[NU Sports] FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL: Day 20

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

We're already halfway through the countdown and only three weeks away from kickoff in Nashville!

FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL
######################

> DAYS 1-10: The top coaches of the decade

10) Glen Mason, Minnesota
09) Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
08) Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
07) Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin
06) Randy Walker, Northwestern
05) Lloyd Carr, Michigan
04) Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
03) Joe Tiller, Purdue
02) Joe Paterno, Penn State
01) Jim Tressel, Ohio State

> DAYS 11-20: The top games of the decade

10) 2000: Purdue 32, Michigan 31
09) 2001: Michigan State 26, Michigan 24
08) 2005: Michigan 27, Penn State 25
07) 2003: Minnesota 37, Wisconsin 34
06) 2004: Northwestern 33, Ohio State 27 (OT)
05) 2008: Penn State 13, Ohio State 6
04) 2009: Ohio State 27, Iowa 24 (OT)
03) 2002: Ohio State 10, Purdue 6
02) 2000: Northwestern 54, Michigan 51

> DAYS 21-30: The top players of the decade
> DAYS 31-40: The top teams of the decade

And a quick reminder of the "rules" for this list ...
- No bowl games (counted down those before the Outback Bowl)
- Only conference games (they mean more!)
- No "repeats" (i.e. only one Michigan vs. OSU game)

I told you at the beginning that this was the toughest of the four countdowns to put together. You could make must-see weekend viewing out of the games that just missed the list, whether it be NU vs. Wisconsin (2000, 2005 or 2009), NU vs. Minnesota (2000 or 2008), NU vs. Iowa (2005, 2009), NU vs. MSU (2001 ... or that other one we'd rather not talk about) or even the games that don't involve NU like PSU @ Iowa in 2005, Illinois @ OSU from 2007, Michigan @ Minnesota 2003, Purdue @ Indiana 2008 and many, many more.

As for the list itself, the top two games were easy calls, but almost impossible to separate into 1 and 2. I guess it boils down to what your definition of game is :) - if you mean the time between the opening kickoff and the final gun, then nothing comes close to 54-51 NU/Michigan. But if you're talking about the game and everything that goes into the game, then I think this one narrowly takes the top spot ...

TOP GAMES
#########

01) Ohio State 42, Michigan 39

There is no better rivalry in sports than Michigan vs. Ohio State. Let's get that out of the way first. Army-Navy is great tradition, but has lost the significance of titles. Duke-UNC is as good as it gets in hoops, but doesn't go as far back. Yankees-Sawx hasn't been a fair fight until recently. You just can't find a series that goes back as long, means as much and carries the weight year in and year out of the Wolverines and Buckeyes.

So what happens when the biggest Big Game of them all happens? You get the game of the decade. Because the Buckeyes went on to have the long layoff and laid an egg in the title game, it's easy to forget how big of a buildup there was to this one.

>From the end of September on, it was pretty clear that Ohio State and Michigan were the two best teams in the country. Strong defenses, loaded offenses, big wins ... they were two behemoths on a collision course all season and the anticipation built more each week. It was last year's Florida-Bama clash without needing the gimmick of a title game and with eons more tradition and rivalry.

On September 9, Ohio State visited No. 2 Texas and dominated the defending champs. The next Saturday, Michigan visited No. 2 Notre Dame and annihilated the Irish. From then on, neither team was really tested as they rolled through their schedules towards that red-letter date circled on the calendar at every home in Michigan and Ohio.

The stakes were as big as you could get and I remember setting the DVR for the game and getting goosebumps when the commercials ended and the strains of Script Ohio blasted through the speakers as 100,000+ in Columbus roared. Michigan, OSU's kryptonite from the Cooper era had become "Hail to the Victims!" under Jim Tressel's reign ... but this Wolverine team strode into Ohio Stadium looking more like those confident, title-killer teams that gave Buckeyes nightmares in the '90s. (If you say Biakabutuka three times, it still makes any Bucknut fan run away in tears). The Maize and Blue had a little extra motivation as well, with legendary Michigan coach Bo Shembechler passing away on the eve of the game.

But Ohio State had eventual Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith on their side, and that proved to be just enough. After a 7-7 tie in the first quarter, Ohio State exploded for three touchdowns in the second, with big guns Beanie Wells, Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn all scoring for the Scarlet and Grey as they headed to the locker room with a comfortable 28-14 lead.

Michigan was not ready to fold, however, and scored twice at the start of the third to narrow the gap to 28-24. But the Buckeyes countered seconds later with another long rushing score, this time by Antonio Pittman, to go back up 35-24. And suddenly a game between two standout defenses (Michigan had allowed 20+ points only twice, the most OSU had allowed was 17) turned into a back-and-forth game dominated by the equally talented offenses.

Michigan's Mike Hart scored his third touchdown to open the final 15 minutes as big blue edged back at 35-31, but the Wolverines could never reclaim that opening lead. Ohio State's offense had played somewhat sloppy on the day, but came through with enough first downs in the final quarter to hang on to the 42-39 victory.

A great game. Not as great as Michigan @ Northwestern by any stretch, but it meant to much more with everything on the line in a season finale between two longtime and bitter rivals. The two should have met again two months later in the national championship game, but Lloyd Carr was out-whined, er, "politicked," by Urban Meyer as the Wolverines dropped from No. 2 two weeks later despite not losing a game the prior week as the No. 4 Gators made a mysterious leap into the title game. The sulking Wolverines were beaten in Pasadena by USC and the Buckeyes got caught on a night when everything that could go wrong did go wrong and lost the title game to Florida.

That damper and the fact that Michigan never could regain that lead after 7-0 have kept some of the shine off this Rose of a game ... but remember how many 1/2 or other big games never live up to the hype before you dismiss this as top dog so easily. It didn't have the epic comeback of NU-Michigan, but it felt like the Wolverines might pull it off at the end but the Buckeyes held on. 

Take the buildup, the stakes, the tradition, the history, the game itself and everything else together and you get something pretty special.

Coming Sunday: We begin to count down the top players of the decade

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
==========================