BLOCK THE PUNT 'ROUND MINNESOTA. TOUCHDOWN? SURE, THIS TIME. It's been a wild weekend for college football. I made sure to spend some time grading and mowing the yard, but managed to catch some of the action. The highlight, at least for a displaced Cheesehead, was Wisconsin's theft of a win from Minnesota, a team that committed far too many special team mistakes to win, starting with a punt-'n-fumble (that old "Little Eight" standby) on their first series nullified by a false start on the punt. Minnesota put on a Badger-style clock-killing drive, scoring for a 10 point lead with just over 3 minutes to play. Wisconsin got a touchdown. A Minnesota defender tackled the receiver in the end zone and got the face mask and 15 yards. Wisconsin on-side kicks. Minnesota recovers close to their goal, and punts on fourth-and-one. Bad snap from center. Blocked punt. Three white jerseys on the ball before it rolls out of the end zone. Minnesota still not out of bad special-team plays. A Wisconsin cover man strips the return man on the kickoff. Badger ball. Take a knee. Game over. Axe stays in Madison.

Elsewhere, Michigan and Penn State put on their best imitation of a Mid-American second half, with the lead changing hands, each team running up consecutive scores, Penn State grabbing a lead with just under two minutes to go, and Michigan scoring on fourth-and-four with 0:01.xx on the clock to win. That ended just after Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois put on their best imitation of the Big Ten, with Northern Illinois (the place that pioneered homecoming) winning homecoming, 24-8.

Other webloggers had eventful football weekends. Irish Trojan has live shots of Southern California stealing one from Notre Dame. The game was played at the east end of the South Shore. Blogs for Industry surveys a number of eventful games from around the country. I like his characterization of some normally big games being overtaken by events.