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Hlas column: ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit calls Big Ten football sleep-inducing, and he’s right
Conference has no one in the BCS Top 25, a near-impossibility
Michigan State Spartans safety Kurtis Drummond is brought down by Iowa Hawkeyes Zach Derby (85),Casey Kreiter (61), Micah Hyde (18), C.J. Fiedorowicz (86), Christian Kirksey (20) and James Morris at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing Michigan on Saturday, October 13, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — It’s one thing to see the BCS Top 25, which doesn’t have a single Big Ten team in it thanks to Ohio State being on NCAA sanctions this season.
But when you hear as levelheaded a voice as ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit bad-mouthing the conference’s football, it’s jarring.
I was driving to Kirk Ferentz’s weekly press conference Tuesday morning when I caught Herbstreit’s appearance on Colin Cowherd’s ESPN Radio show. Cowherd’s job is to entertain and stir the pot, so you shouldn’t get bent out of shape when he throws knives at the Big Ten. But when it’s Herbstreit, the former Ohio State quarterback and a broadcasting voice of reason …
Kirk Herbstreit
Cowherd: “Have you ever been really sick and the best way to get over it is to throw up? I didn’t feel good Saturday so I watched Big Ten football and vomited. And I felt so much better. … That’s the worst major-conference I’ve ever seen in my life.
Herbstreit: “Isn’t it something? I’m a video game guy. Not as much in my old age as when I was younger. I came all the way the way up with Pong …
“The rest of college football, they navigate through with PS3 and Xbox. You tune into a noon Eastern Big Ten game, I swear it’s like Tecmo Bowl. Even before Tecmo Bowl, an Atari 2600 (games that came out in the 1970s and 1980s).
“It is unbelievable where this conference is right now.”
Cowherd: “Unwatchable.”
Herbstreit: “Unless you’re looking to catch up on a nap, then it’s the perfect thing to watch.”
I know a win is a win, and a win at Michigan State is always a great thing for any Big Ten team to get, and Iowa had every reason to be jubilant about leaving East Lansing with its 19-16 double-overtime victory Saturday.
But that was one of those games Herbstreit was talking about, and he was right. While the two defenses both had fine games, the Iowa and MSU offenses were painful to watch. Their passing games seemed to predate Pac-Man.
Michigan State’s half the team it was last year, with the missing half being a passing game. Iowa, given a schedule that doesn’t include Ohio State or Wisconsin, could play itself into Legends Division title-contention if it gets just a little better offensively than what it’s been in the first half of this season.
Iowa's Kirk, last Saturday at Michigan State (AP photo)
Ohio State is the league’s one Top Ten team, but it allows 400 yards a game. Its 52-49 win over Indiana Saturday night was hard to watch, but for the opposite reason as Iowa-MSU. The defenses were horrible.
Michigan, the league’s only other ranked team, got blown away by Alabama and had almost as many interceptions (five) as points (six) at Notre Dame. That was twice the scoring Michigan State did against the Irish.
Nebraska has a porous defense. Wisconsin is starting a quarterback who couldn’t unseat the No. 1 QB of any other Big Ten team. Penn State is 2-0 in league play, but lost at home to Ohio and on the road to a mediocre Virginia team.
Iowa is 114th in the nation in passing efficiency. and 98th in total offense. Yet, the Hawkeyes were good enough to handle Minnesota and slip past Michigan State. That says something good about the Hawkeyes, something not as kind about the Big Ten.
Yes, there’s been a population shift from the northern U.S. to the Sun Belt for quite a while now. But does every great high school football player now live in a warm-weather state and want to stay in one?
Is, crazy as this may sound, football getting away from the Big Ten? Has football gotten away from the Big Ten?
Never mind the six straight BCS titles for the SEC. The Big Ten has lost in eight of the last nine Rose Bowls in which it sent a team, has had its last two Capital One Bowl participants (Nebraska and Michigan State) clubbed by SEC opponents, and has one-third of its Leaders Division teams on NCAA probation.
“I’m worried about us trying to win Saturday, pure and simple,” Ferentz said when I asked him about his conference’s slippage. “Football’s football. It’s cyclical.”
But is it really, I asked him.
“Time will tell.”
MSU's Mark Dantonio, last Saturday (AP photo)
The SEC and Big 12 have seven teams apiece in the BCS Top 25, not that the BCS Top 25 reflects all that is true about the sport.
Saturday’s 11 a.m. (CT) Big Ten games are Minnesota-Wisconsin and Purdue-Ohio State. At the same time, ESPN will telecast LSU-Texas A&M and FX will air Iowa State-Oklahoma State.
If you like football, skip the Big Ten nap and watch the Cyclones, Cowboys, Tigers and Aggies.
This video from Iowa Nice Guy on ESPN’s College Football Daily has its own take:
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Yeah, all of 5 people will be watching 1-2 Iowa State vs 1-2 Ok St (who won by a whopping 6 against Kansas.) Gimme a break.
my mistake, ok st is 1-1
He’s so wrong. BTN showed this game as the most exciting game of the week. My favorite game ever is Iowa 6 – Penn St 4. These kids fighting it out in the trenches and the points when they are earned make for great football.
Keep on drinking the kool-aid, great unwashed masses. The legends and leaders are really laggards and lay-abouts.
Hlastro has seen the light. It is indeed the 21st century. Wake me up when the B1G has a game of national significance like the one fought to the bitter end in Ames last weekend.
It will be a long, deep sleep, almost a coma. Just like the B1G and its sheeple.
I know the Big Ten is boring to some people but the team I root for plays in it so I’m going to watch games that effect them.
I find 70-63 games excruciating but I actually enjoy defense so I guess I’m in the minority.
And Iowa State- Oklahoma State is “exciting” football? Really, Mike? Have you watched OSU play at all this year?
Mike Williams:
Oklahoma State leads the nation in total offense. Would it be a more-interesting team to you if it tucked it in by half of its 601 yards per game?
Nearly 42% of that offense came against Savannah St (yep, that Savannah St.) and La Lafayette. Neither of these teams are D-1. The other yards they gained, were against teams with total defense rankings of #91, #99, and #110. I agree that the Big Ten is in a world of hurt currently. But, I absolutely disagree with your statement that Iowa State vs OK St is even remotely watchable. OK State is really bad, and Iowa State is, as always, below .500 in their conference (they’ve finished above .500 only 1 time in the last 12 years, perhaps more.)
I’m not going to defend the Big Ten this year. Everyone can see that the conference is down. But ultimately who cares? You’re going to naturally watch games that effect your team and the teams that play your team. This notion that every game in the Big 12 or SEC is some Jerry Bruckeheimer produced action movie and the every game in the Big Ten is one step below Red Grange is such ESPN fed BS. I’ve seen AWFUL games in the SEC and Big 12.
As far as Oky State i have to agree with what Bob said, they got a lot of offensive numbers against giants like Savannah State and Louisiana. They lost big to a completely average Arizona team and barely beat a terrible Kansas team.
Sorry but I’m gonna pass on the Cyclones-Cowboys.
I actually am going to pass on all 11am games. My 5 year old has a soccer match. For me, that’s better than any of these games.
But I can’t believe I’ve gotten roped into a debate about Oklahoma State.
That soccer game is the only choice, Mike. Good for you.
It must be nice to be paid like Herbie to state the obvious. Perhaps Mr. Herbie could do a little research and tell us something insightful. Or maybe he could tell us why a 6-3 game in the SEC is more exciting than a 19-16 game OT game in the Big Ten. Or maybe he could note that Big Ten basketball was weak 3 or 4 years ago, but now, for the second straight year, will be tops in the country and how football can have a similar resurgence. But then that might require some thought, and we know ESPN folks aren’t real big on that.
How about this? Both 19-16 2OT and 6-3 are differing degrees of ineptitude. Alabama/LSU, loaded with NFL players, especially on D, shut each other down.
On the other hand, 19-16 ended appropriately with a poorly thrown pass and interception. Both QB’s were 31/67(46%) with an almost incomprehensible
4.7 yd/att.
It is a long way from being the worst BCS conference to the best. In football, that gap is too large to traverse. But keep hoping.
On to hoops. Until Kentucky gets shot down(by the NCAA, hopefully) and Florida, Arkansas, and LSU reloading(all top 25 recruiting classes, with K and FL #1 & 2) the SEC is remains on top.
You have got to beat the best to be the best.
I think this makes for a good argument. I almost used the word “debate,” but I can wait another week for one of those.
A couple of years ago the Big Ten lost nearly every bowl game, then they won a bunch of their games the next year. The Big 10 is down right now but I suspect that Ohio State will be playing for a championship very shortly and that will bring the overall talent level of the Big 10 up to compete against them. In 2 years I bet the conference will be respected again. For a conference that was dead last year the Big 12 sure is come back well. So theres hope.