Hello all,
We have arrived for the last BTCG in this format in Indianapolis. Thank goodness. The last three years with Purdue and Iowa has been painful enough, right? Heck, Purdue had assistance from another school last year and still lost by three touchdowns. With that being said, I would never underestimate ANYTHING from happening here. A good defense travels, and a 10-2 record is indicative of that for the Iowa Hawkeyes...
This was a predicted BTCG matchup this summer and one I know Iowa QB Cade McNamara had wanted. Unfortunately, he is sitting this one out, but he is helping out the staff as much as he can due to his years at Michigan. Hopefully there are no injury concerns with this advanced scouting Cade brings to the table...
Moving on, Cade is an asshat, and the definition of a selfish player. I'll always love what he brought to the table for 14 months at Michigan. The following off-season into the fall and ever since then he has shown himself to be cocky and about himself. That is too bad, he could have been one of those really memorable college QB'S. The type that won't ever be in the NFL but are just winners and team guys on the college level. Selfishness took that opportunity away.
Back to the players that are here -- I will admit that I try to watch as little Iowa football as I can. The defense is phenomenal, but that offense is brutal. The QB in place since the Cade injury is the definition of inaccurate. Let us take a look at this game log:
MSU 11-27
PUR 6-21
WIS 6-14
MIN 10-28
NU 10-15
RU 20-31
ILL 19-29
NEB 11-28
Yes, he had a nice stretch to start November. With that being said, we are still looking at 48% this season since that MSU game.
He also cannot run. His long run this year is 12 yards and he has -78 yards total on the ground (2 sacks a game since MSU don't help those numbers).
We know how Iowa wins games though -- run the ball, tough defense, field position and capitalize on turnovers. Friday was a great example of that. They waited for Nebraska to make the big mistake and went down for the winning FG. That is Iowa football. This is @HUNT favorite style of play, in case you didn't know.
So, how does this team keep this a game? They'll need to get creative on offense and catch Michigan off-guard. Simply put, empty the playbook. Is there anything in there? We'll see.
I expect that Michigan sits Will Johnson and readies him for the semifinals. There is simply no reason for him to be out there on his notoriously bad ankle in this game. I am not calling this a guaranteed win whatsoever, but I think versus this passing attack you can go a bit deeper into the secondary. Hopefully, if this happens, it does not bit them in the ass.
My biggest thing in this game the past two years has been motivation. You spend all year gearing up for Ohio State -- and then face what would be a 3rd or 4th place team if they were in your division. Luckily, Michigan has risen to the occasion both years. I expect they will have something different on offense. More Orji? I certainly hope so! Gimme more Mullings as well. Hunt thinks a lot of short and quick stuff. Enter Semaj Morgan.
Back to motivation -- Coach is back, and they have something planned for the postgame ceremony with Small Tits. Hopefully this is epic.
Injury-wise, I spoke of Will J already. Obviously, they lost a first round pick to a terrible leg break last week. The one thing that did was shuffle a line that has not performed to expectations, and they played excellent the last 25 minutes versus OSU. We'll see if that carries over.
We all know the Iowa totals as of late. This one seemingly has risen a bit since opening. We'll see how it closes, but I think we'll see a slower start and things to start pouring on more in the 3rd quarter.
First gut reaction is this -- Michigan 27-10
I do think Iowa either gets a short-field or has a big play to get a TD. They score 10 here, in my opinion. So, I am capping from there. I think the 23.5 is a pretty hefty tariff here.
I am not recommending a play, as of yet, but those are my early thoughts. Again, I am capping from 10 Iowa points and going from there.
We have arrived for the last BTCG in this format in Indianapolis. Thank goodness. The last three years with Purdue and Iowa has been painful enough, right? Heck, Purdue had assistance from another school last year and still lost by three touchdowns. With that being said, I would never underestimate ANYTHING from happening here. A good defense travels, and a 10-2 record is indicative of that for the Iowa Hawkeyes...
This was a predicted BTCG matchup this summer and one I know Iowa QB Cade McNamara had wanted. Unfortunately, he is sitting this one out, but he is helping out the staff as much as he can due to his years at Michigan. Hopefully there are no injury concerns with this advanced scouting Cade brings to the table...
Moving on, Cade is an asshat, and the definition of a selfish player. I'll always love what he brought to the table for 14 months at Michigan. The following off-season into the fall and ever since then he has shown himself to be cocky and about himself. That is too bad, he could have been one of those really memorable college QB'S. The type that won't ever be in the NFL but are just winners and team guys on the college level. Selfishness took that opportunity away.
Back to the players that are here -- I will admit that I try to watch as little Iowa football as I can. The defense is phenomenal, but that offense is brutal. The QB in place since the Cade injury is the definition of inaccurate. Let us take a look at this game log:
MSU 11-27
PUR 6-21
WIS 6-14
MIN 10-28
NU 10-15
RU 20-31
ILL 19-29
NEB 11-28
Yes, he had a nice stretch to start November. With that being said, we are still looking at 48% this season since that MSU game.
He also cannot run. His long run this year is 12 yards and he has -78 yards total on the ground (2 sacks a game since MSU don't help those numbers).
We know how Iowa wins games though -- run the ball, tough defense, field position and capitalize on turnovers. Friday was a great example of that. They waited for Nebraska to make the big mistake and went down for the winning FG. That is Iowa football. This is @HUNT favorite style of play, in case you didn't know.
So, how does this team keep this a game? They'll need to get creative on offense and catch Michigan off-guard. Simply put, empty the playbook. Is there anything in there? We'll see.
I expect that Michigan sits Will Johnson and readies him for the semifinals. There is simply no reason for him to be out there on his notoriously bad ankle in this game. I am not calling this a guaranteed win whatsoever, but I think versus this passing attack you can go a bit deeper into the secondary. Hopefully, if this happens, it does not bit them in the ass.
My biggest thing in this game the past two years has been motivation. You spend all year gearing up for Ohio State -- and then face what would be a 3rd or 4th place team if they were in your division. Luckily, Michigan has risen to the occasion both years. I expect they will have something different on offense. More Orji? I certainly hope so! Gimme more Mullings as well. Hunt thinks a lot of short and quick stuff. Enter Semaj Morgan.
Back to motivation -- Coach is back, and they have something planned for the postgame ceremony with Small Tits. Hopefully this is epic.
Injury-wise, I spoke of Will J already. Obviously, they lost a first round pick to a terrible leg break last week. The one thing that did was shuffle a line that has not performed to expectations, and they played excellent the last 25 minutes versus OSU. We'll see if that carries over.
We all know the Iowa totals as of late. This one seemingly has risen a bit since opening. We'll see how it closes, but I think we'll see a slower start and things to start pouring on more in the 3rd quarter.
First gut reaction is this -- Michigan 27-10
I do think Iowa either gets a short-field or has a big play to get a TD. They score 10 here, in my opinion. So, I am capping from there. I think the 23.5 is a pretty hefty tariff here.
I am not recommending a play, as of yet, but those are my early thoughts. Again, I am capping from 10 Iowa points and going from there.