THE GAME:
"The stadium was red, the Wolverines were blue, because they only had seven and we had forty-two."
I am assuming all of you saw the game so I won't go over all of the details. We smoked them and that is about all you can say about that. Anyway, here's some of my thoughts:
Going into the game I said they would give us a battle for a quarter or two but they just didn't have the talent or depth to hang with the Buckeyes in the second half. Yet, as it unfolded just as I predicted I still found myself early in the third quarter ranting and raving and screaming at the television and shaking my fists and lifting my leg to try to get Beanie a few more yards. I knew we would beat them but my stomach was knotted like macrame in a crack house and my sphincter had eaten about three inches of couch cushion. I'm telling you, John Cooper ruined me for life. Even when I KNOW its going to be a blowout I can't help the dread that falls over me like a dark cloud from hell every time we play the team in the skunk helmets. Damn you John Cooper!
Maybe all of that wouldn't have happened if Terrelle Pryor hadn't thrown that interception to start the game. My mind was saying, "No sweat, we'll get them " but my heart was saying, "Oh my God Nooooooooo, not again, not now, not this year, nooooooooo!"
Beanie was Beanie. Like Troy Smith before him, he is a Wolverine killer. Three years in a row a TD over 50 yards. We are SO going to miss him. Can you imagine what he could do if he were healthy for a whole year?
The offensive line finally began to get their collective poop together a few games ago and they played very well Saturday against a pretty good defensive front. My favorite play by them was when Cordle pulled around and took TWO guys out at once and Beanie zipped by on his way to the end zone 61 yards later. Best block of the day, maybe the season.
The receivers and tight ends were clicking on all cylinders and Brian Hartline actually caught the ball and actually didn't fall down backwards when he caught it.
The defensive line was what we thought it would be back in September, it just took a while (think Thaddeous Gibson) for it to happen. NINE three and outs! Are you kidding me? We might do that against Youngstown State but meeeshitagin? No way. Actually, we couldn't do that against Youngstown State.
Laurinatis was everywhere and it may take Nick Sheridan three years to get the number 33 to grow out of being embossed on his chest. After Laurinatis rattled his teeth time and time again then Dexter Larimore pounced on him like an eighteen foot alligator at the zebra crossing.
If Jenkins doesn't win the Thorpe Award, the fix is on. And Coleman picked Saturday to have the best game of his career.
The special teams were, well, special. Ray Small got out of the dog house and broke an eighty yard return to the five yard line and our kickoff and punt teams just shut them down. My favorite moment though was when their freshman, Sam McDuffie, caught a kickoff and went about ten yards and was sandwiched. Austin Spitler hit him like a freight train and them someone else bent him over and crunched him like a week old taco shell. He finally got up and wobbled very slowly to the side line and then just kind of stood there looking around wondering where he was and what the hell had just happened to him. Just think Sam, you get three more years of that.
meeesahitagin was BAD. Two years ago they were undefeated and ranked number two coming into Columbus. Ten months ago they beat Florida in a bowl game. How do you go from that to what we saw Saturday? You do it by hiring a coach that doesn't fit the program. At West Virginia he only won three games his first year too, and then he won nine the next year. Ain't gonna happen this time. He MAY win six games next year if the ball bounces his way. If any of the rumors are right he may want to look at that Clemson job because they sure don't want him back at West Virginia. Personally, I hope he gets at least one more year before they fire him. And in keeping with the times, the Big House now has a foreclosure sign.
And I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to see Mike Massey and Brandon Harrison join the I-left-Ohio-to-play-for-the-wolverines-so-I-would-never-know-what-it-is-like-to-beat-the-Buckeyes Club. They join Mike Crable and Prescott Burgess and Mario Manningham and the rest of the Ohio rejects that have been there for the last five years and will never know what it is like to beat a rival. Live with THAT the rest of your miserable lives.
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Last week Akron lost in four overtimes, this week they lost with 39 seconds left. They should change their names from the Zips to the Zapped.
After fighting like crazy for the whole game and finally taking a 17-16 lead with one minute to go, Arizona let Oregon State go the length of the field in two plays and then kick a game winning field goal.
Arkansas fell to Miss State and now sits at 4-6. Mississippi pounded LSU 31-13 and now sits at 8-3. I'll bet Arkansas is glad they ran Houston Nutt out of town now. Oh, and wasn't it good to see Les Miles get beat at home?
Boise State moved to 11-0, Ball State moved to 11-0 and Utah finished the regular season at 12-0.
Cincinnati beat South Florida, W. Virginia, Louisville and Pitt in the last four games to move into first place in the Big Least and will find themselves in a BCS bowl with a win over hapless Syracuse.
Florida beat The Citadel 70-19. Its a good thing Andre Ware wasn't doing that game.
Iowa crushed Minni-soso 55-0. Minni got their seven wins in and then just......took a nap. They are the 7-5 team that all bowl eligible teams want to play. Well, if they can't get $Notre Dame.
After the Penn State game one of the assistant coaches ran up to the press box and shook JoePa awake. He rubbed his eyes and asked, "Are we in the Rose Bowl yet?"
Northwestern is 9-3. That's not a typo, Northwestern is 9-3. And they left Illinois at 5-7. Rose Bowl one year, same players, 5-7 the next. Ahh, that Zooker, ya gotta love him.
Number two ranked Texas Tech was hammered by the Sooners to the tune of 65-21. That Big 12 defense is truly amazing. How can you be ranked #2 and give up 65 points?
Washington State moved to 2-10 with a resounding thrashing of 0-12 Washington, 16-13. The Apple Cup was a bit rotten and wormy this year.
Last week I said Mount Union was going to kill Randolph-Macon. How's 56-0? Nate Kmic rushed for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns in three quarters averaging 14.5 yards a carry. He now has 7,214 yards and 118 touchdowns. He needs just 139 yards to break the all time record.
Syracuse at $Notre Dame. In what had to be the head shaker of the day, $Notre Dame, at home, on Senior Day, found a way to lose to a 2-8 team that had lost to Akron. It was so bad that the students began pelting the home team with snowballs. You would expect more from $ND students and fans but frustration can bring out the Jekyll in all of our Hydes. I know a lot of you think I don't like $Notre Dame because of the zingers I give them but that isn't true at all, I've always liked them. What's not to like about a school that graduates nearly 100% of their football players and generally stays out of trouble and has more history and tradition than the entire SEC combined? And if you think I give THEM zingers, go back and read some of my letters about Ohio State from the cold, dark, Cooper days. No, I like the program, its the coach I don't like. I didn't like him the first time I heard him speak and nothing he has done on the job has changed that opinion. Most of my Domer friends support him and say., "He's got things going in the right direction." Last year they were 3-9 and this year they are 6-5 so I guess that's the right direction. But what about 9-3 and 10-3 in 2005 and 2006? I don't think his last two years are going in the right direction from his first two years. Here's something I read yesterday in terms of winning percentages:
Bob Davies (5 years) 35-25, 58.3%
Ty Willingham (3 years) 21-15, 58.3%
Charlie Weis (4 years) 28-20, 58.3%
Those other two guys were fired for only winning 58.3% of their games. Weis is sitting on a 10 year, $40,000,000 contract. Oh, and the schedules have gotten much easier during the Weis years. The teams they've played this year to get to 6-5 have a combined record of 50-64. He's had some great recruiting classes, its not about player talent. I think 2009 will be a do or die year for Charlie Weis and I don't think 7 or 8 wins is going to be a "do."
THE WEEK THAT WILL BE:
Auburn at Alabama. This will be the best game in the whole state of Alabama. The players on Auburn's team want to win this game more than they want a brand new Silverado pick-em-up. Win or lose, there won't be any snowballs thrown at this game,
Western Michigan at Ball State. WM is 10-1 and Ball State's last hurdle in the regular season. When you've got a name like Ball State you're automatically a winner.
Cincinnati at Syracuse. Syracuse has won one in a row, can they get to two? WE ARE SYRACUSE!
South Carolina at Clems-son. On the one hand you have Coach Spurrier who just got his head handed to him by Florida and on the other hand you have Coach........well, okay, you don't exactly have a coach. But I hear they are looking at Rich Rodriguez.
Florida at Florida State. I don't want to get to religious here but this one has Pope Urban of Meyer going against God himself, Bobby Bowden. Hal-le-lu-jah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Best game in the whole state of Florida.
Georgia with a Tech at Georgia. Best game in the whole state of Georgia. Root for Georgia because there is a good chance we could meet them in the Capitol One Bowl.
Kentucky at Tennessee. Its the Hatfields and McCoys in the white lightning shootout. On the way to this game you pick up some road kill to barbeque at the tailgate.
Mississippi at Mississippi State. Best game in the whole state of Mississippi.
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. Best game in the whole state of Oklahoma. This should be a good one. Oklahoma State seems to pull this one off every year so don't be surprised if it happens.
Oregon at Oregon State. Best game in the whole state of Oregon. And Washington as well. To get to the BCS bowls we need the Ducks to beat the Beavers. The Oregon team Captain said earlier this week that ..."it's hard to beat those guys, I mean, I've never met a Beaver I didn't like."
West by God Virginia at Pitt. Ahh, the back yard brawl where Rodriguez lost his shot at a national championship to a 21 point underdog and then was hired to do the same at meeeshitagin.
Texas A&M at Texas. The worst game in the whole state of Texas. Longhorns by 40.
$Notre Dame at USC, or as the movie will be called, Charlie to the Wood Shed.
Virginia with a Tech at Virginia without a Tech. Best game, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest. I like this game, both teams threatened to break into the top of their conferences only to remember their place as the year wore on. Both teams are 6-5 and will be fighting like hell for that spot opposite of Minnesota or $Notre Dame.
Hobart College of Geneva, NY, at Mount Union. Hobart comes into the game with a 9-1 record after beating Lycoming 33-15 in the first round of the playoffs. Nate Kmic will get his 139 yards and Mount Union will advance in the playoffs.
The Coach
Tags:
chris wells,
michigan,
ncaa football,
ohio state football
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