Ten Top 10s After Week 13 in College Football
November 23, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Top 10 Teams
1) Alabama—I’ll be as shocked as anyone if they occupy this spot on Dec. 7.
2) Utah—Undefeated and the run away winner of the Holy War
3) Boise—Survived a scare but got it done.
4) Ball State—Will WMU be their undoing?
5) Oklahoma—Just a tough call.
6) Texas—Beat No. 5.
7) Florida—I’m sure their fans won’t like this too much but what am I supposed to do?
Penn State—Looks like they are the odd man out.
9) USC—I like the Defense, if they lose it will be the Offense’s fault.
10) Oregon State—These guys haven’t lost in a long time.
Top 10 Games This Past Week
1) Buffalo 40, Bowling Green 34 —Just when you thought it was over…
2) Oregon State 19, Arizona 17—The Beavers never led until the final gun sounded.
3) Ball State 31, Central Michigan 24—Everything we thought it would be and more.
4) Purdue 62,, Indiana 10—That’s the way to send out your retiring coach.
5) Syracuse 24, Notre Dame 23—What can you even say?
6) Boise 41, Nevada 34—Not really as close as the score.
7) Northern Illinois 42, Kent State 14—Not a great game but we had a hoot in the chat room.
Boston College 24, Wake Forest 21—BC showed guts even with their QB going down.
9) Cincinnati 28, Pittsburgh 21—Congrats to Brian Kelly and the Bearcats on their Big East title.
10) Washington State 16, Washington 13—Eyes glued to the TV watching the worst College Football has to offer.
Top 10 People I Am Thankful For This Year
1) My Wife—A true testament to patience and understanding.
2) The readers, people, and the community of The College Football Place—350,000 unique visitors a month and growing every day, I am truly humbled.
3) Jordan—I hope everyone gets a chance in their life to work with someone who truly gets it.
4) Baby Tate—Not only the most knowledgeable and most informed person at Bleacher Report, also just a class act.
5) Yaro Starak—While he reminds me it was my dream, he helped me realize it.
6) Zander Freund—Unyielding supporter and defender of free speech and freedom of the press; I respect the heck out of that.
7) Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden—College football is better with these guys in it.
Gideon Shalwick—Gave me the confidence to add video to my blog; this is how most people recognize me.
9) The gang I grew up with—We knew at a very young age that football was a special game.
10) The people of Chicago—The best city to live in in the world!
Ten People Who Had A Bad Week
1) Charlie Weis—Not going to be fun in South Bend.
2) Ty Willingham—Not the way you want to go out.
3) Mike Leach—His team had NO answers.
4) Anyone still long the stock market—We touched 7500 on the Dow this week.
5) People who picked against me—I went 13-5 against the spread and 7-2 against the spread on my big picks.
6) Ron Zook—Great recruiter, bad coach.
7) The Miami Hurricanes—Back and on their way back mean two totally different things.
Tim Brewster—Not going to be the Coach of the Year
9) Mark Cuban—I don’t get it, this guy is worth how much?
10) Butch Davis—See “Ron Zook” (No. 6).
Top 10 Heisman Candidates
1) Tim Tebow—Why not?
2) Sam Bradford—The Texas Tech game was like an infomercial about him.
3) Rey Maualuga—I have no problem with it going to a defensive guy.
4) Colt McCoy—The accuracy this year has been unreal.
5) Knowshon Moreno—The best Running Back in the country.
6) Graham Harrell—Will get plenty of votes.
7) Michael Crabtree—Will be splitting votes with Harrell.
Beanie Wells—May be the best player.
9) Trevor Vittatoe—An inside joke, but really he’s no joke; give him another year.
10) Nate Davis—He’s had a heck of a year.
Top 10 Thanksgiving Foods
1) Turkey—It’s all about the bird; the star of the show.
2) Stuffing—Some call it dressing, I call it my second favorite.
3) Mashed Potatoes—Hello!
4) Corn—Anyone getting hungry?
5) Sweet Potatoes—Extra starch?, count me in.
6) Rolls—Hot, crusty, beautiful rolls.
7) Green Beans—Are these just for show?
Gravy—This should be it’s own food group.
9) Cranberries—Not everyone is a fan, I am.
10) Pumpkin Pie—Last but certainly not least.
Ten Favorite Games With Nicknames
1) The Backyard Brawl—Just a great name for a game.
2) Holy War—Sounds like a battle.
3) Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate—So what exactly do they mean?
4) The Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party—The name was better than the game this year.
5) Civil War—War seems to be a good word for a named game.
6) The Game—Sounds like they mean business.
7) Bedlam—Always has been one of my favorites.
The Iron Bowl—Men of steel?
9) The Arch Rivalry—Played in St. Luis of course.
10) The Game—The Big Game was already taken.
Top 10 Trophies for Games
1) The Old Oaken Bucket—I just like saying it.
2) The Little Brown Jug—Another classic.
3) Paul Bunyan’s Axe—Looks very cool when they carry it around.
4) Chief Caddo Trophy—Just lovely at over 7 feet tall.
5) The Wagon Wheel—Anyone ever see When Harry Met Sally?
6) The Old Brass Spittoon—These guys kill each other for it, my wife wouldn’t let me bring it in the house.
7) The Iron Skillet—I saw one of these going for 35 cents at a garage sale recently.
The Beehive Boot—Who wouldn’t want to play for the Boot?
9) The Keg of Nails—Looks just like it sounds.
10) The Peace Pipe—This can get you arrested in 23 states.
Top 10 USA Today Preseason Teams From This Year
1) Georgia—The Dawgs were more bark than bite.
2) USC—May finish near this same spot.
3) Ohio State—Stumbled in the big games.
4) Oklahoma—Pretty close.
5) Florida—I wonder if the Gator fans gave these guys as hard a time as they give me.
6) LSU—Maybe No. 6 in the SEC?
7) Missouri—Never got over the hump.
West Virginia—Tough start and they were doomed.
9) Clemson—What exactly were they thinking?
10) Texas—The Longhorns were underrated for a change.
Ten Games I’m Looking Forward To This Week
1) Oklahoma State at Oklahoma—The Big 12 and another big game.
2) Florida at Florida State—Real Gator fans know this is no gimme.
3) Georgia Tech at Georgia—Should be a good game.
4) West Virginia at Pittsburgh—Panthers won as 29 point digs last year.
5) Oregon at Oregon State—These teams do not like each other.
6) Auburn at Alabama—Looks horrible on paper but you never know.
7) Notre Dame at USC—Anyone else looking forward to watching this?
Houston at Rice—Should be an offensive show.
9) Western Michigan at Ball State—Does Ball State stay perfect?
10) South Carolina at Clemson—The battle for the Palmetto State.
Visit Mitch anytime at The College Football Place.
Buckeyes make it 5 straight over TTUN
November 23, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
The Seniors have had some ups and downs this season. That said, they are now the first class to play part to beat Michigan 5 consecutive times… a feat heretofore unaccomplished. Further, they left no doubt by turning 4 unanswered touchdowns to blast Michigan en route to the 3rd biggest margin of victory for the Buckeyes in the series’ history. The 35 point difference in the 42-7 victory surpasses the 1934 result for third all-time (behind 38pts in 1935 (38-0) and 36pts in 1968 (50-14)). While Michigan State did us no favor in helping secure the Buckeyes the automatic bid from the Big Ten to the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes may be in a good position for an at-large berth in the BCS.
The game didn’t exactly play out like I had anticipated a Buckeye rout being. Indeed, Ohio State’s offense had been unable to sustain drives in the first half. Beanie kicked off the scoring with a 59 yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter on a 1 play drive. On Ohio State’s next drive, Beanie converted a 3rd and 1 and Jake Ballard caught a ball on 3rd and 4 to give the Buckeyes a new set of downs. After Ballard’s catch, and with the Buckeyes behind down and distance at 2nd and 12, Pryor found Brian Hartline deep for a 53 yard touchdown pass. Two Michigan drives later, Brandon Minor and company had thrashed through our defense on a 14 play 65 yard drive to cut the margin to a single touchdown. That’s how it stood at intermission with Michigan receiving the ball. The Wolverines, 20.5 point dogs entering the game, couldn’t feasibly ask for more going to intermission against a team that outmatched them badly at every position. Even better yet, they would be getting the ball to start the second half.
Fortunately, the second half is where the rout kicked into full gear. Though the Wolverines’ first drive of the second half moved the chains 4 times, the offense stalled and a Zoltan Mesko punt eventually pinned the Buckeyes within their own 10. The Buckeyes wasted no time in getting out of the shadow of their own end zone. A pitch left to Beanie moved the Buckeyes 42 yards to near midfield. The next play, a Boom Herron scamper, principally behind Alex Boone, put the Buckeyes in the end zone. The two big plays were shade of Beanie and Pittman in 2006. A Nathan Williams’ penalty was pivotal on Michigan’s next drive. Though the roughing the kicker penalty extended Michigan’s drive, it appears that Nathan Williams actually succeeded in roughing up the punter. Hell, if you’re going to get the penalty, it’s best to do some damage… in for a penny, in for a pound. After exchanging punts, Michigan’s next drive ended with a low, line drive punt from Mesko that was returned 80 yards by the recently reinstated Ray Small to the Michigan 8 yard line. Terrelle Pryor found Brian Robiskie in the end zone on the first play from scrimmage for a 28-7 lead. After a 4 and out and short punt, Dane Sanzenbacher’s 35 yard catch and Boom Herron’s 19 yard touchdown run eventually pushed the lead to 35-7. Michigan fumbled the kickoff return, allowing The Todd some playing time. The Todd wasted little time, finding Brian Hartline in the end zone, setting up the final margin at 42-7.
The regular season fell short of expectations, but the Buckeyes did finish out strong. The 42-7 demolition of Michigan gives the graduating redshirt seniors like Marcus Freeman and Nader Abdallah 5 gold pants over the Wolvereenies and a share of a Big Ten title, their 4th straight. It also guarantees the Buckeyes their 4th straight 10 win season. Empirically, this senior class will go down as one of the most successful in program history.
Offense
Terrelle Pryor clearly didn’t have his best game, and this was most evident in the first half. Pryor began the game with a nice 3rd down conversion, but threw a very errant pass to Stevie Brown that was almost returned for six. As it was, the Buckeye defense held and KC Lopata missed a field goal. Curiously enough, I think that very same exchange is from the game script last week for the Wolvereenies against Northwestern.
Pryor struggled with making pre-snap reads. On one 3rd down play in particular, Pryor failed to even acknowledge a defender who was lined up on the line of scrimmage pre-snap. As it unfolded, said defender — name escapes me — came from Pryor’s blindside unimpeded and sacked Pryor. 3 of Ohio State’s 8 first half drives ended in Pryor sacks by Brandon Graham, Brandon Harrison and Tim Jamison respectively. The first drive was Pryor’s interception and the last of those 8 drives was a QB sneak to take the Bucks into the intermission. 2 of the remaining drives were touchdown scores. Naturally, the number of sacks Pryor took this game — a staggering total of 8, 3 by Tim Jamison — showed up in Pryor’s rushing total for the game. He finished with -7 rushing yards total for the game.
Elsewhere, Pryor struggled with putting the right amount of air on his passes. With the way that the Buckeyes’ pass protection held up and with how open our receivers were getting against a not-so-good secondary, it was clear that Todd Boeckman would’ve thrived in this year’s Ohio State-Michigan matchup where he struggled so mightily last year. More than a few passes looked like wounded ducks; more than a few where misthrown, costing the Buckeyes a deep gain and probable touchdown. The Buckeyes have the benefit of playing in a January bowl game this year and I’m hopeful that this can get ironed out before then.
Beanie and Boom Herron played a leading role in opening things up for the Buckeyes offense this game. Indeed, with Headcase Pryor on display as opposed to Road Game Warrior Pryor, their performance was necessary. Beanie ran for 134 yards on just 15 carries, having been sidelined early in the second half for an undisclosed injury probably related to being upended on a rushing play in the first half. That said, his 134 yards was good enough to make him just the sixth Buckeye to have back-to-back 1000 yard rushing seasons in the program’s history. Further, it’s his 3rd straight Michigan game where he had a long touchdown scamper, no doubt etching his place in Buckeye lore as one of the all-time great Wolverine killers. Beanie also passed Keith Byars for 4th all-time in Buckeye rushing on the touchdown play in question. Boom may have just announced himself and his intentions to be the next great Buckeye back this game as well, shades of Beanie in 2006. Boom finished the game with two touchdowns and 80 yards on 8 carries. Should Beanie go pro after this season, the Buckeye ground game looks to be just fine. Elsewhere, the rout got so bad that the Buckeyes put in Marcus Williams, a walk-on from Ironton, OH, at the end of the game. He is, by my account, the Buckeyes’ 5th string tailback and proof positive that the Buckeye staff really did their best to empty their bench and spread around some playing time.
Pryor didn’t exactly have the greatest day passing (5/13, 120 yards, 2 TDs 1 INT), but I thought the receiver corp — to a man — played outstanding this game. Jake Ballard’s drop of what should’ve been a touchdown that was, by the grace of God, not ruled an interception is the only chink in what was otherwise a stellar performance all around. Brian Hartline led all performers with 2 catches for 71 yards. Both of his catches were touchdowns. Brian Robiskie got on the scoreboard in 10 minutes into the third quarter, finishing with 2 catches and 54 yards. Dane Sanzenbacher (2/49) had two memorable grabs, his first good for a first down and his second coming on the play that Pryor miraculously kept alive. It eventually resulted in Boom Herron’s second touchdown run. Jake Ballard had one grab, which set up a first down and, two plays later, Hartline was in the end zone. Maurice Wells rounds out the performance of the receivers, catching a screen from The Todd for no gain in garbage time.
I’d be remiss without mentioning the offensive line, but their performance was streaky. Bryant Browning didn’t help things any. Michael Brewster didn’t have a much better game than he had against Illinois. They were facing the strength of Michigan’s defense and were eaten up on some plays. Beanie’s touchdown run came from some good blocking, but even better playcalling to catch Michigan overloading on Alex Boone. Boone, to his credit, was the best player on the line today. Jim Cordle was responsible in large part for Beanie and Boom’s big gains on the Buckeyes’ first drive of the second half. Fortunately, the Buckeyes have a month and a half to smooth out whatever needs fixin’ on their unit. I don’t know who we’ll get in a bowl game (likely candidates include: Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, Georgia, among others…), but whoever it is will probably eat up our offensive line if they don’t improve over the break.
Defense
There are lots of superlative to spread around for this defense. Minus one drive, and the early stretches of the second half, the Buckeye defense absolutely dominated the Wolverines offense. Granted, the Wolverines offense isn’t very good… at all… but a domination is always nice. Michigan’s first 5 drives were 3 and outs. It didn’t get too much better as Michigan finished an absolutely obscene 1-17… let me repeat that: 1-17 on 3rd down conversions this game. Yes, that’s a 3rd down conversion rate of ~6%. Michigan finished with 198 yards of total offense, though most of it came in the second and third quarters. Michigan had only 28 first quarter yards and 17 fourth quarter yards. That’s domination, holmes. Michigan did thrive in the second and third quarters, largely because of two factors. First, Nick Sheridan, for a stretch, made the Buckeyes pay for selling out on the screen. Sheridan’s pump fakes drew the defense to the screen, opening up the deep option for some big gains. Second, Brandon Minor pounded the Buckeyes for a period, finishing with over 77 yards on 14 carries and Michigan’s lone touchdown. Curiously enough, I don’t remember Minor’s number being called after Michigan’s second drive of the second half. In lieu of the punishing Minor, Rodriguez went with freshman Michael Shaw. I was more than happy he did, but still don’t know why he did. If it was an injury to Minor, I don’t remember seeing it.
Most of my remarks will be glowing accordingly. The defensive line shined today. The trio of Heyward, Abdallah and Worthington rocked Michigan’s offensive line, creating all sorts of havoc for Nick Sheridan. The trio finished with 17 tackles and 4 TFLs. Heyward (6 tackles, 1 solo) tallied the lone sack of the group. Abdallah (5 tackles, 1 solo) had two TFLs on the game. It seems like this group — and Abdallah in particular — have really put it together in recent weeks. The coming out party seems to have been the Purdue game. Granted, this unit did wear out in the final minutes against Penn State, but they seem to be playing at a much better level than they were to begin the season. Abdallah, of course, gets to take 5 gold pants with him as he finishes his Buckeye career. Nathan Williams also almost had a safety in the 4th quarter.
James Laurinaitis had your usual ho-hum 10+ tackle day, finishing with 12 tackles (4 solo). It was just another day at the office for the former Butkus and Nagurski Award winner. He also had one sack on the day, good for a 4 yard loss. Marcus Freeman joined Laurinaitis in the party, contributing 7 assisted tackles. Further, he also registered 2.5 TFLs and had a fumble recovery on the Odoms special teams boner in the first quarter. Both Laurinaitis and Freeman were everywhere today. With only so much tackles to go around, Ross Homan was the odd man out. He only had 2 tackles on the day.
The secondary is crucial to stopping a spread offense team. Often times, they find themselves isolated, in space, and being responsible for a play from the offense going for no gain, or for 40 yards. They were up to the task today, though. Kurt Coleman led all players in the secondary (and was 2nd on the team for the day) with 10 tackles (5 solo). 1.5 of those were TFLs good for a loss of -7 yards. Malcolm Jenkins contributed 5 tackles (1 solo). His one pass break-up, pictured to the right, was a necessary one. It came on a 3rd and 7 on the Wolverines’ 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter. Jenkins was actually beat on this play (zone coverage that Mathews outran) and had to make up ground to prevent what would’ve been a big gain, a certain first down and probable touchdown. A lot of the tackles were taken up by the front 7, but a few other notables got in on the action. With Jermale Hines sidelined this game, Tyler Moeller saw plenty of action at the “star” position, viz, nickelback. He had 3 assisted tackles, with one of those being a TFL. Donald Washington and Anderson Russell both had 3 tackles. Shaun Lane had two tackles and forced a fumble on special teams. Chimdi Chekwa had 2 solo tackles. Again, kudos all around.
Miscellany
- The Buckeyes win 5 straight in this series for the first time ever. The longest consecutive win streak for either side is Michigan’s 9 consecutive victories (1901-09). I think we can pull that off.
- I’m not a fan at all of either team, anywhere, allowing its players to go to midfield and jaw and shove the opposing team. As Gabby noted, it wasn’t that ridiculous this game, but it did get a little bit nasty in Louisville. These things are tinderboxes, so why risk getting a player suspended?
- On a similar note, the chippiness this game was something I haven’t seen since 1997. Laurinaitis got into it with Michigan’s center in the second half. Malcolm Jenkins threw down a guy on Michigan’s first drive. Again: this was really, really tense.
- The margin of victory for Ohio State was third best in series’ history. There was a point in the game when The Todd was in there where I thought we could set the record.
- The pushing and shoving by one of those Michigan players (Charles Stewart) and the coaching staff was an absolutely strange sight to see. Just surreal, I don’t recall ever seeing that before.
- The attendance was 4th largest in Ohio Stadium history.
- This senior class has won 43 games and lost only 7. The 43 victories is tied for most over a 4 year stretch. A victory in the Bowl Game would make them, empirically, the best senior class in program history.
- The tone for this game was set in a place where I wouldn’t have thought to predict it: special teams. Every hit on special teams for Michigan’s hapless return team seemed to be bone-jarring. Further, Nathan Williams’ roughing the punter penalty seemed to do damage to Michigan’s best offensive player. It may have been responsible for the usually outstanding Mesko’s low, line-drive punt to Ray Small, which set up the 80 yard return.
- Bucknuts has pictures… lotsandlotsa pictures. A lot of them are from the Senior Day festivities and are worth looking at.
- William Gholston, cousin of Vernon Gholston, was apparently in attendance. I’m still trying to gather information about what other recruits were in attendance.
- It’s fun to pick on Michigan now, but I still think Rodriguez will get Michigan back to some kind of national prominence. I’ve been saying that all along, though I definitely won’t go so far as to EEEEEE BARWIS and predict offenses consecutive national championships and offenses that score 50pts a game. That said, this game showed to me how really behind the curve Michigan is. They’re further behind the curve than I could’ve imagined. They’ll get better next year — they almost have to by default — but there’s still a long way to go. As we saw today, getting the right quarterback for Michigan, and one that they’re expecting to get, is necessary. But it’s going to be hard. Michigan fans are expecting that Michigan’s lore will get them a better recruit at the position, that is: a Pat White without the noodle arm. Yet, a Pat White w/o the noodle arm might be hard to get as he might be wanting a more conventional offense so he can end up in the NFL… and might end up going to a place like Ohio State and becoming the first freshman quarterback to beat Michigan in the program’s history. I’m sure when Rodriguez finally gets that quarterback, he’ll work wonders with him. That said, it’s going to be a hard get for Michigan on the recruiting trail.
- JB Shugarts saw the field at right tackle. Andrew Sweat also saw some action at linebacker.
- The nature of the blowout allowed the seniors to go out on top with token gestures. Laurinaitis led the team in tackles, Boone was the best lineman on the day, Todd got a touchdown pass, and Robiskie had a touchdown grab. The only thing missing in terms of the symbolic-ness was a Maurice Wells touchdown.
- Yes, this is a rebuilding year for Michigan, but at least this game went a long way in telling those 1991 and 1993 games to suck it. Welcome to the 1990s, Michigan.
Fun w/ Pictures: How Firm Thy Friendship…
Michigan Wins "The Little Brown Jug" 29-6 over Minnesota
November 12, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
No matter how often you are defeated, you are born to victory. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
In a year, with only two wins and losses against your rival Michigan State and Notre Dame. The Michigan Wolverines made a step in the right direction on Saturday. The Wolverines put together it’s most complete game of the 2008 campaign. The offense lead by the second and third string QB’s moved the ball effectively all day against the Golden Gophers defense and the Michigan defense which gave up 48 points last weekend held the Gophers to 6 points in their final trip to the MetroDome where the Wolverines are 12-0.
These are the Wolverines we thought we would see from the beginning of the year; Dual QB’s – one throwing (Sheridan) and one running (Feagin) and a dominating defense. On Saturday, we finally got a taste of what the future might hold. The Michigan offense scored 29 points and piled up 435 yards, while the Michigan defense held Minnesota to just 188 total yards on offense, in Rich Rodriguez’s first road win as the Wolverines Head Coach. The score could have been much worse if Michigan turned it’s 5 field goals into touchdowns and Odoms hadn’t fumbled in the red zone.
Maybe the two most maligned Wolverines this season have been 2nd string QB, Nick Sheridan and Defensive Coordinator, Scott Shafer. Both of these gentlemen will sleep well tonight with their best efforts of the year. Nick went 18-30 for 230 yards, 1 touchdown and zero interceptions. Scott’s defense only gave up 188 yards and two fields goals.
With nothing left to play for the Wolverines secured the second oldest trophy in football and will have it for the next three years with Minnesota off the schedule for the next two seasons.
“We’re fighting for Michigan,” Terrance Taylor said. “We’re fighting for ourselves. Our backs (are) against the wall. No one expected us to come out here and win. No one expected us to do anything. They expected us to give up, just take it laying down. We’re not doing that. We’re Michigan.”
The Michigan defense finally played a complete game and shut down Minnesota with going back to it’s 4-2-5 formation. Michigan had briefly tried a 3-3-5 defense that got run out of Indiana last weekend. With simplifying the defense and getting back to the 4-2-5 the Wolverines played with clear minds and quick feet.
Michigan now goes back to Ann Arbor to get ready for Northwestern at home and maybe more importantly the last home game for the Seniors and visiting recruits. Then they finish the year on the road against Ohio State in Columbus.
This weekend was a one step forward in the new era of Michigan Football.
Michigan Continues its Dominance over Minnesota, Retains Little Brown Jug
November 8, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Today’s Michigan vs. Minnesota game featured the second oldest rivalry in college football, the Battle for the Little Brown Jug.
Since it’s inception in 1903, the “battle” has been one-sided, with Michigan dominating the series 66-22-3.
Today was no different.
The Wolverine defense, plagued all season by inconsistent play, gave up a total of 114 yards.
The offense, playing without quarterback Stephen Threet, amassed a staggering total of 435 yards.
Without the big ten’s leading receiver in Eric Decker, Minnesota’s Adam Weber finished 13-24, for 105 yards and one interception. Nick Sheridan finished a solid 18/30 for 209 yards and a touchdown for Michigan.
Michigan’s offense featured a very balance attack (209 passing yards, 238 rushing), and the rushing attack featured seven different players with a carry.
For Michigan, this win comes at a very crucial point in the season. It releases some tension from the program, especially with the coaches and the players. And the game was definitely a huge confidence builder as well, this team played four quarters of solid football.
Minnesota falls to 7-3, but still has bowl eligibility and two more games to right the ship. But for today, Hail to the Victors.