At the end of Tom Bradley's interview with ESPN Radio yesterday, the host tried to steer the conversation from JoePa's 400th win to the Ohio State game by saying, "Terrelle Pryor sleeps for no man." I have no idea what that means, of course, but regardless, it prompted Tom Bradley to mention a few interesting things regarding his relationship with TP.
"We're good friends," Bradley said. "[Pryor's] already texted me a few times this week....We have a nice banter."
A nice banter?!?! Banter! BA! Anyone in the comments want to guess what these two are texting to each other?
While Ohio State was off last week, texting opposing teams' coaches and make sure the stickers on their helmet looked just so, the rest of the conference provided some excitement.
Well, the rest of the conference except Minnesota and Michigan State, who played the game you might have expected from those two: plenty of defense, an impressive performance by Sparty, and an utterly forgettable game.
Meanwhile, Purdue hung tough with Wisconsin long enough to make me think that the Badgers might not be as unbeatable in its remaining contests - Indiana; at Michigan; Northwestern - as they once appeared. Wisconsin's very good upfront, but they can struggle on the road, as they showed in the first half of Saturday's game.
Indiana demonstrated why they're much better than their 0-5 conference record suggests, leading Iowa for much of Saturday's game, only to go down in the final minutes and lose because NFL prospect Damarlo Belcher couldn't squeeze a very catchable ball in the end zone on 4th down with 30 seconds to play.
And Illinois and Michigan played a thriller in Ann Arbor. Tate Forcier line-danced the Wolverines to a win in the third overtime after Denard Robinson got hurt in the second half. Even though the high scoring affair included a mind-blowing 132 total points, Michigan's defense actually played pretty well in the second half.
That game really caused me to rethink my aversion to the NFL's current regular season overtime policy. For a long time, I've advocated for the NFL to switch from sudden death overtime to something more like the college system, but the college system is broken, too. The college system is exciting, but it's a little too much like deciding a tied hoops game by moving the game to half court. I'd probably be fine with each team getting the ball at the opposing team's 25 an equal number of times if they didn't force the issue with the requirement to go for two after the second OT. That Illinois-Michigan game was a gem, even if I lost too much money on it, and it was a shame that it ended because Illinois couldn't convert a two-point try. I suppose I like the NFL's approach to overtime for the playoffs this year, where if the team that receives the kickoff only kicks a field goal, the other team gets a chance to score. I might like the high school version best of all, if only because giving each team the ball at the opposing team's ten yard line always reminds me of 10-Yard Fight.
An early look at the line's in this week's Big Ten contest:
- Iowa Hawkeyes -9.5 at Northwestern Wildcats
- Michigan Wolverines -13 at Purdue Boilermakers
- Wisconsin Badgers -21.5 v. Indiana Hoosiers
- Illinois Fighting Illini -21 v. Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Ohio State Buckeyes -18 v. Penn State Nittany Lions