Big Ten Faces Tough Road After Lackluster Weekend
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
When the college football season began two weeks ago, the Big Ten conference was reputed to be one of the nation’s loaded leagues, boasting three national title contenders in Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio State.
What a difference one Saturday can make. That reputation was dealt a serious blow this weekend, first at the hands of a resurgent Notre Dame in Ann Arbor, where the Fighting Irish stunned then no. 3 Michigan 17-10 in a game that was far more defensive than anyone predicted. The assault continued in Ames, Iowa, where the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 dismantled then-no. 8 Iowa 23-3. When night fell, it was another Big 12 team, Texas, that delivered the final insult, coming from behind to topple no. 4 Ohio State, 25-22 on the Buckeyes’ home field in Columbus.
The biggest and best game of the three was Texas-Ohio State,a rare interconference matchup of top-rated teams. While the result of the game may not have been a shock – Texas came in ranked no. 2 in the AP poll; Ohio State was no. 4 – the manner in which the Longhorns pulled out the game certainly was.
Ohio State spent much of the game having its way with Texas between the goal lines, but was unable to finish drives despite collecting three turnovers on the Longhorns’ half of the field. The Buckeyes settled for five field goals by Josh Huston, leaving them with a tenuous 22-16 lead as the fourth quarter began.
That proved fatal when speedy Texas quarterback Vince Young, who was held to 76 yards rushing on 20 carries (32 of which came on a single scamper) found Limas Sweed behind two defenders in the front corner of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown strike with 2:37 left. The play was reviewed and upheld using the Big Ten’s instant-replay system, giving Texas a one-point lead that became three with a safety in the final minute.
The result reaffirmed Texas’s no. 2 national ranking and gives the Longhorns the inside track to the BCS championship game. It also likely propels Young to the top of the list of Heisman contenders, a campaign he launched with a breakout performance against Michigan in last season’s Rose Bowl.
Texas still must prove it can beat archrival Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl on October 8 – the Longhorns have lost five straight in the Red River rivalry – but with the Sooners struggling badly on offense and having already lost to TCU this season, 2005 is looking more and more like the year Texas breaks through.
Coach Mack Brown and his Longhorns won’t satisfy all their critics until they win that game, but in the meantime, the doubters – particularly of their junior quarterback- are diminishing. The knock on Young has always been his passing ability, but he hurt Ohio State time and again by using his legs to buy time in the pocket, then finding late-breaking receivers downfield on the way to an 18-of-29 passing day for 270 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Following the loss, Ohio State must regroup and get focused on the Big Ten season, which begins in two weeks. The same can be said for Michigan and Iowa; all three schools could still qualify for the Rose Bowl, but now find the road to Pasadena much rockier thanks to Purdue and its fortuitous schedule. Because of opponent rotations, Purdue, 1-0 after a season-opening rout of Akron, plays neither Michigan nor Ohio State this season. If there is a tie in the conference records at the end of the season, non-conference records are one of the tiebreakers the Big Ten uses to determine its BCS representative.
That assumes, however, that Purdue can beat Notre Dame on October 1, something that’s looking less likely after the Irish beat Michigan to go 2-0 on the season. Notre Dame is the storyline of the early season thanks to head coach Charlie Weis, who has injected his team with significant doses of confidence and competence, both of which were evident in the Michigan game.
The Irish were consistently able to execute and come up with big plays in ways that Michigan was not. Weis’s defense held Michigan scoreless on two separate first-and-goal situations in the fourth quarter, and also came up with an interception near the goal line in the third.
On offense, junior quarterback Brady Quinn looked much as he did against Pitt the previous week, marching the Irish to a touchdown on their first possession. The going got tougher after that, as Michigan’s defense stiffened and prevented the game from turning into the expected shootout, but Quinn persevered for 19 completions for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
For Michigan, this now becomes another season of high hopes dashed by an early-season non-conference loss. The Wolverines also have injury concerns after losing starting tailback Mike Hart to a hamstring injury on Saturday. With Hart on the bench, Michigan failed to execute any successful screen passes – one of its bread-and-butter plays – and largely abandoned rushing the ball outside the tackles, where the diminutive Hart excels. Injuries on the offensive line also contributed to a terribly ineffective day from quarterback Chad Henne, who finished just 19-of-44 and failed to get Michigan into the end zone until late in the fourth quarter.
Another key factor in Notre Dame’s favor was the play of its special teams. Michigan returner Steve Breaston was completely contained by the coverage, not to mention by punter D.J. Fitzpatrick, who regularly pinned him against the sideline with directional kicks.
With two road wins over ranked opponents to open the season, the Irish have climbed into the AP top 10 after beginning the season unranked. What appeared only a week ago to be a frightfully difficult schedule no longer contains any opponents that will scare Notre Dame, not even no. 1 USC, which visits South Bend on October 15. Weis’s biggest concern may no longer be the schedule, but rather that his team will grow overconfident after the onslaught of hype likely headed its way in the coming weeks.
Of the three Big Ten powers, Iowa’s loss was the most stunning, as the Hawkeyes were manhandled by lightly regarded Iowa State. The Cyclones transformed five turnovers into 23 points, and completely bottled up the Iowa offense after standout quarterback Drew Tate left the game with a concussion. Tate is expected to return next week, and this game proved how much he will be needed if Iowa is to right its season.
The Big Ten could still have plenty to say about the national title race, but Saturday’s results prove that preseason hype is just that – hype.
Mr. Levine writes for the statistical Web site FootballOutsiders.com.