In this season of Spygate, the New England Patriots seemed driven to crush all opponents in order to prove to the critics that they could win without cheating. They nearly did it. But proponents of an asterisk being placed on what could have been a perfect, undefeated season, should be satisfied. The one loss provides enough of a mark of shame. (Mind you, I firmly believe all the teams videotape the opposing play callers, which is why the NFL swept this thing under the rug.)

I am a fan of the Patriots, and I am sad they lost, but they did not deserve to win that game. With the exception of that final drive in the fourth quarter, they couldn't have beaten the (no offense) Dolphins last night.

Congratulations to the New York Giants, who played like Giants among men. Maybe now you'll get your own stadium, and you can stop playing in Jersey.

So that sucked. A lot. If KU had only played like they did in the fourth quarter throughout the whole game. Or, the second half. Or something.

Third quarter. This is awful. KU is playing like the team they were last year. Missouri is playing as advertised. I have offered a couple of times to stop watching and put on this week's Survivor instead. A Mizzou fan holds up the best sign of the game, "Kansas Football, a Tradition since September." I can laugh at it because it's funny. The KU radio guys are saying that KU has to be perfect from here on out to win. The score is 28-7 Missouri, and my wife adds, "And what, Missouri is going to have to go home?"

I haven't been so excited and nervous about a football game since... a long time... maybe since John Elway won his first Superbowl in 1997 (you can't blame me, my wife's family is Bronco fan-atic, and really, he deserved it). If KU wins, it'll be because of their defense. None of the pre-game discussion of Missouri has talked about their defense, so I'm assuming they have one, but it isn't much to go on about (at least not to a bewildered national audience still trying to figure out if Kansas City is in Missouri or Kansas). Oy, it's Brent Musburger.

KU is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. There's a jinx, you know.

Damn. The Kansas Jayhawks football team is now 10-0. They have not had a record this good since 1899. That's more than a hundred years ago.

I've been reluctant to talk much about these games (nary a word about the thrashing of Nebraska last weekend, aren't you proud?) because I am, at heart, a superstitious man. Do you hear me, Mom, don't you dare watch any of these games!

Okay, so, we started listening to the game on the radio (you can't beat local radio guys, man) while we were putting the boys to bed. Then we turned the TV on, and watched Brent Musburger and his partner talk about all kinds of things except the game. Several series went by while they chatted about Ohio State's loss to Illinois, the Big Ten, the big Oklahoma State donor they were going to have on later... so we stopped listening to them. We got a radio from the bedroom and plugged it in to listen to a couple of guys who were actually bothering to watch the game in front of them.

The game was exciting, no doubt, especially when Oklahoma State scored a couple of times on quick long passes, but they came through in the end. A little luck, a key injury on the other side (you hate to see that) and some excellent plays, and we're 10-0.

Wow. It is safe to say, even if we crash and burn against Iowa State next weekend, that I have never had a college football season like this one. It's fun.

A couple of notes:

• KU leads the nation in kickoff returns. One of the radio guys asked, after our returner brought one back past the 50-yard line, "Why would anyone kick to him?"
• Brent Musburger is making a smooth transition into grumpy-old-man, with a comment to Adarius Bowman on the sidelines grimacing at the camera shadowing his injury walk, "You play on Sunday, you better get used to the cameras, young man." Next for Musburger, a shotgun and a rocking chair.
• Doug Flutie has got to be tired of getting every small quarterback who runs for his life out of the pocket compared to him. He does speak with authority when talking about final-second victories, though.
• Mark Mangino (KU's coach) has never seen a two point conversion that he didn't like. The feeling does not appear to be mutual.
• The mid-third-quarter lecture on fluid dynamics was interesting. Not.
• Wireless radio communications do not prevent Mangino from having a cable boy. Instead of making sure the coach doesn't trip on the long cable allowing him to talk to the coaches up in the booth, this cable boy gets to hold the radio box... because Mangino just doesn't want to hang it on his belt? That job has got to suck.