Tag: Alabama

Griffiths: Final regular-season Big Ten picks

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor One Big Ten game is already in the books this Thanksgiving weekend, a weekend that signals the end of the regular season in the conference. With Iowa’s 21-point win at Nebraska yesterday, you have to wonder if Husker coach Bo Pelini’s days in Lincoln are officially numbered. After the […]

Doug Griffiths: Big Ten football preview, Week 11

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor Oh, to be Michigan State this week. The Spartans have the luxury of sitting back and enjoying one of their bye weeks while watching Nebraska and Michigan duke it out to see who stays within striking distance of the men from East Lansing. Thanks to its 5-0 Big Ten […]

Griffiths: Big Ten Picks – Week #6

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor Thankfully, the Big Ten’s so-called Fall Break is over. After half of the conference’s 12 teams enjoyed a bye week last Saturday, 10 of the teams return to the gridiron for action this week. This Saturday will really mark the opening of Big Ten play, since all 10 active […]

Griffiths: Notre Dame reeling after home loss to Oklahoma

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor In Notre Dame football fans’ minds, for all practical purposes the 2013 season is over just five games into it. Why? Because Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish have failed their only two matchups against top-25 teams. As a result, Notre Dame won’t be playing for a national championship this season […]

Griffiths: Big Ten Picks – Week #5

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor In all my years covering Big Ten football, I can’t remember this many teams having the last Saturday in September off. You can thank the Big Ten Championship Game and the league not wanting to have a respite between the end of the regular season and the title tilt […]

Griffiths: Week 3 Big Ten picks

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor Finally, the college football season starts to really heat up this week as there are plenty of good games on tap to satisfy your craving for what should be some really hotly contested games. The best matchup in the Big Ten will be in Lincoln, where a pair of […]

Samples: Random thoughts on Week 1 in college football

By CHUCK SAMPLES ISL Correspondent Random — extremely random — thoughts about the first weekend of Division I football: 1. Is anybody going to challenge Alabama for the national title this year? Somebody is, but who? A lot of smart money is on Georgia, with some on Texas A&M. I’m not ruling out LSU, at […]

Griffiths: Big Ten Picks – Week #1

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor Thankfully, the college football season has finally arrived! As we celebrate this Labor Day weekend, college football officially kicks off. In fact, three Big Ten teams got things going prior to Saturday. On Thursday night, Indiana destroyed Indiana State, scoring 73 points – the most for a Hoosier football […]

Griffiths: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame oozing with confidence

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor When Brian Kelly held his first formal press conference of the 2013 season, it was blatantly obvious just how confident the fourth-year Fighting Irish boss was. Shouldn’t he be? After all, he has re-energized a program that saw its usual sky-high confidence brought down to earth before his arrival […]

Griffiths: Alabama rules in early preseason college football Top 25

By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor Until someone else proves otherwise, Alabama is second to none in the college football ranks. In winning their second straight BCS National Championship, the Crimson Tide rolled over unbeaten Notre Dame, showing all of college football just how strong their program is. Alabama was fortunate to be in last […]

Pagano, Elway, Notre Dame backs talk at NFL Combine

By CLIFF BRUNT and DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Editors INDIANAPOLIS — Colts coach Chuck Pagano talked to the media on Friday about his health, the state of the team and his thoughts on Bruce Arians getting hired in Arizona. Here is a 6-minute video of his time at  the podium during the NFL Scouting Combine. ELWAY […]