MSU stats.

Now that I'm in a good mood, let's talk about the prison rape perpetrated by Javon Ringer and the Spartans against the hapless Hoosiers Saturday night. Here are the stats, in all their perverse glory. I'm not sure why I am bothering, frankly. Anyone who saw the game knows that breaking down the box score will yield no special insights. IU was outgained 558-193, and gained only 22 yards on the ground. Kellen Lewis has one nice run that was almost entirely negated by sacks. MSU possessed the ball for over 41 minutes and ran 90 plays to IU's 36. MSU ran the ball 67 f-ing times, and gained 368 yards for 5.5 per carry. Javon Ringer was right on his season average of 7 yards per carry. I thought the two key plays were the MSU fake field goal and the James Bailey fumble on the kickoff. Absent those plays, IU might have been able to fall into a shootout with MSU like NU did. Still, probably not. I don't think that MSU team that we saw Saturday night had made an appearance yet this season.

Of course, Penn State absolutely obliterated Wisconsin. Before Saturday, I had convinced myself that IU had a reasonable chance to win both the MSU and PSU games. Now, not so much.

And here's a thought on the Hoosiers and their efforts to become bowl eligible. IU last played in a bowl game in 1993. The 1994 team waqs eligible at 6-5 (7-4 in the record books because of a MSU forfeit, but really 6-5) , but did not get an invite. That team started 5-1, before the entire thing went south with a homecoming loss to Northwestern. The Hoosiers lost four in a row before winning the Bucket game at Purdue. Last season, IU improved to 5-4 with a win over MSU, but then lost badly at Minnesota, lost to Michigan, and lost at Purdue. With last night's loss tacked on, since the 1993 Independence Bowl, IU is 1-8 in games in which the Hoosiers could clinch bowl eligiblity. With Penn State and Wisconsin up next, that streak could grow.