Saturday, October 21, 2006

Offense vs. Defense

Today has been a most interesting sports day in Big Ten football. The 2 games that we watched today really demonstrated a defensive donnybrook by Michigan, and an offensive onslaught by Michigan State.

Michigan and Iowa had super defenses, and it was a very hard-played, hard-hitting game. Iowa was held to 2 fieldgoals for their total of 6 points. State and Northwestern scored a combination of 79 points - wow, that's a lot of offense.

Starting with our favorite, the U of M, they beat Iowa 20-6 - it wasn't easy, but they did it. My Dad, the football coach, always used to quote the old adage "The best offense is a good defense." Michigan is still undefeated and still #2 in the country. This from mgoblue:

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Football Remains Undefeated With Win Over Hawkeyes
Mike Hart rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns to lead the No. 2-ranked Michigan football team to a hard-fought 20-6 win over Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Michigan Stadium. After Iowa tied the game 3-3 in the third quarter, Steve Breaston returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards to set up the go-ahead drive, with Hart punching it in from nine yards for a 10-3 lead. Hart, who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season, clinched the win with a 10-yard TD run with 3:59 left in the game, and Garrett Rivas booted two field goals.
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Earlier, Michigan State set an NCAA record for the biggest comeback win of all time. Nothwestern had the game won 38 to 3 in the middle of the third quarter. Who could have predicted that State would go on to score 38 points from then on and win the game 41-38. What a performance. This from USA Today:
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Trailing 38-3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter against Northwestern, Michigan State scored the next 38 points, the greatest comeback in NCAA Division I-A history.
Sometimes a comeback results in more than just a win. Sometimes it even saves a season. With the 41-38 victory, Michigan State (4-4, 1-3 Big Ten) ended its four-game losing streak.