Mark Hasty Posts

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" -- John Greenleaf Whittier

For Michigan it really might have been, if not for a dreadful game by Tate Forcier and the Wolverine offense. Rich Rodriguez's squad fell to Ohio State 21-10 today, keeping Michigan out of the postseason for the second year in a row.

Forcier threw four interceptions. He also fumbled in Michigan's end zone on the Wolverines' opening drive, which OSU recovered for a touchdown.

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten previews the upcoming weekend's games and ponders the meaning of it all, staring into the yawning existential void and calling a fullback dive on third-and-seven.

With one more loss, Michigan will become ineligible for a bowl game for the second season in a row. This has not happened since W.A. "Brad" Thornwhistle's disastrous first two seasons in 1847 and 1848. To avoid this horrible dishonor, all the Wolverines have to do is to beat Ohio State on Saturday. That will keep them alive for the Little Caesar's Pizza! Pizza! Bowl Bowl.

Below, former Buckeye Raymont Harris models the uniforms Ohio State will wear this weekend.
Your eyes don't deceive you. Raymont Harris still exists, and he's modeling the new throwback uniforms the Buckeyes will be wearing for this weekend's game at Michigan. This is where all you coastal and Southern types wonder aloud how anybody can tell if a Big Ten team is wearing a throwback uniform.

Of course, Columbus is the headquarters of Abercrombie and Fitch, Victoria's Secret, The Limited, and a few other fashion-type retailers. You'd expect some swanky threads on the Buckeyes sooner or later. But what else is going on in less fashionable parts of the conference?

Attention Elvis Presley: you will no longer have tickets waiting for you at Portland State's Will Call window. Your boy, Jerry Glanville, has been relieved of his duties as Portland State's head coach, according to KPTV.

Glanville, the larger-than-life former coach of the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons, is wrapping up his third season as the Vikings' head coach. Under his leadership Portland State has gone 9-24, with a 2-9 record this season. Oregon Live reports that attendance, always a concern for any FCS program, has hit its second-lowest point in 22 seasons.

Ohio State is going to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1997. The foot of former Major League Soccer player Devin Barclay gave the Buckeyes a 27-24 overtime win over the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday. Barclay's 39-yard kick came after Ohio State picked off Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg's desperation heave on the Hawkeyes' first possession of overtime.

Vandenberg, replacing the injured Ricky Stanzi, was unimpressive last week but performed much better after a week of preparation. The two defenses essentially dominated the game until the fourth quarter when OSU started running effectively and Iowa began to throw the ball almost at will.

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten previews the upcoming weekend's games and issues random taunts to overconfident fan bases.

Be careful what you ask for, college football fan. The very same Iowa team that so many of you desperately wanted to see lose lest the Big Ten get another team into the title game is now the only thing standing between Ohio State and the BCS. If the Hawkeyes can't pull off a ginormous upset in Columbus behind a quarterback making his first college start, you're going to get the Scarlet and Grey facing some honked-off Pac 10 team.

One little loss to Northwestern can change everything. Iowa looked like the team to beat in the Big Ten title race, but now that it has fallen to the Wildcats and Ohio State has beaten Penn State, all the momentum has moved back to Columbus. Technically, both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes control their own destiny. Whichever team wins Saturday's game is the presumptive conference champion.

Now go try to figure the odds that Iowa can win in the Horseshoe with a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first career start with no run support to speak of.

We finally figured out what sort of misfortune Iowa's Cardiac Kids couldn't survive. They couldn't survive losing Ricky Stanzi. As a result, No. 8 Iowa fell to unranked Northwestern on Saturday, 17-10.

The junior quarterback left just before halftime after Northwestern's Corey Wootton tackled him in the end zone. Stanzi sprained his right ankle and fumbled the ball. As Northwestern's Marshall Thomas recovered the fumble for a touchdown, Stanzi remained on the Kinnick Stadium turf. He would walk off the field on his own power, but Stanzi would not return to the game. Neither would Iowa's offense.

Breathe easier, America: the Iowa Hawkeyes' luck finally ran out. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi was injured just before halftime of today's 17-10 loss to Northwestern in Iowa City. Stanzi was tackled in his own end zone by Northwestern's Corey Wootton. He sprained his right ankle and fumbled the ball. Northwestern recovered the fumble for a touchdown.

Stanzi did not return to the game. Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg, who holds most of the state of Iowa's high school passing records, replaced him. Vandenberg's first pass was intercepted by the Wildcats.

ESPN cameras showed Stanzi on crutches and in a protective boot during the second half.

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten previews the weekend's games so Big Ten haters can get even more nervous.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the rest of the college football universe is sort of obsessed right now. They have a deep, lingering fear of Iowa winding up in the BCS Championship Game. That, to them, could only mean one of two things. The Hawkeyes could get blown out in a total snoozer. That would be bad. They could also win, which would be worse. Now what conference would they have to say is overrated? Their own?