Detroit Tigers Update

I figured it was time for another Tigers update.  I realized that analyzing every game or even every series gets really frustrating with this team, so giving an update every few weeks is better for my fandom.

When I left you last time the Motown Mashers were 2.5 games behind the Dirty Sox.  They have improved upon that over the last 3 weeks, and now are sitting just 1 game back.  When you think about that it is encouraging, but when you dive into the last 9 games it quickly becomes confusing and frustrating. 

I have come to realize that last year’s team was just really fun to root for.  So many players were having incredible years, the bullpen was not blowing leads every other night, and the Tigers ran away with the AL Central Division crown.  This year is not last.  There are just some of the players that are hard to root for, the bullpen enjoys giving up that extra run, and the Dirty Sox keep winning. 

The Tigers managed to piss off the fan base, win them back over, and abruptly push them all away again in just 9 games.  It was an amazing feat, but the good thing is we are still in striking distance of Chicago.  Detroit traveled to Kansas City and left their bats at home.  They were swept by the horrid Royals, and managed to score just 1 run in the last 18 innings of the series.  Then they came home to face the White Sox and put together 3 great pitching performances and scored just enough to win all 3 games.  Just so us Michiganders weren’t too excited, the team turned around and lost 2 of 3 against a Cleveland team that came into Detroit 6-29 in their last 35 games. What just happened?

I don’t want to break down each game because they are in the past, and I don’t feel like getting angry this early in the morning.  The starting pitching has been incredible for really the second half of the season.  Max Scherzer has won his last 5 starts with close to a 1.00 era and has lowered his overall era to just under 4.00.  People, if he closes the season with 5 or 6 more good starts, he could be in the Cy Young discussion.  Sanchez has turned things around and has 3 straight quality starts with the team, unfortunately he only has one win in those starts.  He is throwing a ton of strikes and working in all of his pitches.  Porcello might be having his best stretch of his career right now, but he keeps getting left with the loss.  In Rick’s last 3 starts he has only gotten 5 runs of support from the team.  Doug Fister is starting to get healthy again from a sore groin to look like 2011 Doug Fister.  Even though his velocity is down 3-4 mph, he is still getting the ball down and getting a lot of easy ground balls.  Then there is Verlander.  He definitely has had more poor starts this season than last, but that was to be expected. His last start was a completely dominating effort against Chicago on Sunday night baseball.  If the starters can keep this going for the remaining 26 games I would be very surprised if the Tigers don’t win the division. 

The offense has been a little shaky for most of the season, and it has continued in the last 3 weeks.  The bottom 5 hitters continue to be on a season long roller coaster from good to bad.  There is only so much that the top of the lineup can do to carry a team.  Austin Jackson is having a career year at the plate.  Andy Dirks is looking like the perfect 2 hitter in this offense.  Miguel is having another incredible MVP type year, and Prince Fielder is doing his thing.  Currently Delmon Young might be the hottest hitter in the entire AL.  The rest of the lineup has been struggling with any sort of consistency.  This team is built to score runs, but I have been really disappointed with their strategy at the plate in a lot of games this season.  It seems like the most average opposing pitchers shut down this offense too much.  If they can find a way to focus and score 5.5 runs a game for the rest of the season, we should see the Tigers in the playoffs for a 2^nd straight year. 

Detroit now goes on a 10 game road trip where they will face the Angels, White Sox (for the last time), and the Indians.  A winning record over this trip will be very important. 

On a side note, keep cheering for Miguel to launch some home runs.  He is currently 3 behind the AL leaders with 35 bleacher bombs.  He is leading the AL in RBI and average right now and could be the first triple crown winner since 1967.  He would have to win the MVP if he did this… right?

B1G Week 1: Recap

Lets take a look back at the first weekend of college football and what stood out with the other 11 teams in the B1G.

I was pretty accurate in most of my picks last week.  There were some surprises though.

Good surprise:

Out of everything that happened last weekend in the conference there really wasn’t much to feel good about.  One area that stuck out though was Taylor Martinez’s performance against Sothern Mississippi.  Martinez looked like a completely different quarterback.  He threw the ball with better mechanics which resulted in a tighter ball and higher velocity.  I only saw a few throws off of the back foot.  If he can keep this up when he sees more pressure in the pocket (probably will some this weekend at UCLA) I think we have an early favorite for B1G player of the year. 

I was also impressed with Illinois’ offense in their first game under the new coach.  I didn’t think the game would be too close, but I was still impressed with the execution.  I think Scheelhasse could benefit greatly under the new system, and it will be important over the next 3 weeks to develop some other skill players for the B1G schedule.  They have a big challenge this weekend as they head out to Arizona to play the Sun Devils.

Bad surprise:

Well out of 12 games there are only 2 good surprises, you can be assured that it was not an encouraging week around the B1G. The first bad surprise would be the MSU offense.  Yes, I know Bell had a monster game, but there is no way he will be able to carry the ball 44 times against a B1G defense.  Maxwell showed flashes of being a decent QB, but for the most part he looked confused and awful under pressure.  I was more surprised by the offensive line play though.  These guys became a pretty good pass protecting unit last year, but continually let unblocked defenders through the line.  Boise was able to get pressure with their front 4 alone for most of the game.  I think Lou Holtz said it best after the game, even though MSU won the game, Boise left more of an impression on the viewers.

Iowa and Wisconsin struggle in open games.  The defending B1G champs looked asleep for most of the game against Northern Iowa and almost got knocked off at home.  I expected O’Brien to struggle a bit during the game, but I couldn’t believe how stoppable Monte Ball looked. His performance on Saturday would have been one of his worst from a year ago.  Look for the Badgers to respond well this weekend.  I didn’t expect Iowa to challenge for a conference title this year, but I also didn’t expect them to look terrible against Northern Illinois. The running game was a mess, and Vandenberg could not get into a rhythm all game.  The Hawkeye offense was all but shut down against the Huskies.

I picked Northwestern to beat Syracuse on Saturday in a close game, but I didn’t expect an 83 point shootout.  The Wildcat defense got gashed all afternoon in the passing game.  They could not get any pressure on the Orange QB, and he was left in the pocket to find open receivers.  NW corners fell down on 4 different TD passes on the game.  They cannot have a repeat performance and expect the offense to save them. 

I would say that my conference rankings are as follows:

1.       Nebraska

2.       Ohio St

3.       Michigan St

4.       Michigan

5.       Wisconsin

6.       Purdue

7.       Illinois

8.       Northwestern

9.       Iowa

10.   Penn St

11.   Minnesota

12.   Indiana

NFL Preseason Predictions

The NFL season starts tonight, so I guess it is time for me to get my preseason predictions out there.  I will go division by division and try to pick the order in the final standings.  The teams that I pick for the playoffs will be bolded. 

AFC East

New England Patriots

Buffalo Bills

NY Jets

Miami Dolphins

This division has turned from one of the toughest to possibly the worst group in the entire NFL.  New England actually has a decent shot at getting to 14+ wins again.  I like what the Bills did in the offseason, and if they can stay healthy they will likely be in the playoff race by week 17. The Jets and Dolphins will likely win less than 10 games combined.

AFC West

Denver Broncos

San Diego Chargers

Oakland Raiders

Kansas City Chiefs

The AFC West might be one of the most competitive division from top to bottom.  I wouldn’t be shocked if any of these teams won this division.  I don’t think Peyton Manning will be the same QB from 2 years ago, but I think Denver has a very good defense and a powerful home field advantage.  The winner of this division will likely be 10-6.  The fun part will be the last place team could be 7-9.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

This will be another good season of Ravens-Steelers battles.  Baltimore is the standard pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.  I think they are going to be talented, but how will they respond to Suggs being out for the season?  Cincinnati was the Cinderella story last year, but I don’t think Andy Dalton can bottle the magic.  I think they take a big step backwards. The Steelers might be a top 5 team, but I don’t see them winning their own division.

AFC South

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Tennessee Titans

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Texans are the other main choice to make the Super Bowl coming out of the AFC.  They have the most first string talent, but I think depth will be an issue this year as many players left for bigger contracts.  I still think they roll through this below average division with 12+ wins.  The biggest shock here is picking the Colts to make the 6^th and final playoff spot.  Yes, the more likely choice would be the Bills or the Titans, but I really liked what Andrew Luck and company did in the preseason and I think with a core of new young players they become the 2012 team to root for.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles

Dallas Cowboys

NY Giants

Washington Redskins

This is still a powerhouse division.  The top 3 teams could finish with 8 wins or more, and then Washington will be fun to watch with RGIII taking the snaps. If Vick can stay healthy, look for the Eagles to finally play like the “Dream Team” they were named last year.  It could be a special season for the guys in green.  The problem is, Vick will likely sit out 2-3 games this year. The Giants had a dream season last year and I just cant see them repeating this year. 

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers

St. Louis Rams

Seattle Seahawks

Arizona Cardinals

This might be the easiest division to choose the winner.  San Francisco is head and shoulders better than any other team in this group.  I would be surprised if they finish with less than 11 wins. The Cardinals have a lot of question marks on offense, and the Seahawks will be breaking in a new quarterback for another season.  The Rams could make a big step forward and push for a wildcard playoff spot if Bradford can stay healthy.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers

Detroit Lions

Chicago Bears

Minnesota Vikings

Green Bay seems to be a lock to win this North division for the 3^rd straight year. They are also the easy pick for the Super Bowl (again).  On paper, they are the best team in all of football.  Last year, as we saw, the game is not played on paper and there are no locks for the trophy.  Detroit is my homer pick. I think both the Lions and the Bears finish with 9 wins, but Detroit gets the nod in the tiebreaker.  Minnesota will be terrible again.

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Atlanta is ranked highly on paper for another year.  I think they are the most consistent and solid team in this division, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Carolina or New Orleans win.  Carolina is my fun playoff pick in the NFC.  I doubt Cam Newton can even match his rookie output, but I doubt he will be far off.  They have improved on both sides of the ball and could push for 10 wins. New Orleans still has a powerhouse offense, but how will losing their coach and key linebackers impact the season.

I think the playoff picture will see Green Bay, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Houston will have the first round byes.  So the opening round matchups will be (winners in bold):

Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

Carolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles

Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons

The AFC Title game:

New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens

NFC Title game:

Philadelphia Eagles at Green Bay Packers

Week 1: Alabama Recap

Whew, I wish I could say that I missed the game on Saturday, but unfortunately I watched every snap.  I don’t think my body was as badly bruised as the Michigan players, but there is no doubt my pride was.  Diving into a recap of this game sounds like an extremely painful thing to do, but let’s face it, I need to blow an hour of work.

On Friday I previewed this matchup with the prediction of an Alabama victory by 10 points.  The only thing I had correct in that was thinking Michigan could score 14 points on the Tide defense.  Alabama had the advantage in every category except special teams. 

Remember that I said that Alabama’s strengths lined up perfectly against Michigan’s weaknesses?  Well the Wolverines got exploited over and over again.  On top of the embarrassing score, Michigan also left with some major injuries that could affect the rest of the season.  Taylor Lewan was shaken up with what looked like an ankle sprain.  Denard got ran over by the Mack truck cornerback and was probably chewing on some vertebrae for most of the game.  Brandon Moore sprained a knee, and the worst being Blake Countess tearing his ACL while covering a punt.  I knew it felt weird to feel confident about the Michigan secondary, now I am back into the frantic state of.. if the B1G had any actual QB’s we are seriously screwed. In this uneasiness, I find comfort.

To be honest here I have no idea what we learned about Michigan in this game.  I happen to think, or want to believe, that Michigan is still one of the best teams in the B1G and a top 15 team in the nation.  If this holds true, man the B1G is terrible. None of my questions were answered with any certainty from the game.  Has Denard’s passing improved?  It seemed like some of his mechanics looked better, but decision making was poor, the Alabama secondary made some amazing plays to break up nice throws, and the Michigan receivers had a few drops. How good is the defensive line? I actually have no idea.  They just got ran over by the best offensive line that college football has seen in my memory. I think they will be alright, and could actually cause problems for a few remaining teams on the schedule, but I cannot give a definitive answer. How good is our running game? Well Fitz didn’t play, and he is clearly our best running back. Also, the offensive line was good in pass protection on Saturday, but got mauled while trying to run block. I doubt we will not know what this team really is until after the Notre Dame  game or possibly MSU.

There were some things that really confused me about Saturday night though.  The offensive game plan from the start seemed extremely questionable.  Even CJ Mosely was confused.  After the game he said, since the starting running back was out for the game we expected Denard to have the ball in his hands more often, so we were definitely surprised. I hope the playbook will continue to evolve to showcase Denard’s talents and not just Al Borgess’s system.  The game plans last year for Nebraska and Ohio were great, but Saturday looked nothing like that. Denard is not, nor never will be a pocket passer.  You have to adjust and let him play to his strengths (zone option, QB draws, and rolling the pocket a bit to give him clear passing lanes).  Actually College Gameday diagramed this extremely well Saturday morning.  

I was impressed with the special teams play.  Dennis Norfleet is going to be one of the conference’s best kickoff return specialists.  This guy can fly and is pretty shifty in the open field.  I would be surprised if he doesn’t not finish the year with at least 1 kickoff return for a TD.  Will Hagerup boomed some huge punts and looks like he has won the starting punting job, and Matt Wile looks comfortable kicking the ball through the end zone for touchbacks. We did not see the field goal kicker, but I would imagine we will this weekend.

Saturday night’s game made me look forward to the matchup with Air Force even more.  Hopefully we will have a better understanding of what Team 133 can do.

Week 1: Michigan vs Bama Preview

Can we just sit back and take a moment to enjoy today?  Football is finally here, and it is officially football season from today through the rest of the year (at least).  Yes, our Wolverines do not get to play until Saturday night, but actual football games will be played tonight.

                   

Ok, lets jump back into some analysis, shall we? 

On paper, Saban's fighting elephants have a massive advantage over Hoke's Heroes. But, luckily for us Michiganders, the game is not played on paper.  I want to take a look at each aspect of the game and predict who will have the advantage during the 60 minutes on gametime. 

Alabama Rush Offense vs Michigan Run Defense
It seems like all of Bama's strengths match up perfectly against our weaknesses.  This does not make for an encouraging preview, but I will try to put my homer glasses on a bit.  The Tide's OL has been talked about all offseason as the best in college football.  Barrett Jones just won the Outland Trophy last season as the nation's best OL while play LT.  He will complete the OL cycle (started at LG for 2 years) this year as he anchors the offense from the Center position.  The reason for the change?  The backup sophomore LT is too good not to put on the field.  This group could have 2 All-Americans at the end of the season and possibly 3 All-SEC players.  Meanwhile, Michigan will counter with a mostly new defensive front. It will take each of these guys best effort just to hold their own ground.  Alabama lost Trent Richardson, but replaces him with a stable of 4 and 5 star running backs, with likely another Heisman Trophy candidate. It will be interesting to see how Will Campbell plays with his redefined body against the best center he will face all year. Michigan will need to rely on the 3 returning LB's to make the majority of the tackles, and hope that Bama's OL cannot get to the second level on each play.  Advantage: Bama by a large margin.

Alabama Pass Offense vs Michigan Pass Defense
Well, Michigan's defense will need to be anchored by the returning back 7 this year (when was the last time we could say that?).  Alabama runs a very B1G style of play-calling, but they do it with superior athletes. The offense is not complicated.  The OL will zone block the heck out of the defense, they will line up in power sets (2 WRs and TE) and run at you.  They will also mix in a very efficient play action passing game.  Alabama is breaking a new WR group which could help Michigan attack the quarterback (or focus on the run).  It will be important for the cornerbacks to not bite on the play action fake and stay with their man.  I trust JT Floyd and Blake Countess do make passing a little difficult on AJ McCarron.  The problem here is if Jake Ryan or any other pass rush specialist can get any pressure.  Greg Mattison is a Remember the Titans type DC ("We are going to blitz all night").  I cannot argue with this logic because the only way to beat a team with a huge physical advantage over you is to take risks.  Playing it safe is Bama's style (and eventually Hoke's as well), but in this game Michigan will need to take some calculated risks in hope of forcing a turnover or to shake McCarron's confidence.  Remember, using a high risk strategy has potential to back fire as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if Bama had a couple of plays over 40 yards.  The goal is for them to also have 2+ turnovers.  Advantage: Michigan slightly

Michigan Run Offense vs Alabama Run Defense
The goal for Michigan is to take pressure of from Denard.  The less Alabama can focus on our Heisman hopeful, the better chance he has for taking the game over.  While most of this sits with Denard's ability to pass the ball, it plays out in the run game as well.  With Toussaint likely suspended for at least some of the game, Michigan will be looking to Thomas Rawls and Vincent Smith to get some tough yards.  The problem with both guys is there is no homerun threat with either.  Bama's defensive line could likely catch both of these guys from behind, and we saw how well running into the heart of the defense over and over again worked for LSU last January. Michigan's offensive line is breaking in a couple of new faces, but should be one of the B1G's best units by the start of the conference season.  If they are able to open up a few holes for Rawls to get 4-5 yards per carry, Michigan's offense will be tough to stop.  However I dont really see that happening with Bama's terrifying 3-4 set. Just the fact that they run a 3-4 defense is incredible (it will take too long to explain, but just know it is a very difficult formation to succeed in).  Again, it is a very simple defensive concept with superior athletes at most positions.  Their nose tackle (Jesse Williams benched 600 pounds in the offseason) will call for a double team on each play which will give their D-end sized linebackers a chance to pressure Denard.  Folks, their smallest rotational LB is 6'2" 235 and have guys all the way up to 6'3" 262 or 6'6" 248.  If Denard can get a few plays into open space, he might be able to run away for most of these guys.  The problem is that they are so good at containing the edge that getting to the outside will be a struggle all game long.  Advantage: Bama by a large margin if Fitz does not play.

Michigan Pass Offense vs Alabama Pass Defense
This is the great unknown in this game.  There are so many question marks that pretty much anything can happen.  Has Denard improved as a passer?  If so, by how much? Will a receiver step up to be a downfield threat? How will Bama's new secondary play in their first game experience together?  I happen to think Denard has improved as a passer, but by how much I have no idea. With the WR position a question mark for this team, he will likely need to throw open his receivers at different points in the game.  Bama like to run a lot of different types of blitzes with all of their LB's and a couple of their DB's.  Denard's track record against teams with a high pressure defense is not very good.  However, if he can get into any sort of rhythm  to make the safeties back up a yard or two, Michigan could be able to sustain drives on this team.  There was one team that scored 14 points on Bama last year.  Yes, I know they lost a lot to the NFL, but Arkansas was able to do it with a short passing game and by mixing up the tempo of the offense (no huddle a few times, then snap the ball with 1 on the clock).  Bama's defense likely will not be as stout in this first game as it will in the SEC Title game, but it will be a struggle to move the ball.  I have some confidence in Denard, but not enough in our receivers to take advantage of the new secondary.  Advantage: Push

Special Teams
Michigan is pretty set at all special teams positions at this point in the season which is a comforting truth, but so is Alabama.  With the new kickoff rules, I think the kick off specialists will not be very effective this season.  With 10 or more combined punts expected in this game, field position will be a big factor.  Michigan has 2 possible punters (one consistent one and one with a golden leg), it will be important for Michigan to win the field position battle and pin Alabama deep in their own zone.  If the offense can get a few first downs, this could happen, but I expect it more from Alabama.

Prediction
Nick Saban usually plays the non-conference schedule very close to the polo.  He hasn't revealed too much before SEC games start, and I would guess he has the same plan on Saturday.  Meanwhile, Brady Hoke has the weight of an entire conference on his shoulders and will likely need to play with the playbook open.  Not only would a win here put Michigan closer to elite status again, it would greatly help the view of the B1G.  Alabama's last 3 games against the B1G has resulted in a 100-21 point differential.  If Michigan can keep it close in the 4th quarter it would be a minor victory.  I think Michigan finds a way to make just enough big plays throughout the game to keep the score reasonably close, but scoring 17+ points against Bama seems like a huge feat.  I think the final score will be around 24-14 (Michigan beats the spread of 13.5)

Week 1 Upset Alert

Hey folks I wanted to give you a few games to look out for this weekend where a top 25 team could be upset in their first game of the season.

Let's start in SEC country with the very first game of the year: Vanderbilt vs South Carolina.  South Carolina is considered by many to push for the SEC East title and a BCS bowl berth.  They are led by 2 of the best players in all of the conference, Lattimore and Clowney.  I don't think the Commodores are likely to pull off the stunning win, but Vandy is quietly building a decent football team again and could hang with the favored Gamecocks for at least half of the game.

Moving on to Friday night, Boise St vs Michigan St.  You already saw my preview of this game in my last post, so you know I expect MSU to roll over the Broncos, but I have been wrong before. Boise St is coming is being mostly overlooked again this year, and usually that means bad things for their opponents when that happens. The smurf-turfers should have enough talent on the roster to keep the game close for a while, and if Maxwell cracks under pressure and turns the ball over a few times, MSU could wish they stuck with Florida International West Tech State Community College to open the season like usual.

Notre Dame is ranked by some sites, so I will include them in this list.  Navy vs ND. ND has 2 scholarship cornerbacks on the roster along with a number of suspensions for this first game.  I think Navy will play them tough and push Notre Dame more than the golden domers would like. 

Southern Mississippi vs Nebraska could be a game that trips up Big Red.  I also previewed this game in the previous post and think it is unlikely, but it could be entertaining for a half.

Finally, the pick most people are going with as upset of the week is Clemson vs Auburn.  Clemson will be without their versatile WR Sammy Watkins for the game and Auburn will be breaking in a new OC.  I think Auburn has enough talent on the roster to slow the high power Clemson offense a bit, but I dont think it will be enough.

If I have to go with one game, I will choose Navy over Notre Dame in a close, ugly, slug-fest.  If you want to argue that ND is not favored enough to call it an upset, fine.  My second choice would be Vandy over South Carolina, although they would have to turn the ball over a lot to give Vandy a chance.

B1G week 1 predictions

It is week 1 of the college football season, and I cannot be more excited right now.  For those of us in the Michigan area, we have the final Lion's preseason game on Thursday, Detroit Tigers taking on the nasty Sox this weekend (hopefully with a chance to rightfully take back 1st place in the division), Little Brother taking on Trick Play U Friday night, and finally Meechigan taking on the Bama dynasty. What's not to like people?

My plan for the season is to go through each game of the B1G schedule and give a quick prediction, possibly with a marquee game each week getting a little special attention, and of course there will be an in-depth preview of each Michigan game. 

Going in order of game time.

Minnesota @ UNLV 11:00 8/30: I have to be honest, I do not know much about the current Runnin' Rebels roster, I know they struggled last season and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't again in 2012. I do however think the Golden Gophers are going to be much improved this season, possibly with a chance of making a bowl game. Minnesota escapes with a close, higher scoring win.

Boise St @ MSU 8:00 8/31: As you can probably figure out, the bolded game means this week's marquee battle (outside of the ole Maize n Blue). This scheduling is win-win for MSU, they welcome a Bronco's team fresh off losing the winningest college QB ever.  So Boise St is still a known name, but they have so many question marks that the Broncos have little hope of winning this game.  Both teams will be replacing their record setting signal callers, but MSU has more weapons to ease Andrew Maxwell into the role.  I expect Sparty to blitz, and blitz often.  This will likely cause 2+ turnovers from the smurf turfers. Unless the Bronco defense can force a few of their own, I just don't see this game being that close at the end.  The Spartans are too strong to lose this opener.

Northwestern @ Syracuse 12:00 9/1: Northwestern breaks in a new quarterback against the Orange.  I think the Purple People Eaters have too much talent on their roster to drop this game, even on the road.

Ohio @ Penn St 12:00 9/1: I don't know if a coach, a team, a university, or a state has ever wanted the season to start as much as Penn St does now.  Bill O'Brien wants the focus of his work to be on football, like he intended when he was hired.  It has been a long off season.  Penn St is still littered with talent, but it will be interesting to see how they come out and play on Saturday.  I expect a lot of emotion and possibly a few forced mistakes from the Nittany Lions, but in the end Penn St nation can cheer about something again.

Western Michigan @ Illinois 12:00 9/1:  Western almost tripped the Illini up last year, but I am doubtful they can repeat themselves again.  Western loses a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball, and even though Illinois has a lot of question marks of their own I think they give Coac Beckman his first win in the Blue and Orange.

Miami (OH) @ Ohio 12:00 9/1: Urban Meyer's reign officially begins with yet another non-conference cupcake.  The Bucknuts might struggle offensively to begin the game, but will figure things out by the end in this route of the inferior MAC team.

Iowa vs Northern Illinois 3:30 9/1: Iowa gets to play in Soldier Field for this one, and maybe they can borrow a Bears running back since they are down to 2 scholarship players (one started as a receiver). I think James Vandenberg starts his big year with style against NIU.

Eastern Kentucky @ Purdue 3:30 9/1: Really, Eastern Kentucky?  The Hilltoppers? The mainstay on ESPN's bottom 10? Enough said about that.

Southern Mississippi @ Nebraska 3:30 9/1: Big Red looks to start their season off on the right foot against the reigning Conference USA champions. The Golden Eagles were amongst the nation's best at stopping the run last season, but they lost their head coach and many starters.  Of course, Nebraska wants to line up and pound the ball on the ground all afternoon.  I think this one could be exciting to watch for the first half, but then the big uglies up front will just wear down USM's dline.  Another thing to look for here is if Taylor Martinez is still a contender to be an Olympian shot-putter or if he actually morphed into a real QB.  My bet is shot put is in his future.

Northern Iowa @ Wisconsin 3:30 9/1: Welp, another season means another 4 meaningless games for the Badgers.  I know they struggle finding decent teams to play in the non conference month, but come on schedule a neutral site game against someone that has at least smelled the top 25 in the last 5 years. Will Monte Ball score 6 or 7 TDs?

Indiana State @ Indiana 8:00 9/1: The battle of the Hoosier state, but folks this isnt basketball which means this isnt worth watching.  Indiana is primed to have a big 2 win season this year, and it starts Saturday night.

Michigan vs Alabama 8:00 9/1: In-depth preview later this week, so check back in.