wow. cats. woof. cats 28, hawkeyes 27. we'll take it. in fact, we were given it.

exhibit a:
getting the ball back with 45 seconds left and down by a single point, iowa had no timeouts left. this, despite the fact that they led by 17 at the half, and that the spread was no closer than ten until the four-minute point. that speaks to wasted timeouts.

exhibit b:
after northwestern used its final timeout, still trailing by 13, the espn.com gamebook lists iowa's 3rd-and-8 play in this manner: Drew Tate pass incomplete to Scott Chandler.

no timeouts left for the opposition. you've averaged 5.3 yards a carry with your running back and, in this situation, you're playing the clock, not the team. incomplete pass, and the hawkeyes give northwestern 25 additional seconds.

exhibit c:
same thing as the preceding exhibit, however this time coming on 2nd and 8. and back-to-back incompletions. that's dumb football on the part of the iowa coaching staff but, then again, they are the iowa coaching staff.

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anyway, we know the wildcats played poorly. but we'll take the win. i'm not sure i have much more to say.

it seems to me that iowa pretty much held the running game in check. sutton got 13 carries and never really moved the ball. the offensive line is in shambles, as keenan was dinged for two penalties and matthews was flagged for three. back to belding?

wow, i complain a lot about pam ward, but i like the pam ward-david norrie team a whole lot better than "anything involving chris speilman." he's like the brian baldinger of the big ten, which is *not* a compliment. lots of jargon. and lots of mispronunciations. and the most interesting thing he could come up with after northwestern's touchdown to take the lead was "i can't believe northwestern fans left early. shame on you for missing it. i can guarantee you this is more interesting than the parking lot" or some crap like that.

also, basanez was not particularly good (both fourth quarter INTs were ugly, particularly the one to the nose tackle), but the numbers (31-51, 355; 13-53 on the ground) sure look good at the end. and when it counted (when it really counted, meaning i'll discount the pick with five minutes left), he was 8-for-14 for 96 yards and a touchdown, along with 3 carries for 23 yards. it's notable that the cats didn't need a fourth down on those final two drives, which speaks to how efficient the offense really was. again, in the last four minutes.

ohio state? the prospects aren't good, but i'm looking forward to hearing brent musberger and gary danielson. or, rather, i'm looking forward to hearing not-espn-dorks.

illinois? maybe a trip is imminent. the boy's apartment is open, and accessible if he buys a fake rock to hold his key. wedding in glenview sunday night after the game, so i'll be driving that weekend anyway. treem'll be there. perhaps others? i'm leaning towards a trip, and i'll definitely be making the trip if the unthinkable happens at columbus.

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by the way, dig randy walker's accomplishments:

three straight six-win seasons.
fourth on the NU victories list.
bowl-eligible for the third time in six years.
1,000-yard rusher for the ... eighth straight (?) time.

one thing that i hated:
for the second straight week, with a fourth-and-makeable, inside the 45, NU decided to punt. they downed the punt inside the 15, but that's a time where they need to be aggressive. it's not even being aggresive, it's just being not-dumb. that situation was also ripe for a fake, like the bitchin' snap-to-the-upback-into-the-option they ran earlier this season. (wisconsin? purdue? i think wisconsin. or maybe penn state.)

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so i'm really hoping that, when the chips fall, we're playing in the motor city (detroit, december 26) or music city (nashville, december 30) bowl. call me crazy, but i just don't have much desire to go to san antonio (december 28) or el paso (december 30) or either of the florida locations (january 2).

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in other news, this tired guy went to sleep at 9:30 on friday night. i didn't get out of bed until 9:45 saturday morning. on sunday, i'll be at the radio station - working auto racing - from 2 to 7. i must've been drunk when i acquiesed. go bears.