In honor of Halloween and the equally-traumatizing game yesterday, I bring you this week’s recap as told classic scary movie posters.  As always, I welcome comments and criticisms of my movie choices (and especially with scary movies, I will sometimes consider the acting quality in addition to the actual conduct when determining the level of terror associated with it)

The Horror in Happy Valley

Coming off two straight home losses and still smarting from last year’s demolition at the hands of the Nittany Lions, Michigan entered Happy Valley the day before with a mission: to exorcise last year’s and win that all-important 6^th game and become bowl eligible after two straight losing seasons.  And PSU seemed like a willing partner in this bit of history, as the Lions’ numerous injuries turned once-intimidating Beaver Stadium into a veritable .  Not only that, but UM fans were expecting their resident Denard Robinson and the rest of the team to benefit from the rest afforded by the bye week.  All pointed to a UM victory, which probably should have been a clue that this game was not going to be .

The first two drives were an of what lay ahead, as UM’s questionable play-calling on third down led to a quick three-and-out, followed up by the first (of what turned out to be many) long, soul-crushing drives by PSU.  Led by their ginger, walk-on of a QB, Penn St. roared out of the gates, scoring TDs on 4 of their first 5 drives as Michigan’s defense couldn’t stop with a well-timed stop.  To make matters worse, a seemingly fell over the offense, as it failed to generate sustained offense beyond two scoring drives, the futility highlighted by a muffed kick return by Jeremy Gallon that the Wolverines deep in their territory.  Staring at a 28-10 deficit and PSU getting the ball to begin the second half, UM fans were in .

The situation only got worse as Penn St. took the opening kickoff of the second half straight down the field and tacked on a FG, ballooning the lead to 31-10 and sending even the most faithful fan into a of questions about this coaching staff and this team, highlighted by the lament of “where was this you call a defense and why doesn’t UM have one?”  The team seemed , and the two most pressing question became whether this team would win another game all year and if brought on by copious amounts of alcohol would make the game more palpable.

But then a funny thing happened – the offense began to move down the field quickly, scoring on 3 straight drives and pulling within a TD late into the 4th quarter.  Suddenly, one could hear of Wisconsin in 2008, when the plucky Wolverines stormed back and ripped victory from the of defeat.  All the team needed was one stop, one PSU mistake.  And despite a decent return on the ensuing kick-off, PSU was set to start from their own 35 when a went through every UM faithful’s spine: there was a flag on the play, a personal foul penalty that tacked on 15 more yards to the return on the eventual game-deciding FG drive.  The offense tried valiantly to score on the next drive, but as a 4th down pass fell to the ground all hope of a comeback was .

So Is Team ?

That is the question on everyone’s lips once the lights went out in Happy Valley.  Behind a beat-up line and a walk-on, first-time starter at QB, Evan Royster ran around, over, and thru UM’s front with little resistance while Matthew McGloin shredded the secondary with impunity.   While poor defensive performances were certainly not to followers of this team, the ease by which PSU moved the ball was truly a .  And the offense’s performance, despite some success in the second half, was a of the past few weeks – struggling to score until the team fell behind by double digits, then moving the ball reasonably well as they tried to come back.

So now the familiar questions about the coaching staff have returned; will to coach another year, or will to redemption be littered with more casualties.  With Saturday’s game representing completion of the middle third of the season, this team’s future will likely be decided   in the Horseshoe, as UM ends the season in Columbus against the Buckeyes.  Winnable games against Illinois and Purdue loom the next two weeks, and Wisconsin comes to the Big House to end the home slate in three weeks.  Will the for RR and/or GERG’s heads continue to get louder until it is a , or what fans the past three games is simply a rough patch for a maturing team poised to make a strong run to end the season?  I don’t think anybody knows, even if they might claim a about how the season will end.

And Because You Read This Far, Some One-Liners About Other Games This Weekend

* The MSU Spartans, saddled with expectations for the first time since the Reagan administration, walked into a in Iowa City, as the shook off last week’s tough loss to the Badgers and demolished Sparty 37-6.    indeed.

*  Ohio State, sprinting through the JV section of their schedule, continued Minny’s into the Big 10 basement by thumping the Gophers 52-10. 

*  I could make a snarky comment after Notre Dame’s heartbreaking loss to Tulsa and the even more painful loss of Crist for the whole season, but considering what happened to them this week my thoughts and best wishes go out to them instead.

*  And if the MSU game did not drive this point home, USC was the latest team to have before the juggernaut that is Oregon 53-32. 

*  And finally, with another week of upsets and paper tigers being exposed, the world is reminded that trying to make heads or tails of the BCS rankings at this stage is for .