It’s 28-0 Notre Dame at halftime. Woohoo! This is awesome… but on the other hand, if this blowout score holds, it should give my fellow Domers just enough extra confidence heading into the Oct. 15 game against USC (Notre Dame has a bye next week) to make my life thoroughly miserable for the next two weeks… :)

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!

I haven’t yet finished breathing multiple sighs of relief over USC’s win over ASU, but already there is more excitement to be had, as Notre Dame and Purdue are well underway; indeed, the first quarter is almost over. The Irish lead, 7-0.

UPDATE: 21-0 Irish!

USC 38, ASU 28, final.

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!

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A new school and Pac-10 record: 26 straight wins for USC.

If there is any justice in the world — or, to be more specific, any sanity in the polls (ha!) — ASU will rise in the rankings because they played USC so close, not fall because they lost. There is no shame in losing 38-28 to the #1 team in the country and consensus national-championship favorite in a game that wasn’t decided until the final three minutes. Hell, that might be the closest anyone comes to beating the Trojans this season!

Nice job, Sun Devils. And, way to go, Trojans!

P.S. Whew is right.

Arizona State 21, USC 17, 14:46 left in the game.

“Both defenses have played well today, I think,” says Keith Jackson. Indeed. Pretty much everyone (including me) assumed the only way to beat USC was an offensive shootout, e.g. 50-45. But it’s the fourth quarter, and this is not just a nailbiter, but a relatively low-scoring nailbiter. Kudos to ASU’s defense. (And to USC’s, in the third quarter.)

Now… LET’S GO, TROJANS!!!!

UPDATE: TOUCHDOWN!!! USC 24, ASU 21! The Trojans have scored 21 unanswered points, and now have their first lead of the day. 8:46 to go. Eeee!

UPDATE 2: And now Arizona State did what Oregon couldn’t do last week: answer. It’s 28-24 ASU with 5:57 to go.

UPDATE 3: TOUCHDOWN REGGIE BUSH!!! But that was almost too quick. The Trojans lead 31-28, but with 3:44 still to play. Plenty of time for a game-winning ASU touchdown drive. Now it’s up to the defense. DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!

In other news, I’m thinking Bush is moving ahead of Leinart in the Heisman race today.

UPDATE 4: Okay, so Becky had just said, “we need an interception,” when literally two seconds later, USC intercepted it. So this is all thanks to Becky. :) WOOHOO! YEEEAAAH TROJANS! Now we’ve got the ball on our 44 with a three-point lead and 3:32 to go.

UPDATE 5: TOUCHDOWN TROJANS!!!!!!!!!!!!

USC 38, ASU 28!!!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!

Fellow NDLS 2L (and Double Domer) Gordon Strickland is featured on ESPN.com, his letter quoted by Ivan Maisel.

I’m not sure I entirely agree with Gordon’s point; ND students sticking around after the game to watch the band and sing the alma mater, even after losing, is something I was impressed with last year, too. But perhaps it was more widespread this time around. I didn’t notice. Either way, that is definitely something I like about ND student fans.

Well, that was interesting. Matt Leinart is looking like crap — 10 for 23 passing — and with six false-start penalties in the first half, it feels like the Paul Hackett era again. Argh. It’s ASU 21, USC 3 at halftime.

Okay, enough of that… it’s time for that famous Pete Carroll Second Half Magic^TM to take over. Let’s go, Trojans!

UPDATE: Touchdown USC! Woohoo! 21-10.

But — seriously — that “excessive celebration” penalty for diving into the end zone is THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF. Was he supposed to get out a tape measure and figure out exactly how many feet he had to spare, and determine that because the ASU defenders were five feet behind him instead of four feet, it was therefore “unnecessary” to dive?!? BULLS**T. That’s like calling a “late hit” when the tackler’s momentum was already unstoppable before it became clear that the hit was unnecessary. I can’t believe we lose 15 yards on the kickoff for such an absolutely ridiculous penalty.

UPDATE 2: USC fumble… ASU interception… and then, like three plays later, it’s 21-17. WOOHOO! I love Bush!! ;)

This is interesting. (Hat tip: Glenn.)

USC and Arizona State are underway. No score yet. Matt Leinart just took a hard (and late) hit, and Booty is in the game now, but it looks like Leinart wasn’t hurt too bad and will probably be back in soon.

UPDATE: Apparently Leinart is “very f***ing mad” and can’t wait to get back into the game.

UPDATE 2: Leinart’s back.

UPDATE 3: ASU touchdown on a punt return. Well, sh*t. 7-0.

MEANWHILE… Indians lose. So the Red Sox clinch at least a tie for the wild card. But Boston trails New York 8-4 in the 9th. Barring a Sox comeback, the Yankees are three outs away from clinching the AL East… and the Red Sox would simply need to win tomorrow, or have the Indians lose tomorrow, to get the wild card… otherwise, there would be a one-game playoff between Boston and Cleveland on Monday at Fenway Park.

DAMMIT: Yankees win. New York is the AL East champion for the eighth straight year. Boston’s magic number for the wild card is 1.

BACK TO FOOTBALL: End of the first quarter, Trojans still trail 7-0. Eh, this happened last week, too. Whatever. [knock on wood]

In other news, Baylor lost in OT to Texas A&M. Sorry, Chris!

UPDATE: Now 14-3 ASU. Bah.

ANOTHER UPDATE: And now 21-3. I’m actually starting to get slightly worried. 3:19 left in the half, USC ball. Hopefully the Trojans can score a TD before halftime.

This is the furthest they’ve been behind at any point during their 25-game winning streak.

Wow… there’s nothing like watching a 6-foot-2, 320-pound Samoan picking up a fumble and rumbling down the field 75 yards for a touchdown. Go Spartans! Beat the Wolverines!

Elsewhere, Baylor is beating Texas A&M — at College Station! — in the fourth quarter. Go Bears!

Oh… and the Yankees are winning. :(

P.S. And the Indians are losing. If both of those scores hold, the Yankees clinch the AL East, and the Red Sox clinch at least a tie for the wild card. At worst, there would be a Sox-Indians playoff for the wild card; and either a Boston win or an Indians loss tomorrow would give the Sox the wild card outright. But that sucks — I want to win the division!! Harumph.

UPDATE: Dammit. Michigan wins.

I forgot to post these yesterday:

Adorable! Oh, and the cat is cute, too. :)

P.S. And here’s a picture of my friend (and fellow NHS ‘99 grad, and current American University 2L) Liz Janelle’s kitten, Hemingway:

More Hemingway pics here and here… and here, alas, is evidence that he (like Liz) is a Yankees fan. Ah well, nobody’s perfect. :)

The Newington football team snapped a three-game losing streak — dating back to last year’s state semifinals — with a resounding 54-0 win in their home opener against Fermi-Enfield on Friday. Way to go, Indians!

(I never got around to posting about last week’s 46-0 loss at Conard, which followed the season-opening heartbreaker at East Hartford.)

So now the Indians — who went 9-2 last year after going 13-89-2 in the preceding decade, including 3-38-1 when I was in high school — are 1-2 so far this year.

Okay, I have a question. I know, obviously, that if either the Red Sox or the Yankees sweep the next two games at Fenway, they win the division. I also know that, if the Red Sox and Yankees split, and the Indians win their next two games, there would be a three-way tie among Boston, Cleveland, and New York, resulting in a two one-game playoffs: Red Sox vs. Yankees for the AL East crown on Monday, then the loser of that game vs. the Indians for the wild card on Tuesday. But what happens if the Red Sox and Yankees split and the Indians lose at least one more game? That would knock Cleveland (68 or 69 losses) out of the picture, and it would simply be the Red Sox and Yankees (67 losses each) tied, with both guaranteed a postseason spot — one as the division champ, the other as the wild card. Would they still have a one-game playoff in that case, or would some stupid tiebreaker be used? If it’s the latter, then a double-playoff scenario is now the only possible way that an AL East playoff can happen.

I ask because, nevermind making the postseason, I want to beat the damn Yankees in the division race. They’ve been kicking us around in the AL East for far too long. GO SAWX!!

For various reasons, I was feeling notably stressed and tense after work this afternoon, so instead of going straight home as I normally would, I went to the Grotto in hopes of finding some serenity — and also to light a candle for Sarah, which I’ve been meaning to do since I learned of her death nearly two weeks ago. I wasn’t the only one lighting a candle for someone; there were a lot of lit candles:

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