Saturday Postgame: Week 8

This is becoming a stranger season by the week. No team could be labeled as dominant, yet I get the sense that at least one team will end up undefeated by the end of the year. In recent years when one or two teams emerge as clear dominant powers, the media begins to tout them as unstoppable and uses terms like "collision course" or "walk into the title game" to describe their future destiny. It's as if gravity would reverse before they'd lose. I think this hype gets to the players on those teams, and they begin to believe it, resulting in a subconscious overconfidence that catches up with them when they don't have their best stuff against a quality opponent. Even if the media talk doesn't get to them, their own success causes that subconscious cockiness to set in. When you blow out teams by 40 week after week, you're apt to let your guard down. It doesn't take long to remember examples. Oklahoma in 2003 was considered a pro team in college uniforms; they lost 35-7 to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game. USC has long been considered untouchable, yet they lose to Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, or some other unranked Pac Ten foe year after year.

The reason I think someone will make it through unscathed this year is simply because no teams have run completely roughshod over their competition week after week, and the media hasn't latched on to any team, lavishing superlative after superlative upon them. Every major contender and every undefeated team has had their share of trouble - at least 2 games apiece where they've had to dig deep and find a way to win. While blowouts breed complacency, close wins breed focus. Instead of a subconscious overconfidence, contenders develop a keen awareness that they could easily lose any game they play. And they tend to survive those scares instead of panic and find ways to lose. Alabama, Florida, and Iowa are probably the most mentally tough teams this season; any of them would be good bets to finish the season unbeaten. They know how to win late.

Other observations from another quality week:

From sea to shining sea, Penn State fans are reveling in the second straight thrashing of Michigan, authoritatively ending the sentiment that the Wolverines "own" Penn State. A 35-10 mauling in the Big House (and it wasn't really even that close) will do that.

The Nittany Lion defense is beginning to assert itself as one of the top 5 in the nation again. A week after holding Minnesota to 130 yards, they stifled Michigan, allowing just 180 yards after Michigan's first drive. Michigan helped out by losing their heads at times, snapping one through the end zone, using poor time management, taking dumb penalties. One has to think that the 11 men standing on the other side of the ball, weakening knees and causing hair to stand on end, had much to do with that.

Darryl Clark has hit his stride this season, with a 4 TD game this week. If the senior hadn't performed so poorly against Iowa, Heisman talk would start coming his direction.

On the bright side for Michigan, punter Zoltan Mesko is quite impressive. And he's the first ever Division-I football player from Alderaan. Before enrolling at Michigan, Zoltan had designs on being a starfighter pilot. But the Wolverine recruiting coordinator spotted him, and the rest is history. Give Michigan credit for combing faraway galaxies to find a decent punter.

Most underrated play-by-play guy: Mike Patrick. His voice carries drama and he's not afraid to speak his mind when refs miss a call. No sugarcoating here. Too bad ABC has him paired with Craig James, who just rubs me the wrong way.

Iowa, as mentioned above, showed serious mental toughness and moxie in their last second win in East Lansing. The Hawkeye offense had done almost nothing for 3 quarters, but came through when it had to. Last year Iowa lost 4 games by a total of 9 points; that experience has paid off big time this year as the Hawkeyes are the team you have to put away decisively, or they'll find a way to beat you.

Shocking score of the week: Texas A&M 52, Texas Tech 30. The Red Raiders beat up on Nebraska last week, allowing only 10 points. The Aggies were blasted 62-14 against Kansas State. Huh?

Shocking stat of the week: Nebraska turned the ball over 8 times in their awful loss at home to Iowa State. Polite as Nebraska's fans are, even they couldn't tolerate the pathetic Cornhusker performance. Eight turnovers is the highest single game total I can remember.

TCU officially owns BYU. 38-7 in Provo this year after 32-7 in Fort Worth last year. Don't sleep on the Horned Frogs, they're this year's snowball rolling down a mountain - gaining force and momentum week after week.

When will the Cincinnati Bearcats be taken seriously? These guys are really good.

The Oregon Ducks are the best one-loss team in the country. Kudos to Chip Kelly for getting the Ducks to right the ship after their dismal outing in Boise.

Georgia Tech seems to have corrected their early season woes of letting teams get back into games and not being able to stop anybody on defense. The Yellow Jackets are on the inside track to winning the ACC. Then again, it is the ACC, and it would be surprising if anyone, even the impressive Yellow Jackets, made it through with less than 2 losses.

West Virginia fans often, and deservedly, get a bad rap for their boorish behavior. But this week they showed the ultimate in class in the way they welcomed UConn to Mountaineer field - a gracious standing ovation as the Huskies marched onto the field, united in their grief.

Speaking of that game, admirable performance by UConn today. It's too bad they couldn't hold on for the win. But Noel Devine was too much - by far the most talented player on the field, and the Huskies didn't have an answer for him.

And lastly, the number of the week, the combined total of the Penn State-Michigan scores the past 2 seasons. Just let it linger, savor it, sear it into your mind's eye:

81-27.