Ruminations on Week 10

Another week, another Badger game that I don't want to talk about. It's becoming a theme this year...let's just move on. Although I will say, this was my favorite day of college football so far this season. You know it's going to be a good day when your team's game ends on a last second field goal at 1pm...and it's the 3rd best finish of the day so far. And to cap it off, Michael Crabtree went all superman on Texas' secondary with only a few seconds left. Was that not ridiculous? Not only were the idiot students running onto the field about 4 times, but the sheer enormity of the moment blew my mind. Against the #1 team in the country...at home...night game...lead all game and give it up with just over a minute left. As a Big Ten fan, it's hard for me to get real excited watching other games. But there I was, sitting in Lil' Bro #1's girlfriend's house, screaming at the TV..."NO F#*%ING WAY! NO F#*%ING WAY HE JUST DID THAT!" Yes. Yes he did. Props Mr. Crabtree. Here are some other ruminations on week 10:

1) I'd say that turned out "disastrous" to "quite disastrous". Tied at 17, under 30 seconds left in your own territory in a home game. Most coaches take the home crowd into overtime and use their stadium to their advantage. 25 yards in OT is a lot shorter to go than 55 yards in the last 30 seconds. But Timmay! couldn't resist. Go for the score, push the envelope, energize the fans in the stadium with a dramatic Homecoming win. Well, plan backfired. Backfired in a huge way. Backfired in probably the worst way possible. This had to be worse than the blocked-punt-for-a-touchdown-in-the-last-minute loss to Wisconsin back in 2005. This one will sting for ol' Timmay! and the Gophers for a while. Happy homecoming folks!

2) Joe Tiller has massive balls of steel. Looking toward his future home (almost, Idaho is close to Montana) for inspiration, Tiller channeled the Fiesta Bowl miracle and pulled off the ol' Hook n' Ladder to beat Michigan this weekend. The Wolverines never saw it coming, and why would they? No one has enough balls to call that play. Except Joe Tiller. Major, MAJOR props to Joe and the Boilermakers for pulling that off. It made me wish I was a Purdue fan. Alright I won't get that crazy, but it made me wish I was watching that game on television and rooting against Michigan.

3) Not the same old Sparty? I'm definitely biased in this case, because I was cheering against them, but how did Michigan State's performance not suggest that it was not the same old Sparty? Ringer never got on track. Yeah, he had two touchdowns, but they were gifts once the Spartans got inside the 2 yard line. Otherwise, he was held under 55 yards. The defense gave up over 200 yards rushing. The receivers had numerous drops. In fact, the only player that really seemed to be playing well for Sparty was Brian Hoyer. Had his receivers not dropped about 7 passes, his stats would look even better. Nothing about MSU screamed different to me. The only difference was the W. And that was a gift, courtesy of UW and it's overmatched coach Brett Bielema.

4) Bad week for a bye. Penn State got jumped in the BCS standings by Texas Tech after that ridiculous finish in Lubbock on Saturday. Penn State wasn't so much punished as Tech was rewarded, but it's hard to not think that voters easily forgot about Penn State while they Nittany Lions sat at home this week. Style points certainly went in Tech's favor, anti-Big Ten sentiment probably played a factor, but not having any highlights probably hurt PSU the most. Had the Spread HD been putting up 40 some points on an opponent last Saturday, I have to believe that PSU stays ahead of Tech. Either way, they're still in a good spot with a relatively easier schedule than the Red Raiders or Alabama the rest of the way.