Ohio State ground it out against a suprisingly tough Penn State defense. Anyone watched the game will know the final score doesn't reflect how close the contest really was, since Anthony 'Meat For Brains' Morelli threw a couple of ill-advised pick-sixes when Penn State was in their two-minute drill that let Ohio State pad their lead and cover the spread. Basically, blown coverage reads. But, give the Buckeyes some serious credit, they kept the lions out of the endzone and have allowed just 3 touchdowns all season. As Switters keeps asking, where are the questions about the inexperienced defense now?
Also, anyone notice Joe Pa scampering off the field with a sudden need attributed to flu about 8 minutes before halftime? Looked more like diarrhea, cha cha cha.
Up by 16 with 9 minutes to go in the fourth quarter seems pretty safe. Unless you happen to be the Michigan State Spartans. In which case you become totally ineffective in the 4th quarter, as if awaiting the inevitable late-game collapse. Unbelievable game and I can't decided what to make of it. Was it really a classic Sparty meltdown? Or is Notre Dame a good team? (Judging by their remaining schedule, I think they're looking like a two-loss team.)
All of the above, of course, begs another interesting question. Since Notre Dame was manhandled by Michigan, but handled Penn State, who made things tough for Ohio State, how good is Michigan? A little sloppy on offense against Wisconsin, their defense was sensational holding Wisconsin, a power running team, to 12 total yards on the ground. November 18 looms larger and larger.
Quick Shot Heisman Contenders:
*Mario Manningham: (aka 'The New Math') 137 yards on 4 catches for 3 touchdowns against Notre Dame, 113 yards on 7 catches for 2 touchdowns against Wisconsin. He's official.
*Troy Smith - despite two picks, the lasting memory of what was in actuality a pretty ugly, Tressel-ball type win, was Smith's dancing pants 50 yard touchdown bomb after eluding the entire Penn State D on a crazy, broken play.
*Brady Quinn? - I can't tell what to make of this guy. One weekend he sucks like a prom date, the next he's tossing off 5 touchdowns in an amazing come from behind win in the rain. He'll probably continue to put up big numbers against the soft, creamy center of the remaining Notre Dame schedule before they lose their season finale at USC. Figuring to be a two-loss team, Notre Dame will get a BCS Bowl in a season hauntingly familiar to last year. Ultimately it won't be enough to get Quinn a bronze trophy.
Quick Shots:
*Boise State won in an absolute shoot-out against Hawai'i with 75 points and almost 1,000 yards of total offense between the two teams. And this in the year Boise State's defense was supposed to pave the way.
*Clemson smoked North Carolina 52-7 and looked sharp as shit coming off a big win over FSU last weekend. BC lost to a bad NC State team, confirming my suspicion that they've been living on borrowed time, and so I'm sticking with the Tigers in the ACC. Look out for the big match up with Virginia Tech on October 26.
*Poor Dan Hawkins and the Colorado Buffalos. After some truly bad losses, the big win which they could almost taste against Georgia would have been the sweetest kind of redemption. Still a good a performance and something to build on going forward. I think they finally get a win next weekend against Missouri as the Hawk starts to turn things around in Boulder.
Anyone who's made it this deep in the post deserves the infinite reward behind link #4. Thanks for reading.
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