My Favorite Things: Purdue

After having a few days to put the Purdue game in the review mirror, I finally feel like I am ready to look back at it.  There isn't much you can take from a game like that.  The conditions were awful, Purdue has one of the most depleted and ineffective offenses in the country, and Michigan shifted into vanilla play calling once it became clear that the only way the Wolverines would lose would be if Michigan beat itself.

Plays like this certainly weren't setting the world on fire for the Boilermakers:

Fumbles.  Story of the day.

However, there were some solid performances delivered on both sides of the ball.  Lets take a quick look back at my favorite things so we can put this game behind us and move on to (hopefully) greener pastures in the form of two upset bids.

A New Look

Over the past couple weeks I grew tired of the old layout of the blog.  It wasn't easy to see all the side bars, and the general look was too sloppy for my taste.

Say goodbye to the old look

...and say hello to a newer and hopefully easier layout to the site.  If there are any problems, or you feel this new look is ugly, by all means let me know so I can take care of things.  There may be a few tweaks here and there in the coming weeks, but I expect to stay true to this general theme.

More posts should start flowing in, but be sure to check Maize n' Brew regularly, as I am posting there three times a week.

Big Ten Power Poll

Jesus, it's been a while, hasn't it.  For the five people who stop by here on a regular basis, I did not forget this blog existed.  I was just um, busy, you know?

Anyway, that isn't an excuse for my absence.  No more ignoring the old site, and hopefully I will find time to get a couple posts up a week.  Also I am toying around with a new design for the site, but when the decision comes down to writing or screwing around on Photoshop I will usually go with writing.  Usually.

Hopefully the new layout happens this week, but don't hold your breath.

On to the Big Ten power poll:

New Posts

Things have been slow around here lately.  First the bye week, then a week of utter despair after the Penn State loss have really given me little to nothing to write about.  Look for new content next week after the Illinois game (You know, barring an epic collapse like last year or blowout loss.  In that case I will probably just crawl in a hole and die a little until next August.)

Stay tuned.

Football as Art

I have seen the light.

It is the spread and shred offense, and is shines brightly from Eugene Oregon casting it's divine beauty across the college football world.

It is the middle of the fourth quarter, and Chip Kelly's squad is winding down the latest clubbing, this time of UCLA.  Now this isn't a huge accomplishment (unless you're Texas.  ZING.) because UCLA really isn't a good team.  They have little to no pass offense   118th in the nation at 95 yards per game   and rely on runs out of the pistol formation for the majority of their offense.  Hell, even their defense is decidedly worse than average.

Yet, the beauty of the Oregon attack is independent of the opponent because Oregon's offense operates at such a high level that the other eleven players on the field hardly matter.  They move up and down the field like ghosts.  Never a play for loss, never a bad read, and rarely a dropped pass.  They simply execute on a level that seems almost above what humanity is capable of.  Their current drive chart features eleven drives that read like this:  TD, TD, TD, TD, FG, TD, turnover on downs, TD, TD, punt, TD.

We Surf the Inter-webs, So You Don't Have To

Who wants some links?  Sweet, sweet manna of blogfrica.  I'm bored, so I figured I would throw out some links to things you should read to pass time in this, the worst week of the season: the dreaded bye week.  Enjoy.

First, if you aren't reading EDSBS on a daily basis, you are missing out.  This week I would recommend two things.  First, Gentle New-Testament God and Crazy Old-Testament God discuss the fates of the remaining unbeatens.  Orson is his best when impersonating vindictive deities.  Also, check in for Howard Schnellenberger's semi-regular Top 25.  Big surprise this week as suspenders fall from the top spot.

Dr. Saturday examines Les Miles plan for stopping Cam Newton this week.  It's Les Miles, so it is just crazy enough to work.

BHGP sums up last weeks Iowa/Michigan game in twelve pictures.  Quick, to the point, and as much as it pains me to say it extremely accurate.

Now that the Tim Brewster Error (amirite?) is over, it is time to endlessly speculate who will replace him.  No, Tony Dungy isn't interested, but Mike Leach might be!  No word yet on whether he will have to supply his own windowless shed for "concussion therepy" or if the University will supply a janitorial closet.

SBN provides its normal one two punch of greatness with The Alphabetical and an absolutely exceptional edition of This Week In Schadenfreude.

In news from mgoblog, Brian is starting halfway evaluations starting with....the secondary.  Who's excited?  I don't want to spoil too much, but it's bad.  Also Brian looks at games from the next three opponents in The Road Ahead.  Three winnable games, but I won't be comfortable with any of them until they are over.  What can I say, the last two years have jaded me.

Lastly, if you haven't been over to Maize n' Brew this week, I have a piece up on Denard Robinson's struggles the last two weeks.

I leave you with something unrelated to college football, but dripping with awesomeness:



"Oh shit, Darren Sharper" indeed.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

(I should have a column on Denard Robinson up at Maize n Brew tomorrow, but for now, here are my postgame thoughts.  Enjoy.)

Best backup QB in the country?

I couldn't quite put my finger on what was different about yesterday afternoon.  In the hours leading up to the game I watched Illinois drop opportunity after opportunity in their upset bid against MSU (who is week in and week out executing and not breaking down mentally.  It's a brave new world for Sparty it seems), and I threw on an episode of Breaking Bad at halftime.  As the FSU vs. BC game finished and the coverage shifted to Ann Arbor I settled into my seat with a beer at my side and the computer tuned to scores across the nation.

The strange thing was, I wasn't nervous.  The last six games have all began with me nervously pacing around the apartment and yelling at the TV until I settled in somewhere near the end of the 1st quarter.  I sent a text message to my old roommate asking why I was so calm.  His response was simple, "I'm calm too.  I think it's because the pressure is off."  The pressure wasn't really off, but the difference from the previous weeks was palpable.  UConn and Notre Dame would set the course for the season and UMass and Bowling Green were opportunities for a gigantic regression that was worrisome until the game was in hand (making UMass one of the most nerve wracking wins since Ball State in 2006).  Indiana posed a huge threat to our defense, and the prospect of losing to Michigan State a third year in a row was maddening.