T1B

. . . to get in here and give Babs her props. But seeing as she's already done her best imitation of Kramer's horse, post-Beefarino, all over this board, I just can't bring myself to do that.

Having said that, I will give props to Michigan State. They got it done, when they had to, and came away with a W. Props. Seems as though Notre Dame always brings out the best in Michigan State's team. Now, if only Michigan could do the same for them (rather than inspire in them an imitation of Kramer's horse, post-beefarino), their program might actually go somewhere.

Despite the loss, I still see some positives for ND in that game. I can't recall how many times in the past few years I've seen ND get down big relatively early in the game and then just fold up the tents. That's not what happened here. We fought back from a 21-point deficit, and nearly won the game in regulation. No quit in this team, nor will Weis let it happen. And yes, that's a little thing, but it's the little things that are the difference between where we have been in recent years and where we need to be. And as a fan, it's exciting to see Quinn throw for nearly 500 yards, particularly after years of the option offense (yes, we won back then, and that was a lot of fun, but I still found myself wishing on more than one occasion that the offense was a little less vanilla).

Of course, turnovers were a killer -- Quinn's INT returned for a TD, and Schwapp fumbled deep in the red zone. If we get either of those back, we win the game.

And yes, we still need to improve, and that goes for the coaches as well. We definitely need to solve that safety blitz thing. If I were a defensive coordinator coaching against ND, I think I'd be in a safety blitz on damn near every passing down, after seeing how much success MSU had with it. Not to mention that if we don't get it solved soon, we could lose Quinn for an extended period of time, and that would be a killer this year. But regardless, ND is on the way back, and I'm happy to see it. The haytas who want to get their shots in against ND had best do it soon, the opportunity might not be there any longer in a few years.

And while I'm thinking about it, a few quick hitters . . .

• Sorry, OU fan, but it's time to get the Sooners out of the Top 25. They just don't have it this year.
• Speaking of which, most of the rest of the Big 12 is hurting this year as well. OSU barely pulled out a win against a team from the Sun Belt Conference, and Nebraska squeaked by a Pitt team that lost last week to Ohio (coached by a fired Nebraska coach). Texas, ATM and Tech did all post lopsided wins, but Rice and SMU are nothing to write home about, and Sam Houston State isn't even 1-A.
• Did I ever mention how much I despise college football's OT rule? I know I'm probably in the minority on that point, but it completely eliminates two extremely important variables in football: field position and the game clock. I can understand the NCAA wanting an overtime rule, but if they were going to do that, they could have come up with something better than a high-school OT rule, imho. Of course, the fact that ND has an absolutely abysmal OT record all-time doesn't help my feelings about it any either.

I was impressed by MSU's win...but is there a more inconsistent football team - ever? I was utterly shocked by PSU's win over them last year, after they summarily dismantled Wisconsin.

Babs has basically taken hold of every slot on the shooting gallery conveyor belt...and the season is so young.

I don't like the OT-rules either. IMO they shouldn't get the ball any closer than the 40yd line. You should have to earn field-goal position.

I would just play an extra 10-or -12 minutes and whomever is on top at the end is the winner.

I don't think the sooners are still in the top-25, I know they at least aren't in the CFN one.

Danimal wrote:I don't like the OT-rules either. IMO they shouldn't get the ball any closer than the 40yd line. You should have to earn field-goal position.

I would just play an extra 10-or -12 minutes and whomever is on top at the end is the winner.

I don't think the sooners are still in the top-25, I know they at least aren't in the CFN one.

Nope. AP and USA Today polls are out and they have been dropped from both.

The top 5 in both polls are:

1. USC
2. Texas
3. LSU
4. VaTech
5. Florida

Two weeks until UM-MSU in East Lansing...we'll see if Michigan is really this ordinary and is State a contender for the Big Ten. State looks like a team that you can move the ball down the field on but don't turn it over with a short field because they'll kill you everytime. They don't have the best skill position players but their scheme is very potent and Stanton is very steady at QB. To beat the Spartans, you may have to outscore them...they're bound to get atleast 28-35 points a game.

Terry in Crapchester wrote: [*]Did I ever mention how much I despise college football's OT rule? I know I'm probably in the minority on that point, but it completely eliminates two extremely important variables in football: field position and the game clock.
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that's a good point. i never really thought about it in those terms. i don't like "sudden death" in football, though. in soccer or hockey OK. not football.

I don't mind the shootout format of college football but they have to move the ball back to the 40 or midfield. I prefer the sudden death format the NFL uses over the college system but they need to do something other than a coin toss to determine who gets ball first.

Shoalzie wrote: they need to do something other than a coin toss to determine who gets ball first.

That is why do not like the NFL's. It something like 58% of teams who get the ball first win. I don't like that stat. I like the college rules becaue each team has a FAIR chance.....the same chance.

I would love to hear your idea on to determine who gets the ball.

scrum? XFL style...

NBA 5 minute OT keeping the same rules and then another and another til it's over. Remember as bad as the OT rule is now, it's still light years better than leaving it a tie.

Shoalzie wrote:I don't mind the shootout format of college football but they have to move the ball back to the 40 or midfield. I prefer the sudden death format the NFL uses over the college system but they need to do something other than a coin toss to determine who gets ball first.

My suggestion is to make sudden death applicable only when a team scores 6 points in the overtime period. That means that if the other team gets the ball first, all you have to do is keep them out of the end zone to have a chance at winning the game. It'll probably open up the overtime period as well -- NFL teams typically get very conservative during the overtime period.

The downside to this suggestion is that it will produce more tie games, but the NFL overtime rule was never designed to completely eliminate all possibility of tie games, just to reduce them.

Fucking lawyers always making things way too complicated.

Look, it's really quite simple. The way to do overtime is sudden death but both teams get at least 1 possesion before the game is called. END OF DEBATE.

How can it be sudden death, Apu, if both teams get 1 possession?

If the team that wins the coin toss scores on their first possession, they must kick off to the opposing team and give them one possession. If they fail to tie the game or go ahead, game over. If they tie the game, than the game is played from that point on as sudden death. It's just like the NFL rules, but it takes away the unfair coin toss advantage.