Because I always forget to write down what games I watched when I fill out the BlogPoll each week, here goes a running tally: First quarters of Wisky-NW, VT-Marshall, Indiana-Illinois, K-State-Kansas, now making my way through UM-Minnesota.

-I know we’ve got the “Little Brown Jug” and the “Red River Rivalry” going on today, but I can only imagine that K-State vs. Kansas has to be known as the “War of Attrition”. God this one’s crappy, even for Fox Sports regional coverage. Indiana-Illinois has been more interesting, from the bit I saw off the top. And that’s saying something!

-If I hear the phrase “indisputable video evidence” one more time, I think I might break somebody.

-It sounds like they’ve got Jesse Ventura in the booth with Pam Ward today in Evanston. I doubt it really is, but I’m impressed that they found someone with a deeper voice than her to do color commentary.

-I understand the intent of “forward progress”, but if there’s no whistle and a guy gets stood up and fumbles as he goes to the ground, they review it and call it dead. If he gets stood up and somehow makes another lunge forward before a whistle blows, he can get a first down. Incidentally, with the UM touchdown being nullified, the number of times UM has returned a fumble for a touchdown in school history remains at one. (Again, unless the media guide lied to me all those years.)

1:46pm
-Is it just me, or does Brian Cupito leave EVERY game for the locker room and then come back to finish?

-Mixed feelings in the Northwestern game. The Michigan fan in me loves seeing one of the Big Ten unbeatens losing (by an increasingly larger margin each time I flip back), the BG fan in me would rather see Wisky go undefeated to make that opening game loss look better. Of course, the kid in me loves the frosted side, too.

-At this point, I’m terrified to turn back to the Kansas State game. I wonder if they’ve discovered the forward pass yet?

3:49pm
-Yuck. I’m sure there’s an analogy in history or books or film somehwere, but how long can Garrett Rivas go on being a hero hitting game-winning field goals, but royally jack up entire other games with misses throughout the game?

Of course, with a little tackling, it’s a little less of an issue, but Michigan had that game won, instead they were left hoping for OT. And didn’t even get that far.

-It’s official, Rece Davis can kiss my ass, too. What is it with ESPN studio hosts (on any program, at any level) tossing themselves up on a pedestal? That network gets more annoying by the minute.

4:49 pm
-USC was (shocking!) tight with Arizona at the half, though they’re starting to pull away, I might have a change of heart at the top of the BlogPoll. On second thought, it’s 21-14 midway through the third, a change could definitely be coming.

-Good thing Purdue doesn’t have to play Ohio State or Michigan this year. Someone forgot to remind them they have to show up for the rest of the year, too.

-BG kicks off in about eight minutes from the Doyt. Ohio will be a challenge, for sure, but if the offense for the Falcons can come out and click like they did for the majority of the Temple game, this one will be ugly early and often. As usual, if they let OU stick close deep into the second quarter, it could be a bit of a dogfight. I’m sticking with my prediction from earlier in the year, 48-23 Falcons win.

4:57pm
-Well summmbitch! The Blue Jackets have traded Geoff Sanderson. Again. He’s long been one of my favorite players in the NHL, and between leaving Hartford and now leaving Columbus for the second time, it’s not easy at all to watch him playing for an opponent. Fortunately, he’s now in Phoenix, so the head-to-head matchups should be minimal.

6:54pm
-Ugh. The part about “if it’s close through two quarters, it could be a dogfight” is coming true. Just as BG went up 14-0 and started to find a stride of sorts, a blocked punt gets brought back for six, the kickoff gets muffed, and it comes down to a goalline pick by oft-whacked Jelani Jordan to pull BG out of the fire and to the lockerroom with a 14-7 lead. Unfortunately, OU gets the ball to start the second half. Fortunately, BG’s defense has come to play today.

No doubt I’ll be fingernail free by the end of this one.

9:20pm
-BG pulls out the closest 38-14 win I’ve been around in awhile. Special teams were replete with stinkiosity, but the defense brought it. One sustained drive and a 51 yard pass aside, they were OMG AWESOME! (tm) Omar was simply being Omar, with 381 yards, two TD’s (that shoulda been three) and a pick. (Now at 19 TD, 3 INT and 1,818 yards through 5 games.) There’s no reason, blocked punts and long kick returns aside, that next week at Buffalo should be anything shy of a 60-point win.

-Games watched tonight include portions of UGA-Tennessee, Texas Tech-Nebraska (a late win might have edged TT into my top 25), and currently a superb UCLA-Cal (Ayoob!) game and an OSU-PSU game that seems to be as advertised.

-Michigan hoops announced today that Brent Petway ain’t playin’ for awhile until he can get his grades in order off life support. I’m not in hoops mode at all, but I think he better start coloring inside the lines by December, or U-M is going to be hurting this winter.

10:53pm
-UCLA saves the day for all “lower tier” schools that have been cycling in and out of the BlogPoll, and in fact, may have made a statement as a team to be reckoned with, just as Penn State did with their win over Ohio State. Nothing is really a gimme for either, with some tough games down the road yet, but they’ve put themselves in outstanding shape through five games.

-Just got some deja vu as I looked up and caught the replay of Texas Tech-Nebraska on TBS, turning my head at the exact moment as I did when the live version aired. Bet ya Tech wins it.

-Speaking of TBS, I hadn’t really caught any games on their air this year. While they’ve got a similar clutter problem as many networks seem to have with their in-game graphics, they really do top notch work with their full screens and other “side graphics”. Very colorful and sharp, especially the school logos in schedules and standings. The school colors in their ticker are a kick ass touch, as well.