Last weekend was special. A November day in South Bend to see the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Virginia Cavaliers. ND won 35-14. It wasn’t that close.
The last time I was here the temperature at kickoff was 21 degrees and the wind was howling out of the North. I have never been colder in my life. Still, it was a great time as my Dad and I watched the Irish defeat the BYU Cougars.
Last Saturday, it was me and my old friend and Irish fan Kelly Samons. We met in 1979.
The Irish have a balanced attack. Quarterback Riley Leonard will likely not lose a game for you. And he won’t exactly set the world on fire either. The Irish running game hold the bacon. Running back Jeremyiah Love had 137 yards on 16 carries. Love can fly.
On to this week..
The last time the Indiana Hoosiers beat the Ohio State Buckeyes was in 1988. I was twenty. The Hoosiers didn’t win, they annihilated the Bucknuts 41-7. This was on the greatest and awestruck games I have ever seen. We couldn’t believe what we were watching.
Anthony Thompson ran for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns that day in October 1988. I was there.
Tomorrow will be the time for this year’s Indiana Hoosiers to bring it out in Columbus and take care of business. Indiana wins if they can win the turnover battle, contain Quinshon Judkins on the corners when he carries the ball, and not miss a bunch of tackles. On offense, the Hoosiers will need to make hay on first down. First down has to be kind to them. Getting to 3rd and long against OSU’s defense will not work well. Also, if you can get points early take them. Don’t get too cute with going for it inside the 30 on 4th down. The name of the game is to score now when it matters. The touchdowns will come.
Storyline #1 for me is seeing Kurtis Rourke, Indiana’s quarterback, go to the Horseshoe and put on a show. He played 4 years at Ohio University down south in Athens and played games in a stadium that held less than a-fourth of Ohio Stadium’s 102,000-plus capacity. This is a big deal for Kurtis Rourke. That is the story I want to see come through.
No 10-0 team has ever taken the beating the Indiana Hoosiers have taken from a biased media that just can’t give credit where credit is due. Paul Finebaum this week said that if the Indiana Hoosiers played in the SEC that the Hoosiers would have 6 losses. Paul Finebaum indeed. The SEC really just needs to leave the NCAA at this point and just play among themselves. That is the only logical answer. The rest of us would get along just fine without them. If they could pull off a TV deal like the Big Ten did, the SEC would not be quite as obnoxious they are. Speaking of Saturdays in the South, this week former Auburn football coach and fledgling politician Tommy Tuberville said that “Indiana we out and bought them a team.” He was referencing the state of NIL in college football. Hate to tell you Tommy Boy, the Hoosiers don’t have SEC NIL money yet.
Last week saw 8 winning picks and 6 losers. Not a good week. Not a good week at all. The season total is 122 winners and 46 losers. Let’s go!
Indiana beats Ohio State… Yes. IU wins by 10. 41-31 perhaps. Since 1988 the Hoosiers are 0-30-1 against the Buckeyes I believe. The last time the Hoosiers won in Columbus was 1987. Then coach Earle Bruce called it “The Darkest Day in Ohio State Football…” It’s time. This is Indiana’s time and Paul Finebaum will have another excuse.
Iowa beats Maryland… Can the Hawkeyes lose at Maryland in November? I don’t think so. I know the Iowa boys are down.
North Carolina beats Boston College… In a close one, the Tarheels, who achieved bowl-eligibility last week win this one in good fashion.
Ole Miss beats Florida… Looks like UF is going to hang on to Coach Napier after a late season rally. Lane Kiffin would not look good in Gator blue anyway. The latest CFP has Indiana hosting Ole Miss. This will change and gladly so. That would be no fun for me.
SMU beats Virginia… SMU has team speed that UVA won’t be able to stay with.
Colorado beats Kansas… The Jayhawks are having a tough season of close losses. The Buffs won’t keep this one close. Look for Travis Hunter to pull away in the Heisman race after this one.
Texas beats Kentucky… The Wildcats go to Austin! Poor kitties.
Michigan beats Northwestern… I remember when Northwestern beat Michigan in their run to The Rose Bowl in 1995. Not today.
Penn State beats Minnesota… Some are calling this one a close one with Minnesota at home. I don’t think so. Penn State is like Ohio State and Indiana. They are all playing for EVERYTHING. Oregon has punched their ticket to Indy for the Big Ten Championship Game.
Louisville beats Pitt… Louisville has to be one of the unluckiest teams of the season. Careless and foolish penalties costed them at Stanford last week. Standford wins on a 52-yard field goal on the last play of the game due to penalties.
Notre Dame beats Army… Too much speed. Army won’t be able to hang with the Irish.
Alabama beats Oklahoma… I don’t remember watching these two tradition-rich schools playing. Should be fun to watch for a quarter for sentimental reasons if nothing else.
LSU beats Vandy… We’ll see if LSU can take down a Vandy team that beat the Crimson Tide and narrowly lost to Texas. Oh, my mistake. These are all playoff worthy teams of course…
UCLA beats USC… The Bruins have found a better way to play. Seems like it took them half the season to get in sync offensively. They came close to beating Penn State in Happy Valley. The Indiana Hoosiers torched the Bruins in The Rose Bowl in September. Words typed wearing a UCLA sweatshirt.
Have a great time of it tomorrow!
Speaking the rights…
Danny Johnson