[NU Sports] Morning report ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Before we get to our miserable game, big KUDOS to Jim Bendat, who sent in his picks this week with Purdue beating Ohio State, saying it would be the "upset of the year" -- he's the only one who called it. Congrats!

As for our game, not too much to say. Our D dominated the first half, theirs dominated the second. They made better use of their chances and they capitalized on turnovers.

I loved the goal-line stand by our D and appreciated the conservative play calling that won us the battle of field position in the first half ... but we just didn't adjust in the second half as Sparty hit the play-action more and blitzed more on D. The 7-yard pass on 4th and 10 was particularly frustrating.

Another game we could have won that slipped away -- we cannot come from behind as our spread this year is a horizontal spread, not a vertical one and we have no quick-strike options.

NU now has to not only beat IU and UI (or get an upset), we have to become the biggest fans of IOWA and PENN STATE, hoping for both to make the BCS so we can slip into an 8th spot in the bowls, as we are pretty clearly the #8 option now and have lost to #6 and #7 in MSU and Minny.

Around the league ...

* PURDUE was begging to break through and they did in a big way against the Buckeyes. Good for the Boilers. Unlike the Illini (who you also have a feeling they'll wake up for one win), the Boilers have played with heart and guts all year ... while the Buckeyes have wasted their fine defense with a pathetically conservative offense that misuses their weapons. It's hard to see OSU making the BCS again, but they can be a major spoiler with November games against PSU and Iowa.

* As for our other gold and black team, I may finally start to be a believer in IOWA. They've always been a team that finishes the year better than they start (a tribute to Kirk Ferentz' teaching skills as a coach), but now they're doing that in every game as well -- starting slow and coming out barnbusters in the second half. Without an early loss to hamper them this year, they look to be on a path to 11 or 12 wins, depending on how they do in the Horseshoe.

* Big win for MICHIGAN in a game they should win big. They could also be a big spoiler in the league -- they don't get a crack at Iowa, but the Nits and Bucks both visit Ann Arbor and if RichRod's offense is rolling, they can hang with anybody.

So what's that do to the bowl outlook? Well, I better wait until after the PSU/Minny game because that could all change again.:) I will say that PSU winning out at 11-1 would lose the Rose tiebreak to Iowa (even if the Hawks lose in Columbus), but would be a BCS lock. Love to see all that snow in Happy Valley - just save some for during the game!:)

The title game could also change depending on the outcome in Dallas -- if it were two Big Ten teams (like Iowa @ PSU) with a low-scoring, defensive game with a lot of turnovers, John Saunders and his ilk at ABC would be whining about how sloppy the play is and how mediocre the Big Ten is ... but if it's the Big XII or SEC, it's a classic, right??? Actually, this Red River Rivalry game is a great game -- the crowd is the loudest I've seen and there are some GREAT hits out there!

Time for NU to buck up for IU next week - we have no more margin of error. We must beat Indiana and Illinois and we need to probably get one more against that rough trifecta of PSU/Iowa/Wisky (18-3 combined after this week??? Yikes!) to ensure the postseason.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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