[NU Sports] 6-5 plus 1

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Wow - it's amazing what 51 points will do for a mood
around this list.:) Suddenly the talk has gone from
2-9 and a coaching change to a bowl bid and Heisman
talk.

As our not-so-friend on TV says ... not so fast,
friends. It's nice to see the purple pride back -- and
a win over Wisconsin certainly feels great -- but I'm
not sure we should get ahead of ourselves yet.

Far more encouraging than the 51 points, IMO, have
been Penn State's two wins over two pretty darn good
teams the last two weeks. That loss still stings given
we'd be 4-1 and alone atop the league ... but at least
it feels a little more respectable than it did when I
left Dyche two weeks ago feeling that we had blown a
game against a mediocre and turnover-prone team.

That said, let's not kid ourselves about the road
ahead. Purdue is a cornered animal at 0-2 in the
league. OSU and Michigan have already lost more games
than folks around there accept in a 2-year span. And
as mentioned, Iowa seems to always be a far better
team in November than in September with Ferentz
coaching. Not to mention that MSU may be one of the
few teams in the league capable of matching us blow
for blow on scoring.

Is it an impossible task? No - we certainly can beat
anybody left on the slate if Baz and Tyrell are on
their games. And maybe if we can put on some shamrock
or something, Lloyd Carr and Joe Tiller will do their
usual Notre Dame clamp-up job and try to run the ball
even when they should be throwing. But this is still a
formidable schedule remaining. Even Illinois isn't as
bad as they were last year.

It's gonna be a real fun October in this league
because it really is wide open and everyone but
Illinois can legitimately talk about bowl bids if they
get a break or two.

So I love to see the purple-colored glasses back in
fashion :) ... but I think I'll keep my eyes closed
until Saturday and look through 'em hopefully after
our win in West Lafayette.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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


	
		
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