Like Ray Charles (aside from being dead)… I feel GOOD!  I had forgotten how much fun it is to win a football game.  In Tresselland a score of 30-7 is the moral equivalent of Hiroshima.  30 points is more than we scored against Iowa and Wisconsin combined.  Jim, Close-the-Gates-of-Mercy Tressel. (OK Buckeye fans, what OSU coach really had that nickname?) We have a new QB, a new RB, some new receivers and seemingly new life.  I know it was just Indiana, but after the 3 game slide I don’t care if we beat Ohio Domincan.  We played well(mostly) and won.  It’s a start.

Now comes Penn State.  The Nits play defense like they always have and the play offense like Joe Pa, himself were at QB.  The teams they have lost to, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin stack up pretty well with our losses to Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa.  Throw in Boston College for good measure and PSU might not stink as bad as the 2-5 record would indicate.  And they certainly played Iowa a heck of a lot closer than we did.  The PSU offense will be missing Zach Mills(maybe).  Mills, despite a very pedestrian career, turns into Joe Montana every time he sees Scarlet and Gray. He is doubtful after suffering a concussion last week against Iowa.  The really bad news for Penn State is that with Mills out, Michael Robinson plays QB.  Now they have their back-up quarterback without his best receiver ….himself. On paper it looks like two pretty good defenses and two terrible offenses. All this and rain too.  This will set Big Ten Football back decades and turn off TV sets everywhere.  They should broadcast the game in black and white. We can have teams wear retro uniforms.  Oh, that’s right Penn State always wears retro uni’s.  Both teams could run the T formation and the 5-4 defense.  Joe Pa still knows this stuff.  A 1958-like tribute to the oldest coach in the world.  We’ll all drive our station wagons to the game, park in the cow pastures and tailgate from Scotch Coolers.  Oops, sorry Karen, I said tailgate.  I sure hope none of her undercover beer Nazis are reading this.  Enough nostalgia!  Edge to the Buckeyes because our offense is, hopefully, on the rise.  And…..once again, we have Nuge and they don’t. 

Florida AD, Jeromy Foley, took the fun out of the Zook death watch by firing him.  Now we can watch the courtships begin.  We know who Gatorland wants, but will he return?  This a question of ego.  On the one hand Spurrier thinks he was so great that no one, not even himself, could replace him.  On the other hand Spurrier thinks that he is so great that he could replace anyone, even himself.  Psychologists, world-wide will be watching as this plays out.  If coach Superior decides that he doesn’t want to go home again, could it be   because he already owns a house in……..take your choice: Austin, South Bend,  Knoxville? Where will the Gators turn.  Last time they were jilted by Jon Gruden and Bob Stoops.  Not much has changed for Stoops, but Gruden might more be interested this time.  Lets break it down into  categories:

Demotions: Jon Gruden, Butch Davis, Vince Lombardi

Laterals: Bob Stoops, Billy Bob Thornton

Promotion:  Urban Meyer, Jeff Tedford, Bobby Petrino, Les Miles,

Weird:  Doug Williams, Terry Francona

 

 

 

 

It should be interesting to see how the Florida players respond against Georgia on Saturday.

                Elsewhere, the Bedlam series resumes in Stillwater as the Sooners invade their instate rivals.  This could be the best game of the weekend, but OU likely has just too much talent.  Upset of the week might come Friday night on the Smuf Turf.   Look for the Timmy Chang and the Warriors of Hawaii to end Boise State’s BSC dreams. Michigan State will help the Weasels bubble grow as they careen toward Columbus.  Purdue had better not be feeling sorry for themselves, or Northwestern will could hand them a third loss in a row.  There are not a lot of great match-ups this weekend.  Auburn should have no trouble with Ole Miss. Tennessee vs South Carolina should be an OK game but who out outside of the SEC really cares.  It will be weekend where the nationally ranked teams cruise and there is a lot of battling for position on the conference undercards.  A lot of bowl bids, may be on the line.  Sadly, this season, there is considerable local interest in such gala events as the Motor City, Alamo, Sun Bowl etc.

                Enough negativity.  Buckeyes 24- Penn State 10.  More turnovers then a bakery on Saturday morning lead to a score-fest with the Bucks coming out on top.