Here’s the update from this weekend’s college football action. Subtitle for this weekend’s action? The underdog bites. Eight of the Top 25 teams lost, seven to unranked teams, and four lost at home.
OSU Opponent Watch
- Youngstown State (4-1) – Played Missouri State at home, won 49-21. Conclusion: Expected Win
- Akron (2-3) – Played Connecticut on the road, lost 10-44. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Washington (2-3) – Played USC, at home, lost 24-27. Conclusion: Closer than Expected Loss
- Northwestern (2-3) – Played Michigan at home, lost 16-28. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Minnesota (1-4) – Played Ohio State at home, lost 7-30. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Purdue (5-0) – Played Notre Dame at home, won 33-19. Conclusion: Expected Win
- Kent State (3-2) – Played Ohio on the road, won 33-25. Conclusion: Good Win
- Michigan State (4-1) – Played Wisconsin on the road, lost 34-37. Conclusion: Tough Loss
- Penn State (3-2) – Played Illinois on the road, lost 20-27. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
- Wisconsin (5-0) – Played Michigan State at home, won 37-34. Conclusion: Quality Win.
- Illinois (4-1) – Played Penn State at home, won 27-20. Conclusion: Good Win
- Michigan (2-2) – Played Northwestern on the road, won 28-16. Conclusion: Tougher than Expected Win
Buckeye opponent’s records after the fifth week, 36-22. After 2 weeks of conference play, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan have no losses and are in contention for the Big 10 championship. Surprisingly, after two weeks, Iowa and Penn State are out of contention. After next week, there will be at least 2 fewer undefeated conference teams as Ohio State travels to Purdue and Illinois and Wisconsin tangle. Michigan gets a directional Michigan foe, which they should win easily. But if they spread the field, all bets are off. We’ll know alot more about the conference race this time next week.
Quick Hits from Around College Football
Teams that look like mythical national championship (MNC) contenders from week 5: LSU and California.
These are the undefeated survivors; their play to-date and/or competition level leaves room for doubt:
USC, Ohio State, Arizona State, Boston College, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Kansas, Purdue, Kentucky, Missouri, Connecticut, South Florida, and Hawaii .
These teams are the “Top 10” of the 1 loss club:
Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Oregon, Illinois, Clemson, Texas, South Carolina, Michigan State, and Georgia
Game of the week, there were so many to choose from it’s silly. The one I enjoyed the most from a competition perspective was Michigan State at Wisconsin. Wisconsin won 37-34. Not much defense was played and it wasn’t decided until late. Michigan State is MUCH improved and will surprise teams this year and in the future.
Mismatch of the week, Texas Tech humiliated Northwestern State at home, 75-7. And, the losing team had to go to Lubbock…..adding insult to injury.
My Special Top 12 rankings: (Why Top 12? That’s where you need to be to get into BCS contention.) This week, the rankings changed dramatically from last week. Undefeated teams get the benefit of the doubt. Once there are fewer than 12 undefeated teams, the one loss crew can start to creep back in. But for now, one loss and you’re history.
- LSU – A workman like win over Tulane. I was mildly surprised that Tulane scored 9 on their defense.
- California – A good win over a tough Oregon team that seemed to self-destruct.
- Ohio State – A suffocating win over a team with a good offense and lousy defense.
- USC – Escaped Seattle with a W. Makes the Buckeye win a couple of weeks ago look better.
- Boston College – Tougher than expected win over Massachusetts of IAA.
- South Florida – Has West Virginia’s number.
- Wisconsin – Still concerned about the defense, especially after this week.
- Kentucky – Would you have believed they would be here in week 5?
- Missouri – They just keep winning. Early season win over Illinois looking very good.
- Purdue – Next week will tell if they go up, or fall out of these rankings.
- Arizona State – Look for them to reach 7-0 without much trouble.
- Cincinnati – Say what you will, but they’ve proved it on the field thus far.
My Special Bottom 5 rankings: (Why bottom 5? If you finish there you should be relegated to I-AA)
- Notre Dame – Are they improving? Or is Purdue over-rated?
- Rice – Bye week.
- Marshall – Bye week.
- Temple – Double digit loss to 1-3 Army.
- Utah State – Double digit loss to 1-3 Utah.
In the coming week I’ll post an Purdue/OSU preview, a game review of Purdue/OSU, and a Weekend Update Sports edition.
Note: This is a stream of consciousness approach to football viewing with commentary inline as it happens except for halftime and post game wrap up.
First Quarter
This period seemed to fly by. It was punctuated by a fake punt that gained 18 yards to keep the first OSU offensive drive alive and was finished by a Beanie Wells touchdown. The defense seemed to need a possession to get dialed in, those screen passes are troublesome, but the recovery speed seems to have negated that part of the game thus far. The missed field goal by Minnesota was good fortune. Beanie Wells gets better with each touch. Maurice Wells is great in space, but inside runs with him are a mistake. What a play by Ray Small on the end around! Beanie punches it in, 14-0 Bucks. Boeckman looks a little off thus far in the game, throwing passes late and behind receivers. Kickoff coverage has looked a little shaky still, but the third return was an improvement over the first two. After a run for no gain, the quarter is over, 14-0 Bucks. Minnesota ball on their 20.
Summary: OSU, 3 possessions, 14 points. Minnesota, 4 possessions, 0 points.
Second Quarter
Three and out for Minny to start the quarter. After a good return by Hartline, the Bucks takeover at their 47. Running Maurice Wells up the middle, is not a good play, I really wish the coaching staff would recognize this. For the first time, Boeckman OVER throws a receiver – I’m glad to see them take the shot. Breakdown in pass protection, missed opportunity on 4th down. Minnesota ball on their 36. Minny cranks out a first down, they are a good offensive team thus far this year, so shutting them down would be a good sign. Haven’t seen a turnover yet, sort of expect that at some point. Stupid penalty, defensive holding on the Bucks. Keeps them on the field, need to see some fire out of the D right now and stop them. Well executed option by Minny to gain 15 yards. The Minnesota offense has a nice drive going, Ok Buckeye D, show us what you’ve got…Minny puts one in endzone, 14-7. OSU starts at the 17, let’s see what develops. Rehring goes down, that’s not good. The O line has finally got some synchronicity. Near sack. Punt coming. Let’s see if the D has got some nasty back…The short passing game is eating up yards, Minnesota is executing well. Need to get some licks in on Weber to knock him off his game and force a turnover. False start, Minny on the OSU 22 – time for the D to bring a stop. Jenkins with the pick! That’s what I’m talking about. Stupid penalty, pinned back in at the 4. Go Bucks. Let’s get a drive going. Great run from Beanie and Minny has a stupid penalty, what a change in field position. What a catch! Robiskie for 52 yard circus catch! Blocked extra point. Drat, OSU 20-7. 1:16 left in the first half, no more points or yards for Minnesota please. Minny ball at the 32. Three and out, good defensive series. 0:28 to go, take the lead into the locker room Mr. Tressel.
Summary: OSU, 4 possessions, 6 points. Minnesota, 3 possessions, 7 points.
Halftime
Through the half, the OSU offense has put up 20 points, 276 yards, and is 3-7 on third downs. The Minnesota offense has put up 7 points, 204 yards, and is 2-8 on third downs. Look for adjustments on the Defense at the half, that’s way too many yards to give up. The kicking game suddenly looks shaky, shallow kickoff, missed PAT, not good. Should be an entertaining second half.
Third Quarter
Buckeyes start with the ball. Love to see a sustained drive with a touchdown capper. These guys are popping, good hits happening from both teams. They’re playing hard and you love to see that, it makes for a good game. Pretorious hits a 44 yard field goal, OSU 23-7. Let’s see the D bring some nasty to the table. We’ll see what adjustments were made and how effective they were. Not a good start, kickoff coverage is still shaky. Good tackle by Pretorious at the 43 yard line. 3 and out, good job D. OSU football at the 10 yard line. OK, the coaches are smarter than I am, Maurice Wells produces a good run up the gut and follows that up with a great block in pass protection on the next play. Looks like a punt is coming, Beanie turns in a 5 yard loss and is lucky not to get called for a face mask penalty. Bad news, no points. Good news, it ate 3:50 of time. 3 and out, great job D. The adjustments are obviously working on the defensive side of the ball. 3 and out for the Bucks, apparently the Gopher defense made some adjustments too…Heyward is a beast! What a good job penetrating and tackling and forcing the tackle.
Summary: OSU 3 possessions, 3 points. Minnesota 3 possessions, 0 points. Note, the Gophers were held to 13 net yards in the period. Wow.
Fourth Quarter
Buckeye ball at the 37. One more score would be good. Another stupid penalty followed by a punt. More to work on for next week’s practices. Freeman, who has been accused of being soft, just laid the wood on the ball carrier. Punt, the Bucks go to work on the 47. Another score would be good. Let’s see what they cook up. Pass interference on the Gophers, probably smart, probably saved a touchdown. Beanie just knocked a defender off his feet with a stiff arm. Impressive. Good drive going, false start. Grrr, stupid penalty. Illegal shift, another stupid penalty. Grrr….Touchdown Hartline! Let’s make the PAT. 30-7, OSU. Woohoo! OK D, let’s see a 3 and out. But the subs will be in no doubt with the score and time left in the game. Minny’s got a bit of a drive going on, D-Fence! After driving 35 yards, a punt. Good job D. Beanie fumbles, oh no. Minnesota ball inside the OSU 10. OK D, man up. 4 and out, what a stand! 3 and out, punt. Minnesota ball on the OSU 47. A little drive going on. Interception Grant, what an athletic move. A couple of runs and this one is over.
Summary: OSU 5 possessions, 7 points. Minnesota 4 possessions, 0 points.
Post Game Wrap-up
This was a thorough win over a bad Minnesota team. The offense wasn’t as productive as expected, but the defense was solid. Particularly in the second half. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but it was a good win. Bring on the Boilermakers. Go Bucks!
Collected from around the ‘net:
How do you keep a programmer in the shower all day long?
Give him a bottle of shampoo that says “lather, rinse, repeat.”
Deep thoughts by geeks…
There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.
Why do programmers win at hangman?
They play in binary.
Why do programmers always get Christmas and Halloween mixed up?
Because DEC 25 = OCT 31
More deep thoughts by geeks…
To iterate is human; to recurse, divine.
How many IBM cpu’s does it take to do a logical right shift?
33. 1 to hold the bits and 32 to push the register.
The good news, if you laughed at any of these, you’re pretty clued-in. The bad news is, if you laughed at any of these, you might be a (see below…)
There are standard fears that we see used in the press everyday, like homophobia and archnaphobia. But there are some others that are bizarre and downright funny. I suppose they’re funny if you don’t suffer from the psychological condition that actually paralyzes you at the sight of say, chopsticks (Consecotaleophobia) or more severe, eating (Sitiophobia.) Life is difficult if you’re afraid of eating!
Peladophobia is another interesting condition, I guess it contributes to the worldwide sales of drugs like Rogaine. After all, it’s well known that fear is one of the strongest motivators for purchasing. Other interesting fear inspired products/concepts/ideas are cars (Ambulophobia), Fox “not” News (Phronemophobia), McDonalds (Geumaphobia), beards (Xyrophobia), Flander’s Leftorium (Dextrophobia), multi-level marketing schemes (Peniaphobia), MTV (Melophobia), sun glasses (Photoaugliaphobia), religion (Gnosiophobia), eHarmony (Anuptaphobia), hotels (Oikophobia), toothpaste and mouthwash (Alliumphobia), viagra/cialis/et al (Medomalacuphobia), lemon fresh Pledge (Amathophobia), reluctance to pull out of Iraq (Kakorrhaphiophobia), metamucil (Coprastasophobia), and deodorant (Osmophobia).
One thing is sure, after reading these terms I start to feel a touch of Hellenologophobia! Magic decoder of the referenced phobias available below the image…
Alliumphobia – Fear of garlic.
Amathophobia – Fear of dust.
Ambulophobia – Fear of walking.
Anuptaphobia – Fear of staying single.
Arachnaphobia – Fear of spiders.
Consecotaleophobia – Fear of chopsticks.
Coprastasophobia – Fear of constipation.
Dextrophobia – Fear of the right-side of the body.
Geumaphobia – Fear of taste.
Gnosiophobia – Fear of knowledge.
Hellenologophobia – Fear of Greek terms.
Homophobia – Fear of homosexuals.
Kakorrhaphiophobia – Fear of defeat.
Medomalacuphobia – Fear of losing an erection.
Melophobia – Fear or hatred of music.
Oikophobia – Fear of home surroundings.
Osmophobia – Fear of smells or odors.
Peladophobia – Fear of baldness.
Peniaphobia – Fear of poverty.
Photoaugliaphobia – Fear of glaring lights.
Phronemophobia – Fear of thinking.
Sitiophobia – Fear of food or eating.
Xyrophobia – Fear of razors.
You may have heard of Matryoshka Dolls before, the nesting dolls from Russia where the dolls become progressively smaller and are eached stored within the next size up. Here’s an image of the garden variety Matryoshka Doll set:
Photo courtesy of Russian-Crafts.com
This is what I saw outside the front of my house yesterday, a matryoshka bucket set:
Just thought I’d share…
