A different thread posted a poll asking the question “Is this what the dark ages looked like?” The results as well as a number of individual posts answered no (I wrote one of them).
I do think that there is a paradox in the worst days of the dark ages that actually may give some insight into this year. “The Streak” began the week after the early season win over Wyoming in September 1979, and went on, mercilessly, until the win over NIU in September, 1982. During the streak, by my count and memory, the Cats only played 4 games where they were even close: OSU and Purdue in 1979, Michigan in 1980, and Indiana in 1981 (feel free to correct me if someone remembers another close loss in that period). The Indiana game was Dennis Green’s first, where the Cats failed at a 2 point conversion in the 4th, losing 21-20.
The paradox is that the other 3 close games were all on the road against top conference teams. In October, 1979, the Cats lost to OSU in Columbus 16-7. https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1979-05-Northwestern.pdf. They scored on a long drive early in the 4th to make the game 13-7, stoned the Bucks, got the ball back and drove again before stalling. The Bucks subsequently kicked a late field goal to ice the game. OSU went through the regular season undefeated but lost to USC in the Rose Bowl. Later that month, the Cats lost to a Purdue team that finished the season 10-2 and second in the conference, 20-16. The next year, NU played a tough early season game in Ann Arbor, losing to a Michigan team that subsequently went undefeated in conference and won the Rose Bowl.
I think where this sheds some light on the current year is in the fact that even in the Dark Ages, the Cats always had a handful of very good players, but lacked the depth to play most teams straight up. The emotional aspect of the game becomes apparent when a generally overmatched team like the Cats were in that time plays at its highest level against a top team that is looking past them, resulting in the classic trap game. I really believe it is hard to play a college football game at your top performance. Bad teams become discouraged and lose the ability to do so, which helps explain the spiral of the streak. This year’s team, for any number of reasons, has regressed to being a bad one, and a game like the Indiana game is its logical outgrowth. Paradoxically, I would not be surprised at all if the Cats get up for and give Minnesota a very tough game.
I do think that there is a paradox in the worst days of the dark ages that actually may give some insight into this year. “The Streak” began the week after the early season win over Wyoming in September 1979, and went on, mercilessly, until the win over NIU in September, 1982. During the streak, by my count and memory, the Cats only played 4 games where they were even close: OSU and Purdue in 1979, Michigan in 1980, and Indiana in 1981 (feel free to correct me if someone remembers another close loss in that period). The Indiana game was Dennis Green’s first, where the Cats failed at a 2 point conversion in the 4th, losing 21-20.
The paradox is that the other 3 close games were all on the road against top conference teams. In October, 1979, the Cats lost to OSU in Columbus 16-7. https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1979-05-Northwestern.pdf. They scored on a long drive early in the 4th to make the game 13-7, stoned the Bucks, got the ball back and drove again before stalling. The Bucks subsequently kicked a late field goal to ice the game. OSU went through the regular season undefeated but lost to USC in the Rose Bowl. Later that month, the Cats lost to a Purdue team that finished the season 10-2 and second in the conference, 20-16. The next year, NU played a tough early season game in Ann Arbor, losing to a Michigan team that subsequently went undefeated in conference and won the Rose Bowl.
I think where this sheds some light on the current year is in the fact that even in the Dark Ages, the Cats always had a handful of very good players, but lacked the depth to play most teams straight up. The emotional aspect of the game becomes apparent when a generally overmatched team like the Cats were in that time plays at its highest level against a top team that is looking past them, resulting in the classic trap game. I really believe it is hard to play a college football game at your top performance. Bad teams become discouraged and lose the ability to do so, which helps explain the spiral of the streak. This year’s team, for any number of reasons, has regressed to being a bad one, and a game like the Indiana game is its logical outgrowth. Paradoxically, I would not be surprised at all if the Cats get up for and give Minnesota a very tough game.
