The Football Post

My annual football post is becoming a bit of a tradition for this blog.  As a new season launches, it must be time to post my observations and predictions.

The high school teams, Columbus North and East, are already 3 games into their season.  East is undefeated and ranked #1 again.  They truly do seem almost unbeatable, but that was the case in the last 2 years, when they ran up against powerhouse mega-schools from the Indianapolis area that easily tossed them aside.

Columbus North has slid precipitously backwards over the last couple of years.  This year to date they find themselves without a victory, and given their robust schedule it seems unlikely for them to get more than 1 or 2 wins in the entire season.  Somehow the balance of power has shifted decidedly to Columbus East, which seems to be attracting the best athletes in the city.  I don't have an explanation, but suspect that if I were to ask the players privately, they'll probably tell me.

Columbus East has a big positive this year that improves their chances of breaking through to the state championship this Thanksgiving.  The IHSAA has created a brand new class for football, 6A.  The Indy mega-schools were moved into the new class, which seems to open a terrific opportunity for them.

At the college level, Notre Dame is slipping, with a degraded defense and Tommy Rees back at quarterback.  I like Tommy, and he's a decent quarterback.  But he lacks the mobility and creativity and intangible ability to find a way to win when the game's on the line that Everett Gholson had last year.  Did the graduation of Manti Teo degrade the defense that much?  Michigan was clearly the better team this weekend.

Ball State is looking terrific so far.  I think they'll be a bowl team, and look like they just might be serious contenders for the MAC championship.

Indiana is better.  They aren't competitive for the Big Ten title by any means, but they've improved over the last two years.  Unfortunately, I still don't think they're a bowl team.  But this team just might have a chance to win the oaken bucket game.

The Colts are still a bit of a mystery.  Even after this weekend's win over Oakland, I'm not able to make any predictions.  Reggie Wayne is still terrific and Andrew Luck is solid.  But the offensive line still seems like a liability.  And I can't tell whether Terrell Pryor is an exceptional scrambler, and deserved to be the number 1 rusher in the NFL this weekend, or if the hapless Colts defense still can't catch anybody with the ball and a modicum of quickness.

The Colts were fortunate to pull out their victory against Oakland.  It remains to be seen whether Oakland is going to prove themselves better than advertised or the Colts are destined to perform poorly this year.