Guestblogger: Josh Rubin
So other than the “near-loss” by the Trojans today, plenty of other great upsets took place today. (For the record, a 10-point win is not a near-loss … Unless you’re used to steamrolling your opponents, anyway.) Every once in a while, it’s nice to remind Brendan that teams exist outside of LA and South Bend ;-)
Perhaps the biggest upset today (and also because of the heated rivalry between the two schools) was the surprise overtime-upset of the previously-undefeated #11 Michigan State (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) Spartans by their intrastate nemesis (unranked) Michigan (3-2, 1-1). As you’d expect, the game was very close … the final score was 34-31. Most surprising about this victory for the Wolverines was that it took place at Spartan Stadium.
And another big, important upset came when the #19 Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1 ACC) went down to unranked Maryland (3-2, 2-1) in a back-and-forth game that had my stomach flip-flopping as much as Dubbya claimed Kerry had done in ‘04. But Maryland not only won, they ended up winning handily: 45-33. (Naturally, being at this game and being a huge Maryland fan, this has to be near the top of my list. Honestly, the only reason it’s not listed first here is because the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry is bigger than the Maryland/Virginia rivalry … and the fact that Michigan State was ranked higher than Virginia was.)
The third major upset came to a ranked team actually at the hands of another ranked team: the #15 Crimson Tide (5-0, 3-0 SEC) handed #5 Florida (4-1, 2-1) their first loss under head coach Urban Meyer. And the Gators couldn’t score more than a field goal against the Roll(ing) Tide’s offense, which won 31-3.
The final major upset today came from a team that hasn’t had a win over a ranked opponent in three years: Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) crushed the #18 Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-1, 1-1) 44-14. With an undefeated record, and now proving that they can beat ranked teams, I think that this might be enough to give Penn State a ranking next week. Besides, with Michigan State, Virginia, and Minnesota all losing to unranked teams, there’s going to be room… But Penn State’s real test will be next week at home against Ohio State. Not to mention the fact that the rest of their season will be much harder than their first few weeks have been. In the rest of the season, they have to face #22 Purdue, #17 Wisconsin, and #11 Michigan State, not to mention Michigan, a solid team in its own right, and Illinois.
And as I’ve been writing this, the #23 Iowa State Cyclones (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) fell to the unranked ‘Huskers of Nebraska, 27-20 in double-overtime.
So there, Brendan, I’ve helped to round out the football coverage on your site for today!
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Categories: Uncategorized
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October 1st, 2005 at 9:06:17 pm
Hey Brendan covers the Huskies too, of course thats mostly to express his condolences to me :)
October 1st, 2005 at 9:18:40 pm
a 10-point win is not a near-loss
Umm, Josh, did you watch the game? USC trailed for almost the entire game; they scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:44 left, to go up by 3; and then, after an interception with 3:38 left, they scored another touchdown with 2:22 left to go up by 10 and seal the game. ASU then drove to the USC 9 with 1:00 left; they would have needed a TD and then an onside kick recovery, but instead they were intercepted in the end zone. The point is, it absolutely was a near-loss. With 4 minutes left, the Trojans were trailing, and the game was not absolutely decided until 1:00 left.
It should also be noted that I did talk about the Michigan-MSU game earlier in the day (as well as Baylor’s near-upset of Texas A&M). I appreciate the update, though… I had been meaning to post something about the Penn State and Alabama wins. Thanks!
October 2nd, 2005 at 12:19:58 am
I, having no horse in this race (WE ARE!! PENN STATE!! Thanks for covering that, by the way. Can we be ranked yet?), must agree with Brendan. That WAS a near loss, because USC was behind/only up by a touchdown for most of the game. ASU had them on the ropes until, as Brendan said, the very end. A few quick scores didn’t change that. I thought of Brendan while watching that.
It seems, though that the O line of USC specializes in making truck sized holes for Reggie Bush. I mean, really, they deserve the Heisman as much as Bush would.
Hmmm . . . would that be possible?
October 2nd, 2005 at 4:10:19 am
I don’t think it was a near-loss. I knew early in the game that if Sarkiffin would just go to the run and give the ball to LenDale, we’d be fine. Of course, Sarkiffin and Leinart are enamored with the home run, and ASU shut that down superbly this week–much better than did Oregon last week. I had the same frustration with Norm Chow last year, but at least Chow would go to what worked and stick with it much earlier. Sarkiffin, in contrast, seem too full of themselves to bother with the pounding running game until it is nearly too late. If they don’t wise up, we’re going to gather a couple losses in the next few years because of that.
October 2nd, 2005 at 8:32:59 am
I’ll be perfectly honest, I didn’t see the USC game (I was at the Maryland/Virginia game). I guess we can agree that it was a “come-from-behind-victory,” but I still don’t call a 10-point win that was cemented before the last few minutes of the game, a “near-loss.” A two-point lead where the opposing team shanks a last-minute field goal is a “near loss.” But I can understand your pro-USC prejudice :-)