Chicago Sports Then and Now

Power Rankings for Week #8(1) Iowa - Iowa vs. Michigan State - what a game coming down to the wire! Iowa played on the road at East Lansing and escaped with a win 15-13 on the last play of the game with 2 seconds left on the clock.

(1) Iowa - The field was a long, slow, painful defensive juggernaut for both offenses.  Fought like a game of chicken – it was a well-coached contest.  There were any number of ways to win it but only one way to lose.  Iowa took the win on an inside slant left open to them by the Spartan defense.

Carlos Brown rushed for 187 yards against Eastern Michigan.

#1  Michigan - When there is an obstacle you chose the path of least resistance. So it was for freshman quarterback Tate Forcier whose success passing the football was lacking on Saturday – so Michigan took to the ground.  Carlos Brown set a career record 187 yards rushing on the afternoon, scoring two touchdowns. Michigan ground out 380 total yards as the Wolverines walloped Eastern Michigan 45-17. That is the good news.  The bad news is that the Wolverines have only played one ranked team – Notre Dame and they hung on to win that one. Since then Notre Dame has fallen out of the rankings.  We still do not know how good Big Blue is because they have not faced anyone tougher than the Irishmen.  The Michigan Wolverines are 3-0 for the first time since 2006 and next week they will be 4-0 after traveling to Indiana.

#2  Ohio State - The Buckeyes shut out the Toledo Rockets 38-0 proving that Terrell Pryor can throw the football which he did for 262 yards and that he can run the football which he did for 110 yards on the day.  Ohio State amassed over 500 yards on offense against the Rockets.  After being handed their heads on a platter last week against the University of Southern California, the Buckeyes rose from the ashes to defeat this underdog opponent.  It is true that the Rockets are hardly the Trojans – which is exactly the point.  Sports reporters would have screamed foul if Ohio State did not stomp on this practice team.  Come on Big 10, stiffen up the competition!  Ohio State, at least, has faced a top 10 team.
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Juice Williams is considered by many to be the Big 10 Preseason Player of the Year.

The Big 10 conference suffers with a second-rate reputation because of its traditional bad showing during the season-ending bowls.  Last year they ended 1-6, with only Iowa winning their post-season contest.  There does not appear to be an immediate fix but the show must go on and here is the beginning of another shot at the brass ring:

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