I think it is the 6th week, right?
Well, this is traditionally the last week of the year for conference play but we'll be playing games till the week before Christmas. Overall, we haven't lost as many as I would have thought to this point with the Rona... but I'lll knock on wood real quick in hopes the virus doesn't have burning ears...
Okay... lets talk about last week...
I didn't see one iota of Purdue and Minnesota but obviously caught the controversy...
Brohm today...
That is a tough pill to swallow, obviously. At least Rondale was back and spectacular...
So, yeah, Nebraska...wow. Now, they lost to the two best teams in conference then won a game vs a winless team that outgained them... surely they could carry that momentum and beat the hapless Illini. Nope. Frost simply hasn't gotten it done yet. I believe that the only team they have beaten in his tenure that is over .500 is a 7-6 Michigan State team a few years back.
Hopefully you guys saw @tee*dub pop into the random @RetroVK thread this past week and recommend Iowa as a big play last week. They just pounded the Lions in Happy Valley. As with a few teams in conference...injuries and opt outs have hurt them...with that being said they really outplayed Indiana in week one and acquitted themselves pretty solid against Ohio State thereafter. Since then, it is gradually getting worse and worse. Surprisingly, Mr. Peanut isn't hearing too much criticism. Iowa is just playing Iowa football.
Northwestern has a really good defense. Mertz is still young, and it showed. Berger will be a good one, but Wisky doesn't have that feared RB this year to make the offense hum like it should. Lets remember that their previous games were versus two horrible defenses. Their offense is somewhere in the middle most likely.
I saw around 30% of the OSU and Indiana game live...I watched it on the 60 min B1G Network segment this morning at 5am. Penix did Penix things.. .Indiana had A LOT of opportunities. Much like a few years ago, you can pass on this Buckeye defense. Obviously, we'll have to wait for the playoffs to really cap that out as far as a W/L. Indiana forced turnovers and got some sacks. I give them a lot of credit for not giving up. They are a legit top-15 team... I figured top 25 coming in but they are even a bit above my expectations.
A classic 3OT thriller in Jersey on Saturday night. First thing... Rutgers plays as hard as anyone in the country and Shiano has all these outcasts motivated. They are back on the rise, to be a solid team sometime in this decade. Michigan is what they are, a terrible defense with some guys who can make plays on offense...
More on Michigan...
-The OL guys did NOT return Saturday. I didn't see that till a bit before the game and was surprised at the news.
-Kwity Paye was still out.
-Cam McGrone, LB, is likely out for the year. He was a budding star last year but has been very average this year, fwiw. Great kid though, tough break.
-I am not sure if we have discussed Bob Shoop. He was hired from Messy St this off-season. He is regarded very highly as a defensive coach. He was to work with the safeties. He has not been with the program since September. There is an illness and also some sort of investigation going on. That is all that is known (guessing HR). Well, those safeties are being coached by a grad assistant I believe. Oh joy, lol.
Obviously, they had planned on playing both QB's this past week. Joe has plenty of talent but simply isn't seeing it out there as he needs to be. I feel like after a mistake or a few mis-reads he gets nervous. Anyways, Cade has been regarded highly in practices the past 12 months or so. He is a throwback...he does a lot of thing solid but nothing great. With that being said, he has a quick release, and makes plays. I like his attitude as well. He'll start this week, lets see how he does with a full game and versus a big-time program (albeit one that is 0-5).
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Okay, onto this week...
The traditional Friday Nebraska game...with Iowa has it has been for awhile now...You'd expect that Iowa does what they have been doing the last few weeks...This line is 13.5 for a reason. I am not sure how I feel about that number for now though....obviously check weather as well...
Ohio State with a scrimmage in Champaign. I would think they get a lot done in the first 2.5 quarters then coast on in...despite last weeks offensive explosion I am not sure I trust Illy to help on a game total here. I'll defer to others who have more Illinois knowledge on that thought though...
Maryland should be back playing this week and catches Indiana in a letdown spot...They beat Michigan for first time since '87... had a good road win in East Lansing then played their hearts out last week. This is a definite flat spot. Obviously we need to know the status of some Maryland players. This will be a good test to really gauge this Terps team.
Looks like Minnesota has some issues with Covid so this game may not get played... pause on thoughts here...
Michigan State off a Rona bye week hosts Northwestern. This series is generally wild, no matter the strength of the teams. This feels like one of those games again, with NW coming off the big win last week and a whole bunch of 'playoff' talk this week. The line seems appropriate. You know my feeling on Sparty this year but this is a game I'd wait a bit to bet and maybe get a discount on the Cats in-game or at halftime.
Rutgers heads to Purdue... Two teams off tough losses... Rondale gonna play again? Plummer is starting, right?
TV executives couldn't get far enough away from Penn State and Michigan... we have a desperate Nittany Lions team vs a Michigan team looking for their first home win. This matchup really sums up the year 2020...I saw the total get bet up at open for good reason. Almost every team Michigan has played has posted a season high in points. Michigan, offensively, should be a bit more consistent this week with Cade at the helm... probably. Hopefully the boys are back on the OL...that would help a lot. This is definitely a game I feel we'll see some points... I was hoping for a 54 or so but that isn't sitting there right now. This is a week for the PSU offense to get some confidence...while Michigan hopes to keep the 2nd half vibes going. It is two bad teams, but has the potential for a good game.
With that being said...lets go back in time 23 years ago...to a classic matchup between these two...I post this mostly for the brilliance of Keith Jackson...
Well, this is traditionally the last week of the year for conference play but we'll be playing games till the week before Christmas. Overall, we haven't lost as many as I would have thought to this point with the Rona... but I'lll knock on wood real quick in hopes the virus doesn't have burning ears...
Okay... lets talk about last week...
I didn't see one iota of Purdue and Minnesota but obviously caught the controversy...
Brohm today...
That is a tough pill to swallow, obviously. At least Rondale was back and spectacular...
So, yeah, Nebraska...wow. Now, they lost to the two best teams in conference then won a game vs a winless team that outgained them... surely they could carry that momentum and beat the hapless Illini. Nope. Frost simply hasn't gotten it done yet. I believe that the only team they have beaten in his tenure that is over .500 is a 7-6 Michigan State team a few years back.
Hopefully you guys saw @tee*dub pop into the random @RetroVK thread this past week and recommend Iowa as a big play last week. They just pounded the Lions in Happy Valley. As with a few teams in conference...injuries and opt outs have hurt them...with that being said they really outplayed Indiana in week one and acquitted themselves pretty solid against Ohio State thereafter. Since then, it is gradually getting worse and worse. Surprisingly, Mr. Peanut isn't hearing too much criticism. Iowa is just playing Iowa football.
Northwestern has a really good defense. Mertz is still young, and it showed. Berger will be a good one, but Wisky doesn't have that feared RB this year to make the offense hum like it should. Lets remember that their previous games were versus two horrible defenses. Their offense is somewhere in the middle most likely.
I saw around 30% of the OSU and Indiana game live...I watched it on the 60 min B1G Network segment this morning at 5am. Penix did Penix things.. .Indiana had A LOT of opportunities. Much like a few years ago, you can pass on this Buckeye defense. Obviously, we'll have to wait for the playoffs to really cap that out as far as a W/L. Indiana forced turnovers and got some sacks. I give them a lot of credit for not giving up. They are a legit top-15 team... I figured top 25 coming in but they are even a bit above my expectations.
A classic 3OT thriller in Jersey on Saturday night. First thing... Rutgers plays as hard as anyone in the country and Shiano has all these outcasts motivated. They are back on the rise, to be a solid team sometime in this decade. Michigan is what they are, a terrible defense with some guys who can make plays on offense...
More on Michigan...
-The OL guys did NOT return Saturday. I didn't see that till a bit before the game and was surprised at the news.
-Kwity Paye was still out.
-Cam McGrone, LB, is likely out for the year. He was a budding star last year but has been very average this year, fwiw. Great kid though, tough break.
-I am not sure if we have discussed Bob Shoop. He was hired from Messy St this off-season. He is regarded very highly as a defensive coach. He was to work with the safeties. He has not been with the program since September. There is an illness and also some sort of investigation going on. That is all that is known (guessing HR). Well, those safeties are being coached by a grad assistant I believe. Oh joy, lol.
Obviously, they had planned on playing both QB's this past week. Joe has plenty of talent but simply isn't seeing it out there as he needs to be. I feel like after a mistake or a few mis-reads he gets nervous. Anyways, Cade has been regarded highly in practices the past 12 months or so. He is a throwback...he does a lot of thing solid but nothing great. With that being said, he has a quick release, and makes plays. I like his attitude as well. He'll start this week, lets see how he does with a full game and versus a big-time program (albeit one that is 0-5).
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Okay, onto this week...
The traditional Friday Nebraska game...with Iowa has it has been for awhile now...You'd expect that Iowa does what they have been doing the last few weeks...This line is 13.5 for a reason. I am not sure how I feel about that number for now though....obviously check weather as well...
Ohio State with a scrimmage in Champaign. I would think they get a lot done in the first 2.5 quarters then coast on in...despite last weeks offensive explosion I am not sure I trust Illy to help on a game total here. I'll defer to others who have more Illinois knowledge on that thought though...
Maryland should be back playing this week and catches Indiana in a letdown spot...They beat Michigan for first time since '87... had a good road win in East Lansing then played their hearts out last week. This is a definite flat spot. Obviously we need to know the status of some Maryland players. This will be a good test to really gauge this Terps team.
Looks like Minnesota has some issues with Covid so this game may not get played... pause on thoughts here...
Michigan State off a Rona bye week hosts Northwestern. This series is generally wild, no matter the strength of the teams. This feels like one of those games again, with NW coming off the big win last week and a whole bunch of 'playoff' talk this week. The line seems appropriate. You know my feeling on Sparty this year but this is a game I'd wait a bit to bet and maybe get a discount on the Cats in-game or at halftime.
Rutgers heads to Purdue... Two teams off tough losses... Rondale gonna play again? Plummer is starting, right?
TV executives couldn't get far enough away from Penn State and Michigan... we have a desperate Nittany Lions team vs a Michigan team looking for their first home win. This matchup really sums up the year 2020...I saw the total get bet up at open for good reason. Almost every team Michigan has played has posted a season high in points. Michigan, offensively, should be a bit more consistent this week with Cade at the helm... probably. Hopefully the boys are back on the OL...that would help a lot. This is definitely a game I feel we'll see some points... I was hoping for a 54 or so but that isn't sitting there right now. This is a week for the PSU offense to get some confidence...while Michigan hopes to keep the 2nd half vibes going. It is two bad teams, but has the potential for a good game.
With that being said...lets go back in time 23 years ago...to a classic matchup between these two...I post this mostly for the brilliance of Keith Jackson...
Ohio State
Texas
