All on a sudden we find ourselves in a position where we have so much to lose. Charles Chiccoa sums it up well here in his weekly column:
But today, in the wake of an overpowering offensive show vs. Oregon State, a distinct national profile, the elusive "corner" finally, apparently, turned. There's now, suddenly, so much to lose. Who can't help wanting more, wanting it all? Two winnable road games, a winnable home game, then a clear shot at the big dog, something we've all been dreaming about but few have believed possible... at least, this early on.
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If the next two games were not on the road I'd feel a little less... tense, a bit more inclined to order a huge English breakfast on Saturday morning. On the other hand, maybe the D will begin finding itself. Maybe the Bruins can finally break serve in Palo Alto. There's no mistaking... things are beginning to feel different, feel right. After the UC Davis collapse, I had Stanford marked down as a sure road trip. Make a long, pleasant weekend of it. But now that Walt Harris, Trent Edwards and Mark Bradford seem to have it together... maybe I'll just catch Petros on the tube.
Of course this kind of comment from national experts like Stewart Mandel is not doing anything to ratchet down the expectation/anticipation:
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If the next two games were not on the road I'd feel a little less... tense, a bit more inclined to order a huge English breakfast on Saturday morning. On the other hand, maybe the D will begin finding itself. Maybe the Bruins can finally break serve in Palo Alto. There's no mistaking... things are beginning to feel different, feel right. After the UC Davis collapse, I had Stanford marked down as a sure road trip. Make a long, pleasant weekend of it. But now that Walt Harris, Trent Edwards and Mark Bradford seem to have it together... maybe I'll just catch Petros on the tube.
I know I said I wasn't going to start fielding BCS doomsday questions until the teams involved got to 8-0 ... but this one is just too intriguing. Obviously, it would come down to whether the pollsters simply move the Bruins up a spot or actually bump them ahead of the other undefeated teams. I can't speak for other voters -- not to mention my AP vote doesn't actually count for anything -- but if a 10-0 UCLA team handed an 11-0 USC team its first loss in two-and-a-half years, I know I would vote the Bruins No. 1. No other candidate would have a victory like that on its resume, plus they would have won every other game on their schedule. How could you possibly vote anyone else higher?
Oy. I don't want to think that far ahead any more. I just want to think about Stanford, Stanford, and more Stanford. But right now I feel like a baseball fan watching my team's pitcher throwing a perfect game into 7th inning. Except here ... the agony/anticipation going to last for more than 3 weeks ... instead of just three innings. Talk about Chinese water torture. But this is exactly why college football is so incredible and so addicting. It has season long drama, which pro game will never match. This season is falling along our script line expectation of 9 wins and a win over USC. We are so close to making it happen. We can taste it. But we all know too well how it can all disappear in one October afternoon. We have to win this Saturday. We have too much to lose at this point of the season. Go Bruins.