It is a well-known legend now that at the beginning of the season Coach T has been giving his Seniors a jar with 12 marbles. The marbles are to signal their one remaining season. One by one, each week the players slip into Coaches office and drop a marble in the jar. One of the marbles is a different color ...blue I would assume maybe ...and no one needs to tell them that is the last marble.

There would be three marbles left now in that jar if the legend holds true. These three remaining ones will count more than the previous nine to define this group and their legacy. The players will each week have to run a gauntlet and ride a roller coaster to drop that marble in the jar. Penn State at State College...the undefeated Hawkeyes at home...and then does anyone really think that school up north is just going to roll over? We will find out what these players and this team is made of.

Some of you have already written them off, now that it appears they are out of the "only thing that matters National Championship Game" picture. I don't detect the buzz or excitement for this game I think there should be. Myself, considering the seniors we lost, the youth we have, the rash of injuries and sickness on the line and in the backfield this year, I prefer to focus on the fact that we are still playing for all the marbles of a Big Ten Championship and berth in a BCS bowl game.

I have never had the privilege to go to Pasadena. Neither has this group of players. Here's to hoping we do this year and that two weeks from now that blue colored marble can be magically transformed into a Rose colored one.

Start the roller coaster and beat the drums!