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| After a disappointing non-conference, can we turn it around? |
As you all (should) know, Michigan has a bye week this upcoming saturday. I would have preferred taking the break prior to Michigan State week, but this will suffice. Michigan needed some time to regroup (mentally and physically) after a rough outing against Notre Dame last week. Again, I'd like to congratulate Notre Dame on a hard-fought win, but in a way, Michigan pretty much gift wrapped the game and put a ribbon on top.. However, what's done is done, so it is time to move on. From my prior blogs, you should tell by now that I am pretty harsh on my team. I do this because I know the standard that is held at Michigan and I hate not meeting the expectation. This week, I am going to apply a similar criticism to the rest of the teams in the Big Ten as conference play kicks off!! Lets get started...
Penn State @ Illinois
Penn State: Penn State beat Temple last week and finished their non-conference schedule at 2-2. Honestly, I am pretty impressed by Bill O'Brien's leadership at PSU thus far. I like how he came in and was able to get players to buy into his philosophy. The belief is evident as PSU players have stepped up in the face of attrition and played their hearts out. Matt McGloin has shown much improvement with the addition of TE's in the offense. Not only the offense, but the defense has been exceptional thus far as well (granted the level of competition hasn't really been top-notch). An emotional first game here, a one point loss there, PSU could easily be 4-0 at this point and receiving much more recognition.
Illinois: Illinois is coming off a brutal loss against Lousiana-Tech (who?) and finishing their non-conference schedule at 2-2. So.. I guess I don't really know what to say. They beat a decent MAC team and a bad Big South team (with all due respect Charleston Southern). Their other loss involved a 45-14 blasting from an unproven Arizona State squad. I don't want to be too harsh considering Tim Beckman is in his first year, but this team just does not look good. The defense has played poorly and the offense has looked consistently stagnate.
PREDICTION: PSU OVER ILLINOIS
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| Didn't know you could throw prior to this season |
Minnesota @ Iowa
Minnesota: Minnesota comes into this game with a 4-0 non-conference record (one of the three remaining unbeaten teams left in the Big Ten). They are starting their backup QB Max Shortell in place of injured MarQueis Gray. Shortell came in last week and played really well, but today will be more of a challenge. The game will be at Kinnick which is one of the toughest places to play in all of college football.. except if you're Central Michigan of course. This game is big for Minnesota. Thus far, they have beaten lower quality teams (Best win: Syracuse). If they can beat a Big Ten team and take home the Floyd of Rosedale for the third consecutive year, Minnesota may be for real... but I doubt it.
Iowa: Iowa only has one bright spot this year.. FB Mark Weisman (If you're from Iowa, I'm sure you're acquainted with the common phrase "Weisman for Heisman"). He's good, but not that good. Iowa is always a difficult team to gauge because they're infamous for playing down to their opponents. Though they have struggled thus far this season, I think Ferentz got on the team after last week's pathetic loss to Central Michigan. I fully expect Iowa to come out on fire since it's Homecoming.. Though I could be wrong. If you know Iowa, you also know that nothing is certain with this team.
PREDICTION: IOWA OVER MINNESOTA
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| apparently he has his own Heisman twitter account |
Wisconsin @ Nebraska
Wisconsin: Wisconsin finished their non-conference schedule at 3-1 and has looked unimpressive to this point. The offense has struggled mightily as the QB situation has yet to be completely figured out. Last year they were fortunate to have Russell Wilson as he added a different dimension to their offense. This year, Wisconsin's offense has been very predictable as they have relied solely on their running game. If you can stop the running game, you can beat Wisconsin (Ex: UNI (almost), Utah St. (almost), and Oregon St.). I expect to see them struggle for the rest of the season as teams will load the box against them.
Nebraska: Nebraska finished their non-conference schedule at 3-1 and has also been unimpressive. They played only one power-conference team in UCLA and lost. Their offense has had some big numbers though!.. too bad the three other teams they played were terrible. It is hard to tell where this team really is at this point. Taylor Martinez, "T-Magic", has pulled a rabbit out of the hat with his dramatic improvement in completion percentage (again.. they've played bad defenses). If he wants to continue his fast start, Rex Burkhead will need to stay healthy and really contribute in the run game.
PREDICTION: NEBRASKA OVER WISCONSIN
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| Don't care how high your comp. % is, you still can't throw "T-Magic" |
Indiana @ Northwestern & Marshall @ Purdue
I'm going to make these previews quick and painless..
Indiana no longer has Tre Roberson and Northwestern is a lot better than the Ball St. team they lost to last week....
So... Fact: Purdue is better than Marshall...
PREDICTION: NORTHWESTERN OVER INDIANA
PREDICTION: PURDUE OVER MARSHALL
and finally...
Ohio @ Michigan St.
Ohio: Ohio comes in 4-0. Similar to Michigan with Denard, Braxton Miller is Ohio's offense. He runs, he throws, and if he was able to, he'd catch by passing to himself. Though Ohio is undefeated, they've struggled against bad teams. A lot of the blame has to be put on the defense as they have given up a lot of big plays. If Ohio wants to continue to be successful, Jordan Hall and the WR's need to step up and help the offense.
Michigan St.: Michigan State comes in 3-1. Michigan State has looked very inconsistent on offense this season. If Andrew Maxwell is not on, it normally ends up being a long day for the offense. Similar to Wisconsin, Michigan State relies heavily on the running game. Le'Veon Bell has been the only bright spot on their offense. I give Michigan State the advantage in this game as it is at home and I think they have the defense to beat Ohio.
PREDICTION: MICHIGAN ST. OVER OHIO
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| Get down fairy |
I am not really a huge Iowa fan, but I thought this video was pretty funny
As conference play kicks off, my friend Andy has created some cool new bracelets. Want to rep your favorite Big Ten team? Any color, he's got it. Andysparacords.com
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| There's red & white, but no scarlet and gray... hmmm.. (intentional) |
NEXT WEEK: PURDUE!!!
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| My dog, Wolverine, is ready.. Are you? |
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