Comment on the exciting game between Northwestern and Ohio State. Not sure if 69 or others saw it, but it brought to mind his theme that one of the most important decisions a head coach makes is to allocate practice time.

Two plays cost NU this winnable game. First, they had a punt blocked for a TD despite a perfect snap. A protector seems to have made a poor choice on whom to block (Or maybe one of the linemen whiffed, giving him no good choices)

Second, after falling behind late, they were driving with a lot of success. They faced a 4th and 1 and sent the QB under center for a sneak. He fumbled the snap.

NU plays 2 QBs as a fundamental strategy and seems to have a very broad range of formations and plays. Makes me wonder if they have spent sufficient practice time on special teams and on plays with QB under center.

Turning to our situation, we had 2 QBs with different playbooks, plus the wild owl. Our special teams seem to have gotten a lot better, thankfully, but I wonder if the raggedyness of McHargue is rooted in reps foregone to install two other offenses.

It was a good game and a good atmosphere. I'm not sure if either team could compete that well against more athletic teams but I guess we'll see later in Ohio State's case how they do against a likely BCS opponent.

It was a shame that Northwestern's final play ended up being a gift Ohio State touchdown, allowing some lucky and undeserving Ohio State fans to win a bet as they covered the spread.