Dead Coach Walking?

It's not possible to overstate just how incredibly bad the Michigan defense played the night before Halloween. A team that was averaging 109 yards rushing per game got 109 in the first half. A team that had been averaging 344 yards of total offense got 435. A team that had been out gained by 80 yards by the hapless Minnesota Golden Gophers out gained the vaunted Michigan offense. A team that had been averaging 20 points per game, scored 41 and ended the game by taking a knee inside the Michigan five-yard line. And they did this with a third-string walk-on QB and a patchwork offensive line, and without the aid of any turnovers.
This offensive explosion from a team that has one of the worst offenses in the league, when healthy, came on the heels of a series of position moves during the bye week that were eerily similar to the changes in the defense made before the Purdue game in 2008, when Michigan played a 3-3-5 for the first time all year and a backup running back turned QB torched Michigan for a bazillion yards and more points than Purdue had scored all year. Just like that game, the Michigan defenders looked lost, and constantly out of position. It was a coaching failure of the highest order. It has become clear the Rich Rod knows only slightly more about defense than I do, and doesn't have the faintest clue how to go about teaching it to young players. Which is really a shame, considering he knows more about the spread offense than anyone coaching today. We have the worst defense in the league, and the best offense.

So was this game the tipping point for Rich Rod? Depends on who you ask. Some were ready to get rid of him when he quoted the Lion King at his opening press conference. For some it was the loss to Toledo. For the first time, I think, more than 50% of the fanbase think its time for a change. For me it was the MSU loss this year, although it took until this game for me to accept it. Although I recognize the beauty of his offense and know that if he stays we will have an Oregon like offense if not next year than the year after it, I can't get past the lack of any defensive fundamentals, the poor personnel decisions (Marell Evans anyone?), and the complete tailspin they've gone in for three straight years. There is still time to turn this season around, but we've seen no evidence that Rich Rod's teams are capable of that.

Other random thoughts:
-Mark Dantonio showed his true stripes (win-at-all-costs), I'm glad the mainstream media is finally picking up on that. Hey Mark, if you want to be a father figure to these kids (your words, not mine), try acting like a father. If you tell a kid the consequences of bad behavior is a certain punishment, and then you don't follow through with the punishment when they do that bad behavior, they learn not to listen to you, or believe you when you tell them there will be dire consequences if they mess up.
-How the hell did Texas beat Nebraska?
-All of a sudden, West Virginia has fallen off the map. I wonder if they might be willing to take Rich Rod back? Maybe we could work out a sign and trade.
-That Iowa collapse against Wisconsin last week is looking like it might be the pivotal game in the Big Ten race this year. Iowa looked very good against MSU and has a decent chance of beating OSU in two weeks. But even if they run the table, if Wisconsin also runs the table, they are out of luck for the Rose Bowl.
-Tulsa? Seriously, Tulsa?!? Is this why you decided to stay an independent?
-The story about the Notre Dame student killed while filming football practice is tragic, and his tweets were especially haunting. This accident is gonna cost the university a ton of money, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of heat comes on Brian Kelly because of it.
-The Cal scoring streak continued, blows out teams at home, gets blown out on the road - they lost at Oregon State 35-7. They travel to Washington State, so a continuation of the trend would be quite shocking. They close the season with home games against Oregon, Stanford, and Washington.

We knew this would happen

At the start of the season I told myself, and anyone who would listen, that this was a 7-5 team, with five probable wins, five toss-ups, and two sure losses. So far this season we are 4-0 on the probable wins, 1-2 in the tossups, and just lost our first sure loss. So why is everyone so upset?

The truth of it is part of the reason that we all make predictions at the start of the season is to counter that overly-optimistic, ten-year old kid in all of us that is dreaming of ways we can go 13-0. As much as you repeat the more realistic prediction out loud, there's still that little voice saying "If we only get some solid safety play and we get some breaks, we could win it all."
When the season starts with an electrifying win, that little voice starts to get louder. After the Notre Dame win, and even after the close losses at MSU and Iowa, we started to believe that maybe we could win this game.

But the truth is any chance we had to be competitive in this game ended five plays into the game when David Molk went down with an ankle injury. We just don't have the talent right now on the defensive side of the ball, or the experience on the offensive side of the ball to be among the top teams in the Big Ten. Somewhere that ten-year kid is in mourning.

Bullets:
-The next two games are absolute must-wins. 7-5 with a mid-level bowl is progress for the program. 6-6 and a low-level bowl, or heaven forbid, 5-7 will be epic fail.
-If I have one complaint with the offense this year (other than general inconsistency and turnovers that come with two freshman QBs) it's the lack of a downfield passing game. Clearly, developing a pocket passing game with Tate Forcier has got to be one of the priorities for the off-season.
-Jordan Kovacs would be a halfway decent safety if he were just a step or 20 steps faster. Unfortunately, he's the only one we really have.
-Ok, let's see, two weeks ago Texas Tech beats Kansas State by 52. Last week Kansas State beats Texas A&M by 48. And this week, A&M beats Tech by 22? Gotta love college football.
-The MSU / Iowa game was an absolute snore fest for the better part of three quarters but turned into a classic big ten battle at the end. We got not one, not two, but three goal line stands, some questionable playcalls, a hook and lateral!, a missed fumble call, and a last second TD to preserve a perfect season (so far). Once they get past the gut shot nature of the loss, Spartan fans have to be happy with the direct of their program. The defense is much improved over the start of the season.
-My god is EMU horrible. Four and a half games after he went out for the season with an injury, QB Andy Schmidt is still the team's leading passer.

Why Texas should be in the Big 12 Championship game (and other assorted takes)

This is a place that I'm sure that Big 12 ADs wish they'd never be in. A three-way tie to be broken by the BCS poll, and by extension, by voters in the coaches and Harris poll, many of whom might have a vested interest in one team or another. It has been pointed out elsewhere that Mack Brown, if he chose to do so, could vote OU out of the poll, thereby putting Texas in the championship game.

That being said, it is the system they have, and two out of the three teams will be unfairly snubbed. In my mind, the team that should get the nod is Texas.

It's clear that Oklahoma has the best offense in the conference, and maybe the best in the country. They have scored over 60 points in their last four games, and over 50 in 8 of 12. Their offensive line is dominating everyone in sight, Sam Bradford is clinical in his accuracy, they have a gaggle of talented running backs and receivers and you get the feeling they could name their score in just about every game.

But it's just as clear that Texas has the best defense in the conference. Texas is the only one of the contenders that has played all the top teams in the conference (OU, Texas, Tech, Kansas and Missouri -- although Nebraska is probably better than KU), and has held each on of them to less points than their season average. They are first in the conference in Scoring, Rushing, and Total Defense, and second in Pass Efficiency Defense.

Each of the three teams went 4-1 in their toughest five games, but Texas played only 2 of those at home, with a road win at Kansas, a neutral game win against OU, and a road loss to Texas Tech. OU played 3 of five at home, with only the road win at OSU and loss to Texas away from Norman. Tech also played three games at home, with the road loss to OU and a win against Kansas. Furthermore, Texas played the second half of their only loss without their best defensive player, Brian Orakpo. Does OU win the Bedlam game if Bradford goes down in the second half? Bottom line, the best two teams in the league played on a neutral field and Texas won. End of story.

Other stuff:
-I found it appropriate that Minnesota lost its last game at the Metrodome 55-0 to Iowa. When The Gophers started playing their home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey, they were one of the top 15 teams all-time, having won almost 64% of their games. Since that time they have won only 41.67% of the time. They are .520 at home, which is inflated quite a bit by a number of FCS and lower FBS opponents. They were 0-12 in the battle for the Little Brown Jug, and 0-11 against the Buckeyes. Attendance at the off-campus facility was awful, centering around 40 to 45k out of 64k capacity for most of their history there. This is not to say that the new on-campus facility will cure all that ails Gopher football, but it's a good place to start.
-I also can't help but think there is some sort of metaphor for Gopher Football in this story.
-For all of those making fun of the ACC this year, better get your licks in now, because it looks like it will be much improved next year. Miami and FSU are young and very athletic. Cutcliffe has done a great job at Duke. Carolina will be better if Butch Davis doesn't bolt. Clemson might finally stop being so wildly inconsistent with a new coaching staff in place. And Paul Johnson has done wonders at Georgia Tech this year. Give him one more year to perfect his offense, and it will be nearly unstoppable (if it isn't already)
-BTW, for the first time in forever, the ACC had a winning record against the SEC this year, despite Florida's demolishing of FSU and Miami. They've jumped ahead of both the SEC and the Big 12 in the most recent Golden Rankings (to be posted later today).
-Although I'd like to see USC play somewhere other than the Rose Bowl, I'm glad that Penn State gets a crack at them. Anyone who wants to include USC in the championship discussion should include Penn State since the Knitknees beat Oregon State by 31 and USC lost by a TD to them.
-One of things I enjoy about the Thanksgiving weekend is watching the Michigan High School championship football games from Ford Field. Eight games involving teams from throughout the state running all sorts of offenses, from pro-set, to the spread option, to the wing-T, and even to the single-wing. It's like a walk through the history of offensive football. This year it was a big year for the western side of the state, with three teams from Muskegon winning championships, along with East Grand Rapids, Holland, and Rockford.

Additional thoughts on last weekend

In no particular order:

-I think we've seen the last of Carson Butler as a starter. I'm guessing he didn't play in the game due to discipline reasons arising from his getting tossed out of the game in South Bend. Kevin Koger's emergence towards the end of the game might be just what Rich Rod needs to bench Butler for good.
-Mike Martin is going to be a beast. I've always liked to watch the D-line with by binoculars during the game, and he was just destroying double teams of a fairly good oline.
-Finally saw a crossing route from Odoms in this game. I would like to see more of this. I think it backs the linebackers out a little bit and makes the bubble screen and the zone read that much more effective.
-Bielema must really be kicking himself for not playing Travis Beckum the entire game. Despite his gaffe on the 2-pt conversion (he was the one who lined up wrong causing the illegal man down field penalty), he brings a dimension to this offense that was sorely missing. I'm guessing if he plays, they score more than 19 points in the first half.
-I know a loss like this is tough to take, but I don't think it really changes the season outlook for the Badgers. I still think the make the Rose Bowl if they run the table, there is no way Michigan escapes without a couple of losses. I don't think they had a reasonable shot at a national title, even if they were undefeated. This loss only means something if they can't rebound from it this week.
-This is getting to be pattern for USC: Finish with the top recruiting class in the nation, with twice as many 5-star players as the next team. Have more players drafted into the NFL than anybody else. Start the year ranked number one, or very close to it. Win a couple early non-conference games in impressive fashion. Become the unanimous number one team. Lose to a shitty Pac 10 team that has no business coming within four touchdowns of you. Win out, and watch some SEC team beat OSU in the championship game, when everyone in the country knows you are the best team in the country. Finish the year by beating an over matched Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl. Have all the pundits proclaim you as the team to beat for the next year. Rinse, rather, repeat.
-I never really thought Nick Saban was a good as everyone made him out to be. His teams at MSU were only slightly over .500 before his last year, his five year record there was only a couple games better than the first five years of his predecessor. I think he got somewhat lucky at LSU in that he got to play a national championship game against the #3 team, instead of the #1 USC. He was awful with the Dolphins. I always thought he was a good coach, but not the walk on water type he was portrayed as. I must admit, I am impressed with what is doing at Alabama this year. We'll see if they can keep it up, but if they do win the SEC west, I take back the negative things I've said about him in the past, except the part about him being the Larry Brown of college football.
-I'm not buying this Penn State Spread HD thing. Wait until they play a defense with a pulse.
-I hope that the BYU/Utah, BYU/TCU, and Utah/TCU all get the national TV audiences they deserve.

This and That

Sorry about the absence of bracketology this week, work and AG stuff are eating up a lot of time. I will post something after the weekend.

Ok, I know everybody loves trades, but sometimes the best trade are the ones you don't make. In the last couple of weeks, I think a couple of different western conference contenders have made trades that made them weaker in the short and long run. Phoenix traded fantasy superstar Shawn Marion to Miami for The big aristotle, Shaq. Now I realize that the Suns felt like they had to deal Marion who had been fueding with Amare Stoudamire and was making noise about bolting at the end of the year as a free agent. But Shaq? Even in his prime, Shaq wouldn't have fit the Suns run n' gun style. Now, five years past his prime, he is going to grind them to a halt and make them a team with no discernible identity come the playoffs. This is kinda like a Mike Martz offense taking the best blocking fullback in the draft. The palyer the Suns really could have used was Pau Gasol, whose trade to the Lakers seemed to be the catalyst for the Suns panic move.
-It also seems to me that Dallas gave up just a little too much to get an aging point guard, who has been good, but not great in past playoffs. They gave up their best young PG in Devin Harris, and with Desagna Diop gone, they are mighty thin up front, especially when you consider that the defending champs, San Antonio just got deeper by acquiring Kurt Thomas from Seattle.

-The M basketball team has put on a nice little run, with consecutive wins vs Penn State, @ Iowa and vs OSU. Maybe, just maybe Beilein's system is starting to sink in with his very young team. The schedule is favorable the rest of the way (@Minn, Ill, @ PSU, NW, & Purdue) and it looks like they could get some much need momentum towards recruiting season and towards next year.

-I'm glad to see that the UofM AD has finally decided to honor Jalen Rose for the work he's done with his foundation. It's not quite a jersey retirement ceremony, but it's time we realize that the sins of Mr. Webber shouldn't be visited on all of the Fab Five. Those guys represent an important time in the history of Michigan basketball, and they should be recognized for their contributions to the program. If it were up to me, I would raise a banner that just said "Fab Five" on it. Invite Rose, Howard, King and Jackson back, and tell Webber he can come back when he makes a public apology. Enough time has past, we don't have to be embarassed about their success anymore.

-For any sane Penn State fan, the idea that Joe Paterno has out lasted Fidel Castro has to be soul crushing.

-Interesting stat: Road conference record the last three years:
Michigan 6-17
Michigan State 5-17
Hmmmm. For an "elite" team, MSU sure does lose a lot of games.

-The NBA all-star game just doesn't do it for me. I've heard pundits compare it to the Super Bowl in terms of events surrounding the game. I never even realize what weekend it is until I check my fantasy team the friday night before the game and see that no one has played. Even the slam-dunk contest seems kinda boring after a while.

-Speaking of over-hyped events, I was surprised to find out recently that this year was the 50th running of the Daytona 500. I would have sworn it was older than that. I know that NASCAR has seen a big surge in popularity the last decade or two, but it was around prior the WWII, wasn't it? Maybe if NASCAR is only a little more than a generation or two old, there is still time for it to die down, fade back into obscurity and quite taking valuable time on Sportscenter away from real sports, like hockey.

-I wanted to highlight a great piece of writing by SMQ about the relationship between the Big Ten and the SEC. I don't know how terribly accurate it is, but anyone who can include a bob dylan lyric in a college football post deserves props.

-It amazes me how stupid big time athletes are at times, and how much their ego gets in their way when they are not on the playing field. Roger Clemens will probably be on the outside looking in to Cooperstown, instead of being a first ballot Hall of Famer, because he isn't willing to admit that he used enhancements at a time when many other players (maybe even most) were using them and baseball did nothing to officially discourage them. It's real simple. Americans will forgive almost anything if you tell them the truth. Pete Rose would be in the Hall of Fame now if he had told the truth 20 years ago. Same is likely true for Mark Mcgwire. American history in the 20th century is littered with public figures who have sinned but survived because they confessed their transgressions. If Clemens releases a simple statement when the Mitchell report came out (I did it, I was wrong, I'm sorry I let the fans down), this would be a non-story right now, instead of a televised congressional hearing. The more Clemens denies the story, the more he twists the knife in his own back.

Let's Go Hunt for Grandpa...

I know he's somewhere here

A bad week for college football's favorite senior citizens.

First come rumors of Joe Paterno being involved in a road rage (?!?) incident around the Penn State campus. The story stretches the bounds of credibility. Why would Joe Paterno drive somebody off the road and curse them out? Surely this must be a case of mistaken identity, or there must be some other explanation for it. But then Paterno himself confirmed the incident, although as you might expect, he tells a slightly different version. No matter which version you believe, this certainly has the feel of Woody and Clemson. When you consider some of the erratic behavior from Paterno in the recent past: the constant whining about the Big Ten referees, hanging a ref in effigy, the run to the locker room at Ohio Stadium, you have to think that we are watching Paterno slowly but surely disintegrate before our eyes. All of the recent off-the-field problems for PSU players is not surprising in light of the idea that the program is adrift without anyone at the wheel.

Meanwhile, down in Talahassee, JoePa's contemporary, Bobby Bowden just finished losing to a Wake Forest team that is the very definition of mediocre. After last year's 7-6 season, Bowden cleaned house and brought in a number of outstanding coaches, including Jimbo Fisher, Chuck Amato, and O line coach Rick Trickett from West Virginia. But with this loss, and tough games looming against Miami, and at BC, Virginia Tech, and Florida, 7-6 might be the best case scenario. The problems there go deeper than the coaching staff.

It is time for someone at each school to step up,realize that the emperor have no clothes, and tell them it's time to move on. The dangerous thing here is that neither of these programs have had much historical success that doesn't revolve around these two legends. FSU pre Bowden was 150-130, with a winning percentage comparable to known powerhouses Arkansas State and Akron. Paterno has been a coach of some sort for 649 of Penn State's 1,171 games played. There is the non-zero chance that both programs could return to a decent, but not nearly elite level once these coaches leave. About a year ago, Paterno gave an interview talking about Bear Bryant and how he died months after he retired. Bowden has often said that there is only one significant event left after you retire, and he's not ready for that. Both coaches fear that they would die without football. If they keep coaching, however, the programs that they built into two of the top programs in the last 30 plus years may die first.

Bonus points to anyone who can identify the artist above without looking at the link title (click here for answer)

We own... Penn State

As I was leaving the game Saturday, I saw a young Penn State fan, maybe 11 or 12, sitting with his dad on a brick wall outside the guys bathroom. The kid just looked crushed, like he was on the verge of tears. It was obvious that this was his first road game cheering on Penn State. I felt like saying something to the kid, telling him that everything would be ok, there would be other games, etc. Of course I didn't, because anything a guy wearing a Michigan jersey and baseball cap said at that moment would be taken as rubbing it in. I realized that this kid could now call himself a true Penn State fan. Watching Penn State lose a heart breaker in Ann Arbor has become a rite of passage for Nittany Lion fans.

This game had to look familiar to Penn State fans. Same sorta woulda, coulda, shoulda as the last two. The had plenty of opportunities (5 red zone trips resulting in 9 points), but were done in by turnovers, conservative play calling, poor quarterback play, and an inability to block Michigan's defensive line. The couldn't run the ball consistently, except for some draws in the second half. They didn't do a very good job getting the ball to their play makers, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood (3 catches each) in space, where they could take advantage of the poor tackling of the Michigan secondary. The didn't look for TE Andrew Quarless in the middle of the field, and didn't really challenge Michigan deep. It seemed to me that they don't trust QB Anthony Morelli or his arm, because they didn't give him many complicated reads.

The Michigan offense was only slightly better. They too missed a couple of scoring opportunities. At one point during the game, I commented like I felt that Michigan was dodging bullets. My friend who was with me pointed out that Michigan had missed a number of opportunities and it was more like both teams were dodging blanks. I thought given the circumstances (freshman QB, third string right guard), the play calling was acceptable. The offensive line was incredible. Mallet made a few more mistakes than the previous week, but also made a couple of great plays while scrambling that give us just a glimpse of what the future will be like (ah, that's what pocket presence looks like).

Hart was, well, magnificent. Let me set the scene for you. Penn State has just kicked a field goal to cut it 14-9. There is six minutes left in the game. We have the ball around our 40. The student section is chanting "Mike Hart, Mike Hart". Penn State has nine in the box. Everyone in the stadium knows where it's going, right behind #77 All-American left tackle Jake Long. Mallet might as well be shouting it out at the line of scrimmage: "Left 20. 77 Off-tackle. Hut hut." Hart gets the ball, avoids a D lineman at the line of scrimmage, jukes past a couple of linebackers four yards down field and then plows through the safety and a couple of other tacklers out to the first down. Later in the drive, he is injured on a second down carry. As he limps off the field, a murmur runs through the crowd. Penn State calls thier last time out. Hart limps back out on the field. The crowd goes crazy. His block of the blitzing linebacker gives Mallet just enough time to hit a receiver just beyond the first down marker. Given the way the season started, I know that Hart will likely not be in the Heisman race. But he deserves to be. Before the season is over, he will be the best running back in the history of Michigan in just about every statistical category, and he is certainly the best I've ever seen.

Thoughts on other games
This was cool:

I'm still not convinced that Les Miles will be offered the job here, but if he does end up here, I hope he brings Gary Crowton with him.
-The UCLA / Washington game was something else, one of those typical Pac 10 wide open affairs. At one point, in the span of 5 minutes, Washington scored a TD, UCLA lost their second string QB (who was playing in place of the injured Ben Olson) and had to sub in a walk on freshman, UCLA busted an 80 yard run, Washington hit a 70 yard pass to a slot receiver, and then UCLA returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Can't they find a way to put those games on earlier, so more of us can see them?
-I wonder how long after the cheering subsided for Notre Dame's first offensive TD of the year, did people in the stadium realize, "We're still going to lose this game and go 0-4"?
-How in the world did Louisville lose to Syracuse?!? Syracuse is awful, they've only scored over 20 points against a BCS opponent once in Greg Robinson's tenure there. Steve Kragthorpe might have a pretty short stay there if he's not careful.

Full Golden Rankings coming up later this week.

Nine in a row?

Some pre-game thoughts:

-There is no doubt that Penn State will be the toughest defense we have seen all year. CB Justin King and LB Dan Conner are All-Big Ten, maybe even All-American type defenders. LBs Sean Lee and SS Anthony Anthony Scirrotto are not far behind. The DL, although young, features a number of highly recruited players.
-Given this, you would think we would do something to vary up our offensive game plan. But of course, this is not our SOP in the Carr era. We will come up with some small variations off of our standard zone left, a different pulling guard, an addition receiver in motion, etc.
-With a freshman QB (likely) and all-everything Mike Hart, Penn State will put 8 guys in the box and will blitz like crazy in obvious passing situations.
-Accordingly, we should sprinkle in a fair amount of play action to keep the defense honest. We should also put Mallet in the shotgun on passing downs (stop me if you've heard this one). Will we? Probably not as much as most fans would like us to.
-Luckily, Penn State's offense does not appear to be half as explosive as Oregon's. QB Anthony Morelli has shown a tendency to fold under pressure, and their running game has been less than spectacular. Combine that with a coaching staff that matches ours for stubborn play calling, and this could be a very low scoring affair.
-The one thing Penn State does have on offense is a good set of receivers. Expect a lot of quick outs, slants, and other things that will try and exploit out LBs and DBs horrible tackling skills.
-I would be happy with 20-25 pass attempts for 150 yards for Mallet. Combined with a 30 carry, 150+ yard day for Hart, and we probably win.

Thoughts on other games:
-MSU/ND: This game is all gravy for Michigan fans. Of course we have talked all week about watching the ND hand wringing. A loss here, especially if they don't score an offensive TD, will only intensify that. An MSU loss will bring up bad memories of past meltdowns for the Spartans. My guess is that the Irish come out fired up, score a TD or two, maybe lead at half, but fizzle out in the second half to lose 24-14 or so.
-SEC Upstart weekend - Crossover weekend in the SEC with four east teams traveling west. In three of the four games an upstart (South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky) seeks to prove that their early season success is no fluke. The Wildcat / Razorback game should be a wild offensive shootout, the Cock / Tiger a defensive bar brawl, and the Tide / Bulldog game somewhere in between. Luckily all three games are at different times.
-Wisconsin / Iowa: This is the prime time game on ABC? I'm guessing the ABC execs wish Michigan would breakdown and allow a night game at Michigan Stadium. So would I.
-Purdue / Minnesota: Back in 1993, the Gophers hit a field goal with 18 seconds left to beat Purdue 59-56. Two Purdue defensive coaches resigned the next day. While I wouldn't expect a game quite as close, I could easily see Purdue being somewhere north of 500-600 yards of total offense against a Gopher team that couldn't stop Bowling Green, Miami, or Florida Atlantic.

"Boy the way Glen Miller played..."

More pre-season thoughts: Penn State

I feel sympathy for your typical Penn State fan, I really do. I grew up a Michigan fan, a fan of one of the pre-eminent college football powers. All my other favorite sports teams went through good times (except maybe the Lions) and some really bad times. But Michigan football was always near the top. You could always count on at least one or two really memorable moments at Michigan Stadium every year. They always went to a bowl, usually a New Year's Day bowl. Even when they had a bad year (6-6 in 1984), they ended up playing the eventual national champ (BYU) in an exciting bowl game. Although the offensive and defensive styles changed, you could always rely on high end college football.

I'm sure it was very much the same way for someone who grew up a Penn State fan. When I was a kid, I sorta rooted for Penn State, because I felt they were similar to Michigan. Your average Penn State fan who came of age in the 70s and 80s thought of their team as "The Beast of the East," one of the top powers in the land, and their coach as the greatest of all time.

So of course, when it was announced that Penn State would join the Big Ten, most Knit-knees assumed (as did some in the general media, hello Beano) that Penn State would dominate the Big Ten, or at least be on par with Ohio State and Michigan. For a little while, that looked like it could be the case, as Penn State won the title in their second year in the league, and were robbed of a national title (a time honored tradition in State College). But after a while it became apparent that not only would they not dominate the Big Ten, they wouldn't even be on the same level as the Buckeyes and Wolverines, but instead would be struggling to keep up the Wisconsin and Iowas of the conference. I'm sure that the fall from the elite of college football has cracked the foundation of the world view of the average PSU fan. Perhaps all those years as an independent, those records were inflated by average to poor schedules. Maybe we weren't the power we always thought we were.

This is of course the reason why the Michigan game is so big to Penn State fans. When they look at Michigan, they see what their program once was, the same way that I saw reflections of Michigan in Penn State when I was a kid. The fact that they haven't beaten Michigan in 11 years only serves to illuminate how far they have fallen. This is why you can get into a pretty intense war of words if bring up the topic of favoritism towards Michigan by Big Ten refs here.

Of course it doesn't help matters when your programs patriarch has been slowly disintegrating before our eyes for the last decade or so. There have been reports that he might spend the entire season in the press box, like he did at the end of the year (closer to the bathroom and all) One wonders how much of the coaching he actually does, and how much he delegates.

So what does this all mean for this year's team: 8-4 or 9-3 and another trip to Florida for New Year's Day.

Lets hear it for the internet!

Being an old fuddy-duddy (in a college town, that's anyone who remembers having to get up to change the channel), I'm not as quick to jump on all the wonderful toys available on the world wide web. As such, i've only recently discovered the amazing space-time continum bending propeties of YouTube and endless supply of clips of all shapes and sizes. So, I'd like to share some of the college football related videos I've stumbled upon recently.

Today's clips feature a couple of Michigan students who traveled to every home and away game the last two years and made short little videos about each one set to various classic (or at least old) rock tunes. Each one starts with some set-up, some pictures of them leaving home for the game, some video and pictures around campus before the game, some in-game crowd shots, and ends with the Michigan Daily headline.

We start with last year's game of the year, at Ohio State


Next, the trip to Penn State in late October


The F'in Beat Down in south Bend


Finally a shorter clip from the 2005 PSU game that features a great crowd shot after Manningham scores the winner.


The thing I like about these videos is that they capture some of the experiences of college football that aren't visible on a TV. For me, gameday is a total experience that starts the moment you leave home. Some of my most vivid memories of games when I was a kid revolve around the reaction in the crowd to the game, or of the pre-game hype and pagentry that envelopes the campus. This is especially true when you travel to an away game. Long before game time, usually when the most of the fans are still asleep, you don the battle gear and apply the war paint to begin the long trek to the game. The whole way there you are thinking about the game. By the time kickoff arrives, you have reached a feaver pitch. Usually you are significantly outnumbered, so you have to be at your loudest to be heard. Away college football games, especially against a rival, are the most intense sporting events out there.