I went to Tim Griffin's blog this morning to check out his Big 12 predictions. I should know better, but I am always curious how others perceive Iowa State (even though it's typically not positive). So I'm on the site, scrolling down, and I find the ISU-Kent State game, where he was Kent State winning 24-21. I was a little puzzled, so I read his blurb about the game. Take it away Tim!
Paul Rhoads will try to halt the Cyclones’ nation-worst 17-game road losing streak. Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud will be trying to rebound after throwing four interceptions in the Cyclones’ 35-3 loss last week to Iowa. Look for Giorgio Morgan to take most of the snaps with Eugene Jarvis out of the lineup for the Golden Flashes, who ranked 96th or worse in each of the four major offensive statistical categories. In the end, this one might be settled by which of two of the nation’s worst turnover margin teams -- Kent State is 94th and Iowa State is 108th -- does the better job of protecting the ball.
Oh ok! .... Wait.... What?
Look for Giorgio Morgan to take most of the snaps with Eugene Jarvis out of the lineup for the Golden Flashes...
Seriously? Either Griffin thinks Jarvis is a QB or that Morgan is a RB. Either way, I will be sure to watchout for Morgan! Thanks for the heads up Tim! I'm going to go to ESPN.com right now, and read up on Morgan so I know what to look for come Saturday. I am really interested in seeing how he's going to tear up the Cyclones!
I go to his player page here and find a status alert from yesterday:
Morgan has been ruled out of Saturday's game against Iowa State, as his ankle injury has become too serious to play on, the Kent State Student Newspaper reports. (Sep 16)
Crap. Seriously Tim? Your own company has this info on their site yesterday, and you don't pick up on it?
And then this:
In the end, this one might be settled by which of two of the nation’s worst turnover margin teams -- Kent State is 94th and Iowa State is 108th -- does the better job of protecting the ball.
Honestly, this is your basis for the outcome of the game? First off, Kent State is actually tied for 99th, and Iowa State is 116th. Next, it's too early in the season to make a big stink about this stat. Georgia is tied for 109th, and West Virginia at 113th. Would they lose to Kent State also?
With this logic, Iowa and Pittsburgh should be ranked #1 and #2! Florida is at 48th in turnover margin! They shouldn't even be ranked right now!
As an ISU fan I'm not asking for a whole lot. I get that ESPN really only cares about the Texas and Oklahoma schools with a sprinkle of Nebraska in there. But writing a one paragraph preview of a game isn't that hard: you look at the injury reports, see the statistical leaders, pick a player you think will make an impact based on the statistical leaders on the team, look at spread, and just throw a score out there.
This may surprise you, but this guy actually participates in Paul Rhoads' weekley teleconference to the media (he asked two questions this past week), so he should have some better info to go on to write a preview like this.
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