NCAA Tailgate Cleanup: Week Nine
Published October 30, 2006
Big Ten
This was quite the ho hum weekend in the Big Ten, featuring uninspired performances throughout.
Perhaps the most exciting game was #17 Wisconsin's 30-24 comeback victory over Illinois. Playing at home, the Badgers came all the way back after trailing 21-3. With their beloved Badgers facing an 1-point deficit and star red-shirt freshman running back, P.J. Hill Jr., sidelined with an injury, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a stadium quieter than Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin had to rely on quarterback John Stocco’s arm (217 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT) and receivers Travis Beckum (5 receptions for 76 yards) and Luke Swan (4 receptions for 85 yards and a TD) to complete the comeback victory. Hill only participated in three plays after re-aggravating a nerve in his neck. His status for next week is unknown at this time.
Both #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan played down to their opponents’ levels, at least in the early going. Both teams have their vaunted defenses to thank for the victories. OSU’s defense shut out Minnesota’s offense (44-0) forcing three interceptions, and Michigan’s defense limited Northwestern to a field goal (17-3), forcing three fumbles and three interceptions. OSU’s offense was especially sluggish in the early going, turning the ball over early on fumbles by freshman tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells and Heisman hopeful quarterback Troy Smith. In trepid playing conditions in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s offense continues to struggle without wide receiver Mario Manningham. Quarterback Chad Henne was held to 116 yards passing (second fewest yards this year), and tailback Mike Hart was held under 100 yards for only the second time this season. Michigan’s junior wide receiver Adrian Arrington was benched for an assault charge against his girlfriend, but was in by the sixth offensive play of the game, catching a 14-yard pass by Henne.
After coming back from 35 points to beat Northwestern on the road last Saturday, Michigan State laid an egg against the Indiana Hoosiers, losing 46-21. IU may have the next great Big Ten quarterback in freshman quarterback Kellen Lewis. Lewis passed for five TDs (four to receiver James Hardy) and ran for another. Tailback Marcus Thigpen crossed the century mark on the ground in addition to two receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. IU only needs one victory in their final three games to become bowl eligible. MSU needs two.
Iowa’s backup quarterback, red-shirt freshman Jake Christensen, filled in admirably for senior starter Drew Tate (thumb), leading the Hawkeyes to a 24-14 victory over Northern Illinois. Christensen completed 63% of his passes for 253 yards with two TDs and an INT. Albert Young, Iowa’s banged up tailback, appears to be back in form, rushing for a season-high 123 yards and a TD.
Matt Sussman is the former sports editor of BC Magazine and also writes for Deadspin, SPORTSbyBROOKS, The Futon Report, and the Toledo Free Press. Catch him with Tuffy on Treehouse Fort, the official show of BC Sports. Feed the feedback back to matt.sussman@blogcritics.org.
- NCAA Tailgate Cleanup: Week Nine
- Published: October 30, 2006
- Type: News
- Section: Sports
- Filed Under: Sports: College, Sports: Football (American)
- Part of a feature: BC Tailgate
- Writer: Matthew T. Sussman
- Matthew T. Sussman's BC Writer page
- Matthew T. Sussman's personal site
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Reader James Rishel alerted me of my screw up on the PSU/PU recap. I don't know what I was doing when I wrote that game up. I even watched the game; well, I flipped back and forth between the five 12:00 Big Ten games. Honestly, that game was the most boring of the five, so I spent the least amount of time with it. I was trying to finish my column before going to the Browns game and that's where my egregious error came to play.
Here's what happened in real life, not in my head:
PSU won with two field goals and a touchdown by Tony Hunt with a missed two point conversion.
Aw, you and your "facts" when it comes to my impeccable analogies.
Each week, there's at least one conference game that is absolutely unbearable to watch. I think I tricked myself into thinking it was worse than what it really was. Four field goals is far more boring than a touchdown, missed PAT, and two field goals.
Least informative blog on sports I've ever seen.
You guys don't know anything about football.
Why keep trying??? Go back to flipping burgers.
Hey Adam (Pac-10 writer),
There's this thing...it's called the Internet...you might want to consider using it for research before you post false information.
In the case of a tie, the Pac-10's Rose Bowl representative is determined by the winner of the head-to-head match-up. Period. That's it. If there's a three-way (or more) tie and each team has equal records against the others, they go to a comparison system vs. the other teams in the conference.
Only as a last resort is the "who hasn't been in the Rose Bowl the longest" rule applied. And that will never happen, especially now with the 9-game schedule in place.
Check it out for yourself at pac-10.org
Sorry about the tiebreaker error. I stand corrected.
Adam,
Don't apologize to that Pac-10, Bruin Lovin' fan. He likes the Pac-10. Does it really matter what the tie-breaker of the worst conference in all of collegiate sports is? They could flip a coin or throw darts at all of the teams and the nation would even bat an eye.
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When did Krispy Kreme start serving turnovers?