Your Home of the Oregon ILLINI. Oskee Wa Wa!

What a great day in sports. What a Saturday of Grid-Iron action! Sox up 3 games to 1 over LA. Crazy Crazy NUTS......lay me down on a couch and close the door. I need some therapy. God Bless the BIG - 10!

Just glad to be a witness to it all. Of course, the SC - ND game was another instant classic. A game for the ages. But if you missed how Wisconsin, Michigan, BC, and West Virginia won their games you missed a lot of awesome action in this the best week of the year to date. Wow....oh those special teams plays! How big are they? Just ask Michigan State and Minnesota.

Pick EM is a mess at the top. Instead of separation, there is congestion. Scarvie and Hamilton made big moves today in the ranks. Horton, on the back of BYU, moves into first - for now. Congrats to all. Page 1 or bust!

How did Minnesota lose the AXE at home with a 10-point lead to the loley Badgers? How did Michigan come back against Joe Pa's squad with only 18 seconds in the game? BC mounted an amazing 2nd half-comeback in the rain of Boston to beat Wake Forest. And I still don't know how Louisville gave away their lead to West Virginia in the foothills (and my 7 points to boot). I mean Louisville was up by 17 points at one point only to have some freshe score 6 TD's in the 2nd half and win it for the Mountaineers. Amazing...at least my ILLINI didn't lose today (they didn't play either). Is that right, Virginia over FSU? What a crazy Saturday in college football. Here we go with the wrap:

1) In probably the biggest game of the year to date, SC mounted an amazing 4th quarter comeback (twice) to put the IRISH to bed once and for all. Wow - how about the 4th and 8 conversion which almost went the distance - Leinart to Jarrett? Then there was the gutsy goal-line call with time running out that game the Trojans a 34-31 victory. Matt Leinart was heroic. But, Reggie Bush probably won the Heisman Trophy tonight on the biggest stage in college football. The guy is flat-out electric and fun to watch. The Trojans march on with #28 in a row. Tough loss for the IRISH and their faithful. With 7 lead changes today, this is as good as it gets in sports. ND has never beaten a #1 - ranked SC squad. Jesus had 9 points on SC as well.

Was this the best regular - season college game ever? Maybe, but don't forget the following:

a) ND 31 - FSU 24 (1993)
b) ND 31 - Miami 30 (1988)
c) BC 47 - Miami 45 (1984)
d) Neb 35 - Okla 31 (1971)

To answer my own question, with so much on the line - probably yes.

2) Bama squeaked past Ole Miss today. Are you kidding me? This was my 10-point game. A sure thing. The Rebels almost cost me 10 points. But in the end Bama was just good enough to win it in regulation on a last second field-goal. Not an impressive victory, but a win nonetheless. The dream season continues for another week. How long with it last?

3) Wisconsin somehow retains the AXE for another year in probably the greatest collapse of the season. Up 10 points with 2 minutes to go, how do you give up 14 points? Minnesota dominated the game, especially in the 2nd half with their running game. Maroney and Russell were amazing. Then the blocked punt which went for a TD (and not a safety). Hello - take the safety next time. Ugh - this one cost me 3 points. What a wild game. I can't remember a bigger collapse in modern times. This one has to hurt. The metro-dome is still stunned!

4) Thank you Michigan - I'm not sure how you did it but thank you for my 1 point today. You finally came through for me after 3 losses. What an amazing comeback at home to beat a solid Penn State Squad on a TD with no time left on the clock. Why do you kick to Breaston with the game on the line and a 4 point lead? I thought for sure it was over when Robinson scored leaving BIG BLUE only 18 seconds ont he game clock. I love freshmen receivers on slant plays with no time left. Tough loss for the LIONS. Sorry Mark.

5) Ah, West Virginia - you cost me 7 points today. Rather, what happened to Louisville? Ugh! How do you blow a 17 point lead in the 2nd half to WV? I mean it was 24-7 Louisville in the 4th quarter until their freshmen stud (Slaton) had 6 TD's in the 2nd half in a 3OT thriller for the ages. This had to be the most exciting game of the day. Louisville continues to prove that they struggle on the road in big games.

6) The TEXAS schools looked good today, especially the Longhorns and the Red Raiders. Both had convincing victories. Next week they face each other. Vince Young and Cody Hodges had ridiculous numbers today (643 passing yards for Cody, what?). Vince Young only went 25-29 for 339 yds, whoa nelly! This should be a good game. And when the BCS numbers come out this week, TEXAS should be #2 and not VA TECH.

7) Boston College showed me something today in their comeback victory against WAKE FOREST at home in the rain. It didn't look good until late in the 2nd half after being down 20points early. But, that was a gutty comeback by the EAGLES under difficult circumstances. Good teams find ways to win at all costs. A little luck never hurts either.

8) LSU hung on to beat a weak Florida offense today, but just barely surviving 5 turnovers. I thought this was going to cost me 8 points and be a repeat of Tennesse there for a while. LSU did their best to lose this game in the first 3 quarters. But Florida is so anemic on offense these days that it what wasn't meant to be. Geaux Tigers! It wasn't pretty, but it was a win.

9) Northwestern beat Purdue today in West Lafayette. Wow, this is another big win for the program. Nobody in the BIG -10 right now wants to play the Wildcats, especially in Evanston. They could be undefeated in BIG-10 play were it for not an amazing Nittany Lion comeback a few weeks ago. The purple crew is back.

10) Ohio State found a way to beat Michigan State today. That field-goal block/return before halftime was the spark the BUCKS needed. Leave it to SPARTY to find a way to beat itself. There is something about Michigan State which is Cougaresque. I almost expect them to shoot one or both feet off at some point during a big game. Another total collapse on special teams. The coaching staff really had a hand in this loss; thank you. John L. Smith was furious, and rightly so. Holy Cow! What great Audio by the Spartan head coach heading into the halftime break. Gotta love it. Ohio State had 12 sacks in this game. Wow!

11) Auburn looks to be for real this year. BIG win today over Arkansas. UCLA also had a good win in OT today against Wazzu. The Cougars are great at finding ways to lose games. They 'coug'd' it again! That USC matchu-up in LA is looking better and better each week. Both the DUCKS and BEAVS won today. OSU had an impressive road victory in Strawberry Canyon today over the BEARS. Will be interesting to see how high the ducks climb in the polls this week.

12) Linfield College (McMinnville). Congrats on 50 straight winning seasons of college football. Very impressive.

Mirek's Top - 10:

1) USC
2) TEXAS
3) VA TECH
4) Georgia
5) MIAMI
6) BC
7) BAMA
8) Texas Tech
9) LSU
10) UCLA (Notre Dame a close #11).

Your Heisman Winner: Reggie BUSH (for now). Leinart, Vick, and Young still have an outside chance. Everybody else is just figting for a seat in New York.

Bring on week 8 and the following match-ups:

TT @ Texas
BYU @ ND
Auburn @ LSU
Penn State @ ILLINOIS
Tennessee @ Alabama
Northwestern @ Michigan State
Princeton @ Harvard

Don't forget the BCS comes out this week. Let the controversy begin.