[NU Sports] FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL: Day 31

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

(Imagine the voice of Slammin' Sammy Meade from "Friday Night Lights" here) "Folks, we are NINE DAYS away from some football!"

Time to unwrap the final countdown of our forty days journey ...

FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL
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> 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
01) 2006: Ohio State 42, Michigan 39

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

10) Laurence Maroney/Marion Barber, Minnesota
09) Antwaan Randle El, Indiana
08) Jamar Fletcher, Wisconsin
07) Dallas Clark, Iowa
06) Troy Smith, Ohio State
05) Damien Anderson, Northwestern
04) Braylon Edwards, Michigan
03) Chris Gamble, Ohio State
02) Larry Johnson, Penn State
01) Drew Brees, Purdue

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

Before we get to the final list, a few teams that just missed the cut ...

* 2000 Northwestern - Some great wins, but some cringe-worthy losses
* 2003 Minnesota - Won games they should win, came close to winning rest
* 2005 Wisconsin - Solid yet unspectacular
* 2007 Illinois - Slow start, but finished regular season strong
* 2009 Penn State - Just couldn't beat Iowa or OSU at home

Also, one rule for the list was no more than three teams from one school (so it wouldn't just be a list of Buckeye teams :) ).

TOP TEAMS
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10) 2003 Michigan Wolverines

- Record: 10-3
- Quality Wins: vs. Notre Dame, @ Minnesota, vs. Purdue, @ Michigan State, vs. Ohio State (all ranked in top 20)
- Blowout losses: None
- Average margin of victory: 26.2 points
- Bowl result: L 14-28 to #1 USC in Rose Bowl

The 2003 Wolverines were an embarrassment of riches on offense. Quarterback John Navarre and Silver Football winner Chris Perry were in the backfield. Future pros Braylon Edwards and Big Ten freshman of the year Steve Breaston provided top-notch receiving targets. And the line was so solid that future top draft pick Jake Long was redshirted.

Michigan won their first three games by an average of seven touchdowns - including a 38-0 pasting of #15 Notre Dame in the Big House. Big Blue rose to #3 in the country and talk of a Big Ten team winning the national title for a second straight year surfaced. But then Lloyd Carr's juggernaut visited Autzen Stadium.

The west coast had been the burial ground of maize and blue title hopes in Septembers past (2000 @ UCLA, 2001 @ Washington), and the #22 Ducks were waiting to pull their own shocker. Things started well enough with a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown by Michigan ... but the PAT was missed and it went downhill from there. Three Oregon scores in the second quarter put the Ducks up 21-6 at halftime and they held off a late rally to win 31-27 when a fourth-down pass to Edwards fell incomplete with seconds remaining. Of course, had the Wolverines' PAT not been blocked three minutes prior, they might have just been able to kick a field goal and head to overtime.

Two weeks later, the Wolverines dropped another road game, 30-27 at #23 Iowa under the lights, and what had started so well was now a 4-2 midway mark and a ranking that barely clung to the top 20. It didn't look much better the following week at #17 Minnesota, but the Wolverines pulled off a 31-point fourth quarter to rally to a 38-35 win.

The Maize and Blue found their groove again after that furious rally in the Metrodome. They averaged 38 points in their final five league games and beat #10 Purdue at home, won at #9 Michigan State and dispatched of #4 Ohio State 35-21 to close the season and earn a spot in Pasadena.

In the Rose Bowl, Michigan ran into the top-ranked team in the nation, USC, playing with a chip on their shoulder after being left out of the B(C)S title game. The Wolverines would creep close to the Trojans throughout the game, but never could quite get even, and every time the game appeared to get interesting, Pete Carroll would pull out something from the bag of tricks (like Matt Leinart catching a halfback option) to push the cushion back up again.

Coming Thursday: Yet another outstanding season ended by the Men of Troy

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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