1. Toledump 31, Ohio U 13 - In front of 78,000 screaming fans in the Glass Bowl, the Bobkitties managed to do something no other team has done this season - make the Rockette defense look competent. Ohio amassed an eye popping total of 230 yards of offense. They also found the most creative way imaginable to score 13 points. Two safeties, a field goal, and a touchdown with a missed two point conversion attempt. Seriously though, has Toledump's defense finally found itself or is Ohio's offense just that bad? If it's the former, there is no one in the West that stands much of a chance of unseating the Rockettes from their pre-season favorite status.
2. Miami (OH) 25, Buffalo 7 - Buffalo was actually up in this game 7-6 at the half as the Redskins repeated their pattern of sleepwalking through the first half of games (Down 20-17 vs Kent and only up 10-0 vs Ohio). Fortunately for the brie bunch, Buffalo is so bad that you can afford to sleepwalk through about 3 1/2 quarters and you can still pull out the W. My only question is how in the hell you can have over 400 yards of total offense and only score 23 offensive points? (Safeties were a theme in the conference this week). Buffalo apparently is trying to imitate the Herd when it comes to offensive output and had an amazing
165 yards total offense. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they don't have a counterpart to Jonathan Goddard so that theory don't work.
3. EMU 35, WMU 31 - Bronco fans must feel like
:chair: and
all at the same time. This is a team that has gone from competing for championships to absolutely awful in 5 years. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Usually that applies to a single game but it applies to the entire Bronco program. I really don't know of any other team in the country that has dropped so precipitously. (sp?) Hmmmmmmmm. Come to think of it, it applies to this game as well. WMU was up 28-20 going into the 4th quarter and managed to squander the lead. Not only that but they managed to lose the game with only 21 ticks left on the clock. Ugly, ugly, ugly. On the bright side for WMU .......................................... well, when I think of a bright side to choking at home against EMU I'll let you know. Methinks it is time for a coaching change.
4. Marshall 27, Kent 17 - Just like Miami (OH) repeated their pattern of not playing in the first half, Kent continued their pattern of not playing in the second. Still, think about this. The Redskins had over 400 yards of offense and managed to score only 25 points. The Herd put up 27 with only a measly 239 yards of offense. (Christ. I'm trying to think of a positive spin to put on our terrible offense). Once again, defense was the key. The Flush receivers were obviously way outclassed by Marshall's secondary because Cribbs had all day to throw the ball and frequently couldn't find anyone open. He got sacked 4 times but all of those were after he stood in the pocket for something like 23 seconds and the Herd picked him 3 times in the second half. Field position was another key as the Herd's scoring drives were 60, 3, 75, 39 and 15 yards. That's two weeks in a row Marshall got the short field while forcing the opponent to try to put together long drives. Whoda thunk we'd be seeing "Beamer Ball" out of the boys in green?
5. BUGS 51, Testicle Tech 13 - BUGS fans can argue they are playing the best ball in the MAC right now. So what? You didn't play the best ball when it counted and that's the difference between champions and just good teams. You'll be just like NIU last year and sitting home in December. And, that is why Toledump is still the favorite in the West. They have the ability, just like Marshall, to win the games that determine championships.
6. NIU 42, CMU 10 - If it wasn't for the 570 mile drive from Nitro to Dekalb, I'd consider showing up for the NIU/Toledump matchup on November 9. Hey!! I don't have to drive!! It's on TV!! As for this week's game, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. NIU puts away another patsy. Wake me up when you have an interesting opponent. Considering that you've got WMU and Testicle Tech between now and November 9, I think I can snooze till then. BTW, the damn Yahoo box score shows you scoring 35 points in the 4th while the recap says you scored 28 in the 3rd. Fortunately, the ESPN box score has it right with 28 in the 3rd and 7 in the 4th. Still, cranking off 28 unanswered points in a quarter is impressive even if it was against the Chips.
7. Zippers 26, FUC 21 - Well, once again, the FUC'ers from Orlando decided not to play until the 4th quarter and, once again, it was too little too late. Once you're down 26-7, only 14 more points don't get it done - especially when the last ones come with 31 seconds left in the game. Oh yeah. Tossing to ball to the other team in the 4th quarter doesn't help either.
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No really pithy closing comments this week except that BUGS and NIU ought to be very nervous if Toledump really has discovered how to play defense. Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Thank you Rockettes for doing your part to help the Herd win the MAC East on our way out.
Now, if you will do the same to Miami (OH) on November 2, we'd be mighty appreciative. Just think. You could help us repeat the 2000 season when you were 10-2 and sat at home. You see, it is mathematically possible for us to finish at 6-5 but still win the East if you beat the Redskins. Just something nice to think about. :D
To save you a LITTLE time, OU had 120 yds offense in the first half, while UT managed just 140.