Late to the party but here are my thoughts...
Last week
Maryland is who we thought they were and have begun their annual swoon. At the same time, as I said a few weeks back Ohio State is gearing up for November and hitting their stride in perfect time... I really think that Stroud sitting and watching a game was the best thing that could happen to the kid...
The Spartans win at Rutgers was via the big play. Of their 588 total yards, 285 came on 4 TD scores. That is wild. They also had two longer drives SOD's... otherwise the game went how some of us expected(lol). More on Sparty in a minute...
The Penn State and Iowa game obviously turned with the Clifford injury. I was dead wrong here. Iowa couldn't do much vs the PSU pass offense and Clifford. Injuries happen though and Iowa took advantage. Huge blow for the Lions, as they had that game most likely easily. We shall see how long he is out as the backup is not good. Illinois isn't good but then you have the Buckeyes game right after. Yikes.
If anyone actually watched Wisconsin and Illinois, you need some help.
We'll finish with the night one in Nebraska. I'll start with the obvious... neither team can be happy with the officiating. There was some interesting stuff going on in this game.... but lets look at the game itself. Nebraska once again was in position to win, but could not. AM needs to take responsibility for that fumble. You play till the whistle. That wasn't a controversial play at all, as he was still moving and obviously no whistle. I would be emphatic there but this isn't the case of a late whistle. All that being said, he was brilliant in the 2nd half. Nothing more, nothing less. They are a helluva team when he plays like that. On the other side, Michigan needed to be down in a game and also needed to throw a costly interception at some point, so this was a good learning experience. They also made a few key plays on defense late to finish the deal. No matter the strengths of the teams, they went into Camp Randall and Memorial Stadium in consecutive weeks and walked away unscathed. Many noted after that was the best atmosphere they have ever played in. Pretty cool scene there.
This week
Good time for a bye for Michigan. They also come out vs Northwestern, which is like a 2 week bye before heading up to East Lansing. They have some injuries and will rest a few next week to get ready for a rough last 5 weeks schedule. Hopefully they get JJ plenty of time in the Northwestern game as well to get more comfortable.
The Indiana and Michigan State series always has dramatic games it seems. I would chalk up another one here but man the Hoosiers are so anemic. Michigan St does not have a good pass defense, but they haven't played a great pass offense yet(obviously WKU went up and down the field). I am not seeing that happen here. Would a slow start surprise here? No. Would a quick blowout? No as well. I think they handle business here going into a bye but I have seen enough weird things between these two schools. Live bet kinda game here for myself.
Nebraska is off 3 of 4 heartbreakers but they cannot weep about it. They get a game in Minny that they should, and must win. This is a true test of Frost etc getting them back off the carpet for this one. The line is strong here, imo and a no bet for me but another one to monitor as it progresses.
Rutgers and Northwestern for all the marbles. Gun to head, I take Rutgers but just not too interested here.
Purdue and Iowa is a fascinating matchup. This is a letdown and we know how this series goes. As always, I defer to PaintCrew here...as I have a bad handle on the Boilers in all honesty.
A random Army trip to Wisconsin in mid October. This total is lined 38.5 and I am setting the o/u at 2 hours and 45 minutes for this game to complete. I think Army can hang for a little bit but that Wisky front is really good so not sure where the offense comes from here.
That is all...
Here is your food for thought for today...
Harbaugh a few years back was one of the first, if not first, coaches to come out and advocate the portal/free agency in college football. He had the infamous letter and all. As we look at the potential 7-0 vs 7-0 matchup in two weeks in East Lansing, the irony that MSU retooled a horrible roster with 19 portal guys and have seen early success is quite something. Obviously, the competition level has been below what we like to see but that all steps up from the 30th till after Turkey Day for both teams. We shall see who is who in this league. Very intriguing.
