College Football 2007 - Week 11: Illinois Upends Ohio State 28-21, Creating a Scramble for the BCS Championship Game

Ed's Sports Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Ron Zook, who was drummed out as Florida's head coach after failing to duplicate Steve Spurrier's record with the Gators, regained a measure of respect by motivating his Fighting Illini to a 28-21 upset of No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Ohio State Saturday (11-10-07).

The victory marked the first time Illinois (8-3) had beaten a No. 1-ranked team since 1956, and the first time it had done it away from home. The loss ended Ohio State's conference and school streak of 20 consecutive Big 10 wins by the Buckeyes, who are now 10-1.

The defeat not only dampened Ohio State's dream of a national championship, it left the Buckeyes tied with Michigan for the top spot in the Big 10 as Wisconsin upset Michigan 37-21 the same day.

Not since Nov. 14, 1959 had Michigan and Ohio State both lost the week before their annual year-end grudge match to decide the Big 10 title. This is how it is in the Big 10, tiresome and boring as in recent years it is always Ohio State or Michigan capturing the title. Other Big 10 teams compete but never seem to challenge for the title.

Illinois picked up 260 yards rushing against Ohio State that came into the game giving up only 65 yards on the ground per game. This was not a huge surprise as the Illini now rank 6th in rushing offense nationally, gaining 261 yards per game. In other words, Illinois was on its game and Ohio State was not.

Zook had a slow start as the Illinois head coach, going 2-9 and 2-10 his first two years before picking up his 8th win Saturday against 3 losses. Zook was 1-15 in his first two years of Big 10 Conference play, going 0-8 his first year. You can bet the other Big 10 coaches know who Ron Zook is now.

Was Ohio State looking past Illinois to Michigan? I think so. The Buckeyes droopped to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

No. 13-ranked Michigan (now 8-3) was knocked off by Wisconsin (also 8-3), 37-21. The Badgers meant business at home by taking a 23-7 lead into the 4th quarter and matching the Wolverines 2 touchdowns to keep their point margin and preserve their victory. Michigan slid to No. 23 in the AP Poll.

No. 8-ranked Boston College (8-2) got stung for the second straight week, this time by Maryland (5-5), 42-35. All of the talk about the Eagles vaunted defense is fading away faster than fog on a hot summer day.

Other teams that were embarrassed this week included No. 16-ranked Connecticut (8-2), which lost to Cincinnati (obviously a better 8-2 team), 27-3, and No. 21-ranked Alabama (now 6-4) which was upended by Mississippi State, (also 6-4), 17-12.

Imagine, Mississippi State, which has been the doormat of the SEC for years, rises up and whips Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide. Even if the Bulldogs lose to Arkansas and in-state rival Mississippi, Mississippi State is already bowl eligible.

Alabama should handle Louisiana-Monroe next week and become bowl eligible with its 7th victory.

The loss by Ohio State allowed some other contenders to show off a little against much weaker competition. Here are some examples:

1) No. 2-ranked LSU (9-1) blistered No. 107-rated Louisiana Tech (4-6), 58-10.

2) No. 4-ranked Oklahoma (9-1) ripped No. 119-rated Baylor (3-8), 52-21.

3) No. 19-ranked Boise State (9-1) rolled past hapless No. 166-rated Utah State (0-10), 52-0. Despite its rating, Utah State is a Division 1A school.

Only two 1A teams remain unbeaten—No. 5-ranked Kansas (10-0) and No. 14-ranked Hawaii (9-0). The Jayhawks spotted No. 49-rated Oklahoma State (5-5) 4 touchdowns but still won 43-28.

The Hawaii Warriors, ranked No. 14 but rated No. 29 by Sagarin, were outscored 14-3 in the 4th quarter by No. 74-rated Fresno State (6-4) but outlasted the Bulldogs, 37-30, to stay undefeated. Hawaii moved up to 13th in Sunday's new AP Poll.

In two weeks, Hawaii will host Boise State, now ranked 17th in the Poll, and a serious threat, even in an away game, to beat the Warriors. Boise State is not to be confused with the cupcakes Hawaii has been playing all season. After the Boise State game, we will find out who is bad and who is sad.

The fact that Kansas and Hawaii are the only two unbeaten teams left should come as no surprise for two reasons. One, Hawaii is 1st (50 points per game) and Kansas 2nd (45 ppg) nationally in scoring offense, and two, Kansas' strength of schedule is 97th and Hawaii's is 157th among 119 Division 1A schools, not exactly impressive in either case.

Two other games deserve notice: the Navy-North Texas fiasco and the looming Harvard –Yale showdown in the Ivy League.

No. 77-rated Navy (6-4) hung on for dear life to beat No. 180-rated North Texas (1-8), 74-62, in a game without a shred of defense that set a new major college record for a combined game score. The 94 first-half points (North Texas led 49-45) and the 63 combined points in the 2nd quarter both set major college scoring records.

Just two weeks earlier, Weber State outlasted Portland State, 73-68, to set the all-divisions record.

These basketball-score football games tend to confuse everyone. Clearly, there is more interest in a 73-68 game than a 6-3 pushing match that highlights defensive play. That said, these high-scoring games are getting ridiculous. They remind me of Little League baseball scores before they put on limits so everyone could go home and get to bed on time.

Harvard (7-2) beat Penn (3-6) 23-7 and Yale (9-0) remained undefeated, winning at Princeton (another 3-6 team), 27-6, to set up a huge showdown at Yale in the 1-AA Ivy League. Both Harvard (rated 152nd) and Yale (rated 100th) are a perfect 6-0 in league play and will meet undefeated for the first time since 1968 with the title on the line.

Last year Yale beat Harvard at Harvard 34-13 to claim a share of the Ivy League title with Princeton. The win over Harvard last year was its first since 2000. Stay tuned to this match-up as it is serious business in the New England area.

Note: Read my College Football Weekly Wrap-Up Articles on the first 10 weeks of the season in my Sports Archives, and especially weeks 3, 4 and 7: "6 Top 25 Teams Lose and Nosedive; 4 Others Join the Top 25 Poll", "20 Games, 1,560 Points = 78 Points Per Game, Good Grief, Where's the Defense?" and "Top 2 Ranked Teams Get Burned; Now There Are Only 6 Undefeated Teams Left".

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