First let me say...
*I am big-time under the weather, like brutal so this will be somewhat short and sweet. It is also why it has taken this long to get a thread going.
Lets look back at last week in conference...
Iowa defense is good at stopping the run. Maryland is a running team. 23-0 Final. That was the keep it simple, stupid cap of the day. Sometimes it is right there in front of ya and you overthink things, right? Absolutely.
Illinois and Wisconsin pretty ho-hum. The exciting part was a brief white-out that coated Lovie Smith's beard even a more magical white.
I said the 'hold ya nose' play was Rutgers and it sure was. In fact, those beasts of the east almost won it on the field. The Cardiac Cats won't have anything easy, now will they? This was an ugly one with around 470 in combined offense. Was it the sandwich of all sandwiches? Absolutely.
Team value got up off their asses after that heartbreaking defeat and rolled Minnesota in Lincoln. Now... it becomes a fun November with this team. Will I bet them several times? Absolutely.
Purdue looked great. Ohio State simply has no defense this year due to injuries? Coaching? who the heck knows. It is bad. And now, they have not been able to run the football for awhile. Ohio State has beaten one team over .500 this year. ONE. And that was a team that they were trailing by 13 points in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile the Boilers just were having fun out there. Great win for that school and their fans.
Michigan went into East Lansing and controlled the game. Even mother nature couldn't do her trick. The fun thing about this game is how the offensive line controlled the 4th quarter. We stated for almost months now that Michigan needed to treat this as a true rival and they did and that is how you take control of the state for what should be quite sometime. I feel bad for Felton Davis. He seems to be a good kid and was one helluva receiver. Non-contact injuries are hard to take.
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Okay, on to this week...
I dunno about you but 6.5 points is too much for Wisconsin to be laying on the road to the Cats. Now, this has been a LONG stretch of tough games for Northwestern so the tank could be drying up but this feels like a pretty tight game they can win on the field. You would have the backdoor in play as well. Interesting noon match here.
Penn State is hosting the Hawkeyes. Last year was an absolute dogfight. The Lions are 6.5/54 currently. Both those numbers seems a bit high to myself. On a neutral right now, I would have this game damn near a pick'em. I think this is another dogfight like last year. Early prediction is 26-24 Iowa.
Purdue is catching 2.5 and 50.5 as of this writing at East Lansing. Here is the thing this week, you will start hearing more and more about Michigan State injuries. Some are true, some are not. They have been complaining about injuries for 4-5 years now. You know how you counteract that? Depth. They don't not have depth because they do not recruit great and have so many guys that get kicked off the team due to legal issues. It will take them a solid 2-3 deep recruiting classes to be anywhere near the level they were 5 years ago. So, lets talk Lewerke. It is in my estimation he has been banged up for awhile. That is pure speculation. So, he was awful last week, obviously. Half of his throws were out of bounds it seemed like. So, after the game...ever the 'truthteller' (loud ass snicker) here is what was said about Brian Lewerke...
Dantonio said Lewerke did no practice all week (then started him in the game)
Warner (OC) said he practiced all week.
Lewerke quote
So, who do you believe? Good question. So...as far as capping this game it really is one of the great outliers and some of the other injuries as well.
Purdue meanwhile comes in high as a kite. This is a noon game in a dreary stadium (cold, team just lost their big game). This is not the best situation for them. Although, I feel their offense should be able to create opportunities against the Michigan State defense. Tough game here to be honest. In the old days, Sparty would roll over and die in this instance. We shall see this week.
I have nothing really to say about Bethune-Cookman and Nebraska. I did hear Alabama was trying to schedule Bethune in 2024 for November though.
Oh yeah, Illinois and Maryland. Lots of running plays to be had by all. Should be a good one! Will I watch it? Absolutely.... not.
Michigan vs BYE. Bye may have more yards than Sparty did.
Ohio State vs BYE. Urban already forgot about it.
Rutgers vs BYE. Bye -3.5
*I am big-time under the weather, like brutal so this will be somewhat short and sweet. It is also why it has taken this long to get a thread going.
Lets look back at last week in conference...
Iowa defense is good at stopping the run. Maryland is a running team. 23-0 Final. That was the keep it simple, stupid cap of the day. Sometimes it is right there in front of ya and you overthink things, right? Absolutely.
Illinois and Wisconsin pretty ho-hum. The exciting part was a brief white-out that coated Lovie Smith's beard even a more magical white.
I said the 'hold ya nose' play was Rutgers and it sure was. In fact, those beasts of the east almost won it on the field. The Cardiac Cats won't have anything easy, now will they? This was an ugly one with around 470 in combined offense. Was it the sandwich of all sandwiches? Absolutely.
Team value got up off their asses after that heartbreaking defeat and rolled Minnesota in Lincoln. Now... it becomes a fun November with this team. Will I bet them several times? Absolutely.
Purdue looked great. Ohio State simply has no defense this year due to injuries? Coaching? who the heck knows. It is bad. And now, they have not been able to run the football for awhile. Ohio State has beaten one team over .500 this year. ONE. And that was a team that they were trailing by 13 points in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile the Boilers just were having fun out there. Great win for that school and their fans.
Michigan went into East Lansing and controlled the game. Even mother nature couldn't do her trick. The fun thing about this game is how the offensive line controlled the 4th quarter. We stated for almost months now that Michigan needed to treat this as a true rival and they did and that is how you take control of the state for what should be quite sometime. I feel bad for Felton Davis. He seems to be a good kid and was one helluva receiver. Non-contact injuries are hard to take.
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Okay, on to this week...
I dunno about you but 6.5 points is too much for Wisconsin to be laying on the road to the Cats. Now, this has been a LONG stretch of tough games for Northwestern so the tank could be drying up but this feels like a pretty tight game they can win on the field. You would have the backdoor in play as well. Interesting noon match here.
Penn State is hosting the Hawkeyes. Last year was an absolute dogfight. The Lions are 6.5/54 currently. Both those numbers seems a bit high to myself. On a neutral right now, I would have this game damn near a pick'em. I think this is another dogfight like last year. Early prediction is 26-24 Iowa.
Purdue is catching 2.5 and 50.5 as of this writing at East Lansing. Here is the thing this week, you will start hearing more and more about Michigan State injuries. Some are true, some are not. They have been complaining about injuries for 4-5 years now. You know how you counteract that? Depth. They don't not have depth because they do not recruit great and have so many guys that get kicked off the team due to legal issues. It will take them a solid 2-3 deep recruiting classes to be anywhere near the level they were 5 years ago. So, lets talk Lewerke. It is in my estimation he has been banged up for awhile. That is pure speculation. So, he was awful last week, obviously. Half of his throws were out of bounds it seemed like. So, after the game...ever the 'truthteller' (loud ass snicker) here is what was said about Brian Lewerke...
Dantonio said Lewerke did no practice all week (then started him in the game)
Warner (OC) said he practiced all week.
Lewerke quote
So, who do you believe? Good question. So...as far as capping this game it really is one of the great outliers and some of the other injuries as well.
Purdue meanwhile comes in high as a kite. This is a noon game in a dreary stadium (cold, team just lost their big game). This is not the best situation for them. Although, I feel their offense should be able to create opportunities against the Michigan State defense. Tough game here to be honest. In the old days, Sparty would roll over and die in this instance. We shall see this week.
I have nothing really to say about Bethune-Cookman and Nebraska. I did hear Alabama was trying to schedule Bethune in 2024 for November though.
Oh yeah, Illinois and Maryland. Lots of running plays to be had by all. Should be a good one! Will I watch it? Absolutely.... not.
Michigan vs BYE. Bye may have more yards than Sparty did.
Ohio State vs BYE. Urban already forgot about it.
Rutgers vs BYE. Bye -3.5
And not resort to making baseless personal attacks when I can't depend my viewpoint in college football. Really low!
