Monday, October 16, 2006

I have just one question to axe you

How many m's are in "dominated?" Is it one, or zero? Can I exclude the m? Because the m's I saw on Saturday weren't doing much of anything. I figure their presence was superfluous.

How about the n's? Is the word spelled doMINNation? Are there two n's?

On Saturday, Minnesota's football team went the way its academic reputation, admissions standards, campus atmosphere, and location do when compared to the University of Wisconsin: on the losing end of a ridiculously one-sided battle.

Obviously, it was nice to see everything come together for the Badgers. PJ Hill was his usual badass self, turning in another 150+ yard effort and finding the end zone twice. John Stocco was on the freakin' money with FOUR touchdown passes. I know that the Gophers don't have a secondary, but the fact that receivers were (a) catching the ball and (b) making it to the end zone is very, very, very encouraging. The only negatives were the blocked extra point that got returned for two points, and the fact that the axe was already sitting on the Wisconsin sideline so the linemen didn't have to rush over and take it from the stoopid Gophers.

And that's not to mention the defense. Jack Ikegwuonu had an insane game, setting the tone by running back an Amir Pinnix fumble for a score when the game was barely a minute old. The fumble was caused by DT Jason Chapman, who was a monster all day long. He sacked Cupito twice, which is applause-worthy. The Badger Herald has a great article about the defensive duo here.

I was impressed by our tight ends, Crooks and Beckum, and Stocco's poise. What a fantastic all-around effort, and how especially sweet that it came in the form of the obliteration of this team's main rival.

Plus, now the Badgers are bowl eligible, which is a nice bonus. More thoughts later, but the great thing to consider now is that we have five weeks to climb the bowl ladder, with home games against Illinois, Buffalo, and Penn State (now featuring two dead quarterbacks), and away games against hapless Purdue and the not-as-good-as-Indiana Iowa Hawkeyes.

If they take care of business and a couple bounces go against the Wolverines or Buckeyes, and this team could be looking at a trip to Pasadena ...

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