Just five days ago, Ohio State looked as if it might have the inside track on an appearance in the national championship game.
With undefeated teams such as Kansas State, Oklahoma and Nebraska all playing each other — the Sooners beat the Wildcats 41-31 Saturday — the Buckeyes simply had to coast through their Big Ten schedule and likely would have been one of the two teams left standing in the Orange Bowl hunt.
All of that came crashing down as Ohio State suffered a crushing 29-17 defeat at home to Minnesota.
“As everybody knows by now, we did not play a very good game last week. We got beat by what I thought was a very good Minnesota team,” said coach John Cooper, whose Buckeyes fell behind early against the Gophers. “First time we wake up, it’s about 17-3. And I give (the Gophers) credit. They completely outplayed us in the first half.”
Now, the Buckeyes find themselves right back in the mess at the top of the Big Ten standings, a half-game behind Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue.
If there’s any consolation for the Buckeyes, it comes in the form of this week’s opponent, Iowa. Last week, Illinois ended its two-game losing streak by blowing out the Hawkeyes, 31-0.
Still, Cooper’s team will have to get back to playing its best football if it wants to have a chance at the Rose Bowl in January.
“If one team plays pretty well and the other team doesn’t play their best ballgame anything can happen,” he said. “I think that’s the nature of college football not only in the Big Ten but all over the country right now.
“We look forward to regrouping this week against the Iowa Hawkeyes.”
THE LAST CHANCE: All may not be lost for Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions this sesaon. Coming off of a bye, the Penn State coach hopes his team will be able to gel and play well down the stretch to create a semblance of a decent season.
“We’ve played hard every game but we’ve made some mental mistakes,” Paterno said.
The bye week has been helpful for other teams so far, which may mean that Saturday’s game against Illinois will be Penn State’s best shot to turn things around.
“Well I think every one’s pivotal for us. It’s a little different being 3-2 and being 2-5 as we are,” Paterno said. “Yeah, I think it’s a big game for us. Pivotal, must — all those kinds of words aren’t in my vocabulary but I think it’s an important game and I think it’s a game that would certainly be a great one for this squad to win.”
ILLINI FIGHTING AGAIN: Illinois coach Ron Turner thinks his season might have gotten the jumpstart it needed. Having two weeks to prepare for Iowa allowed the Fighting Illini to get healthy and refocus.
“We needed the break physically,” Turner said. “We needed the break mentally. It also gave some of our young guys an opportunity. We’re playing four or five true freshmen. It gave them another six padded practices to try and get a little bit better.”
The Illini, now healthy and rested, still have an outside shot at the Rose Bowl, although their two losses probably mean the best they can hope for is a lesser postseason bowl.
BOLLINGER IFFY: Wisconsin sophomore quarterback Brooks Bollinger’s status was still in doubt Tuesday. He suffered a concussion in the first half against Michigan State Saturday and was replaced at halftime by redshirt freshman Jim Sorgi in the Badgers’ 17-10 win.
“Brooks is getting better every day, ” coach Barry Alvarez said before Tuesday’s practice. “We’ll give him another day to settle down.”
Bollinger had been undefeated in his career as a starter until suffering three consecutive losses to open the Big Ten season.
