Andy

Derek Anderson is 14/36. Not even four yards a pass attempt. This is one of the most predictable one-year-wonder flameouts in the history of sports. How bad will Crennel let it get is the question.

Insanely predictable. If you're the Jags, you have no damn excuse for running from the 5 yard line on 3rd and goal up 3 unless it's some sort of spread-draw type run, because you KNOW Peyton is going to kill you on the final drive.

Derek Anderson is 11/25 with a touchdown and 2 picks, one of which was returned for a score, and Cleveland is losing again. Meanwhile, Brady Quinn still on the bench.

My immediate response would be "we obviously traded him to the Cardinals".

So if the Mets lose we clinch HFA? Or do the Phils still have a chance to take it then?

I'll be down in Muncie for my first homecoming as a Ball State alum. A 5-0 start should be a given, but it should be interesting to see how BSU fares in their first game without #86, who suffered a career-ending, but luckily not otherwise damaging, cervical spinal fracture at IU last Saturday. Purdue/ND should not be very interesting at all. The Brady Quinn days seem like a decade ago when I watch the Irish play offense. Should manage more points against Purdue, though.

The HFA magic number would also fall to 2 if that held, I believe. Three more outs from our JV beating the Cardinals again.

If I had to pick one Cub in my ideal world to hit some sort of huge walk-off homer in the hypothetical NLCS or World Series, I'd probably pick Ramirez first (just because), but then probably Edmonds. An Edmonds walk-off, especially if it were a World Series game, would knock his Cardinals' NLCS homer down a few pegs, and I'd also like it for the sheer insanity of the circumstance. Good to see Gaudin back. Bad to see him walking people.

Carolina's offensive line continues to commit ludicrous amounts of penalties, resulting in a 3rd and 39 from our own 6. Classic Panthers to grit out two wins without Smith then crap the bed as soon as he comes back.

Sick, but expected. SEC sportswriters are delusional and Big 12 sportswriters tend not to be.

20-10 Vikes with 9 minutes to go. A loss in this game after the last two would be pretty typical for Carolina. But they could just be setting me up for another miraculous rally.

A Murton special by Casey McGehee.

It speaks volumes about how bad that Buffalo (and to a larger extent the MAC) is that I took it as a moral victory that it took until a little past halfway into the 3rd quarter for Mizzou to totally put Buffalo away.

It's now been 5 minutes or so of game time since Carolina led 10-0. Good job, guys. Really need to answer here.

Nothing is ever easy for the Panthers, even when they're (possibly) good. Took about 2 minutes to turn a 10-0 lead into a 10-10 tie with a minute left in the half.

Top 25 games ----------------- (1) USC at Oregon State (9 pm Thursday, ESPN) (24) TCU at (2) Oklahoma (7 pm) (8) Alabama at (3) Georgia (7:45 pm, ESPN) Ole Miss at (4) Florida (12:30 pm, ESPN360) Mississippi State at (5) LSU (7:30 pm, ESPN2) Arkansas at (7) Texas (3:30 pm, ABC - Regional) (9) Wisconsin at Michigan (3:30 pm, ABC - Regional) (22) Illinois at (12) Penn State (8 pm, ABC - Regional) (13) South Florida at NC State (7:30 pm, ESPNU) Minnesota at (14) Ohio State (12 pm, Big Ten) Tennessee at (15) Auburn (3:30 pm, CBS) Navy at (16) Wake Forest (3:45 pm, ESPNU) Weber State at (17) Utah (8 pm) Maryland at (20) Clemson (12 pm, ESPN360) Houston at (23) East Carolina (3:30 pm, CSTV) (25) Fresno State at UCLA (3:30 pm, ABC - Regional) Other games of interest ------------------------------ Connecticut at Louisville (8 pm Friday, ESPN2) Northwestern at Iowa (12 pm) Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan (12 pm, ESPN360) Michigan State at Indiana (12 pm) Pittsburgh at Syracuse (12 pm, ESPN360) Kent State at Ball State (12 pm, ESPN360) Virginia at Duke (12 pm, ESPNU) Purdue at Notre Dame (3:30 pm, NBC) Marshall at West Virginia (3:30 pm, ESPN360) Colorado at Florida State (3:30 pm, ABC - Regional) UAB at South Carolina (7 pm) Western Kentucky at Kentucky (7 pm, ESPN360) Holy Cross at Georgetown (1 pm) UC Davis at Northeastern (1 pm) Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois (7 pm) Other nationally televised games ----------------------------------------- SMU at Tulane (8 pm Thursday, CSTV) Virginia Tech at Nebraska (8 pm, ABC – Regional) Central Florida at UTEP (8 pm, CSTV) Mississippi Valley State at Alabama State (8 pm Thursday, ESPNU)

AP poll: 1. USC (62) 2-0 1,621 2. Oklahoma 3-0 1,484 3. Georgia (2) 4-0 1,475 4. Florida (1) 3-0 1,442 5. LSU 3-0 1,363 6. Missouri 4-0 1,360 7. Texas 3-0 1,174 8. Alabama 4-0 1,132 9. Wisconsin 3-0 1,091 10. Texas Tech 4-0 962 11. Brigham Young 4-0 919 12. Penn State 4-0 891 13. South Florida 4-0 798 14. Ohio State 3-1 790 15. Auburn 3-1 785 16. Wake Forest 3-0 711 17. Utah 4-0 574 18. Kansas 3-1 555 19. Boise State 3-0 363 20. Clemson 3-1 300 21. Vanderbilt 4-0 242 22. Illinois 2-1 224 23. East Carolina 3-1 201 24. TCU 4-0 117 25. Fresno State 2-1 105

From the Star Press: His football career is over, but how great to hear that he is otherwise ok. 86

Awesome video. Make them forever.

Seconded. The only problem is that song is only about 2 and a half minutes and I imagine you'll have that video last at least 8 minutes if we win.

Very good song. I immediately added the mp3 link from Hire Jim Essian to my computer.

I'll get a division champs shirt if we don't make the World Series (even though I won't be happy about it, I still like having something to commemorate the season), an NL champs shirt and probably something else if we lose the World Series, and everything possible if we win. That's been my general philosophy with all my teams for a while.

Echoed what everyone else said. FWIW, it could've been much worse for IU. Ball State fumbled in IU's red zone, missed a field goal, and gave up a TD on the play Love got hurt on. Still no word on Love. I'm getting a little worried. A poster on the small fansite BSUFans.com claims to have a source that says Love has a 'fractured fifth vertebra', but that's the closest we have to anything right now.

Len is about the greatest human being alive. This may be an exaggeration, but I doubt it.

What a great signature victory for Ball State. 42-20, shutting out IU for the second half, both our front lines shoving IU around all while our top playmaker lay in a hospital bed with Lord knows what's wrong. And there's no one left on the schedule that should be able to touch the Cardinals until the penultimate game of the season in Mt. Pleasant against Central Michigan. Should get a lot more than one vote in the AP poll next week.