Week 6: Purdue Recap

The Michigan Wolverines put together their most complete game of the season.  They return from West Lafayette with their first B1G victory of the season.  Heading into the game most “experts” picked the Boilermakers to win and to plant themselves as the new Rose Bowl favorite.  I even picked the game to be a lot closer than what really happened.

I want to start with the defensive performance for the 2^nd straight game.  This group is following the same trajectory as the 2011 unit.  They are beginning to come together and form one of the better defenses in the entire conference.  The Purdue offensive coordinator thought the Boiler offensive line played their best game of the season, but the Michigan defensive front was just better.  He put the Wolverine defensive line on par with Notre Dame’s.  This is some big praise for what was supposed to be the team’s weakest point.  William Campbell and Quinton Washington are doing a good job holding their blocks and also getting some penetration.  This is allowing the rest of the defense to flow downhill to the ball.  It is amazing how much better the linebackers look when they don’t have to fend off blocks from lineman who outweigh them by 70 pounds.

It also became clear that Purdue was a little over-rated.  While I thought the Michigan secondary played a very good game, even with an injured Kovacs, Purdue does not have the ability to stretch the field with the deep passing game. While the Boiler receivers are a strength for them, most of the routes are kept short.  The Michigan cornerbacks kept the plays in front of them, and made some very good open field tackles.  However, they will be tested downfield more by a few of the better teams remaining on the schedule.

After the first drive of the game it was obvious that Al Borges closed some of the playbook for Denard.  He put the pressure on the offensive line to line up and blow a very good defensive front off the ball, over and over again.  They lived up the challenge.  I have no doubts that Kawaan Short is one of the best tackles Michigan will face this year, but he was not as destructive as I have seen him.  Michigan threw the ball 16 times, and most of these routes were simple one read throws.  It gave Denard the chance to stop thinking as much and just throw the ball.  He was  able to step into a few throws where he showed above average arm strength, and he also threw the ball away once.  At this point in the season, Michigan has a very good rushing attack with Denard and hopefully Fitz or Rawls.  The offensive line is good enough to line up and open holes to get 4-6 ypc.  If they can continue that production, Denard will not need to throw the ball more than 20 times a game. 

Looking forward, I would pencil in wins if Michigan played MSU, Nebraska, and Ohio at home.  The problem is 2 of these games are road games, and the other is a rival where Denard has looked awful for the past two years. I think Michigan is the best B1G team that is post season eligible at this point.  Will they live up to this thought, or turn a few games into Notre Dame 2012?

Week 6: Purdue Preview

As the weekend draws closer, we are preparing for the 5^th Michigan game of the season.  This weekend the Wolverines will take on Purdue at Ross Ade Stadium.  In the preseason this was a game that was penciled in as a win for most big blue fans, but now many national “experts” are picking the Boilers.  At this point in the season, I am not sure how to predict these Michigan games since on good days they could beat most top 10 teams and on a bad day, well, they could lose to any team in the conference.  Everything hinges on Denard Robinson, and so far this year he has disappointed.  The coaches continue to so their confidence in the young man, but something needs to change in these last 8 weeks if Michigan wants to compete for a B1G championship. 

Purdue Rush Offense vs Michigan Rush Defense

Purdue has struggled to run the ball well in their first four games.  Akeem Shavers is their leading rusher so far, but he was bottled up against their only real competition in non-conference play.  Now that B1G play has started, I think Purdue will be going away from running between the tackles. The running backs that will see the field are under-sized and the offensive line is not good enough to open up consistent holes for Purdue to control the ball on the ground.  Instead, the Boilers will use screen passes and the occasional jet sweep or end around to get their quick, shifty players to the edge.  This will be the biggest challenge for the Michigan defense in this game.  We have seen Frank Clark really struggle at keeping contain on the edge during a running play.  I think Purdue will try to attack this side of the field, and Michigan will be dependent on the line backers to play as well as they did against Notre Dame.  The defensive line should be able to get some penetration this week, or at least hold their blocks, and this will allow the linebackers free lanes to make tackles.  Morgan and Demens look like completely different players when they are not forced to get off of blocks every play.  I think Desmond Morgan and Jake Ryan will have another big game in the tackles department.  Purdue will likely be able to get a few good runs in the game from missed tackles in space or on the edges, but Michigan should be able to hold the Boilers under 120 rushing yards in this game.  Advantage Michigan.

Purdue Pass Offense vs Michigan Pass Defense

With Robert Marve still injured, Caleb TerBush will be taking most of the snaps on Saturday.  There really isn’t anything impressive about this quarterback, but he can occasionally beat you through the air if he has enough time to throw.  If Michigan can contain the rush yards, it should force Purdue into more passing downs.  It will be important for the pass rush to actually get to TerBush.  The Purdue offensive line is not nearly as good as Alabama’s or the tackles of Notre Dame.  I think Greg Mattison will draw up more blitzes in this game and rely on more man-to-man coverage in the secondary.  Even though Frank Clark struggles in the running game still, he is one of our best pass rushers.  Look for him and Jake Ryan to have a few pressures.  You will know Michigan is winning this battle if the other guys on the defensive line pick up a sack or two, since they have really struggled at getting any penetration.  The Boiler receivers are decent, but this secondary has faced better already this year.  JT Floyd should have a good day in pass coverage, but it will be important for Raymon Taylor to continue to improve on the other side of the field.  If Michigan has to sit back in more zone coverage to try and hide the 2^nd cornerback, the pass rush will be less effective.  Purdue’s tight ends should be containable by Kenny Demens.  This battle starts up front, and so far Michigan has struggled to generate a pass rush.  I think the week off helped them a lot, and we see this defensive unit continue to come together.  Advantage Michigan.

Michigan Rush Offense vs Purdue Rush Defense

 Brady Hoke wants to run the ball.  The Michigan offensive line has had glimpses of dominating the guys opposite them, but the problem so far is it has not been consistent enough.  Denard has been able to find openings in most games, but the running backs have been struggling a lot.  Michigan came out and ran the ball down Notre Dame’s throat in the 2^nd half of that game so it will be really nice to continue that momentum in West Lafayette this week.  The problem is Purdue’s defensive line is one of the best in the conference.  Most teams will struggle to run against the Boilers this year.  Notre Dame’s defensive scheme was a 3-4 where the nose tackle demands a double team, Michigan was able to get some lineman to the second level which gave them success in the running attack.  This week Purdue runs the conventional 4-3 defense which will make it a lot harder for the offensive line to get any blocks on the linebackers.  Kawaan Short will likely be an All-American and 1^st round draft pick next spring.  He is a dominating defensive tackle, and Michigan will be forced to double team him on every play.  This will leave single coverage for the remaining 3 lineman, or force Michigan to run different TE sets.  The problem here though is sophomore Bruce Gaston can also demand a double team at different times in the game.  Michigan will likely not be very successful between the tackles on Saturday, unless it is from a quarterback scramble.  The Wolverines have good enough athletes to get to the edges against this defense though.  The Purdue linebackers are the definition of average and will not make any spectacular plays on Saturday.  If Toussaint or Denard can get past the front 4, there will be yards there for the taking.   Advantage Push

Michigan Pass Offense vs Purdue Pass Defense

On paper Michigan has enough playmakers in this area to beat Purdue through the air, the problem, of course, if the mindset of the quarterback.  Denard has a habit of throwing at least 1 interception in every game, and at this point I would consider it a success if he only throws one this week.  The Purdue pass rush is mostly created by the front four.  They haven’t needed to blitz linebackers or safeties much this year.  Short and Gaston get to the quarterback more than Michigan’s entire defense so far. Al Borges will likely need to run some plays to roll out the pocket away from the two Purdue monsters.  If Denard doesn’t get pressured, then he will have to worry about the best cornerback tandem in the conference.  Josh Johnson and Ricardo Allen will both be considered for All-B1G at the end of the season.  While both are good, neither come close to Alabama corner Milliner.  Like I said earlier, the linebackers are very average, Michigan should be able to find open TEs all day long.  This should be Denard’s check down receiver.  The problem here is most of the time tight ends will be in the middle of the field, and Denard throwing over the middle is horrifying. As you can see, my excitement about Denard has lessened a lot since August.  He is very capable of putting this team on his back for 8 straight games and leading Michigan to the B1G Championship game.  The problem is that I would have to see it to believe it right now. I think he accumulates over 200 yards passing in this game, but how many remarkable interceptions will be thrown?  Probably too many.  Advantage Purdue.

Michigan is the better team, period.  The problem is the biggest x factor plays quarterback for big blue.  Denard has been saying that he wants to be more of a role player on this team, but I don’t think a running back will be able to get going too much in this game.  It will likely fall onto number 16’s shoulders yet again.  One thing is certain, Michigan receivers will be seeing single coverage all day long.  The third receiver or tight ends should be able to get separation on most routes.  We know Denard struggles against pressure, and I think Short and Gaston give enough to force him into  a couple terrible throws.  Will those throws result in interceptions or just hit the turf?  Somehow, I think Denard and company make enough plays in this game to escape with a much needed victory, 31-21.

B1G Week 6 Preview

It is time for week 6 B1G predictions.  The first week went mostly as I planned, with the exception of Nebraska beating Wisconsin.  Like every week in conference play, there are a couple of intriguing games that will have a big effect on the final conference standings.

Michigan State @ Indiana Saturday 12:00pm

The Spartans are looking to get back on track this week after blowing a few opportunities to beat Ohio State at home.  Indiana should be a good bounce back team for Maxwell and company.  The Hoosier defense is one of the worst in the B1G, so Michigan State should be able to get the offense rolling and have some time to work on that horrible passing attack.  Freshman Burbidge is finally listed as a starter at receiver, and should be able keep it over Fowler.  Will Le’Veon Bell be able to get running again?  I think Maxwell has a big day through the air, as the Hoosiers use 8 or 9 guys to focus on Bell all game.  Look for Indiana to score a couple of touchdowns though with their improved pass game.

Northwestern @ Penn State Saturday 12:00pm

I have already put this in my upset alert post.  In case you haven’t been following this season so far, the upset here is for Penn State to beat Northwestern at Happy Valley.  Yes, this might seem a little backwards.  Northwestern is one of 2 remaining undefeated teams, and are trying to emerge as a legitimate contender in the Legends Division.  Meanwhile, Penn State has won 3 games in a row and are currently the conference’s hottest team.  I think the Nittany Lion defense slows down the Wildcat run first offense enough to give Penn State their 4^th win in a row. 

Illinois @ Wisconsin Saturday 3:30pm

The Badgers showed some improvement last weekend in Lincoln, and they will need to continue this trend this weekend against the worst team in the B1G.  Wisconsin should be able to get their first blowout win of the season.  Look for Montee Ball to go over 150 yards and find the end zone at least twice.

Nebraska @ Ohio State Saturday 8:00pm

The Cornhuskers open conference play with 2 major matchups against Leader’s Division teams in primetime.  The winner of this game will be the regarded as the best team in the B1G, hands down.  I am interested to see how both defenses are able to stop the mobile quarterbacks across the line.  The Buckeye defense tackled very well last week against Michigan State, but they weren’t tested downfield like they will be this week.  I think both signal callers will put up some big stats.  This game will likely come down to the turnover battle.  In the end, I think Braxton Miller is better than Taylor Martinez and the Ohio State defense is better than Nebraska’s.  Look for the Buckeyes to help out Michigan for the 2^nd straight week.

College Football: Monster Week #1

The week 6 schedule gives us our first Monster Week of the 2012 season.  There are 5 matchups around the nation that puts two ranked teams against each other, and even though October just started this weekend will go a long way in determining conference standings.  Even though I focus most of my analysis on Michigan and the B1G, this week I will go through each of these 5 games and try to choose the winner.

#4LSU @ #10 Florida Saturday 3:30pm
The Tigers head into the Swamp still holding onto their regular season winning streak, but it might be in jeopardy this weekend.  LSU looked completely dominant against a good Washington team in week 2, but now have had 2 less-than-stellar performances against bad teams (Auburn and Townson).  The Tigers lack an identity on offense.  Les Miles wants to play B1G style of football with big running backs that get 4 yards a carry, and then offset that with an efficient play-action passing attack.  So far this season, the efficient quarterback is not there which is putting too much pressure on the running attack.  They will not be able to bully Florida this weekend.  Meanwhile, Florida is 4-0 under Muschamp and trending up.  The Gators werent really supposed t compete in the SEC East with Georgia or South Carolina, but at this point they look like the favorite.  Florida is led by their offensive line, which will face its toughest test of the season Saturday afternoon.  The Gators are averaging over 200 yards on the ground so far this year.  I cannot see this game being very high scoring.  I think if LSU is able to get an early lead, and force Florida to throw the ball more, the dominating pass rush will cause a lot of problems for Jeff Driskel.  Even though LSU looks like a shell of itself from 2011, I think they are able to wear down both Florida lines to control the ball game.  I just think LSU has too many play-makers on the defensive side of the ball to allow Florida to win this game. 

#8 West Virginia @ #11 Texas Saturday 7:00pm
The nation will be watching this one to see if Geno Smith can duplicate his video game numbers against an actual defense.  The buzz around Morgantown has rarely been larger, and after putting up 70 points in their first test of the season, most Mountaineer fans are thinking national championship.  The problem with this mindset is, as fun as it is to watch your team rack up points, you are going to need a defense eventually.  Will this be the week?  The West Virginia receiving corps is one of the best groups I have ever seen.  They know how to get open, and Geno Smith seems extremely comfortable with them.  I don't think there is a defensive secondary in the nation that could lock them up for an entire 60 minutes.  Texas is largely considered to have the Big12's best defense, which really isn't saying much.  This conference might be the worst defensively in the country.  Only new addition, TCU, has a plus defensive unit.  The problem here though is all Texas has to do is force the Mountaineers to punt a few times and they will have the advantage.  Yes, the West Virginia offense is better than Texas', but Texas will have the benefit of going against one of the worst defenses in the top 10.  Texas should manage to score 45+ points on Saturday night against the Mountaineers.  I actually think this will be enough to give the Longhorns the win.  Look for Geno Smith to throw his first interception of the season though.  On a side note, Smith's season so far is strangely similar to RGIII in 2011. 

#6 South Carolina @ #5 Georgia  Saturday 7:00pm
This game will be both team's first real conference test in their quest to head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game to play Alabama.  As much hype as Georgia's defense has been getting, their offense might be better.  Yes, Georgia has the most NFL talent on the defensive side of the ball, but they seem to take plays off which came back to bite them a lot last weekend against Tennessee.  Aaron Murray is the best quarterback in the conference, and will likely be a top 10 draft pick when he decides to leave school.  The Bulldogs are extremely balanced on offense.  They are led by 2 freshman running backs who have rushed for almost 1,000 yards combined already.  The threat of running has helped Murray and his receivers as well.  He is completing nearly 70% of his passes, and has thrown for 1300+ yards already.  This game will be higher scoring than the first SEC game previewed here.  South Carolina continues to underwelm me.  The Gamecocks should have lost their season opener at Vanderbilt, and ever since then I have thought they were over-rated.  Well, they haven't lost yet, so they continue to move up in the rankings.  The SC quarterback Connor Shaw has been injured for part of the year, which leaves them with pre-season Heisman hopeful, Marcus Lattimore.  To continue with the trend, he has been very underwhelming so far this season as well.  The Gamecock defense is very talented, and might be able to slow the Bulldogs down.  I just cannot see how the South Carolina offense will be able to keep up with Murray and company without special teams or turnovers.  Georgia could make this a little lopsided compared to the rankings before the game.

#21 Nebraska @ #12 Ohio State Saturday 8:00pm
This game might be the best game in the entire B1G season, and as much as it hurts, Michigan fans need Ohio State to win for the second week in a row.  We learned a little more about who this Buckeye team is last week when they traveled to East Lansing and took care of business.  It was not a very pretty game for the 2nd year in a row, but they still got the win.  It looks like Ohio State is the conferences best team right now, but Nebraska is the favorite to represent in the Rose Bowl.  The Husker defense took a step forward last weekend against Wisconsin in the 2nd half, and it will be important for them to carry that momemtum into Columbus on Saturday night.  Nebraska struggled to stop a UCLA offense with fewer weapons than this Buckeye team.  I think the run defense is still a big question in Lincoln, and it will be tested over and over again this weekend.  Braxton Miller will likley put up similar stats to the non-conference games, and as Nebraska keys on the run, Miller will be able to hurt them through the air.  On the other side of the ball, Taylor Martinez leads the conference's best offense against an unknown defense.  The Buckeyes dominated an inept Spartan offense last week, but will meet their stiffest test of the season this week.  They were able to contain Le'Veon Bell, but the task is much easier when the passing attack in East Lansing looks like a triple option high school team.  Martinez should be able to break a few big plays Saturday night, but I dont think the Husker offense will be able to match the Buckeye consistency.  Ohio State should escape with the win.

#23 Washington @ #2 Oregon Saturday 10:00pm
If you have read my college football analysis this season, you know that I like this year's Washington team.  The Huskies are beginning to turn things around to be a respectable Pac12 team again.  They are fresh off an upset win over Stanford last week, and have had an extra few days to prepare for Oregon's speed.  The Huskies do have decent team speed on both sides of the ball, but Oregon has some size and speed on their offensive line.  If you remember, Washington got blown off the ball all night in Baton Rouge against LSU, and will likely receive the same treatment this week in Autzen.  LSU put up a lot of points on this young defense, and there is no reason to think that Oregon will not do the same.  Keith Price should be able to make a few plays in the passing game to give the Washington fans something to cheer about, but Oregon looks locked in to compete for a national championship this year.

Week 6 Upset Alert

It is time for the weekly upset alert, and I am looking to continue my success from last week.  As I look through the week 6 schedule, I am not finding as many intriguing potential upsets.  There are some big games this week, but they will be broken down in a future post. 

Northwestern @ Penn State Saturday 12:00pm

The first stop this week will be in the B1G.  The Wildcats finally got recognized for their good 5-0 start to the season, but this week they are running into the hottest conference team on the road.  I don’t think the purple people can stay in the rankings after this one.  Who would have thought we would ever be saying Penn State is the conference’s best team after seeing them the first two weeks.  They have improved each week, and look like a team to cause some problems in the Leaders Division. I think the Nittany Lion defense is one of the best in the conference and should be able to stop the Wildcat rushing attack.  This will be the best defense Northwestern has faced this season.  Penn State should be able to score enough points at home to knock off the undefeated Wildcats.

Iowa State @ TCU Saturday 3:30pm

This one might be a little bit of a stretch, but I like what the Cyclones are doing in Ames these days.  I have not been overly impressed with the Frogs this season, and this game might be a little trap for them.  TCU cannot run the ball, and I think Iowa State is good enough to take advantage of the one-dimension.  Quarterback Pachall will likely have a big game through the air, but I think Jantz will make enough plays on the other side to keep ISU hanging around.

Miami @ Notre Dame Saturday 7:30pm

This pick might be a little biased, since I cant stand anything to do with the Irish, but I think Miami will give the golden domers a little welcome gift to the ACC.  Personally I just don’t think Notre Dame is that good, especially not the 9^th best team in the country.  I mean any offense that gets shut down by Michigan this season is below average.  Miami is coming into this game on a hot streak, after getting bombed by Kansas State in the second week.  It looks like the Cane’s might be headed to the ACC Championship game this season.  It will be interesting to see how Te’o and company can slow down the high powered running attack from Miami.  While Notre Dame could pull out this victory, I think they might come crashing down to earth a bit and the nation will realize that “America’s team” is just a top 20 team and not BCS caliber.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is the first “monster” week of the season where ranked conference teams are squaring off in each league.  While some of the lower ranked teams might win these matchups, I don’t consider these much of an upset.  I will take a look at each of these 5 games later today.

B1G Week 5 Recap

Finally we were able to see horrible B1G teams beat up on other horrible B1G teams.  This past weekend did not give me any more hope about the status of the conference, but at least we could avoid another embarrassment.  The conference title still looks wide open at this point since the consensus best team is ineligible for the post-season. 

Good surprise:

Penn State seems to be on a little bit of a hot streak now, and has won 3 games in a row.  They went on the road to Illinois and dropped the hammer on the league’s worst team.  The Nittany Lion defense continues to improve each week, and their front seven might be able to shut down most teams in this conference. We could see a situation that the two best teams in the Leaders Division are banned for the championship game.

Ohio State’s front seven really stepped up in East Lansing by completely shutting down Le’Veon Bell.  The Bucknut defense has struggled to wrap up tackles in the first month, but they keyed the run and Andrew Maxwell was not able to beat them through the air.  If Ohio State can stop the run that well moving forward an undefeated season looks to be in order.  And the Urban legend would grow so large it would be even more unbearable.

Iowa had a great bounce back game against the Golden Gophers.  Minnesota came into the game undefeated, but left looking like one of the conference bottom dwellers again.  Walk on running back, Weisman, runs very hard and the offensive line made some large holes to run through.  As bad as they have looked in the first month, the Hawkeyes shouldn’t be a team to look over moving forward.

Even though Nebraska was favored against the Badgers, I thought their win Saturday night was much needed for the Huskers.  They overcame some bad turnovers and 2 17 point deficits to win the game and have a leg up on the Legends Division.  Taylor Martinez doesn’t look as good as he did early in the season, but definitely improved over last.  It will be interesting to see the Husker defense face an offense with more fire power this week in Columbus.  If Nebraska wins on Saturday, the Legend’s Division race could suddenly look like a one team competition.

Bad Surprise:

Michigan State’s passing game is absolutely horrible.  We knew they weren’t great before Saturday, but it became very obvious that they are going to need to improve a lot to return to Indianapolis for the second straight year.  Maxwell seemed to handle the pressure better than he did against Notre Dame, but the receivers continue to drop catchable passes. As bad as this unit is, I have a bad feeling that they will suddenly have Velcro-hands against Michigan in a few weeks.

Minnesota should still be able to make a bowl game this season, but they are a long ways away from being a contender in the Legends Division.  Yes, not having Gray hurts the offensive production a lot, but they lack play makers on both sides of the ball, and the defensive line struggled against an average Iowa line.

Michigan State coaches for making excuses after the game.  Seriously guys?  We know Urban is a horrible, cheating, human being.  This is to be expected.  Get over the excuses and go play the game.  And last I checked, holding the conference’s best team to 17 points should be good enough to win.  Maybe Sparty should actually focus on their own execution before throwing out ridiculous reasons for losing. 

I would say that my conference rankings are as follows:

1.       Ohio State (no change)

2.       Nebraska (no change)

3.       Northwestern (no change)

4.       Michigan (up 2)

5.       Purdue (down 1)

6.       Penn State (up 1)

7.       Michigan State (down 2)

8.       Iowa (up 2)

9.       Wisconsin (no change)

10.   Minnesota (down 2)

11.   Indiana (no change)

12.   Illinois (no change)

B1G Week 5 Preview

Thankfully the B1G season kicks off this weekend.  For the next 9 weeks, at least 5 B1G teams will win a game.  Since most teams have been embarrassed at least once already, the conference games should be pretty competitive and interesting.  The B1G title is wide open, so let’s try to enjoy the quiet next few months until the “top” teams will get rewarded by being double digit underdogs in their bowl games.

Indiana (2-1) @ Northwestern (4-0) Saturday 12:00pm

Indiana is beginning to understand their head coach’s high powered passing attack, but the problem is its Indiana and they have little talent to speak of.  Northwestern has improved in their first 4 games, and have become a legitimate B1G threat.  The two Wildcat quarterbacks should be able to attack the weak Hoosier secondary.  Indiana might be able to score a few points in this game, and maybe even hang around for most of the game.  The problem is Northwestern will just end up scoring more.

Penn State (2-2) @ Illinois (2-2) Saturday 12:00pm

The records of these two are the same, but they are trending in opposite directions.  The Nittany Lions are coming off of back to back wins, and the offense is staring to click.  If McGloin doesn’t turn the ball over, Penn State could actually cause some issues in the Leaders Division.  Illinois is coming off of a blowout loss to Louisiana Tech, at home.  The Illini turned the ball over 6 times, and as Michigan fans found out, that makes it hard to win a game.  There will be a lot of talent on both defenses, but I just can’t see Illinois bouncing back this quickly after the debacle last weekend.

Minnesota (4-0) @ Iowa (2-2) Saturday 12:00pm

The Golden Gophers are undefeated, yet the underdog as they head to Kinnick Stadium.  Iowa has looked confused and just flat out bad in the first 4 weeks of the season.  Minnesota has been one of the nice surprises in the B1G so far, but Gray hasn’t fully recovered from the high ankle sprain.  He will likely be unavailable this week.  As bad as the Hawkeyes have looked, I think Vandenberg and the passing attack bounces back a little this week and Weisman has another good game on the ground.  Also, I think Iowa’s defense will be a little upset after giving up over 30 points to a terrible MAC team.  Iowa wins in a close game and takes the hog back.

Marshall (2-2) @ Purdue (2-1) Saturday 3:15pm

Wolverine fans might be interested in this game to get a better feel for the Boilermakers before next weekend.  Purdue still has one remaining tune up game against the Herd.  Marshall throws the ball around the field with a lot of success, but Purdue’s pass rush will be able to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback.  Look for Johnson or Allen to record at least one interception in this one.  Purdue will put up some big offensive numbers again and roll in this one.

Ohio State (4-0) @ Michigan State (3-1) Saturday 3:30pm

Well since College Gameday will be in East Lansing for this one, I guess I have to pick it for the marquee game of the week.  This game should tell us a lot about two of the favorites.  Braxton Miller really struggled last season against Sparty, but he looks like a completely different player at this point.  I am also interested in seeing how the Bucknut defense is able to stop Le’Veon Bell.  I think the talented OSU secondary gives Andrew Maxwell problems all game, and Michigan State will be one dimensional again.  The problem here is the scarlet and gray front seven is better than Boise St and Eastern Michigan.  Miller makes enough plays through the air and with his feet to get Ohio State in the 20s which will be enough to beat the inept offense in green and white.

Wisconsin (3-1) @ Nebraska (3-1) Saturday 8:00pm

I already talked about this one in the upset alert.  The Wisconsin defense is talking some trash this week about Taylor Martinez, and while I agree with most of the comments, it is not a smart thing to do to the quarterback of the best B1G offense.  The Huskers will face the best defense they have played so far, but Nebraska’s offense is better than anything the Badgers have seen either.  It will be a fun matchup to watch.  I happen to think the guys in red and white from Madison will make enough plays to help their struggling offense.  However, if Nebraska gets to 30, Wisconsin could be in trouble.  Even without Ball, Nebraska will struggle to stop Wisconsin’s running attack.  I think the Badgers sneak by the current Rose Bowl favorite.  Another thing to watch for is both teams are wearing alternate uniforms for this one, and from what I have seen, they both look awful.