Monday, September 12, 2005
Ouch
There is not too much to say about the Big Ten's woeful showing over the weekend, as it's (formerly) top ten ranked football teams all failed to deliver victories. Iowa was the biggest disappointment, losing 23-3 to arch rival Iowa State. Drew Tate was knocked out of the game early and the Hawkeyes never mounted much of a challenge. Perhaps Iowa State will turn out to be a very good team this year and this loss will not look so bad in a couple of months, but I doubt it. Last week, in my preview, I picked Iowa in a "laugher" (providing concrete evidence that anybody placing any kind of wager based on my picks is a damn fool.)
Michigan lost to Notre Dame at home dealing a cruel misservice to college football fans everywhere, as we will now have to sift through endless articles about the return of Notre Dame football. I wish ill fortune upon Michigan for what will diminish the quality of the college football season. Here's hoping that Notre Dame is quickly dispatched by its next opponent so as to nip this sort of talk in the bud. Of course I picked the Wolverines to win this one at home. My bad.
I did pick one game correctly, as Texas was able to get by Ohio State, in the Big Ten's third major defeat of the day. It was a great game with many implications. First and foremost, it probably eliminates Ohio State from the Rose Bowl (which will host the BCS Championship this year). Texas looks good, and given the early season floundering of the Oklahoma Sooners, one has to wonder whether this isn't the Longhorns' year. It could be Texas vs USC in Pasadena.
Despite the loss, I came away very impressed with Ohio State and regret being so dismissive of them. QB Troy Smith has matured and looks very solid, the offensive line and the defense look very good, and of course Ted Ginn Jr. makes every kick return an opportunity to score, or at least get great field position. One observation about Ginn: he's a magical return man, but has a long way to go to be a great receiver. OSU had a lot of trouble getting him the ball. As of now, Santonio Holmes is the star of the receiving corps. Another observation: Jim Tressel teams have trouble running between the tackles. Back in 2002 when OSU went undefeated, this was a worry and it hasn't gone away. The Buckeyes were atrocious in the redzone, settling for field goals when they could have put Texas away. They will play more games this year that will swing on redzone execution.
Looking ahead to the big September 24 matchup between Iowa and Ohio State, I'd have to say, based on the this weekend's performances, that it doesn't look too good for the Hawkeyes. So what else is new?
Michigan lost to Notre Dame at home dealing a cruel misservice to college football fans everywhere, as we will now have to sift through endless articles about the return of Notre Dame football. I wish ill fortune upon Michigan for what will diminish the quality of the college football season. Here's hoping that Notre Dame is quickly dispatched by its next opponent so as to nip this sort of talk in the bud. Of course I picked the Wolverines to win this one at home. My bad.
I did pick one game correctly, as Texas was able to get by Ohio State, in the Big Ten's third major defeat of the day. It was a great game with many implications. First and foremost, it probably eliminates Ohio State from the Rose Bowl (which will host the BCS Championship this year). Texas looks good, and given the early season floundering of the Oklahoma Sooners, one has to wonder whether this isn't the Longhorns' year. It could be Texas vs USC in Pasadena.
Despite the loss, I came away very impressed with Ohio State and regret being so dismissive of them. QB Troy Smith has matured and looks very solid, the offensive line and the defense look very good, and of course Ted Ginn Jr. makes every kick return an opportunity to score, or at least get great field position. One observation about Ginn: he's a magical return man, but has a long way to go to be a great receiver. OSU had a lot of trouble getting him the ball. As of now, Santonio Holmes is the star of the receiving corps. Another observation: Jim Tressel teams have trouble running between the tackles. Back in 2002 when OSU went undefeated, this was a worry and it hasn't gone away. The Buckeyes were atrocious in the redzone, settling for field goals when they could have put Texas away. They will play more games this year that will swing on redzone execution.
Looking ahead to the big September 24 matchup between Iowa and Ohio State, I'd have to say, based on the this weekend's performances, that it doesn't look too good for the Hawkeyes. So what else is new?
1 Comments:
By 
Sluggo, at
Mon Sep 12, 11:38:00 AM:
I confess I was thinking of you and TH during the game and I almost sent an 'uh-oh' email at half-time. But that would've been piling on.
Good news for you, though. You're not (like me) a Big East football fan.
