In the spirit of Homecoming, here’s this week’s musical selection. Congrats to Ohio State’s new royalty– I apologize if your reign is rudely interrupted.
Columbus wasn’t the only college town named after Spanish explorers that was celebrating “Fleecing Forgetful Alumni Weekend” (so named by a friend who works in alumni relations- it’s amazing how the school that everyone complained about is the greatest place ever four years removed); we also were privy to the celebrations in Columbia Missouri as well. And, as you’ve probably had shoved down your throat all day, for the third straight week the number one team in the nation lost on the road. Congrats to the Mizzou Tigers and their potent “Ok, everyone go out and turn around” offense, yet another incarnation of the “basketball on grass” trends we’ve been seeing for the past few years. Given that Oklahoma was also running a similar scheme, it made for a long television experience. To be honest, when IOU was running their last gasp version of the Cal kickoff return, it was difficult for me to differentiate from the rest of the offensive snaps.
That’s not intended to take away from what the Tigers accomplished- it’s great that they have s significant moment that doesn’t involve kicking or getting obliterated. In several years, when the advancement office is calling them asking for money, they’ll be able to look back on this and remember the excitement, the glory, the awkward haircuts, and the complete disregard for others’ personal space.
Question of the day? Will Oklahoma get the same level of “respect” that Ohio State seems to get? Remember, they’ve got a worse BCS record and a worse record in big games. Now that they’ve put the “choke” back into their name, I’m looking forward to hearing about Stoops’ “issues” nonstop from the experts.
You know who doesn’t like Homecoming? The Longhorns of the University of Texas, whose three losses have come in Austin and Dallas. Sweet merciful crap- what is wrong with Mack Brown’s team? I can understand falling to Oklahoma- it’s a rivalry game and all. But to fall to this guy and a team with a ridiculous mascot… that’s pretty astounding. can’t win in the state of Texas. Want to have some fun? Go and read over at the Shag… one of the greatest boards on the interwebs, full of passionate fans who can be amazingly hilarious in their critique of their program. It’s almost enough to make one speculate that Mack’s success has been directly related to two people- Vince Young and Colt McCoy.
Also in the Big 12 For Now; Nebraska’s program has been synonymous with voracious defense for a long time, with the tradition of the Blackshirts reigning over Lincoln. So why was there almost 1000 yards of offense in their game against T. Boone Pickens University? And 92 points on the board? Wow. Although, Pelini’s time with Les Miles showed in full force, with a fake punt deep in their own end of the field that set the tone for the game.
Speaking of special tams- Michigan State’s “mousetrap” fake punt was the difference in the game against the Wildkitties of Northwestern. Watching the game, it was amazing that the Northwestern defender essentially gave up on the coverage and allowed the completion to happen. Although, from postgame commentary, the idea is to get the first down or pass interference… When officials are included in your plans, and you maintain an undefeated season, something special is happening.
There were more fakes this weekend than a July afternoon on the beaches of Malibu… even Wisconsin managed to pull off a fake punt to continue their run toward a Big T1e1n title. It was the perfect “Les Miles Tribute Game”; a trick play, and some incredibly boneheaded clock management by Iowa. Here’s hoping that same kind of thinking is around on November 20th.
Hey! The Wolverines didn’t lose, and Denard is still ambulatory! Cookies for everyone! You know what happens when no one gets to watch them give up a billion yards on defense? They get ranked back in the top 25. Perhaps they should cancel the rest of the games, so they can end up in the top 10.
There’s a tall, powerful quarterback with #2 on his jersey that’s a Heisman frontrunner. But it ain’t our LiC; Cam Newton is kicking major gluteus. I’m thinking that Newton is having the type of season that most Buckeye fans were hoping to see from Terrelle, while Mich1gAAn fans are wishing that they were having anywhere near the Tigers’ success. You gotta’ play defense first, buckaroos.
The Tide rolled over Tennessee, much to the chagrin of Volunteer fans, who should be worried that not even Phil Fulmer would consider coming back to their program at this point. I’m sure that Precious Dooley will get things figured out eventually, but for now it seems as if the Vols are a bit clueless.
Hey, remember when it was a big deal for Navy to beat Notre Dame? Yeah, me neither…
Quick Purdue note: Here’s a fan who won’t be enjoying Boiler home games for a while.
The mighty Utes continue their undefeated season, and are headed for a showdown with the undefeated Frogs of TCU. Southern Idaho State was off, although it’s hard to tell the difference between Saturday and the rest of their schedule. Baylor’s Bears managed to upset Kansas State, although I’m not sure how the Wildcats were rated in the Top 25.
Baseball note- Congrats to the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants, who’s appearance in the World Series means that we get to see more of this and this. That “click” you heard on Saturday was every TV east of the Mississippi tuning out baseball until February.
Congrats to the Panthers of Ohio Dominican- they’re on a roll with their second straight win of the season, a 41-21 slaying of the Tiffin Dragons. It was a happy Homecoming for the Assumption Greyhounds as well, sparked by David Canney’s 181 yards and 2 TD’s receiving.
This week: Big games include Michigan State traveling to Iowa (Go Hawkeyes), and Southern Idaho State plays on Tuesday (was there a tractor pull scheduled for the weekend?). Missouri and Nebraska match up for the Big 12-2 North championship, while the first place Baylor Bears travel to Austin to see if the Longhorns can end their “Deep in the heart of” woes. Oregon hopes that the “Top team” jinx doesn’t carry over to their game in the Coliseum against USC- I for one hope that it does. Michigan and Penn State play, and we’ll have a lot more about Minnesota and the Buckeyes as the week continues.
Also this week, lots and lots of little kids (and some big ones) will be celebrating Halloween; we’ll have a lot more coverage on this in next week’s TWTW. For now, though, we’ll just remind you to think through all of the possibilities as you’re planning your “awesome scary prank”.
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