Nov 16, 2007

No, the college football season does not end tomorrow.

Not for everyone. Not for all of you, at least.

If you follow the SEC or ACC, Big XII or PAC-10, or any of those other random conferences out there, you still have college football weekends left.

But I don't.

No, tomorrow, the Big Ten football season ends. Ohio State and Michigan wrap up their seasons, as usual, with a noon game, live on ABC. Then, at 3:30, my beloved Nittany Lions take the field in East Lansing for the Greatest Manufactured Rivalry in the Midwest--the Battle for the Land Grant Trophy.

This is the way the season has ended for Your Editor every year since he started following Penn State football back in 1993.

It's odd to think about it, folks, but all I've actually ever known of Penn State is Penn State in the Big Ten. Those "Beast of the East" years--well, I wasn't around. And, as a result, all I've ever known of the weekend before Thanksgiving is what I'll see tomorrow: Buckeyes-Wolverines at noon; Penn State-Michigan State at 3:30.

Nittany Lions-Spartans doesn't quite replace the 96-year tradition that was Penn State-Pitt on Thanksgiving Saturday (a tradition that must be reinstated when you-know-who retires).

But you know what?

It's not bad. Really, it's not bad at all.

And here's why: I can count on it.

College football is, more than anything, about traditions. In other words, it's the opposite of the NFL.

College football is about having just one thig count on, every year, and celebrating the hell out of it. For me, for the past 14 years, the one thing I've always known is that, on the weekend before Thanksgiving, I'll watch Ohio State battle Michigan play at noon. Then I'll watch Penn State battle Sparty three hours later.

And then I'll know the Big Ten football season will be over.

Just like the year before. Just like the year to come.

No, Penn State-Michigan State is not Ohio State-Michigan. It's not Penn State-Pitt. It's not even Amherst-Williams, Wabash-Dupaw, or Akron-Kent State. But it's something.

It's college football.

It's tradition.

Which means it's better than most anything else.

So I'll take it.

Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• Your Editor has long maintained that Ohio State-Michigan shares the title for Greatest Rivalry in College Football with the great annual Auburn-Alabama matchup, and for the better part of TCFA’s history, the Buckeyes and Wolverines have made good on my contention. Certainly there’s been some more than entertaining games in recent history: Senator Tressel’s "guaranteed" win back in 2001; the Ohio State security forces searching the Michigan team bus in 2004; the “J.V. game” in 2005 when The Game actually had little bearing on the Big Ten title (because Penn State was playing for the title later that day; and damn if that was not a great, and rare, day); and of course The Most Overhyped Game Ever, last year, when the Buckeyes beat Michigan en route to both teams getting their doors blown off in their bowl games. But even though this year’s game once more will determine the Big Ten championship--the outright championship, no less--there’s a definite feeling of blah around this one. That’s largely because, for the first time in more than a half-century, both teams come into the game having lost their last game. Neither team has a shot at the national championship. And while no Buckeye or Wolverines will admit it, this edition of The Game feels like a real bummer. So what are they playing for? Simple, says Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton: History. He explained: “I’ll tell the guys to just realize that this is for, like, the rest of your life, because this is the game that really defines guys. People remember these games forever. That's something these guys really need to realize, because what happens on Saturday is going to be monumental for the rest of their life."

• Over on the next page, I’ll offer you a few reasons—mostly statistical (snore)— why I really do think Duke has a chance to beat Notre Dame. But, here, I’ll offer you the biggest reason whey I think Duke has a chance to beat Notre Dame: This game is everything for Duke. And nothing for the Irish. Think about it, folks. For the Irish, the season is already a miserable failure. There is nothing they can do to change that. If they win out, beating Duke and Stanford, they’ll still be the worst Notre Dame team ever. Meanwhile, at Duke, a win would probably be the biggest victory in school history. Remember, folks, the Blue Devils rarely even get to play on television, much less on the (previously) hallowed grounds of Notre Dame Stadium. For the Duke players, it’s a once-in-a-career opportunity to be seen by the entire nation—and according to Duke senior safety Chris Davis, nobody in Durham is trying to play this one off as “just another game.” Said Davis: "The coaches are trying not to get us up too high. It's been the same practices. Nothing's changed. It's just going to be a new place for us to play at. And I'm trying to talk like it's not a big deal. But it will be a big deal."

• Georgia coach Mark “Judas” Richt was asked this week how he managed to recruit sophomore Knowshon Moreno out of, of all places, New Jersey. Richt said he wasn’t sure how Moreno got interested in the ‘Dawgs, but the coach did remember seeing Moreno at Georgia’s football camp—and being impressed, from day one, by the player’s now-famous intensity.  Said Richt: "You knew [Moreno] was a warrior as far as energy and work ethic. It was smoking hot day and we were grinding them all. [Redshirt freshman Caleb King] and Knowshon were the two guys that were just competing harder and lasting longer than most of them. They both got after it and it was like, 'Wow, these guys are special.' "

Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• Don’t think Duke has a shot against Notre Dame this week? Well, check this out: According to Jeff Sagarin’s power rankings, Notre Dame is the 103rd best team in college football. Duke is ranked No. 95.

• Want more evidence? Try this: Navy beat Notre Dame in South Bend, 46-44. The Middies beat Duke, meanwhile, by an eerily similar score: 46-43.

• Want more? OK, try this: Yes, Duke’s offense is horrible, ranking No. 116 in the nation. But Notre Dame is ranked dead last—No. 119!

• Quotable: Duke coach Ted Roof on how he’s preparing his players for their first trip to South Bend: "We certainly have a lot of respect for the program, but I don't want their past history or tradition to make any tackles or score any touchdowns. I want us to stay in the now and stay in the moment."

• Speaking of Notre Dame being awful: Even if the Irish muster a win over Duke this week, Charlie Weis’ record at Notre Dame will be 21-15 after three seasons. Anyone care to guess what Ty Willingham’s record after three seasons at Notre Dame was? Hint: Exactly the same. But wait, folks, it gets better. As ESPN’s spectacular college football writer, Ivan Maisel, figured out this week, Weis and Willingham’s winning percentages after three seasons in South Bend worked out to a very boring .583. The guy that preceeded both of them, Bob Davie, lasted five years in South Bend. And left with a winning percentage of .583. That’s just earthshatteringly amazing.

• One last note on Notre Dame’s awfulness. CNN/SI college football writer Stewart Mandel has never been one of my favorites. But I do admire his bluntness. Example? Try this opening sentence this week, from his column about why Charlie Weis is failing in South Bend: “Let's start with a fairly obvious realization: Charlie Weis is a terrible college football coach.“

• Quotable: Mike Hart, Michigan’s great tailback, has never beaten Ohio State. And don’t think it doesn’t bother him. As Hart said this week in a very candid interview with the Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom: "I'd rather lose to Appalachian State than lose to Ohio State."  Guess what, Mike? You’ve done both!