[NU Sports] Q3/Q4: Columbus

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

And the second half ...

- Nice stop by the D to start the half (thanks,
penalty) -- now GO O!!!

- Fumble by Sutton - UGH!

- No replay on the fumble recovery? Sheesh - someone
WAKE THIS GUY UP in the booth!!! I know it was close
on the line, but still it needs to be looked at more
than the interception was. Sheesh! What do you have to
do in Columbus to get a close and crucial call
reviewed?!?! First the TD that wasn't and now a close
out-of-bounds fumble. Not that it would make much
difference today, but still, don't we have replay for
a REASON?!?!?!

- Troy Smith is killing us more than the wideouts
today -- again, either he's gunshy on the pass or our
secondary is playing exceptional ball against two of
the fastest wideouts in the nation (and since our
front 7 are keying to TRY and stop the run, they're
pretty much on solo coverage all day).

- Hmm ... second half stop by the D to hold the
opponent to only a field goal. That sounds familiar
from the last two weeks. But this time, we may be in
too big of a hole for the offense to take advantage
unless they WAKE UP SOON! 31-7 O-How-I-Hate Ohio
State.

- Hey, Kim Thompson finally got some stick-um after
those drops the last couple weeks! Nice snag on third
down and welcome back Kim - we need you to add that
deep ball to our receiving game.

- Nice try over the middle, but good coverage. Dunno
why we're punting -- we're at the OSU 40, which is
practically where they've been starting all day and
it's the middle of the third, so why not go???

- OSU responds with another pounding drive, running it
right at and over us for six. This one's over - we
lost the kicking game, the turnover game, we couldn't
stop the run and our offense has been MIA since the
first drive. 38-7 Bucks.

Not really much interest in the fourth quarter now so
unless the mother of all comebacks happens, this'll be
it for the game comments. I know a 14-13 loss counts
the same as a 41-0 loss, but the flop on national TV
hurts. Just like our other losses -- ASU, PSU,
Michigan -- it's a total team failure here. Offense
and defense and special teams all were outplayed and
outcoached. A great opening drive but little else --
we got one turnover but couldn't capitalize and gave
away two.

I guess there's some comfort in that our losses have
come to good teams (ASU was pretty good before they
pulled a Sparty and gave up on the season -- some
teams like Michigan and Iowa are better in November
than September while some like ASU and MSU are the
reverse) and aside from the Penn State game, we were
solidly beaten and can't really wonder what "mighta
been" if one play had gone differently.

So we're 6-4 now and clearly in the second tier of Big
Ten bowl teams, by performance and by our fans/ratings
we bring to a bowl. But where we go still depends on a
lot of factors ...

* As ABC is mention ad nauseum, Ohio State is still an
excellent contender for the BCS. The way the schedule
is shaping up, the SEC contenders could knock each
other out and the Pac 10 and ACC have faded in their
hopes of a second team. So if the Fiesta does indeed
pick an overrated Notre Dame and PSU heads to Miami,
the Fiesta's pick could come down to an SEC team or
Ohio State and the Buckeyes have a good history of
filling seats in Tempe.

* Of course, OSU and PSU still have big games to win
next week in the state of Michigan for BCS berths.

* The two remaining games by Iowa and Minnesota will
be big as well - if OSU and PSU both snare BCS bids,
Michigan and Wisconsin are almost assured of Florida,
so that would leave the Alamo to choose between Iowa,
Minny and NU. Iowa probably has an edge, but if the
Gophers win out they make a good case.

My guesstimate at this point (assuming Iowa loses this
week but wins next week) ...

* ROSE: USC vs. Texas
* ORANGE: Penn State vs. Miami
* FIESTA: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
* SUGAR: LSU vs. West Virginia
* CITRUS: Wisconsin vs. Georgia
* OUTBACK: Michigan vs. Florida
* ALAMO: Iowa vs. Nebraska (the Corn Bowl?):)
* SUN: Minnesota vs. UCLA
* MUSIC CITY: Northwestern vs. Tennessee
* MOTOR CITY: Hoping MSU manages a big comeback or
shocks PSU ... otherwise, they'll go out of conference

Gotta bounce back next week - beating the Illini,
Hawkeyes and Badgers in a year would be nice and a
second straight 5-3 mark in league play would be big.

GO CATS!!! BEAT THE ILLINI!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


	
		
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