B1G Ten Tour - Latest News , Notes & Tidbits

Phil Harrison's Big Ten Tour - The look at the news and notes from around the Big Ten.

Phil Harrison
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Silas Redd on the Move
Well, it’s official--Silas Redd is transferring to USC where he will get a chance to shine and have a shot at a national championship. And it’s a big hit for the Nittany Lions on the field.

Redd undoubtedly felt the pull of sticking with his teammates that he had bonded with through all of the turmoil at Penn State, but in the end, the chance to have a clean slate and play for something both as an individual and team without penalty was too enticing.

What remains to be seen is whether this will be the leak that breaks open the damn of player transfers, or whether this team will really stick together. One thing’s for sure, the Penn State running game just got a whole lot worse without the workhorse Redd toting the mail.

We’ll have to keep an eye on how the rest of the team in Happy Valley responds to this both in actions and attitude.

Continued Troubles in Big Ten Backfields
The off the field news continues for two programs that can’t seem to keep their tailbacks off the front page of the newspapers.

First up--Ohio State. News broke this week that Freshman Bri’onte Dunn was stopped during a traffic stop and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Dunn apparently almost hit a patrol car before he was pulled over where a pipe and minimal amounts of marijuana were found. For OSU, this comes on the heels of Jordan Hall being put out of commission until after the season begins because of a freak injury, along with last year’s known issues with Dan Herron and Jaamal Berry. OSU still has Carlos Hyde and Rod Smith ready to go, but they are already cutting into bone know with the depth chart.

Most concerning in all of this is that the hard-line stance that Urban Meyer has been taking thus far with off-the-field happenstances do not appear to be deterring further questionable decisions by members of the Scarlet and Gray. We’ll see what happens with this news and if Meyer will have some stern penalties to hand out. Up until this point, the four-star recruit that had already won the coaching staff’s good favor with his conduct on and off the field. This obviously throws a wrench in things.

You gotta believe that the coaching staff is now getting daily updates via all communications including social media outlets to keep tabs on Jordan Hall’s rehab efforts.

Not to be outdone, Iowa is trying its best to keep pace. It’s been well chronicled the issues Iowa has had keeping the backfield together under Ferentz, but things refuse to slow to a trickle. Already thin at the position because of some of those aforementioned issues, sophomore running back De’Andre Johnson did the Hawkeyes no favors. First, it appears as though Johnson was having a little too much fun to the tune of the local authorities showing up on his doorstep for throwing a killer party. If that wasn’t enough, two days later, Johnson was cited for speeding and refusing to pull over.

Ferentz isn’t laughing. For Johnson's efforts, the running back’s lovely parting gifts include an all-expenses paid vacation from the team until further notice.

Asked about the situation at Big Ten Media days, Ferentz all but assured that at least one--if not two of the incoming freshman (Greg Garmon and Barkley Hill) will get significant playing time alongside sophomore Damon Bullock.

Stay tuned for more running backs gone wild in Iowa City....

Bielema’s Secret Identity-
There are always a lot of headlining stories at Big Ten Media Days, but some of the less publicized discussions are often the most entertaining. On that note, Bret Bielema is one of the most interesting guys to talk to at Big Ten Media Days, and he’ll often go off the grid to discuss things outside of football.

We all know the head man is newly married. What we didn’t know is a revelation by Bielema that it was apparently about two to three months into dating before his bride to be even knew what he did for a living. “It never really came up,” according to Bielema. He finally had to break the news that he was a head football coach just before the first instance of having to leave his significant other for Big Ten Media Days three or four years ago.

If that seems a bit unbelievable, how about Bielema doubling as a UW History Professor?

Yup. To go undetected, Bielema would often use a secret identity on plane rides and other public encounters to just be a normal guy. His track of choice--History, and more specifically, European Religions. To put it into Bielema’s own words, “When you get on planes, there’s people that sit down next to you, and they’re going to want to talk to you, and If you say you’re a football coach--especially with a dude, they’re always like all over you.”

One can only imagine what would have happened had Bielema actually ran into someone that had some working knowledge of this obscure field. And with all of the success that he has enjoyed over the last few years, it’s quite likely that it’s getting harder and harder to pull this cloak and dagger mission off.

You simply can’t make this stuff up--right Bret?