|
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 199 responses total. |
gelinas
|
|
response 42 of 199:
| 
Sep 30 04:49 UTC 2001 |
A year ago, it seemed a simple thing for Joe Paterno to beat Bear Bryant's
record of games won. Now, it begins to look impossible.
|
ea
|
|
response 43 of 199:
|
Sep 30 06:37 UTC 2001 |
Syracuse beat East Carolina 44-30 today. While I'm happy that they won,
they looked really sloppy doing it, almost as if I was watching HS
football. (For those of you who may have happened to see something
about this on ESPN or some other TV, the Back Judge is (as of 6pm) in
University Hospital, breathing with a machine in intensive care, but is
listed as stable)
|
jep
|
|
response 44 of 199:
|
Sep 30 14:53 UTC 2001 |
The USA Today/ESPN poll is out. Ranked Big Ten teams:
#15 Michigan
#16 Northwestern
#18 Purdue (tied with Brigham Young)
Honorable Mention Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois,
Wisconsin
I don't recall *ever* seeing just 3 ranked teams from the Big
Ten.
The honorable mention teams are #26, #27, #29, #30 and #34 in
the poll.
|
lynne
|
|
response 45 of 199:
|
Sep 30 19:51 UTC 2001 |
re #44: Yikes. Of the 3 ranked Big 10 teams, 2 are Northwestern and Purdue.
NU has a way of pulling out last-second victory in the face of certain defeat.
Just ask last year's Minnesota or Michigan teams...but at the same time, it
was excruciating to watch them kick off after the penultimate touchdown
yesterday, praying that they wouldn't screw up the return coverage and then
seeing them screw it up. At least you only have to go through the heart-in-
mouth action once a year. As an NU alum, it's more like once a week.
|
lk
|
|
response 46 of 199:
|
Sep 30 21:25 UTC 2001 |
I came back from the UM game and, knowing the final score, watched the
4th quarter of the NWU/MSU game. With the score 17-14, and knowing that
there were 22 more points to be scored, we kept waiting. 10 minutes left.
5 minutes and finally a TD. Then my friend says: Oh, it must have gone
into OT and MSU missed the PAT. Sounded more reasonable than the reality
that followed....
I haven't seen the game stats yet, but the UM scoreboard was incorrect,
having marked the double-lateral as passing yardage.
In honor of Bob Ufer, I'm simply going to start referring to Marquise
Walker as Superman. Never mind his various catches and jukes, but he
had a pretty good (non-) pass [lateral] and that stiff arm that enabled
him to get a first down was impressive, too. (I channeled Ufer after
that play and heard him say "superman".)
|
senna
|
|
response 47 of 199:
|
Oct 1 02:03 UTC 2001 |
Michigan's defense was... good. Not great. They (or rather, Todd Howard)
stil had trouble with the occasional coverage, and there was a lucky break
or two. Still, there were a lot of good plays. I think Illinois mailed it
in in the second half, though.
It was terrific to see us score from all ends of the field, particularly over
a good team. We haven't played that well in quite a while. This is how good
teams play--they score and score again and generally leave little question
who the winner is by the end. We did a nice imitation of a good team on
saturday. Maybe we are a good team, we'll see. My dad and I certainly were
enthused in our evening conversation.
Quite a day for college football, finally. Of course, this would have been
the weekend that I was away from proper television coverage--big stuff in the
NFL, too. The biggest game was Oklahoma vs. Kansas State, and it lived up
to billing. K-State must be just sick right now. The Northwestern-MSU game
was not airing in the sports bar I ate lunch in, but I moved to another place
across the street with a substantial bank of televisions (and a good eye for
which games were the most interesting) and caught the end. Unbelievable.
Unbelievable. I've never seen a game end like that. Northwestern has the most
incredible luck, and it goes back farther than last season--but since last
season, it's been astonishing. It's too bad they don't have any good teams
left to play, or they'd make a run for the national title. Michigan State
fans, I feel your pain. I still managed to have a good day, though. :)
I'm disappointed that I didn't get a chance to see more of Clemson-Georgia
Tech, but I was finding my seat in Neyland Stadium by the time it ended. The
Tennessee-LSU matchup was okay as football games go, nothing spectacular.
Tennessee needs a lot of work if they want to do anything nationally this
season. Of Casey Clausen's 313 yards, 256 went to woefully undercovered Kelly
Washington. He never threw it over the middle of the field, not even once.
LSU faught gamely, and they could make some noise this year, but they were
never going to beat Tennessee on the road.
|
lynne
|
|
response 48 of 199:
|
Oct 1 13:19 UTC 2001 |
mmm. I'm skeptical of NU's chances of a run at the national title, even if
they...well, especially if they were playing more heavyweight teams. They
*are* very flashy team, but it's very possible to outclass them. It's
interesting to be a fan of both NU and UM, because NU tends to be so flaky
and flashy, and UM is just...solid. Always.
|
senna
|
|
response 49 of 199:
|
Oct 2 01:07 UTC 2001 |
Not totally solid, but generally more consistent. Remember, last year the
defense was consistently bad. :)
|
lynne
|
|
response 50 of 199:
|
Oct 2 16:54 UTC 2001 |
Yes, but it still wasn't as bad as Northwestern's. And the memory that
sticks is having to watch NU get totally blown away in their bowl game, while
UM's won what, the last five in a row?
How is the OSU team this year, anyone know?
|
senna
|
|
response 51 of 199:
|
Oct 2 17:13 UTC 2001 |
They have some talent and they'll play in a bowl game, but it probably won't
be a big one. OSU might have the best defense in the conference, but with
Steve Belisorry getting worse every season that will only be enough to steal
a game or two they shouldn't win and little else. Sure, they beat Indiana,
but that Indiana team was pancaked by NC State at the beginning of the
season--they are Penn State's best hope for a win this year.
Ohio State would really like to beat Michigan this year (and every year, but
now especially with Cooper gone) but they'll probably have to wait until next
season unless things change. Next year, they might have a quarterback.
|
lk
|
|
response 52 of 199:
|
Oct 3 02:28 UTC 2001 |
Yeah, but that's too little too late. Next year our defense will be even
better than their offense, with or without a QB. (:
|
senna
|
|
response 53 of 199:
|
Oct 3 03:20 UTC 2001 |
Our offense looks to improve, too. Do you realize that even if Askew leaves,
Perry and Underwood stay? Bellamy and Bell will be a good combination at
receiver, and Navarre is not a hot enough prospect to go. We've got things
to be excited about.
|
lynne
|
|
response 54 of 199:
|
Oct 3 03:54 UTC 2001 |
What year is Walker? And do we have a good kicker/punter coming up behind
Epstein?
|
gelinas
|
|
response 55 of 199:
|
Oct 6 21:44 UTC 2001 |
So far, Michigan is looking pretty good today.
|
jep
|
|
response 56 of 199:
|
Oct 7 03:33 UTC 2001 |
They did, yes; they won 20-0.
|
gelinas
|
|
response 57 of 199:
|
Oct 7 03:35 UTC 2001 |
Not as many missed tackles today. In fact, I was rather pleased by the number
of times the first guy to the ball took down the carrier.
|
senna
|
|
response 58 of 199:
|
Oct 7 06:14 UTC 2001 |
It's not hard to look good against Penn State this year. Our offense,
frankly, blew too many opportunities for my taste--but we were on the road
in a game the opponents badly wanted to win and we pulled it out. The W is
there. Bring on Purdue.
The rest of college football looked interesting. Oklahoma deflated the Texas
hype machine yet again (I can't wait to see all the columnists and analysts
choke on their words from last week, most of which were obsessing over the
marvelous talent of the Texas offense.... again. This happened last year,
too.) 14-3 this time around. Whopper of a game, eh? It was for Oklahoma.
They never get the attention of other teams, but they *always* put up. In
the past 8 games, no team has faced a tougher obstacle course. Florida State
was supposed to walk all over them, remember? I love watchign these guys.
You always think the other team has more talent and flash, and the other team
winds up sticking to the bottom of Oklahoma's cleats.
The big game in the Big Ten was, of course, Northwestern's trip to Ohio State.
It was a big test for Northwestern, on the road, at night, against a Buckeye
team with good reason to be motivated. Northwestern failed miserably-they
are a very good team at home, but put them on the road and watch them melt.
This is good news for Michigan, which doesnt' play Northwestern and now
controls its own destiny, and Michigan State, which lost to Northwestern but
now has a better chance of finishing with less conference losses.
|
gelinas
|
|
response 59 of 199:
|
Oct 7 12:15 UTC 2001 |
Thanks for reminding me of Penn's goal-line stand, Steve. And I was feeling
pretty good about Michigan not running up the score. :/
I'm still looking forward to the Oklahoma-Nebraska game.
|
lynne
|
|
response 60 of 199:
|
Oct 7 19:35 UTC 2001 |
Man, that Northwestern-Ohio State game was DEPRESSING. Especially since
their quarterback was SO bad...and they still won by way too much.
My Purdue alum friends have strict instructions that they are to kick OSU's
ass. I know my Wolverines won't let me down, but I want to see Bellisari
cry. And I want it to happen before Nov 26.
|
senna
|
|
response 61 of 199:
|
Oct 7 21:53 UTC 2001 |
Joe: We aim to please. :) Florida has taken over the #1 ranking in the AP
poll.
|
gelinas
|
|
response 62 of 199:
|
Oct 8 03:37 UTC 2001 |
My son says he wants to see the Wolverines play in Pasadena. He'll reset the
clocks, if necessary, to convince me it's still New Year's Day.
|
lk
|
|
response 63 of 199:
|
Oct 8 13:45 UTC 2001 |
Hey, consider that what M has going for it is that it's loss was early
in the season, to a good team, and in a very close game. We could leapfrog
teams that lose late in the season.
As for the trivia question I asked a week or two ago, the other former
Michigan QB who was drafted in 1996 was Jay Riemersma (he was drafted as
a TE, but had previously seen action at QB.)
|
senna
|
|
response 64 of 199:
|
Oct 8 17:08 UTC 2001 |
Son of a gun, I forgot all about that.
Michigan can leapfrog teams, but not enough of them. There is a chance
(albeit, as always, slim) that three or more undefeated teams could emerge
this season. The Nebraska Oklahoma winner, Miami, and Florida all look to
have cakewalks to Pasadena, with obstacles that aren't too stiff. Florida's
biggest test will be Tennessee, in Florida, and that should be a blowout.
Miami and Florida both have FSU on the schedule, but FSU doesn't look like
a team that could play with either of them at the moment. At best, they'll
knock off one, but don't cross your fingers. Miami's only other game of any
significance is VaTech. Great. If VaTech upsets them, *they'll* be
undefeated.
And the Big 12 still looks solid to produce an undefeated team. UM not only
has to hope that losses mount, but that the right ones build up. Texas just
took a loss and is still ranked ahead of Michigan.
|
lk
|
|
response 65 of 199:
|
Oct 8 19:35 UTC 2001 |
Well, in that case (and if on many given Saturdays some major upsets don't
happen), I propose that all games prior to 9/11 not be counted in the
rankings this year.
Dammit, this is the 100th anniversary of the first Rose Bowl. Even if
only on the merits of the 1901 team, we deserve to go this year!
[Good thing I can be objective about this. (: ]
|
ea
|
|
response 66 of 199:
|
Oct 9 00:06 UTC 2001 |
Well, we can always hope that Syracuse knocks off both VaTech and Miami.
(realistically, this is not going to happen. Maybe 1 or the other
(that's pushing it) but not both)
|
