That Michigan win is looking better and better for Utah.........
 

Was it Seattleute that called it "one of the best wins in the programs history?"

Looks like Toledo agrees with you.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=282850130

Imagine what would've happened had it been a loss...

eom

This kind of smack is emblematic of the problems inherent in college football and the silliness of rankings. The way the system is set up, nobody accounts for the fact that some teams improve over the course of the season, and other teams get worse.

Sometimes - get this - a loss can discourage a team and contribute to its overall season-long decline. These are 18-22 year old kids out there, highly motivated by emotion and given to wild swings of ability as their confidence ebbs and flows.

Isn't it possible that Utah beating Michigan at their place made Michigan a worse team and made Toledo's job easier? Conversely, maybe Utah's close win gave the team the confidence it needed to beat its next 6 opponents. To claim that Toledo's win over UM somehow denigrates the importance of Utah's win at the time is a waste of time.

This is the argument I use for Pittsburgh 1984.

That's different.

And I agree with this. At the time, Pitt was highly ranked and slated to be a contender. The byu beatdown sent them on their downward spiral.

It is hard for any team to win on any given Saturday, hence why they say "it is twelve 1 game seasons... That is probably somewhat inaccurate when you are playing Weber State or Northern Iowa, but generally true.

It is even harder for a team to go undefeated because on any given Saturday... That BYU has the streak it does, in my opinion, is a credit to mental toughness as well as physical athleticism. As per Solon, I couldn't agree with you more.

I know the theory about about BYU having a footnote in history next to their 1984 National Championship as rivalry smack, but let's all face it, they were the undisputed Champs that year. Let's face it, that was undefeated, and the cougs played some traditional powers that year, which should never be watered down.

Weber State is unbelievable, they are by far one of the best teams in the country.

signed,

Seattleute

Is it possible RichRod gets canned after one season? I can't see it. But they've gone to a bowl game 33 straight seasons and if they don't get six wins...maybe he is in trouble.

I don't think they have four more wins on their schedule.

Sat, Oct 18 at (3) Penn State
Sat, Oct 25 (20) Michigan State
Sat, Nov 1 at Purdue
Sat, Nov 8 at Minnesota
Sat, Nov 15 Northwestern
Sat, Nov 22 at (12) Ohio State

It will be interesting to see what happens in Happy Valley. IIRC, UM has completely owned Penn State over the last decade.

It's been about 15 years since PSU beat Michigan in football, although they've been close a couple of times. Penn State is tough as hell at home; it's homecoming week; people around here are really excited that "this is finally the year" to get that monkey off the back.

I predict Michigan gets rocked.

Michigan is going to get it handed to them. Penn St. is a really good football team. They a great quarterback with talent and speed at the other skill positions on Offense and a really good D. They could easily find themselves in the BCS title game this year.

Penn State should be licking their chops. They have lost 9 straight at home to Michigan. Last year Michigan was 0-2 with a loss to Appalachian State and Oregon in consecutive weeks, when they beat a ranked Penn State team.

Yeah, it's just too bad that Darryll Clark is a senior and only now coming into his own. But at least Royster's got a couple of years left. Now if they can just keep their defense out of jail.

sorry to thread-jack, but if Penn State wins this year's national Championship, does Paterno retire?

I think Paterno will retire only when he dies.

I don't know - there's a bit of a groundswell for him to step aside. His contract is up at the end of the year and he doesn't yet have one for next year. He's getting pretty frail, and people don't want him carried out on a stretcher. There's no sense that he must go. It's more from concern that he's going to kill himself off.

He doesn't do all that much coaching anymore, but he's great for recruiting and fund-raising.

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08282/918206-13.stm


This is from the school newspaper:http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...ng_mortal.aspx

Too complicated. Michigan was terrible at the time they played the utes and they are terrible now.

When Michigan played the utes, they looked like one of the worst teams in the country. They then went out and lost to a horrible Notre Dame team - they got blown out. They then beat Wisconsin (at the time thought to be a decent team) - their confidence should be sky high and they should be playing to the best of their ability after that. Well, that is true - their confidence was high and they played to the best of their ability, but still lost, at home, to Toledo. They are just a bad football team and have been all season.

So you don't think that teams improve or regress over the course of a season?

Michigan looked pretty tough 2nd half against Utah. They're deeper at several positions and their players are big, strong, and fast.

Sometimes good teams make their opponents look really bad.

Like Toledo did to Michigan?

BTW, of course teams improve or regress over the course of a season.

Which has Michigan done?

Did they improve to the point that they could beat Wisconsin and then regress again to the point they could lose to Toledo?

Maybe their season is a roller coaster that began at it's highest point which was when their good team lost to the utes. I guess if that makes ute fans feel better, go for it.

I don't really care about Michigan. All I know is that it was a good win for Utah (or anyone else) to win on the road against a Big-Ten opponent. Attempts to denigrate that win by pointing to subsequent events are pointless and hardly relevant.

On the other hand, a win is just a win. There aren't bonus points for "good" wins or losses. In the end, a team is only as good as its record. Michigan isn't very good right now. Utah is.

Michigan up 10 at Penn State. Looks like they save their best efforts for elite opponents only.

Looks like Michigan is starting to come back to reality....

they must not have played one yet this season.

They came back to reality with a thud.

I'd say more like a splat.

A Michigan victory in the Big House.

Priceless.

Honest question: How many heads explode in SoCal if OSU wins the Pac10? WF in a Speedo won't save you, if that goes down.

But OSU is the second best team in the country next to USC, don't you know?

Nah, they wont win.