There is NOT...

There is NOT another day to wait.  It is officially Game Day.  The season is now down to the CFP and today is the day.   There aren't any more days.  None.  This is it.  It is 'Go Time'.  But a quick look back at this surprising season is worthwhile.  Plenty of looking back has been done and the feel for literally 99.99% of fans is 'Wow, I never thought we'd actually get to the CFP', and for still many others it was more like 'Wow, I never thought we'd be above .500 this year'.  Fortunately we were all wrong to one degree or another, very, very wrong.  The season started strong and except for one ref-aided stumble in EL, has been a joy.  

A number of games have gone pretty much according to a common, positive script:  WMU, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland, IU among them.  Some others though got us concerned but at virtually every turn, the team pulled it out.  Washington was thought to be a serious anticipated foe, to be played at night.  It turned into an absolute paving and a great atmosphere.   And many started to think, 'Hey, we might make a season out of it after all'

But then the Rutgers game came along and, though it was a win, it was very unsatisfying as wins go.   If we were going to have a chance at beating ohio, shouldn't we have beaten Rutgers by a ton?  Well, that next week we went to Wisconsin where we hadn't won since Calvin Coolidge was President (okay, that is a bit exaggerated), a place where we were the recipients of a few pavings in Camp Randall.  Not this year.  Not by a long shot.  And for me and others we turned the corner on shrugging off some BPONE tendencies.   It was enough to make you want to, well, jump around

We went to Nebraska for a night game.  We were wary that they had more losses than their team talent and games seemed to indicate, a hard luck team that was determined to pull a close game out.  It was a back-and-forth affair, with us tying it late and looked to be heading into OT.  That is, until this happened:

And we knew that our team was starting to show some really special mettle, a backbone and ability to deal with difficult turns of events.    The MSU game started well but ended in a close, quirky loss (How is MSU so blessed?).  Not to fear, there is justice in the universe and it wasn't 9 days later they had been blown out at Purdue (Boiler Up!), we took care of IU, and there we were once again on top of little bro with our destiny back in our hands.  We had a tough game at PSU coming up and once again showed the ability to come back on the road in a difficult environment.   Eric All lead the way to victory finally with this dandy 47 yd TD scamper with 3:32 left in the game.

But the looming doom of November was always there.  The Red Menace, the team whose fans make Raiders fans (generally, parolees, prostitutes and gangsters) look like the Vanderbilt Alumni touchdown club.  A cheating kingdom built on lies, illegal payments, academic jokes and a consistent ethics problem as a big as a Matt Patricia waist band.  Loads of talent and swagger came into the Big House last month and got swatted down in epic fashion.  In what will likely go down as one of the single most memorable and enjoyable games of the 21st century, ohio got their heads handed to them 42-27, and it wasn't even that close.  In a game where Hassan Haskins scored 5 touchdowns, his greatest legacy might be this vision, hurdling a 'fool' in the 4th quarter, the particular one who tore Roman Wilson's helmet off.  Should be a poster in every maize and blue household. 

The joy of that game will not fade soon. It has given a glow to the season such that even beating Iowa that next week was almost like an afterthought. Nice as it was, Sauron had been defeated and that was what mattered most.  But we aren't done.  We have business to take care of today.  Georgia is alot like ohio, laden with talent like a shipment of stolen gold.  They aren't a rival but they are next up, the next thing we need to handle.  We are underdogs to all but us faithful fans and our players.  Sure, we might not prevail, but we know our team will show up with a great game plan on both sides of the ball and that our kids, high character, high achieving, loyal to each other and our great school, will give it everything they have.  And that is all we can ask.

May their efforts be rewarded with tremendous success.  May they truly leave it all on the field.  And no matter what, at the end of the day it will be a 'Hail to the Victors Valiant' for a season that has been off the charts.

There are NO MORE DAYS.  It is Game day.  Let's ring in the New Year in style.

Go Blue!

XM