Mike Holmgren held a press conference today to deal with the thorny question of the Colt McCoy concussion drama and the subsequent visit from the NFLPA.

Brief synopsis of what Holmgren said:

Doctors working on other guys, didn't see hit. Ran out onto field, Colt complains about hand, not knocked out, not woozy. Ask him to sit up, he does so. They come off field, ask him standard concussion questions, he answers them all. Not displaying concussion symptoms, so no thorough concussion exam performed. Examine hand, it's OK, they give him go ahead to go back in. All NFL procedures followed.

Starts displaying concussion symptoms in locker room, gets examined for concussion, discovered he has one, sensitive to light, etc.

Problem is that doctors are busy and can't watch field and that someone needs to be put in place to radio down to the field and tell doctors that dude was hit in head and needs to be examined for concussion.

Doubtful that any penalty levied on Browns for the incident. Common feeling that NFL procedures aren't good enough and failed in this instance. Leaguewide change may result.

No blame for Shurmur. He's seen guys get hit in head plenty of times and have no concussion. Medical staff gave OK, so Shurmur put him in. Shurmur will be back next year.

Drops are bad. Bad tackling is bad. Botched long snaps are bad. Reporter negativity is bad.

End synopsis.

The 2011-12 bowl schedule was released last night and there are plenty of exciting matchups to look forward to this holiday season. Then there’s a rematch of one of the most unwatchable games in recent memory to serve as your National Championship game. It’s as if college football would like to wish you a merry Christmas and say, “Here, we got you this awesome industrial sized stapler because we knew you would love it.”

First, and most importantly, the Ohio State Buckeyes will take their 6-6 record this year to the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl to face off against the equally underwhelming 6-6 Florida Gators. Both teams were included in everyone’s preseason top 25, but both teams struggled under first year coaches who were trying to replace legends at their respective schools. With Ohio State hiring Florida’s lost legend, Urban Meyer, to be their next head coach -- the game has plenty of story-lines to make it one of the most anticipated bowl games of the season.

A record 10 Big Ten teams will go bowling this year, including two BCS games as Wisconsin goes to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row and Michigan, who makes their first trip to the BCS since 2006, will travel south for their matchup against Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Here’s the bowl schedule in its entirety. Preparation of avoiding your family and friends can start now by making mental notes of which games you need to watch.

I love the holidays.

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The Big Ten announced their all-conference teams and the winners of the individual awards in each of the position categories. From the Big Ten release:

Nebraska’s Lavonte David took home the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year honor, while teammate Alfonzo Dennard was named the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year. Husker specialist Brett Maher was rewarded for his punting and kicking efforts this season with the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year and the Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year awards.

The Wisconsin backfield tandem of Montee Ball and Russell Wilson each won their respective position awards. Ball took home the honor named after former Badger running backs, the Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year honor, while Wilson becomes the first recipient of the Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year accolade.

After leading the conference in receiving, Iowa’s Marvin McNutt was honored with the Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award, while Northwestern superback Drake Dunsmore was named the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year. On the offensive line, Michigan center David Molk was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, while Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still garnered the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year accolades.

Ohio State defensive tackle John Simon was the only Buckeye named All-Big Ten first team, making the top group in the coaches poll. Earning second team honors in the coaches' voting were OSU center Mike Brewster, tackle Mike Adams, linebacker Andrew Sweat, and safety C.J. Barnett.

In the media poll, Adams and Simon were voted to the second team.  PDF of All-Big Ten teams here

A Long Snapper who can't snap is about as useful to a football team as a Linebacker with no legs or an aardvark.

Ryan Pontbriand, a controversial 5th Round Draft Pick in 2003, was the last remaining vestage (and one could argue best pick) of the highly disastrous Butch Davis/Pete Garcia regime.  He made the Pro Bowl in 2007 and 2008 and only missed 5 games in 9 seasons.

But NFL teams can't afford to keep backup Long Snappers any more than they can afford a Long Snapper that can't get the ball from between his legs to the Holder without bouncing it along the turf or banking it off someone's leg.  Missed FG's partially affected by bad snaps doomed the Browns 2 of the last 3 weeks and almost cost them the 3rd.  One could argue (somewhat unfairly) that if Pontbriand had done his job, Cleveland would be 6-5 right now.

Pontbriand knew it was a mental thing, acknowledging that he was "in a slump" after the Cincy loss.  But Long Snapper is not a position that gets the luxury of working through slumps.

Ryan, it sucks, but in the NFL it's a dog-eat-dog world, and you're wearing milkbone underwear (as Norm Peterson would say).  Good luck to you and thanks for the memories.

The Browns announced they will be replacing Pontbriand with a Jugs Machine.

According to agent Trace Armstrong, the Ohio State University has hired two time national champion coach Urban Meyer to be the head coach of its football team. The shocking and unexpected news has sent ripples through the college football world with many caught off guard by this recent development.

“I just can’t believe it,” one Ohio State student who requested anonymity said after the news broke. “It was like I’ve been living a nightmare for 11 months and Jim Bollman was my chubby Freddy Krueger. I guess Urban Meyer is the big breasted teenager who somehow found a way to kill him.”

The Ohio State Buckeyes just finished its worst regular season in over a decade on Saturday after falling 40-34 to rival Michigan, completing a 6-6 campaign that left many unsatisfied. While rivals and other Big Ten members laughed at the 2011 version of Ohio State, the Urban Meyer hire has changed their tone.

A gravy soaked Brady Hoke was reached for comment, “They what? They hired a football coach who knows how to run an offense? Well... damn it.”

Urban Meyer is considered one of the best coaches in college football. The Youngstown native started his career at Bowling Green before taking over the Utah football program. After unprecedented success with the Utes, Meyer joined the Florida Gators and led them to two national championships in just five years. Meyer has a 10 year record of 104-23, but health concerns and a desire to spend more time with his family fueled an early retirement from Florida.

Needless to say, Gator fans aren’t happy, “This is outrageous, what a load of crap!” one lifelong Florida fan said. “Meyer left our school in the hands of Will Muschamp and Charlie freaking Weis! That’s like expecting a Northerner to make good chili or allowing your last meal to be watched by Charlie freaking Weis!”

A press conference announcing Urban Meyer’s arrival at Ohio State is expected shortly. Stay tuned for updates.

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The last 11 months have been long and painful for the Ohio State football program. Everything from tat-gate to Tressel’s fall from grace to the 6-5 record the team currently boasts, it seems as though there’s a dark cloud hanging over Columbus.

None of that bothers Cincinnati Taft’s Adolphus Washington, a five star defensive end recruit and the top rated player in Ohio, who committed to play his college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes this afternoon. Washington fills a huge need for the Buckeyes along the defensive line by becoming the 15th member of the 2012 recruiting class.

Washington was an absolute monster in high school. As a junior, the 6’4, 245 pound defensive end racked up 119 tackles and 17 sacks while adding 90 tackles and 23.5 sacks his senior season. Many think he’ll jump right into the rotation of d-lineman next year, even with the presence of John Simon, Nathan Williams (pending a medical redshirt and full recovery), Jonathan Hankins, Adam Bellamy and Michael Bennett.

The big man also addressed the current uncertainty for the coaching staff at Ohio State. When asked for his thoughts on playing for Urban Meyer, he simply replied, “I hope so.”

The Buckeyes did miss out on Cincinnati Taft’s other big recruit, Dwayne Stanford. Stanford is a three-star wide receiver recruit with some big offers including Michigan, Alabama and LSU -- but in the end Stanford chose to play for Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks.

Even with Stanford's defelection, Tuesday was a huge day for Ohio State.

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D'Aundray Brown missed the entire 2010-11 season with a hand injury, but during that redshirt season he spent a lot of time working on his left hand and his mid-range jumper.

The hard work is starting to pay off as Brown set a new career-high in points for the second straight game, leading the Vikings with 24 points in Cleveland State's 86-57 victory over Rio Grande, an NAIA school located in southern Ohio.

Brown, the Horizon League Player of the Week, also added nine rebounds and seven steals against Rio Grande.

In CSU's 71-58 upset of then-No. 7 Vanderbilt on Sunday, Brown led the Vikings with 17 points. Brown came into the season with a career scoring average of 6.9 points per game and is averaging 21 points per game through two games.

He's also averaging 8.5 rebounds and seven steals a game.

"D'Aundray has put in some time. When you put in the time, you get results," said CSU head coach Gary Waters.

He's shooting 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) from the field through his first two games

"Sitting out that whole year made me hungry to get back out there," said Brown, who went 11-of-16 from the field and two-of-three from the line. "Coach Waters told me to work (on my shot) all summer, and I was in the gym taking extra shots, and it seems to be paying off."

The Vikings (2-0) played without starting center Aaron Pogue (lightheaded) and freshmen guard Ike Nwamu (concussion). Both are questionable for Friday's home game against St. Bonaventure.

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The Big Ten Conference has acted to remove Joe Paterno's name from their league championship trophy. The trophy, which has yet to be awarded to its first recipient, will now be called the "Stagg Championship Trophy", named for Amos Alonzo Stagg.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said:

“We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno’s name on the trophy at this time. The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial. We believe that it’s important to keep the focus on the players and the teams that will be competing in the inaugural championship game.”

Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters already has a nickname for his highly-touted three-player recruiting class that signed on Wednesday.

"I'm calling them the young guns," Waters said after CSU's 88-58 exhibition win over John Carroll Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.

Signing with the Vikings were Bryn Forbes (Lansing, Mich.), Junior Lomomba (Montreal, Ontario) and Malik London (Chillicothe, Ohio).

"We are excited about this class. My goal in what I feel good about is adding these two classes together and we will be pretty dynamic," said Waters, referring to this year's freshman class and the 2012 class that just signed.

Forbes, a 6-3 shooting guard from Lansing Sexton High School, averaged 13.6 points per game last season as a junior and helped the Big Red win the Class B state title.

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A brief prelude

This is not a sports article. This is something that should never be required to be said, written or debated.

These reflections are my own, and they are based on the allegations surrounding the Penn State sex scandal. I fully realize that no one has been convicted yet, and that in this country, every one is innocent until proven guilty. But with the actions already taken by the university (the terminations of football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier in addition to the actual arrest of Jerry Sandusky), it’s safe to say there’s enough evidence here to make some accurate assumptions.

Like many of you, I’ve sat at my computer and read dozens of articles related to this story -- opinion pieces covering a bizarre range of emotions that stretch from rage toward the university to support of what is now the former head football coach.

I have a few emotions too. I’ve felt anger, confusion/bewilderment, sadness and even a little bit of embarrassment for some people involved.

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