Tests await area college teams

UT quarterback Phillip Ely says the Rockets’ offense is improving, and need to reach their expectations.

BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH

UT quarterback Phillip Ely says the Rockets’ offense is improving, and need to reach their expectations.

Rockets rolling but waiting on offense

The University of Toledo is the only Mid-American Conference team without a loss this season, which has done nothing to challenge the Rockets' status as the slight league favorite.

And to think that the Rockets’ offense hasn't found its footing yet.

Quarterback Phillip Ely issued little praise after the Rockets’ 37-7 drubbing of Arkansas State in Week 4, but gave a warning instead. If Toledo continues to play like this, Ely said, it likely will lose a game.

Asked to assign a letter grade to the Rockets’ offense Monday, Ely gave a B-minus. UT is averaging just more than 24 points per 60 minutes, a respectable total, but also nowhere near the Rockets’ apex. READ MORE

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, right, talks with quarterback Cardale Jones (12).

Buckeyes still trying to meet this year’s great expectations

COLUMBUS — Ohio State remains the top-ranked football team in the country and the heavy favorite to repeat as national champions, its title odds in Las Vegas improving from 2-1 in the preseason to an even more staggering 7-4 as of Monday.

Yet, through four sometimes offensively challenged weeks, the reality is clear.

This is not last year’s team.

Asked if this season has felt like more of a grind that he expected, coach Urban Meyer said, “Expectations are so high, I think that’s natural, yeah.”

“I could tell you no, but I think so,” he said Monday. READ MORE

Jabrill Peppers

Michigan’s Peppers just responds to coaching

ANN ARBOR — Jabrill Peppers has heard some of the things his opponents on the field has said to him. He refuses to respond to it.

In fact, the redshirt freshman on the Michigan football team acknowledged some of the taunts that BYU’s players made toward him in Saturday’s 31-0 win at Michigan Stadium. Peppers declined to go in-depth as far as some of the things that were said to him, citing the inappropriate nature of the exchanges, but he also acknowledged that if he was to respond, there’d be a price to pay.

“Coach Harbaugh doesn’t like that,” Peppers said. “I almost did, one time, and I had to catch myself. But no response. He made it clear from back in camp. If he sees any of that, the whole team is going to pay for it. Because in a game, the whole team will pay for it. You might get a 15-yard [penalty] for it. That’s how I look at it.” READ MORE

Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson (11) takes a shuffle pass ahead of the hit from Purdue's Evan Panfil.

Falcons defensive about bad stats

BOWLING GREEN — This season, the flashy numbers belong to the Bowling Green State University offense.

The Falcons lead all FBS schools in passing with 442.3 yards per game, a big reason BG ranks sixth in total offense with 591.8 yards per game.

Meanwhile, the BG defensive numbers are, shall we say, a little less impressive. The Falcons have surrendered 196.8 yards rushing, 281.3 yards passing, and 478.0 yards of total offense per game.

The numbers are not pretty on the national stage, as Bowling Green ranks no better than 97th among 127 FBS schools in those three categories. But the numbers also deserve a bit of an asterisk. READ MORE