Last weekend the national football scene saw three of the top five teams fall (USC, Georgia & Florida). I believe it is a safe bet that we will continue to see much of the same churning in the Top Ten of college football that we saw in 2007. In other years, I would be very excited for the likes of Penn State, which is ranked #6 going into this weekend. However, with the madness of college football we could see them quickly surge to a possible championship spot and then all of the way out of the top 20 in a short period. It would be great to see Joe Paterno land in a BCS game in his advanced years. This would be really sweet since not long ago the “Joe Must Go” campaign existed. In any case, I will quell my excitement with the Big Ten since I’ve already been let down once.
I admit I was drinking some of the “kool-aid” the Gophers were handing out after winning four games. I thought for sure their confidence level plus the weakness of Ohio State this year could have provided for a very interesting game last weekend. Instead, I was reminded of the Glen Mason era in which they look exceedingly good in the non-conference start and then are quickly sat down when playing the Big Ten schedule. However, this does not mean I have given up hope. I believe the Gophers can eke out two more wins to be bowl eligible and one of those wins could come this weekend.
GAME OF INTEREST
University of Minnesota "Golden Gophers" (4-1) vs. Indiana University “Hoosiers” (2-2) – 11am HHH Metrodome – Minneapolis, MN
Radio: WCCO – 830AM
TV: Big Ten Network
The Gophers are coming off a 34-21 drubbing from Ohio State. They managed to pick up some garbage points in mop-up time to make the score look respectable, but they were not in control of this game. This weekend they have an opportunity to get win number five in this halfway point in the season. Indiana is coming off a 49-29 loss to Michigan State (4-1). They function off of the play of QB Kellen Lewis, who is the leading rusher with 357 yards and their leading passer with 650 yards through the air this season. The Gophers need to get a handle on the Hoosier rushing game and they should come away with a home win.
Carleton College "Knights” (3-0) vs. St. Olaf College “Oles” (2-1) – 1:00pm Manitou Field – Northfield, MN
This game features these two longtime cross-town rivals. Normally, this game does not get much attention beyond the village of Northfield. This year we find these two clubs with only one loss after six games. Both Carleton and St. Olaf have a shot at the conference title this year with two of the top teams, St. John’s and Bethel, opening up the season with weak starts. The winner of this game should continue to cause trouble for the rest of the season in the MIAC. I am leaning towards a Carleton win.
Results from 9/27/08
Ohio State 34
Gophers 21
Carleton 33
Macalester 13
Concordia 27
Bethel 7
Augsburg 49
St. Olaf 21
Eric Fowler is in his fifth season as a freelance writer for vikings.com. He graduated from St. John’s University in 1998. He currently lives in St. Paul with his wife and 2 children and he works in Bloomington where he holds a position in personal finance. Eric was born and raised in Holdingford, MN. He can be reached via efowler57@hotmail.com