[NU Sports] Sparty fans, say goodbye to John L?

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Illinois defeats Michigan State on the road with a
> field goal in the 

And the sad thing is it really wasn't even that close.
Sparty got a generous replay call (indisputable my
ass) to avoid a 20-10 defeat. 

Sort of like the phantom interference (on a pass 20
yards out of bounds) that helped Purdue last week, I
thought that replay call might help Sparty avoid a big
upset, but give the Illini credit for responding and
not losing confidence as ... well ... MSU usually
does.

> the end) for John L. Smith in East Lansing?   Will
> Sparty wait until the
> end of the season to to pull the plug on John L?

That's the big question now. With arguably two of the
top four teams in the nation up next for MSU in the
Wolverines and Buckeyes, he may not make the
homecoming game in Evanston.

They just looked lifeless today - they couldn't run
against the Illini. Against the Illini! And looked
well hung over from the Notre Dame collapse. Heck,
their only score until the last half of the fourth and
the replay call was from the Spartan defense.

If I didn't live in the Valley of the Sun, where the
west-coast version of Sparty resides, I would say that
it's unbelievable how MSU continually seems to
mentally lose focus around the end of September and
let what usually is a load of talent go to waste. 

They still may make the Motor City Bowl this year with
a kind Big Ten slate (no Iowa or Wisky, so 7-5 is
probable barring an upset), but that's just not good
enough for Smith to keep his job with all the talent
of this year's team.

They definitely have the talent to pull an upset or
two the rest of the way and should not be taken
lightly by Big Blue or OSU ... but I'm really
questioning whether they have the will or not.

As for Illinois, with Indiana and Ohio next on the
schedule, they could actually head into their Oct. 21
game at Happy Valley with a winning record. This might
be the start of Zook's return to respectability for
UI.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin looked strong (and may be able to
coast through October with their schedule). Purdue
seems to have blown their chance at Notre Dame - not
impressive but not embarassing either. And despite a
strong effort from our defense, our offensive woes
continued in Happy Valley today.

Now for two mega-sized games tonight on the western
edge of our conference. The Humpdome battle for the
jug has been a tough fight in recent years and the
Hawkeye-Buckeye game should be a dandy with the two
best quarterbacks in the league.

Aaaaaaaaah, football.
GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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

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