Not this time

With about 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter and Notre Dame trailing Michigan State by nine facing a 3rd and 17 around their own 30, Irish QB JimmyClausen threw a quick out to Golden Tate, who was hit immediately by two MSU defenders. But the Spartans failed to wrap Tate up, and he got away for about a twenty yard gain. Two plays later a questionable 15 yard pass interference put ND inside the MSU 30. From my home in Ann Arbor, I could hear my spartan grad best friend in Chicago yelling at the TV. Visions of a deflected pass in 1990, a third string QB throwing a winning TD, and trying to run the spread in Hurricane Katrina must of been running through his head and the heads of spartan fans everywhere. Once again, it appeared for a brief moment, that MSU was in danger of losing a game to ND that they had basically controlled throughout, and that the Irish had no business winning. But luckily for State, this is not Ty Willingham's Irish team, and the Irish weren't able to take the game that MSU was trying to hand them.
-This game reinforced my thought that if we played the Irish ten times, we'd win six or seven of them.
-MSU needs to expand the playbook a little, or Javon Ringer won't last the season. As we learned last year with Hart, if you ride one player two much you run the risk of not having him.
-ND might make a bowl game, but without a real running game they won't be winning that game. Throwing it deep on every other play won't work against good teams.

Other thoughts:
-Thinking about the continued implosion of Pac-Ten teams not coach by Pete Carroll, I believe it illustrates the problems that are inherent to West Coast football, and why despite occasional flashes, they will have problems maintaining the level of football throughout the conference that is played in the SEC, Big 12, or even the Big Ten. Yes the Pac-Ten schools have a large population from which to draw players. But they have a lot of competition from which to draw fans. They traditionally do a very poor job of drawing fans. The Rose Bowl was barely half full for the UCLA- Arizona game yesterday. Despite their enormous success, USC was only 18th in average attendance last year, and are the only Pac Ten team in the top twenty in attendance in the each of the last five years. The SEC has had at least seven teams in the top 20 each year, the Big 12 and Big Ten 10 four each. This is why Pac ten teams play more big road games than any other power conference. When you don't draw much more than 60,000 fans to every home game, you aren't sacrificing as much giving up a home game. Compare that to Auburn, OSU and others, which clear more than $1 million in profit every home game. That's why three out of the four losses to Mountain West teams were road games for the Pac Ten. Additionally, they also don't have as much close-by out of conference competition as the other power conferences have. Thus you have long cross-country road trips that lead to sleepwalking type performances like the one we saw out of Cal at Maryland.
-Bill Stewart of West Virginia turned on of the worst coaching performances you'll ever want to see in their game with Colorado on Thursday night. First the team came out somewhat flat and allowed Colorado two early scores. On a number of occasions, the 'Neers punted on fourth and short inside the Colorado 40 instead of going for it. When they finally did go for it with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, they chose to run a QB sneak that was stuffed for a one-yard loss, instead of running the zone read with Noel Devine and Pat White that gained them over 300 yards rushing. The game was tied with about 6 minutes left when WVU got the ball on their own 20. With two timeouts left, they ran the zone read with Devine and White over and over and moved the ball right down the field. With a minute and a half left, they were at the fifty and still had two timeouts. Still plenty of time to get into range for a game winning FG. They ran a quick out to Devine who didn't get out of bounds, ran a dive play that was stuffed, and didn't make any effort to stop the clock. When they finally used a timeout, there were only four seconds left, and they were on the Colorado 48. They ended regulation with a failed hail mary and one timeout left. In OT, they passed up a 4th and 1 and missed a chip shot FG and lost 17-14. Yes, this is the reason why they gave Stewart a five year extension. We can see why Rich Rod wanted out of there
-What the heck has happened to Rutgers? They lost to a very poor Navy team, and are starting to look more and more like Rutgers of old. Glad we dodged that bullet. If Schiano is not careful, he won't get that interview at Penn State when Paterno finally kicks the bucket.

Chaos

June 19, 2008 Note: This is a post that originally appeared on Golden's Football Rankings and is reproduced here for posterity.

After an unbelievable weekend of college football, that’s what we are left in the BCS. From Rutgers’ program defining win to Auburn’s destruction at the hands of rival Georgia, to Cal’s choke job in the desert to the deconstruction of Colt McCoy and the defending champs, the college football world was left spinning on its axis.

-Rutgers’ win on Thursday was a genuinely exciting happening, even if you aren’t a Rutgers alum or a resident of greater New Jersey. It’s the type of moment you just don’t get in the NFL. A long suffering program, one that helped create the sport, but hasn’t tasted any success since Herbert Hoover was in office gets its moment in the spotlight. I hope that Greg Schiano resists the calls from Miami, Penn State, or other higher profile schools and stays at Rutgers. There is a lot of untapped possibility there. The lack of a legitimate college football program in the Eastern seaboard is one of the biggest vacuums in sports. If Schiano can keep the local talent at home, and cherry pick a few from other areas, they could be a real player on the national stage for a while.
-If Rutgers runs the table, they belong in the national title game. No, they aren’t the second best team in the country, but that’s not what the BCS is really about. If it were, the Michigan/OSU rematch would already be set.
-Ok, I know that Florida State is struggling on offense, is very young on defense and is having a horrible year. But Wake Forest?!? 34-0?!?! At home?! We are through the looking glass here folks. Black is white, and white is black.
-I was glad to see Auburn get their comeuppance against the Bulldogs. Tommy Tupperville’s complaining rubbed me the wrong way earlier in the year. Don’t worry about the polls; just take care of the teams on your schedule. I think he still feels that he got screwed in 2004, which is understandable, but wrong (Oklahoma and USC were both better and had better resumes than Auburn)
-I’m not a Florida fan, but there is something just wrong about Steve Spurrier on the visitor’s sideline at Florida Field. He belongs at Florida, like Bear Bryant at Alabama, or Bobby Bowden at FSU. Him at South Carolina would be like JoePa quitting at taking over at Indiana. Urban Meyer seems like a bright guy. I’m sure he must realize that he doesn’t belong there. No one other than Spurrier does. Spurrier is Gator football, their best player, their best coach, and the very personification of what they stand for – run and gun, in your face, somewhat arrogant, but always entertaining.
-I’ve read some rumors on message boards that the shooting of the Miami player was related to the FIU/Miami brawl earlier this year. No sure if there is any truth to those rumors, but if there is, Miami should consider a one year hiatus for their football program. No game or program is that important. Of course, given the administration’s actions after the brawl, I doubt they would ever entertain that idea.
-Seriously, Wake Forest?
-California’s loss could hurt the Rose Bowl big time. I think the people in Pasadena were looking forward to matching up the loser of the UM/OSU tilt and the loser of the Cal/USC game. With the Golden Bears loss to Arizona, a loss to the Trojans will take them out of BCS consideration. If USC makes the championship game, the Rose Bowl has to replace two teams. The 2nd Big Ten gets one bid, who gets the other? Notre Dame? That would make an OSU-ND rematch or a Michigan-ND rematch. Boise State? Texas for the third straight year? Florida? Rutgers?
-I know this match-up is unlikely given the way the BCS is structured this year, but I would love to see a Texas/ND game this year. Both have good offenses and suspect defenses. That could be a 55-52 type game. Come to think of it, West Virginia against either of those teams could be entertaining.
-I think only seven teams have realistic chances of being in Glendale, and two of those teams are blocked by other teams in the chase. In descending order (assuming each wins out):
1 & 2) Michigan and Ohio State, Ohio State and Michigan -- Obviously the winner is in, but I think the chance of a rematch if the game is close is greater than people realize. Think about it, who would have a better resume, a one-loss Florida, or one-loss Ohio State? A one-loss USC or one-loss Michigan?
3) USC – If they win out, they will have three wins over Top 15 teams (Arkansas, ND, & California), and a couple more over top 25 teams (Oregon & Nebraska)
4) Florida – The big debate will probably be Florida or USC. The Gator’s biggest problem is that they haven’t gained many style points in their big games. Yes they could have won at Auburn, but they were lucky to beat South Carolina, and narrowly beat Georgia and Tennessee.
5) Arkansas – The Razorbacks look like the best team in the SEC right now. But they are blocked by USC. The only way the Hogs can make it is if USC loses to someone other than ND.
6) Rutgers – The computers love them, and if the Trojans and Gators lose, and they win in Morgantown, they could jump to #2 easily.
7) Notre Dame – They are blocked by Michigan, and to a lesser extent, Ohio State. No one in their right mind would vote a one-loss Irish team ahead of a one-loss team that beat them by 26 in South Bend. Likewise, given the beat down the Irish received at the hands of the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl, and the fact that they have few marquee wins, it seems unlikely they would jump to #2.

And that is the last I will speak on any teams other than the Buckeyes and the Wolverines until November 19. The game of the day, year, decade is upon us. Perhaps the biggest game in the history of the greatest rivalry in all of sports. I will post a different item each day this week leading up to Armageddon.