Lions hang on to BCS bowl hopes

by Joseph Birmingham

Saturday November 14, 2009 

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There is a bit of a logjam in the Big Ten, with Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State all boasting 9-2 records, and ranked nationally at 10,11 and 18 prior to todays games.  The Big Ten Championship may boil down to a case of who blinks first.

PSU handled thier business today beating a better than their 4-7 record Indiana team.  But Ohio State took the lead in the conference title race by beating a very good Iowa team that is suddenly self destructing after being ranked as high as #4 at 9-0 two weeks ago.  Ohio State has a single loss in the Big Ten compared to the Lions and Hawkeyes with 2 apiece.   It took the Buckeyes 60 minutes and then some as the Hawkeyes came roaring back from a 14 point deficit, but an overtime field goal clinched the win and a Rose Bowl berth for Ohio State, their first since 1985.

The Lions, meanwhile, came close to self destructing themselves with 4 first half turnovers against Indiana, but on senior day, 2 juniors played well enough to get them the win, and keep them alive for a BCS berth themselves.  Indiana is not as bad as their record appears, this is a team that led late against Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa before giving up big plays late and taking the loss.  The Hoosiers could be 8-3 if the ball had bounced their way.

The Lions led in all scoring statistics except passing as Paterno notched his 392nd win all time.  The Lions lost to Ohio State last week and improved to 11-1 in games following a loss over the past five years.   It is remarkable they have only lost 12 games in the past five years, they possess the ninth best record in NCAA football over that span.   OSU still has to face Michigan while PSU has Michigan State in their season finale.

It is likely Penn State will not play 1/1/10 and go to the Alamo Bowl instead.  Some bloggers have PSU at 8-3, perhaps they didnt watch the second half at Indiana ??  At any rate, I will continue to watch and hope for the best, as will the 100,000+ faithful that routinely show up in Happy Valley for the Lions home games.   It is hard to argue the merits of the Lions post season hopes when they could finish as the 3rd best team in the Big Ten with losses to Ohio State and Iowa and a lackluster strength of schedule.

Paterno is being asked again about retirement, and you can tell this irks the coach as he prepares to finish the season on a winning note, and maintains the 3rd best win total in college football coaching history.  Next week the Big Ten finales should prove very interesting and you can never tell what is going to happen as these teams are almost all capable of beating one another on any given Saturday.

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