Mud. Slop. Big Ten football.

Penn State. Ohio State.

Nittany Lions. Buckeyes.

Late October.

Big Ten football. Under the lights. On real grass.

Steady rain. Temps in the 40s. Mud. Slop. Three yards and a kick in the teeth. Knock ‘em down. Then pick ‘em up.

And knock ‘em down again.

Joseph Vincent Paterno. Senator Tressel.

The ghost of Woody.

A new record crowd? Maybe. Maybe 110,500. Maybe 111,000. Maybe 112,000.

Seat? Who needs a seat?

Official Beaver Stadium Motto: “We Determine The Snap Count.” Official Beaver Stadium Fact: Loudest place on earth.

Death Valley? Aren’t there two of those? Only one Happy Valley.

Speaking of the SEC … they got any linebackers down there? We got some: Laurinitis. Connor. Lee. Freeman. Bowman. And for you Penn Staters, I got a new name: No. 53. Colisanti. True frosh. From Detroit. Spurned Michigan.

To play for Tom Bradley.

Speaking of Bradley, here’s his team: 6-2. Looked shaky for a while. Getting better. Why? Linebacker U. is becoming Linebacker U. + Defensive Line U. Heard of Mo Evans? Will soon. 10.5 sacks. Only a sophomore. Tamba Jr. Dan Connor? He ain’t bad, either. Nor are: Sean Lee. Anthony Scirotto.  Justin King. Big Phil Taylor. Colisaniti.

Their challenge? The Buckeyes. 8-0. Crushed Washington. Crushed Purdue. Crushed everyone. Smashmouth tailback Beanie Wells. Steady quarterback Todd Boeckman. Playmakers Ray Small and Brian Hartline. Defense. Real good defense. That Laurinitis guy. Malcolm Jenkins.

Tresselball.

Twenty-six straight regular season wins.

No Big Ten losses in two seasons.

Last Big Ten loss?

Oct. 8, 2005.

At Penn State.

It’s on, folks.

It's on.

Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• You’ve heard me say it a million times, folks, but there if there is one non-Nittany Lion game Your Editor would like to see—besides maybe a game at Army’s Michie Stadium on the third Saturday in October—it is The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, the annual matchup of the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs. The game is always interesting, and that’s true again this year. But for a somewhat unusual reason: Notably, nobody is giving Georgia a chance. The Dawgs have been flying under the radar this season, while Florida has been covered to death, thanks to the national media’s (snore) completely unjustified obsession with Urban Meyer (last time I checked, the Gators had lost two games, right?) and their completely justified obsession with Tim Tebow, who is The Best Player In The Country. The sophomore (sophomore!) quarterback has a 177.5 quarterback rating (that’s the best in the nation) and has chipped in 10 rushing touchdowns, too. He can run. He can throw. He is the best quarterback we’ve seen since, well, Vince Young. Just ask Georgia coach Mark “Weird Puritanal Southern Guy” Richt. Said Richt: “He’s a freak of nature, really. I’ve see quarterbacks who can run, but not with that kind of power and toughness. And he’s throwing the ball extremely well. He’s a leader, and he’s just tough. And that makes that whole football team tough.” Which is true. But they have lost twice. Just like Georgia. Not predicting an upset here, folks. I’m just sayin’.

• Everyone seems to be down on the Big Ten this year. But you know what? There’s one thing the Big Ten can still say: It is home to the best linebackers in college football. As usual. From J. Leman at Illinois to Shawn Crable at Michigan to SirDarean "Greatest Name Ever" Adams at Michigan State, the Big Ten’s linebackers can outhit just about anyone (yes, even you, SEC). Luckily for us all, the conference’s very best will be on display Saturday night, when All-Americans James Laurinitis of Ohio State and Dan Connor of Penn State headline A Late October Linebacker Throwdown. Lauriniitis (whose dad was a pro wrestler) and Connor (whose dad was, thankfully, not) may be the best known of the bunch, but both the Buckeyes and Nits have other rising stars at the position too: Marcus Freeman at Ohio State; Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman at Penn State. "You will probably see four or five of the best linebackers in the country at the same time here," Joseph Vincent Paterno said this week, before adding, of Laurinitis: "He is a fine football player. He is very smart, very alert, a very aggressive football player and loves to play and can change directions and do all the things that you like to see in a linebacker." Asked about Connor, Sen. Tressel merely said:  "You'd better get Connor blocked if you want to move the chains. That’s the guy that can go sideline to sideline.”

• Ever wonder why successful college coaches feel the need to go to the NFL (snore)? I do. Case in point: Dennis Erickson, the well-traveled coach who enjoyed successful stints at Washington State, Oregon State and Miami (rrr), and an unsuccessful one with the Seattle Seahawks (snore), but nonetheless again tried coaching That Lesser Brand of Football, with the San Francisco 49ers (snore), and failed again, getting fired in 2005. It was probably bitter pill to swallow, but Your Editor believes Erickson is better off: He landed on his feet and turned up at Arizona State where, against all odds, he has the Sun Devils undefeated, atop the PAC-10 standings, and in the midst of the national title race. Asked this week why he went back to the NFL, Erickson said simply: "Why I went back the second time, I don't know." Erickson added that he also “didn’t know” why his college success didn’t translate to The Second Most Entertaining Sunday Sport After NASCAR, but I like the explanation offered by San Jose State coach Dick Tomey, who was on Erickson’s staff in San Francisco: "As to why it hasn't worked out for Dennis in the NFL, maybe it's the NFL's fault.” Dick Tomey, welcome to the TCFA Top 50.

Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• [Editor’s Note: Your Editor cannot take credit for all of the stats to follow, as some were researched by our friends at FightOnState.com. Now, with that disclaimer out of the way, let's move on to these great numbers--and no, they're not all about Penn State-Ohio State ...]

• How good are the defenses we’ll see in Saturday night’s Nits-Buckeyes game? This good: Penn State is fourth nationally in total defense; Ohio State is first. Ohio State is allowing 8 points per game. Penn State is allowing 15.

• Penn State is the national leader in sacks, with 35. That's 4.38 per game.

• In the Big Ten, only two teams--yep, Penn State and Ohio State--have allowed opponents an average of less than 200 yards passing and 100 rushing per game.

• How overrated is Southern Cal? Well, take a look at this and then take your best guess: The Trojans’ (snore) opponents thus far are a collective 12-32 vs. D-I opponents. The Trojans' schedule is ranked … 116th in the nation. 116th!

• Even more remarkably, if you take D-IAA teams into account, bringing to the total number of schools considered to 235, Southern Cal’s schedule would be ranked … 224th. Hawaii’s schedule, meanwhile, would rank 233rd.

• So, that being said, if you are struggling to make a pick in this week’s USC-Oregon game, well, don’t. Besides those numbers above, here’s a couple more reasons why: 1) The Trojans have to play the Ducks in Eugene; 2) Oregon’s offense is averaging 550 yards and 46.6 points per game. They average nearly 7 yards per play. Said USC coach Pete “The Devil” Carroll: "They're the best offense we've seen probably since we've been here. They are ridiculously effective.”