Big Ten is in a boring State
CHRIS DUFRESNE ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No one wants to see this conference in the BCS title game again, do they?
Penn State kicked a field goal, and then Ohio State did.
Ohio State tacked on another, and then Penn State missed one.
And then, late, an Ohio State quarterback fumbled, and before you knew it people were pulling Penn State's backup quarterback out of a goal-line pile that resulted, with 6 minutes 25 seconds left, in the game's only touchdown.
Joe Paterno, relegated to the Ohio Stadium press box, looked down from high above, with Woody Hayes possibly peering down from even higher.
What tension, what drama, what a job by the chain gang moving those sticks. . . . what in Helena was that?
It was Penn State 13, Ohio State 6, that's what it was.
And you wonder why no one wants to see the Big Ten Conference champion back in another national title game.
On a day when top-10 Florida and Texas Tech each scored 63 points, Oklahoma scored 58 and Georgia scored 52, Ohio State and Penn State pounded each other senseless, and almost pointless, in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State is finally two-loss dead, a national nuisance no more, but now Penn State lives and breathes and lurks.
The Nittany Lions are three wins -- against Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State -- from finishing 12-0.
Whether that delivers Penn State to the Bowl Championship Series title game Jan. 8 in South Florida depends on what happens on the field and what gurgles in six computers.
Penn State is No. 3 in the BCS, and probably needs a loss from No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Alabama to get in, if you believe the undefeated champions of this year's best two conferences, the Big 12 and the Southeastern, deserve to settle it on the field.
If it's a close race, though, with three unbeaten teams vying for two spots, might the USA Today voting coaches turn on the Tide in order to make sure Paterno is not denied?
If the choice is between Nick Saban or Paterno?
The coaches turned on Michigan, their No. 1 in 1997, to make sure Nebraska's outgoing coach, Tom Osborne, got half a share of the crown. In 2003, the coaches turned on USC, too, delivering first-place votes to Louisiana State on election day.
Texas and Alabama each won Saturday, but chances are one or both will slip up eventually, which would put Penn State in position to deliver a fairy-tale ending to its hobbling coach, who turns 82 in December.
And if this happens, who cares if the story might be better than another Big Ten team getting sent to defeat against the SEC.
