Carrying the Big Ten flag: Michigan and Ohio State

It's never a bad Saturday when Michigan and Ohio State get embarrassed. First, it was the Wolverines against a thoroughly mediocre Notre Dame team. Michigan's special teams early on were just awful. Then I took a nap, woke up, and they were still losing and life was good.

Then we've got Ohio State losing big against USC. To be fair, the Buckeyes were missing Beanie Wells, and the Trojans might win the NFC South if given the chance. But it was very encouraging to see OSU look so vulnerable, even if no one else in the conference has athletes like Pete Carroll does.

A couple other notes:

-Kirk Herbstreit was fine in this game, but I always cringe when he's calling an Ohio State game. Why? Look at this picture, originally posted on the O-Zone. It's during the Fiesta Bowl where OSU won its referee-aided national title against Miami, and Herbie's celebrating with Eddie George. He's an alumnus, and a fan. How can he be counted on to call a Buckeye game even-handedly?

-Ohio State looked 10 times better with Terrelle Pryor in the game. USC couldn't just rear back and go whole-hog on the pass rush like they did when Boeckman was in at quarterback. It wouldn't be a shock to see Pryor get even more playing time; the every-other-play deal looks really awkward for a team as good as Ohio State.

-Saw the quote where Ohio State's Ray Small said that his school's football program is focused on making players better all-around men, while USC is just focused on football. Puh-leeeeeeeze! You've got to be kidding me ...

-Cal Poly opened the season by beating San Diego State. The next week, Notre Dame beat San Diego State by about the same margin. This week, Notre Dame beat Michigan by even more. So does that mean Cal Poly is better than Michigan? Our much-criticized non-conference schedule looks better every week.