Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football
Bacon looks at major college football through the lenses of four Big Ten schools—Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Northwestern. The 2012 season was a tumultuous one for all four. Penn State was reeling from the Sandusky child-abuse scandal. Ohio State had a new coach, native son Urban Meyer. Michigan had a new athletic director determined to run the sports program as though it had been purchased by a private equity firm. And Northwestern, with its rising program and Energizer Bunny head coach Pat Fitzgerald, was out to show that success was possible without selling your soul. Bacon had virtually unrestricted access to all four programs and reports on his findings objectively. From Penn State’s players and coaches, left to die in the wake of NCAA sanctions, through Michigan and Ohio State, raising and spending money like the conglomerates they are, and to Northwestern, with its almost naive emphasis on academics and character, winning its first bowl game in modern times, this is a fascinating saga of stark contrasts, full of reasons for fans to hope and to despair. --Wes Lukowsky