To say Rich Rodriguez’s first year at Michigan has been a failure would be a gross understatement. In their 48-42 loss to Purdue on Saturday, Michigan is guaranteed its first losing season since 1967. It also ensured that the Wolverines’ 33-year bowl streak is now over, too.

There’s really no doubt that Rich Rod is going to turn things around at Michigan and get that program back on track soon. He’ll find a quarterback to run his spread option offense and things will start to quickly fall in place. He just needs time to get the right players to fight his scheme and everyone should be patient while he goes through the process.

But there’s no other way to cut it – this season was a total debacle. I realize these young men are learning an entirely new system and will need time to develop, but you can’t lose to Toledo at home. You can’t get beat by Purdue on a hook and ladder on the final play of the game. You can’t turn the ball over six times in an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame.

Rich Rodriguez will turn Michigan around. But they’ve been a total embarrassment this season and an absolute joke.

Coming into the 2008 College Football Season, the Penn State Nittany Lions weren’t considered a national championship contender. They weren’t even considered a legitimate contender in the Big Ten, with many ranking them behind Ohio State, Wisconsin and even Illinois in the conference.

But PSU remains undefeated on the season after beating Purdue 20-6 on Saturday and even though they’re still flying under the national championship radar, teams better start taking notice. Not only do the Lions have one of the best offenses in the nation (they were averaging close to 50 points a game coming into this weekend), but they also flashed a little defense in their victory over the Boilermakers.

Penn State doesn’t have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback like Oklahoma, Missouri or Texas – three teams currently ranked ahead of them in the polls – but so far Daryll Clark has proven that he’s an excellent fit for Joe Paterno’s new spread offense. And while he doesn’t have unworldly size and athleticism like fellow Big Ten back Chris “Beanie” Wells of Ohio State, RB Evan Royster is a workhorse that can grind out tough yards like he did Saturday against Purdue when he rushed for 141 yards and a 7.8 YPC average.

It was interesting to see PSU win like it did against the Boilermakers because it was unlike any of its previous victories this season. They didn’t light up the scoreboard or win with flash; they just kept moving the ball methodically on offense, didn’t turn the ball over and played solid defense. They proved today that they could win without relying on the big play, which should only serve them going forward.

The next three weeks will prove whether or not Penn State is a true contender or not. They’re at Wisconsin, home against Michigan and then travel to Columbus to take on OSU through the rest of October. That’s a daunting three-week task.