.

With a weak schedule, the Huskies will need to rely on the play making abilities of senior quarterback Jordan Lynch, who set an all-time college football record for rushing yards by a running back with a 316 yard performance against Central Michigan on October 19th.

As strength of schedule will begin to play a big part in the movement up and down the BCS poll, the Huskies will now need to rely on unofficial, and unrecorded “style points” in order to make a move into the high-paying BCS qualifying spot.

Expect to see Lynch keep his foot on the gas from here forward, as putting up massive points in addition to winning will be the difference in playing in a bowl game for several hundred thousand dollars, and several million dollars.

It should be a great stretch to be a Northern Illinois fan.

2nd Day Post: With Louisville Loss, Northern Illinois Primed to Crash BCS; Again

Northern Illinois’ chances of making a BCS bowl game for the second year in a row got some big-time help when Louisville lost to Central Florida this past week.

This 2nd day article from the MAC conference blog from SB Nation does a great job at detailing exactly what needs to happen in order for Northern Illinois to make a second trip to one of the high-paying games.

I liked this article because it did not dwell much on the happenings of this past weekend, but quickly demanded focus on what is next, and how the briefly given details of what just happened, directly affect what happens next.

A Newfound Running Game Proves Ohio State Belongs In The Top Five

This past Saturday, the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes proved that they belong near the top of the national polls when it knocked off the No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats on the road in front of a national audience.

The Buckeyes (6-0, 2-0) dropped in the polls after starting the season ranked No. 2 when they gave up big points to both Buffalo and California earlier this season. The Buckeyes also lost their starting quarterback, Braxton Miller, for nearly three full games, leaving speculation as to how their high-powered offense would fair without him.

But it was not necessarily Miller who vaulted the Buckeyes back into the national championship conversation after defeating Northwestern (4-1, 0-1). In an offensive exhibition this past Saturday, senior running back Carlos Hyde ran the ball 26 times for 168 yards and three touchdowns.

With the emergence of Hyde, who was suspended the first three games of the season for “conduct not representative of the football program or the university,” as described by head coach Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes are now much more balanced in their offensive attack that was previously dominated by the arm and legs of Miller.

Everything is now clicking for the Buckeye’s offense. As the trend seems to go this year across the national college football landscape, Ohio State should not worry about giving up points, as much as other teams should have to worry about scoring more than Ohio State.
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Denver Broncos @ Dallas Cowboys Storify

[View the story “Denver Broncos @ Dallas Cowboys” on Storify]

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No Braxton, No Problem for Ohio State

When Ohio State’s starting quarterback Braxton Miller hurt his leg in week two verses San Diego State, the entire state of Ohio held it’s breath. Miller is considered by many to be the perfect quarterback to run Ohio State coach Urban Meyer’s spread offense, and without him, nobody was sure how productive the offense would be. Enter Kenny Guiton, and the Buckeyes have yet to miss a beat.

Almost three full games since Miller went down, the Buckeyes have continued to put up big numbers. Scoring 42, 52, and 76 in the games in which Guiton has taken over, and one may speculate that there may be a quarterback controversy in Columbus. But according to Meyer, no such controversy exists. In a press conference this past weekend after the Buckeyes dismantled FLorida A&M, when the question was asked if Miller was still number one, Meyer simply replied “Yes.”

Since Kenny Guiton has taken over for the injured Miller, he has completed 65 of 95 passes for 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. “Xbox numbers” as the kids may say.

Though Ohio State has yet to enter the “meat” of their schedule, knocking off four out-of-conference teams which could be considered far from intriguing, big tests are on the horizon when Wisconsin comes into Columbus this weekend, and the Buckeyes travel to Northwestern the following week. And while the status of Braxton Miller is still uncertain, Ohio State fans can breathe easy, for the time being, with Kenny Guiton taking the snaps.

Advance Stories HW, SEA/SF and ALA/A&M

My first advance story I liked has to do with the anticipated showdown between the Seattle Seahawks (1-0) and their division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers (1-0). This article has an advance slant which focus on how the 49ers will use new wide receiver Anquan Boldin, and how the Seahawks plan to defend him. The piece is very informative and educates the average reader on a key matchup in the game.

Another advance story I found that I liked has to do with the highly anticipated “rematch” between Alabama (2-0, 1-0) and Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1) which took place before the nation’s eyes this past Saturday afternoon. I like how this advance looks at a preview in an itemized layout which focused on key points, without all the informaton being jumbled into a few paragraphs. I was able to keep focus while being informed without growing overwhelmed and bored.

Michigan Emerges as Ohio State’s Biggest Big Ten Threat

Anybody who watched the four-letter network all summer long may have been brainwashed into believing that Ohio State had a clear path to the Big Ten title, and a likely trip to Pasadena to face Alabama in the BCS Championship game. But after the dismantling of a highly ranked Notre Dame team this past Saturday night, Michigan has solidified themselves as a legitimate threat to challenge Ohio State for the Big Ten crown.

Without the duel threat of Denard Robinson returning to keep opposing defenses on their toes, the identity of this new Michigan team has been in question. Not anymore. Junior quarterback Devin Gardner has thus far proven worthy of filling the (untied) shoes that Robinson left behind in Ann Arbor. In the first two games of this 2013 season, Gardner has gone 31-48 with 456 yards, 5 TDs and 3 INTs. In addition, Gardner has shown glimpses of Denard Robinson-like movement while rushing the ball 18 times for 144 yards in his first two games as a starter.

Michigan, now ranked eleventh in the AP Poll, will have plenty of tests before facing off with Big Ten favorite, and fourth ranked Ohio State. With no immediate threats until November, the Wolverines should be hitting their stride before entering the gauntlet of the Big Ten’s best. A trip to Michigan State on November 2nd will only be a warmup before facing (what should be) back-to-back ranked teams with Nebraska at home and then traveling to face Northwestern the following week. All this is only a prelude to what is shaping up to be another epic showdown when the Michigan fans (do not) welcome Ohio State into Ann Arbor.

So while only a few short weeks ago, many had penciled in Ohio State as a shoe-in for the Big Ten Title, the team that Buckeye fans least want to keep them from their crown has indeed emerged as its biggest threat. The rivalry game set for November 30th at Michigan between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes will be extra sweet or extra sour for fans of either team in 2013. And college football as a whole can consider themselves winners because of it.

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Related articles

• Is Michigan the Big Ten’s best? (espn.go.com)
• Shoelace gone, Michigan turns to Gardner at QB (timesleader.com)
• Ohio State heavy favorite in Big Ten (timesleader.com)
• Can the Michigan Wolverines be a national title contender? (thesportsbank.net)

Northern Illinos Looks To Pickup Where They Left Off in 2013

Perhaps the feelgood story of the 2011 college football season was the Northern Illinois Husky fans getting the opportunity to escape their regionally cold winter for a few weeks and drive down to Miami to watch their team take on the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl. In 2013, the boys from Northern Illinois look to prove that last season was no fluke.

Northern Illinois is a hot team that should certainly feel confident going into their first test of the season Saturday against the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes. Winners of 21 of its last 23 games, the Huskies are returning all five of their offensive line starters from 2012 to protect breakout star quarterback Jordan Lynch.

These same two teams met at the beginning of the 2012 season, resulting in what would be the Huskies’ only regular season loss. The Hawkeyes of Iowa were able shut out the Huskies in the fourth quarter while scoring the final nine points to administer a heartbreaking 18-17 loss.

Revenge will undoubtedly be on the minds of Norther Illinois this Saturday. Though a BCS bowl was obtained last season, the doubters will surely be out in full force trying to discredit them from day one. If the Huskies can beat a Big Ten team in early September, then march into their Mid-American schedule with both confidence and a chip on their shoulder, look for them to be in the talks once again when it comes to divvying out bids to the bowls that pay the big bucks come December.

If all goes according to plan, Norther Illinois fans can plan on pulling out the shorts around New Years Day, again.