Week of October 25-27th Plays and Analysis Thread

B.A.R.

B.A.R.

CTG Partner
Staff member
First, a review of last weeks plays and other action from around the country:

Wins: Rutgers, Uconn, Northwestern, Indiana and Florida
Losses: Texas, UNLV, Colorado ML, Under FSU/UM and Under LSU-Aub

Felt on Thursday and Friday night that I was getting my weeknight magic back from last year. Those were the same type of games I feasted on and it was a nice confidence boost going into the weekend. By the numbers Northwestern should have scored around 40 points. Not sure why it was that close. Uconn fought throughout the weather luckily. Lucky play both ways in that game. Rutgers ran Ray and ran him some more. Just enough defensive adjustments got the job done. Florida, despite final was correct side. Tebow is amazing. Kellen Lewsi just had a great game and IU almost pulled upset. Just too many minstakes. Everything supported a Texas play but at same point people need to realize that McCoy just isn't that great of a QB. He is solid but nothing special. Up and down from week to week. Kansas won the game on the ground at CU. Most stats were similar but KU got a nice road win. Too many odd things happened down in Tallahassee. I mean, just odd. Looking at the numbers and its like how was there this much scoring. At least 21 points off turnovers and then a fake punt or FG I believe. Shit happens. The unders in that series were too reliable. Figure this college football season to mess that up. LSU put up almost 500 yards on the Aubbie defense. Flynn, who has looked like dogshit as of late looked much better too me tonight. They were not running great but were grinding. Might of had that under if AU reciever doesn't make great catch to make it 24-23. Oh well.

Games I leaned on and didn't play:

First and foremost is the Texas A&M game. I strongly leaned but never did make it official. It played out true to form. They ran all day and NU just doesn't care too much right now. The next one is USC. I know people will say 'BAR you never mentioned that game'. That is true. I watched that line trickle down from 21-17 this week and was close. I layed off with Sanchez starting though. Needed to see him in action more than one week. Missouri, lost of stats/historical probabilties and whatnot pointed this way. Mizzou defense is also starting to play a bit better after some shaky outings in September. The last one is Arkansas. All I could think of was a running clinic by them. Sure enough, it was. Unreal, really mad I layed off that one.

My Michigan-Illinois Thoughts:

This may sound silly but I really believe in this. Well, first before I say it...Hunt and myself both agreed that for Michigan to win they would have to come out passing against a bad Illini secondary/pass defense. We just wondered if Uncle Lloyd and Debord would. Well, back to my main point. Number 20 doesn't play tonight and that left UM with only one option. Go to the air more often. So, my statement is that Michigan won this game because Mike Hart didn't play. Not saying that things would have ben different with him on the field but the gameplan surely would have. Carlos Brown and Minor did nice jobs filling in though for Mike. Nice craetivity on the winning TD by Michigan. many will point to the fumble as the game-changing play but it was just after Henne totally missed Mario in the EZ for a sure TD. Old momentum. Illinois is young but lacks poise. They also have very little discipline. Penalties and turnovers will never help your cause. Nice job on Mendanhall by UM. We kept him under 100 on the ground. Zoook needs to pick a QB and stick with it. Thats what worried me more than anything on the Illinois bet. My fears were confirmed.
 
Copied this over from other thread for reference purposes.

Week 10 Big/Rivalry Games:

Cincinatti at S. Florida
Wisconsin at Ohio St
Michigan at Michigan St
Ball St at Indiana
S. Carolina at Arkansas
Navy at Notre Dame
Arizona St at Oregon
LSU at Alabama


Quick Notes:

Cincinatti and South Florida is a huge game. Even bigger if both win out till then.

The week after PSU for Ohio State. Game not as big as we thought it could be though.

Dantoni has a ticker counting down time till Michigan game in Spartans lockerroom. The old Tressel ploy. Could be a night game as well. Never bet against Sparty at home at night. Notre Dame aside last year on miracle comeback.

Ball St, interstate rivalry. Could be a 'soft' spot for Hoosiers.

Navys best chance to beat Notre Dame ever prolly

Week after USC for Oregon. Battle of top-10's possibly



Week 9 games of intrigue at this point:

South Florida at Uconn: We'll know more after this week about Uconn. Semi-sandwich for USF. Second tough road game in a row in-conference.

Indiana at Wisconsin: Always seem to be weird games. Wisky is ripe for the picking

Ball State at Illinois: Possible letdown spot for Illini if they beat Big Blue

Minnesota at Michigan: Sandwich spot

USC at Oregon: Need I say more

Georgia at Florida: Need I say more.

Michigan St at Iowa: Lookahead to Big Blue

Nebraska at Texas: This week should tell us if Kellar/NU is in full tank mode.

Utah at Colly St: I fear that lines against Colly will be over-inflated but will still be looking for a good number

South Carolina at Tennessee: Revenge for Cocks. Could be letdown for Creamsickles. Many different elements here.

Messy St at Kentucky: This could be a dream spot if Cats beat UF this week.

WVU at Rutgers: Just a great game to watch. We'll know more about both teams after this week.

Ohio St at Penn St: Boy, give me a short line here and it may be my GOY

California at Arizona St: Lookahead for ASU but really not.

NMSU at Hawaii: Whats this total? 90??<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
 
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Surviving injuries and several big plays by Illinois, the University of Michigan stayed unbeaten in Big Ten play Saturday night with a 27-17 victory.

Quarterback Chad Henne twice had to go to the locker room for treatment but came back each time to lead the Wolverines to the lead.
After freshman quarterback Ryan Mallet's second turnover of the third quarter, Henne returned to move No. 24 Michigan down the field.
The Fighting Illini stopped the Wolverines, but Kyle Hudson muffed a punt after calling for a fair catch at the 14-yard line. Long snapper Sean Griffin recovered the ball.
Two plays later, the Wolverines faked an end around with Adrian Arrington, but he pulled up and lofted a 11-yard pass to Mario Manningham to give Michigan a 24-17 lead.
K.C. Lopata added a 39-yard field goal when the Wolverines got the ball back.
With running back Mike Hart sitting out due to an ankle injury suffered in last week's game against Purdue, Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor split the carries.
But the 24th-ranked Wolverines mostly went to the air against a team that struggles to defend the pass.
Michigan (6-2, 4-0 Big Ten) often lined up with multiple receivers - including one five-wideout set - and sometimes went without a huddle.
Illinois (5-3, 3-2) went with a change of pace in the second half, replacing quarterback Juice Williams with Eddie McGee. He got the Fighting Illini into position for a 38-yard field goal by Jason Reda that tied the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter.
Hart's only contribution on the field was as a captain, calling the coin toss while dressed in a sweat suit. The Wolverines won, deferred to the second half and quickly found themselves trailing in the game.
Vontae Davis ran the opening kickoff back 63 yards to give Illinois great filed position. Two plays later, Williams threw to Jacob Willis for a 26-yard touchdown.
The Wolverines gained one first down on the ensuing drive, but then Henne's pass was behind Manningham and intercepted by Kevin Mitchell at the Michigan 40.
Illinois lost 21 yards on the possession, including a sack of Williams by Chris Graham.
With a 15-yard interference penalty on the punt by the Illini, and with the crowd mostly quieted off, Michigan re-started at its own 32.
The Wolverines went three-and-out, but reversed the field position with a career-long 67-yard punt by Zoltan Mesko to pin Illinois at its own 4-yard line.
As Illinois took over, Henne headed to the locker room, as a result of the hit he took on a sack.
With Mallett under center, Michigan moved inside the 10-yard line and got on the scoreboard with a 25-yard field goal by Lopata.
The Illini went 90 yards on the ensuing drive, scoring on an 8-yard run by Daniel Dufrene to go up 14-3 early in the second quarter. It was Illinois' longest drive of the season.
Henne returned to the game on Michigan's possession, proving he was healthy by quickly answered that touchdown. He had 79 passing yards on the drive, finishing with an 8-yard pass to Mario Manningham to pull the Wolverines to within 14-10.
The Illini had Michigan punting from deep in its territory late in the half but allowed the Wolverines to maintain possession after a personal foul for roughing Mesko.
Michigan moved down and went ahead on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Arrington. He was originally ruled out of bounds on the catch, but the replay official reversed the call to give the Wolverines a three point halftime lead.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Michigan State regarded playing No. 1-ranked Ohio State as an opportunity to find out where it measures up to one of the nation's elite teams. Based on how the Spartans (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten) finished Saturday evening's 24-17 defeat in Ohio Stadium, closer than anyone dreamed possible after being dominated for nearly three quarters of play.
The Big Ten's most potent offense, both in scoring (36.9 points per game) and yardage (467), was decisively neutralized by the Buckeyes' nation-leading defense. Michigan State came into the game averaging more than 200 yards per game in both rushing and passing, but ended up with just 59 on the ground and 126 via the pass for a total of 185.
Spartan quarterback Brian Hoyer completed just four of 11 passes for just 18 yards in the first half and running back Javon Ringer snapped his streak of four straight games with 144 rushing yards or more with a season-low 43 on 12 carries.
Nevertheless, thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns less than a minute apart at the end of the third quarter -- on free safety Otis Wiley's 54-yard interception return and linebacker Sir Darean Adam's 25-yard fumble runback -- MSU still had a chance to win.
However, after Brett Swenson's 43-yard field goal made it a seven-point game with 3:42 remaining and Ohio State got the ball back on its own 16, the Spartans couldn't stop the Buckeyes from picking up three first downs and running out the clock.
"We hung in there but couldn't get off the field for a little while on third down, and that was frustrating," said MSU coach Mark Dantonio. "It was 24-0, but we battled back. We just needed to battle back earlier in the game."
"We'll take this and build from this from the standpoint we stayed together and didn't go in the tank and let it become a 41-0 game."
The upset fever that had caused previously top-ranked Southern Cal and LSU to tumble in the polls, skipped over the Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) for at least another week.
While Ohio State's relentless blitzes disrupted MSU's running game - Jehuu Caulcrick added just 10 yards on two carries -- Chris Wells accounted for 221 of the Buckeyes 422 yards on 31 carries.
"They were causing a lot of bad things to happen to us," Ringer said. "Honestly, I just have to give credit to them. That was an amazing defense."
The game started out favorably enough for MSU when the Buckeyes' game-opening drive started at the 4-yard line after committing a false-start penalty on their first play.
But then the Spartans' schizophrenic big-play defense -- canceling out its own stellar play by allowing long-gainers -- got into the act.
Wells got OSU out of trouble by bouncing an inside run outside and rambling for 47 yards up the right sideline.
Buckeye quarterback Todd Boeckman finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ballard, who was wide open on the right sideline made a terrific one-handed catch before lunging into the end zone.
Michigan State had a great opportunity to affect field position on its second defensive series as well after Aaron Bates' punt was downed inside the 1-yard line.
However, Boeckman's 42-yard pass to wideout Brian Robiskie and a 35-yard run by Wells set up a 42-yard Ryan Pretorius field goal.
In the second quarter, Hoyer was hit as he was attempt to pass and OSU defensive tackle Doug Worthington's interception at the Spartan 29 set up Wells' 5-yard touchdown run for a 17-0 lead that stood until halftime.
"They're just fast and they're physical and they play tough," said Hoyer, who finished with 126 yards on 12-for-23 passing. "We knew they were going to play as tough as they had all season because this was their first true test against a good offense.
"They came out and played great."
Ohio State made it 24-0 midway through the third quarter when Robiskie used a double-move to get behind Michigan State free safety Travis Key and Boeckman hit him in stride for a 50-yard touchdown.
Things suddenly started going MSU's way when Wiley, who had lost his starting job two games earlier, intercepted Boeckman's deep pass with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter.
Michigan State then got itself back into the game on the next series when defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic stripped the ball out of Boeckman's hands, and Adams scooped-and-scored.
It was Saint-Dic's Big Ten-record eighth forced fumble of the season.
The momentum almost shifted completely MSU's way on the very next play when freshman defensive tackle Antonio Jeremiah caused Wells to fumble at the Buckeye 22.
Wiley got his hands on the loose ball, but got hit by a teammates lost control and tried to flip it to defensive end Ervin Baldwin, but Wells got the ball back instead.
"I was trying to win the game instead of just trying to get the ball," Wiley said. "I wish I would have fell on it because the outcome of the game would have been totally different."
 
Saturday, October 20th)

Final Score: Clemson 70, Central Michigan 14
City, ST (Sports Network) - Cullen Harper tied a school record with five touchdown passes, as the Clemson Tigers flexed their muscles in a 70-14 rout of the visiting Central Michigan Chippewas in a non-conference bout at Memorial Stadium.
Harper completed 20-of-22 passes and finished with 273 passing yards for the Tigers (5-2), who amassed their highest scoring output in 26 years. Aaron Kelly had seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns, while James Davis, C.J. Spiller and Sadat Chambers combined for 294 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
For CMU (4-4), Dan LeFevour completed 20-of-34 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
CMU opened the game with a 13-play drive, and the Chippewas scored on a nine- yard pass from LeFevour to Duane Brooks.
But their only lead of the game was relinquished with 57 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, as Davis capped off an 83-yard Clemson drive with a one- yard touchdown plunge.
The Tigers took the lead at the 9:12 mark of the second quarter, when Harper found Kelly for a 63-yard touchdown pass.
From that point Harper got red-hot, as he tossed three more touchdown passes in a five-minute span to close out the half (36 yards to Jacoby Ford, 11 yards to Davis, and five yards to Kelly).
CMU's opening possession of the second half began with a fumbled punt return deep in its own territory, and Spiller scored on a one-yard touchdown run on the very next play for Clemson.
The Chippewas came back with a four-yard touchdown pass from LeFevour to Duane Brooks to cap off a 66-yard drive, but that only narrowed the gap to 42-14 with 7:13 to play in the third quarter.
Davis (one-yard run) and Chambers (63-yard run) added two more rushing touchdowns for Clemson in the third quarter, and Harper connected on his fifth touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 63-14 lead entering the final quarter.
Xavier Dye recovered a fumble in the end zone for Clemson with 11:53 to play for the game's final score. The Tigers finished with a staggering 35 first downs and 656 yards of total offense. It was the first time in school history that Clemson amassed at least 300 yards rushing and 300 yards passing in the same game.

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Final Score: Northwestern 26, Eastern Michigan 14
Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - C.J. Bacher ran for a touchdown and threw for another score, both in the final quarter, as Northwestern beat Eastern Michigan, 26-14, at Ford Field.
Omar Conteh ran for 122 yards and a touchdown for Northwestern. Bacher connected on 25-of-42 passes for 361 yards and was picked off once for the Wildcats (5-3), who won their third straight in advance of a game at Purdue next Saturday.
Kim Thompson caught five passes for 133 yards and a TD in the win.
Freshman Kyle McMahon, making his first collegiate start, ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Eagles. He connected on 28-of-48 passes for 282 yards, but was picked off three times as Eastern Michigan (2-6) lost its fourth in a row.
Tyler Jones had eight receptions for 104 yards, while Jacory Stone caught eight balls for 85 yards in defeat.
McMahon started in place of Andy Schmitt, who was out with a shoulder injury.
Bacher ran one yard to the end zone midway through the final quarter, expanding Northwestern's lead to 19-7.
McMahon came right back with a 19-yard scramble to the end zone less than three minutes later, but Thompson took a short pass from Bacher over the middle, broke a tackle and rumbled 71 yards for the score with 2:44 left to seal the victory for the Wildcats.
A Jacob Wyatt interception led to the first points of the game, as McMahon ran five yards for a TD midway through the opening quarter.
Northwestern came back with 13 unanswered points, starting when Amado Villarreal kicked a 25-yard field goal in the final minute of the first quarter.
Dontayo Gage returned the ensuing kickoff to the Northwestern 23, but EMU blew the scoring opportunity as Dwayne Priest fumbled. Conteh came right back with a 12-yard TD run nearly five minutes into the second, and after Brad Phillips picked off McMahon, the Wildcats extended to a 13-7 lead on Villarreal's 28- yard field goal with 4:40 left in the half.
Sherrick McManis returned the second half kickoff 68 yards, setting up Northwestern at the EMU 26. Two plays later, Conteh rumbled up the middle inside the five, but had the ball knocked away by defensive back Ryan Downard. Duan Bracey recovered for the Eagles at the 1. Zach Johnson missed a 47-yard field goal early in the third for EMU and McMahon was picked off twice in Northwestern territory later in the period, the second of which came near the end zone by Deante Battle.

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Final Score: Ball State 27, Western Michigan 23
Kalamazoo, MI (Sports Network) - Nate Davis completed 25-of-48 pass attempts for 358 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Ball State Cardinals to a 27-23 win over the Western Michigan Broncos in a Mid-American Conference showdown at Waldo Stadium.
Louis Johnson led the Cardinals (5-3, 3-2 MAC) receiving corps, making three catches for 110yards and a score, while Dante Love hauled in 11 passes for 101 yards.
The Broncos (3-5, 2-2) were led by quarterback Tim Hiller, who completed 21- of-38 passes for 237 yards and a score. Unfortunately, Hiller also threw three picks in the loss. Brandon West fueled WMU's ground game, carrying the ball 21 times for 171 yards.
The Broncos opened up the first half scoring with a 45-yard field goal from Mike Jones.
Hiller extended the Broncos lead to 10-0, early in the second quarter, on a one-yard rushing touchdown.
BSU got on the board midway through the second quarter, when Davis found Joe Everett from 34 yards out to make the score 10-7.
The Cardinals tied the game minutes later on a 40-yard field goal from Jake Hogue.
WMU regained the lead in the closing minutes of the first half, when Jones connected from 33 yards out to give the Broncos a 13-10 lead at the break.
The Cardinals tied the game at 13-13 in the third quarter, thanks to a 22-yard field goal from Hogue.
The Broncos took the lead early in the fourth quarter with a 29-yard field goal from Jones.
BSU answered less than a minute later, when Davis and Johnson hooked up for a 44-yard score to give the Cardinals a 20-16 lead.
WMU wasted little time getting back on the board, as Hiller found Jordan White from 50 yards out to give the Broncos a 23-20 advantage.
The Cardinals took the games final lead in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, as Frank Edmonds capped off a nine-play 79-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
Following the game, BSU coach Brady Hoke praised his offense for its play down the stretch. "The guys know what they're capable of, and when they're playing and executing they can offensively score points and do some good things. It's a matter of us executing. I thought they came after us defensively pretty well, and did some real good things against us."
 
I will be back tomorrow night with some opening plays perhaps. Eyeing a few that I know I will prolly have to hit early. I am guessing the others will wait until later in the week. If I find the correct line on one game it will most likely be my strongest play of this season.

Talk to everyone tomorrow night.
 
I still can't believe UNLV had 600 yards of total offense and lost by 25 points. How the hell does that happen? GL in week 8. Luckily it's the last week I'll have to suffer thru this shit called CFB. :)
 
JPicks said:
I still can't believe UNLV had 600 yards of total offense and lost by 25 points. How the hell does that happen? GL in week 8. Luckily it's the last week I'll have to suffer thru this shit called CFB. :)
Click to expand...

Funny, because I failed to mention that. I was going with my Colly St tank theory but at same point any game in Vegas has capability of getting weird as that stat points out.
 
didnt want to say this, but congrats on the win. better team won tonight.
 
Cant wait to see that OSU line BAR. There are some pretty good games next week. Opening lines should be real interesting
 
BAR, what would you consider short for the tOSU number? I think I would consider tOSU -3 to be short. I think it will be tOSU -6/6.5/7
 
MasterCap said:
u like OSU as a road fave signal?
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If its a short line no doubt. Besides those 2 fumbles yesterday OSu dominated that game. Their defense is probally the best in the nation and by no means is Happy Valley an easy place to play however ill take OSU defense vs Anthony Morelli any day of the week
 
great thoughts bar...I was honestly surprised with debord's gameplan...i didn't think they would adjust, but i was afraid. if that makes sense. I was dissapointed zook didn't do very many misdirections or qb zone reads...why throw the ball against UM? that secondary is the strength ( i cant believe i said that lol)
 
Big week ladies...

Ride or collide

Ohio State -3 -120 8 units(GOY)
Arizona State -3 -110 5units
Minnesota +24 -110
Iowa +3 -110
 
i will be on iowa as well.

ready to give some thoughts on that asu game ? i lean slightly the other way after back to back losses for CAL. hate to tell you .... but how can you fire Carr after the job he has done after the first two games this year ?? with injuries to henne and hart along the way. Your boys are playing incredible friggin football. Also interested in your thoughts on that minnesota game.

Look forward to the normal amount of insight that we get every week from your thread.
 
Kyle...Short on time/sleep....but Carr will not be fired..its been known he would resign/quit after this year..dating back to last year...

I'll be back morrow night with many more thoughts...
 
vegaskyle said:
i will be on iowa as well.

ready to give some thoughts on that asu game ? i lean slightly the other way after back to back losses for CAL. hate to tell you .... but how can you fire Carr after the job he has done after the first two games this year ?? with injuries to henne and hart along the way. Your boys are playing incredible friggin football. Also interested in your thoughts on that minnesota game.

Look forward to the normal amount of insight that we get every week from your thread.
Click to expand...

The insight will be much better than as of late...promise...mapped out my week to get some thoughts on my plays and much else...:cheers:
 
You know I love Ohio State this week as well. Definitely was my favorite line that came out. The more I'm looking at things, the more I'm liking Iowa and ASU.
 
love osu too we may be the biggest suckes or biggest winners i think morelli throws 3 picks one for a td and robiskie tears up the open field with beanie getting close to 150-175 yards tressel is mr.big game this is one of them
 
Michigan State still has a big job ahead of it, but in many respects the worst part is over.

The Spartans won't have to face a defense quite as good as the one that smothered them in last Saturday's 24-17 loss to No. 1-ranked Ohio State in any of their last four games.
The score was respectable thanks only to two touchdowns scored by the defense and a blocked field goal by the special teams.
Michigan State's Big Ten-leading offense, however, failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season.
The Spartans' 185 yards of total offense was their weakest output so far. MSU's previous season-low was 327 yards in its victory over Pittsburgh.
While the Spartans had moved the ball on everyone else, no one figured it would be easy because the Buckeyes boast the nation's top defense in yards and points allowed.
And Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio put what his team was up against into even starker terms after running back Javon Ringer was held to a season-low 49 yards on 18 carries.
"I was surprised we couldn't run it better because we have very good players as well," Dantonio said. "But it looks like a great defense.
"When you're against a defense that made opponents punt 72 times in seven games, and only lined up to block 10 field goals or extra points, you've got issues.
"When you have only 17 opportunities for kickoff returns in seven games, that means your defense is playing very, very well. Nobody's getting in the end zone on them. That's what the situation was."
The Spartans' record dipped to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference, but they only are one victory away from becoming bowl-eligible.
The bad news is that while Ohio State has the gold-standard defense, three of MSU's remaining opponents are in the top half of the league.
Iowa (3-5, 1-4), which the Spartans visit at noon Saturday (ESPN2), is third in total defense, Michigan is fourth and Penn State is second.
Purdue, MSU's second-to-last opponent, is eighth in total defense.
Dantonio expects the Spartans to continue to battle the way they did after falling behind 24-0.
"I think it points to the fact we have character on our football team, our guys are willing to hang together and we will keep playing," he said. "It doesn't mean we'll win the next game, but it does mean there's a feeling on our team that we're not going to let each other down.
"We're going to keep climbing, and that's a very good feeling to have when you're coaching a team."
Nevertheless, Dantonio stressed to his players that getting close isn't good enough even if it was against the No. 1 team.
"Coach D. said we fought hard but we're not playing for moral victories," defensive tackle Justin Kershaw said. "We have to come back and beat Iowa. That's how we come back from this."


See more in Spartans Football Stories

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The mysteries over who would or wouldn't play for the University of Michigan football team at Illinois could grow larger for Saturday's home game against Minnesota.

But will it matter against the bottom team in the Big Ten?

Running back Mike Hart, who injured his ankle Oct. 13 against Purdue, didn't even warm up to play Saturday night against the Fighting Illini.
Brandon Minor, who appeared injured worse than Hart against Purdue, ended up splitting the running duties with Carlos Brown against Illinois.
Now quarterback Chad Henne, who missed two games with a knee injury earlier in the season, appears hurt again.
He twice left Saturday's game for treatment in the locker room but returned to lead the Wolverines to a 27-17 victory.
Coach Lloyd Carr wouldn't get into what's ailing Henne, but the quarterback had his right shoulder driven into the turf on a first-quarter sack and was holding his right forearm after delivering a touchdown pass to Adrian Arrington.
"He could not play there for a while,'' Carr said. "At the half, we were just hoping that he would be able to return at some point in the game. But that was really up to him depending on how he felt.''
While the Wolverines (6-2, 4-0 Big Ten) needed Henne's help to win in a tough road night game at Illinois, that shouldn't be the case in the upcoming 3:30 p.m. game against the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota (1-7, 0-4) has been the worst of the Big Ten under new coach Tim Brewster. It is coming off a 27-21 loss to North Dakota State.
Michigan, which moved up to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 1 Ohio State remain the only unbeaten teams in Big Ten play. They'll meet Nov. 17 at Michigan Stadium in a game that likely will decide the conference championship.
Everyone else has at least two Big Ten losses.
Carr credited Saturday's win to all the Wolverines have had to go through this season: rebounding from two tough losses to open the year and filling in during the first seven weeks for so many injured players.
Illinois helped with a missed field goal, a muffed punt that led to Michigan's go-ahead score and 10 penalties for 107 yards.
"You don't teach facemask and holding penalties, but when you teach guys to be aggressive it is going to happen,'' Illinois coach Ron Zook said. "Playing aggressive and playing hard is good, but up against good football teams, you can't do some of the things we did and get away with it.''
In holding Illinois' spread option attack to 137 rushing yards - 100 less than the Illini were averaging - safety Jamar Adams said it was proof that the Wolverines can play against that type of offense.
"It was a sweet win,'' Adams said. "The media has been making it out like the spread offense is our Achilles' heel. We did a good job of containing the runners and the quarterback.''
On the go-ahead touchdown, Arrington got the ball on an end-around and pulled up for an 11-yard pass to Mario Manningham in the end zone.
"It's was a crazy play being called with me in there because I didn't run that play all week in practice,'' said Arrington, who thought of just keeping the ball and running.
Greg Mathews ran the play in practice all week but wasn't in the game at the time it was called. Like so much else this season, the Wolverines just improvised and came out ahead.
"It doesn't matter how it looks,'' Arrington said. "If we come out with a victory, that's all that matters. The Big Ten championship's out there, so we're going for it.''

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Alright, lets talk some football.

Michigan vs Minnesota

In capping terms this is a sandwich spot. Michigan State on the road next week for Michigan off a big night-game win over Illinois. Now, MSU isn't our biggest rival but with Dantoni's clock countdown in the Spartan lockerroom ala sweatervest this game takes on some different meaning this time around. Minnesota comes in as the worst defensive team in CFB. Peep RJ's thread and there is an article talking about bad defenses and another on offenses. They are just putrid and lost to the Bison at home last week. The question isn't will UM score alot. The question is motivation, injuries and a semi-letdown. I think Minnesota can hang 17-24 in this game. While UM is capable of scoring 40+ lets remember this is Uncle Lloyd and come 4th qtr he will be running most of the time. I fully expect Michael Hart to sit out again. No reason, especially with Brown running so well last week to rush Mike back before the stretch run of the Big-Ten season. I also think that Henne either sits or plays sparingly. He really gutted it out last Saturday night. I have a different level of respect for him after that game. Basically, this is a solid doggie spot. Line opened 24 and is at 23 right now. I would recommend this as a play at 23 or above. Michigan 38-20
 
Iowa vs Michigan St

I don't think I can overstate the signifigance of next Saturday for Michigan State. They have been gunning for UM since Dantoni was hired. That being said, this is the most winnable game the rest of the season to gain bowl eligibilty. Thats why I havwe kept it as a single unit play so far. I may adjust as the week goes on. Iowa has a few strengths. Running the ball(at times) and defense. Look at VegasKyles thread. He has a very nice write-up concening those two details. Michigan State ran..get this..7 PLAYS in Ohio State territory last week. Thats no suprise. OSU confirmed their defense is incredible. MSU will have somewhat similar problems with the run game this week. Hoyer is not a QB to win a game. He simply has to manage it and feed off an excellent run game. MSU defense has improved this year but against very good running backs they will struggle. I see Iowa winning a low scoring game. I think ML is a solid play and would play this to PK. Iowa 17-14
 
Arizona St vs California

As I said for several weeks California was a fraud top-5 team and they are finally showing it. Yes, Longshore has been banged up but their defense is not good and against solid to good teams they don't look so dominant. They run into one of my favorite teams this year in Arizona State. The Devils have had a bye week to prepare for this tilt. Thats huge. I think Longshore is still somewhat banged up. California can have some success going downfield against the ASU safeties but the rest of the ASU defense is very good in my honest opinion. On offense, Rudy and the boys should have a field day against this weak California defense.Hopefully they don't have one of "those" first qtrs and get out ahead early. A good offense with a good defense beats a team with a good offense. I don't think Cal is as motivated right now after two crushing losses. ASU by double-digits..38-21
 
BAR -

I think ASU wins this one too. Only thing scaring me is that Cal is off two losses and should be pissed off in this one. Bye Week and Homecoming is what swayed me to ASU. :shake: BoL this week.
 
Penn State vs Ohio St


I have been waiting for this game for the better part of a month now. During the summer I had much different views on this game but how the season started I was able to adjust my focus to the correct play here. Lets look at the line movement. It opened 3 and I heard via Hunt that OSU was favored by 4.5 or 5 at some point at Bookmaker. It then was back to 3.5 last night when I played it. It sits at 4 presently at some outfits. This was a small play at 6.5 or less. I said if I could get 3(even buying the hook) that I would hammer it. I am quite focused on this game and feel its as good as it will get for myself this year.

Guess what guys..Ohio State defense is sick. I knew all summer and early season that they would be dynamite on defense. More experienced and faster in my opinion so far this season. They just get after people. Saturdays shutdown of Sparty confirmed how real this team is. MSU was the best offense in the big ten by the numbers. Seven plays in the OSU zone for MSU is incredible. Under 200 yards total. Ohio State has forced something like 70 3&outs this season. Incredible. On offense, they have a very good offensive line and a great back in Beanie Wells. Kid is just dynamite and will be able to run against PSU. His numbers won't be staggering but he will pound away at them. The QB position is steady as ever and the OSU offense keeps growing each and every week. Penn State has come back to life a bit as of late. Thats cute and all but playing Indiana, Iowa and a spiraling Wisconsin team does nothing for me. This team has a very good defense and thats about it. Morelli will be like a wounded turtle in this game. Ohio State will confuse the heck out of him and he will provide some critical errors as well. PSU ain't running at all so this game is on Morelli. Maybe their defense forces a turnover on OSU but OSU will counter with better defense and more forces IMO. I cannot fathom how Penn State is able to muster any offense in this game. I think 3 points is tops for them on offense. Lets add in 7 from the defense at most. So, at most PSU scores 10 points here. Ohio State should get 7-10 from their defense. The offense is good for 14-17 I believe. So, your looking at a game that lands on say 24-10 or 21-7 or something like that. Better offense. Better defense. I don't care about the night game at Happy Valley. They were down 17-3 last year to UM before a late TD. This game should be similar. Ohio State has one of the best big-game coaches. He and his team get the job done here. Ohio State wins an ugly one 24-10
 
I just can't stomach putting my money on Iowa...I could forsee it being the most painful 2.5+ hrs of my life...
 
MasterCap said:
Oregon vs USC
Click to expand...

Man, this is going to be a helluva game. I don't know who gets start for USC. I haven't dived into that part yet. Should be interesting. Sanchez had a nice start in South Bend. Nothing spectacular but a very good game for him. Oregon still doesn't have a good defense but their offense has been helping them out this year. What I mean by that is the offense gets up so much that the other team has to adjust their gameplan. I think this is where this game will be different. USC defense will give the Ducks offense their first challnge this season. A lot will depend on the gameplans. Dixon has been awesome and he will have to have a great game for Oregon to win. Autzen is as tough as it gets to win a game but I think the game is a coinflip. I honestly would favor Oregon just slightly but think the game is a tough one to wager on.
 
Thanks for all the write-ups BAR. Definitely lean to the Buckeyes, probably won't play it since it moved up to 4 though. Would need 3.5 or better.

GL this week.
 
. Oregon still doesn't have a good defense but their offense has been helping them out this year. What I mean by that is the offense gets up so much that the other team has to adjust their gameplan. I think this is where this game will be different. USC defense will give the Ducks offense their first challnge this season. A lot will depend on the gameplans.

This is one of the most insightful, well thought out assertions that I have read in a thread this year at this forum. This is DEAD ON ANALYSIS that goes far beyond what the box scores of games will tell you. Honestly, I am angry with myself that this thought never , at any time , crossed my mind. the duck defense has definitely been protected by those big leads this year and usc is by far the best defense they have played since facing michigan ( who was "spread challenged " at the time). It is posts like that one which make me read these threads every week. i also think oregon should be the small favorite in this game ... i will be watching but i think the tidbit above ... was the last straw for me to drop any illusions of playing oregon this week. fucking great post dude.
 
vegaskyle said:
. Oregon still doesn't have a good defense but their offense has been helping them out this year. What I mean by that is the offense gets up so much that the other team has to adjust their gameplan. I think this is where this game will be different. USC defense will give the Ducks offense their first challnge this season. A lot will depend on the gameplans.

This is one of the most insightful, well thought out assertions that I have read in a thread this year at this forum. This is DEAD ON ANALYSIS that goes far beyond what the box scores of games will tell you. Honestly, I am angry with myself that this thought never , at any time , crossed my mind. the duck defense has definitely been protected by those big leads this year and usc is by far the best defense they have played since facing michigan ( who was "spread challenged " at the time). It is posts like that one which make me read these threads every week. i also think oregon should be the small favorite in this game ... i will be watching but i think the tidbit above ... was the last straw for me to drop any illusions of playing oregon this week. fucking great post dude.
Click to expand...


Thanks man. Its just the same when an offense cannot move the ball and leaves a defense on the field for 35-40 minutes. That will break down any unit.
 
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