Just Another Saturday

I love Saturdays.

Ohio St. 31, Iowa 6. Ohio St. should've won 56-0, but two fumbles inside the Iowa 5 kept it from getting out of hand. The Buckeyes are clearly the best team in the Big 10, and they still aren't hitting on cylinders. This was their best performance of the year, yet Ted Ginn Jr. needs more touches, and Troy Smith needs to do a better job of hanging onto the ball.

Minnesota 42, Purdue 35 (2OT). Well, it appears there will be no fluke Big 10 champion. Purdue seemed to have it all lined up for them with no Ohio St. or Michigan on their schedule. But 214 yards from Laurence Moroney changed that. Purdue's defense was supposed to be their strength. The Gophers piled up 572 yards of offense. Whoops.

Wisconsin 23, Michigan 20. The Badgers beat the Wolverines for the first time since 1994. At the beginning of the year, I said Michigan and Oklahoma were overrated (both preseason top 10). Well, the Sooners are 1-2 and Michigan is now 2-2. Their offensive playcalling kills them, especially on the road. Wisconsin's Brian Calhoun is a gamer. He had 155 yards rushing to lead the Badgers. Also, I love "Jump Around" at the start of the 4th quarter. Yes, that classic House of Pain hit gets blasted over the Camp Randall Stadium PA system and the students go nuts.

Central Florida 23, Marshall 13. I wouldn't be surprised if the city of Huntington, West Virginia is up in flames after this game. The Golden Knights under coach George O'Leary (aka George O'Liar) broke the nation's longest losing streak with this win. Those poor Thundering Terd fans, just 1-2, and their lone win was a close one over 1-AA William & Mary.

Texas Tech 63, Indiana St. 7. Congrats to the Sycamores for their performance tonight. You may ask why I said this. Well, all week Tech coach Mike Leach said his team would try to score 100 points tonight against 1-AA ISU. As you can see, they didn't get there. Hey Mike Leach, PLAY SOMEBODY!!!!!!! Tech's nonconference schedule: Indiana St., Florida International, and Sam Houston St.

South Florida 45, Louisville 14. This was the shocker of the night. Da Bulls did it with misdirection plays. They scored on three trick plays. Louisville sleptwalked through this game. No matter how good you are, you can't sleepwalk through any game, especially against a team from Florida. Even South Florida, because Florida's 4th or 5th best high school players will be as good or even better as some of your top recruits.

The Top 10 will reappear Monday night after Tennessee/LSU.

The Presidents' Cup goes to Sunday tied at 11. It's nice to see the Americans playing well and with some spirit after their lackluster showing at last year's Ryder Cup. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have finally found partners, with Woods going 2-0-1 with Jim Furyk and Mickelson going 3-0-1 with Chris DiMarco.

Tomorrow's singles matches are:

Justin Leonard vs. Tim Clark. Both men are great putters. Clark is a little better at keeping the ball in play.

David Toms vs. Trevor Immelman. This match is a tossup. Toms's ailing heart vs. Immelman's rookie nerves.

Tiger Woods vs. Retief Goosen. Whoever finds the fairway more will win. Tiger's iron play and putting have been on while his driver hasn't. If Goosen can hit fairways and hit his wedges close, he'll be tough to beat.

Kenny Perry vs. Mark Hensby. These are two very streaky players. Hensby has been playing better of late, but Perry can make birdies in bunches.

Fred Couples vs. Vijay Singh. Couples started to show some signs Friday afternoon while Vijay made his first putt of 10 feet plus in 4 months. You have to like Vijay, especially the way he hits the ball. Freddie is going to need one of those rounds where he is on fire, especially with his putter.

Scott Verplank vs. Mike Weir. I was surprised Weir didn't play in Saturday's four-ball. He has found the game that won him the Masters. He's putting the ball in play and making everything on the greens. Verplank was unbeaten with Justin Leonard until Saturday afternoon. Does he have anything left for tomorrow???

Jim Furyk vs. Adam Scott. Furyk has showed his true grit, battling through a hurt rib cage to win 3 points. His putter may be the difference in the match. Scott is a great ball-striker, but is still inconsistent with the putter.

Fred Funk vs. Michael Campbell. This will be a tough match for Funk because Campbell is playing well. Campbell smoked Goosen in last week's World Match Play final and has made multiple clutch putts. Funk needs to stick to his game, fairways and greens, making an occasional bomb.

Davis Love III vs. Nick O'Hern. Love is looking to atone for his Sunday performance from 2 years ago when he could've won the Cup for the US. Instead, he chunked his chip on 18, forcing the competition to be tied. O'Hern lost his putting touch Saturday afternoon, he'll need it back to win.

Phil Mickelson vs. Angel Cabrera. Phil hasn't played great, but he hasn't played poorly either. He needs to get his putter going. Cabrera hits the ball a mile, but has been inconsistent around the greens this week. Will Cabrera be able to deal with playing in the next-to-last match???

Chris DiMarco vs. Stuart Appleby. Bulldog vs. Bulldog (well, Gator vs. Bulldog since DiMarco is a Florida grad). The intensity won't be lacking this match. DiMarco played really well Friday and Saturday, can he keep it up??? Appleby has never been able to take advantage of the big occasion (0 major wins), can he do it Sunday???

The golf, along with Da Bears trying to beat the Bungles and Big Ben in action against New England makes for a great Sunday.

Still, nothing beats the exciting and pageantry of Saturdays on campus.