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College Football Recap
Tuesday, 2009 October 13 - 6:10 pm
A bad weekend in football: Michigan loses to Iowa; N.C. State loses to Duke.

Michigan 28, Iowa 30. This loss, though disappointing, wasn't crushing. I think I'm finally beginning to feel the benefit of having low expectations for the season.

Here's the thing about this game: Michigan turned the ball over five times. Tate Forcier had a miserable day. Michigan's pass defense was gashed for several big plays. But yet, Michigan only lost by two points to the top team in the conference. It makes me think that Michigan is few tweaks away from being an elite team again, and that makes me hopeful.

The big controversy in Michigan-land was this: should Denard Robinson have been in the game for the final potentially game-winning drive? Lots of people (by my guess, the overwhelming majority of Michigan fans) think that Tate "Miraculous Comeback" Forcier should have been the one handling the reins. And while I'm inclined to agree with that assessment, I can see why Rich Rodriguez went with Robinson: Forcier was 8-for-19 for 94 yards passing on the day, with a fumble and an interception. In the two possessions prior to Robinson's insertion, Forcier was 0-for-4 and Michigan went three-and-out both times. Meanwhile, Robinson had just marched Michigan down the field on a 59-yard touchdown drive. Sometimes you go with the hot hand.

I think perhaps a bigger question was: why try an on-side kick if you have a timeout and over three minutes on the clock? If Michigan had kicked the ball deep and held Iowa to a three-and-out, Michigan maybe gets the ball back on its own 40 yard line instead of its own 17. Now Michigan only has to gain maybe 30 yards to get to field goal range. Maybe Rodriguez figured an on-side kick gave him two different ways to win... I'm split here, because I admire the bravado, but I still see the value in playing the percentages.

Michigan gets an easier opponent in I-AA Delaware State next week; perhaps that gives them a chance to build some confidence back before facing Penn State in two weeks.

Offense: C. The passing game was awful, but Brandon Minor was an absolute demon. The offensive line had a good day; it was Forcier and the receivers who didn't step up. If Michigan could have jumped to a bigger lead early on, Minor could have eaten up yardage and clock the rest of the day.

Defense: B. There were a few horrendous lapses and big plays given up by the safeties, but the rest of the defense played reasonably well. A lot of Iowa's scoring came on short-field possessions.



N.C. State 28, Duke 49. This goes in the "whaaaa?" category. Duke lost to Richmond to open the season, and had only beaten North Carolina Central and Army. N.C. State was looking like an improving team. But Duke shredded N.C. State's pass defense all day. State kept it close for a half, but then Russell Wilson went cold, and Duke pulled away. State's four turnovers certainly didn't help; a punt return fumbled in the end zone for a Duke touchdown was the nail in the coffin.

N.C. State gets Florida State next week, a team that's reeling with three straight losses after a dominating win over BYU. Both teams have been schizophrenic this year; it'll be interesting to see who comes to play.



Big Ten

#9 Ohio State beats Wisconsin and moves up to #7 in the polls. Michigan State beats Illinois; those who gushed with praise for Ron Zook before the season obviously spoke too soon. Purdue continues to find ways to lose, falling to Minnesota. Indiana got demolished by a bad Virginia team; what the heck happened there?



Top 25

#1 Florida beat #4 LSU, cementing Florida's first-place ranking. LSU was Florida's toughest opponent on the schedule; the odds now favor an undefeated regular season. #2 Texas struggled early against Colorado but pulled away in the second half. #3 Alabama demolished #20 Mississippi... remember when Mississippi was laughably ranked fourth in the country? #17 Auburn loses its first game of the year to Arkansas, thanks to a big day by former Michigan quarterback Ryan Mallett.
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