News and Notes:
Before getting into the rundown of the Big Ten’s first week, some news and notes on the Cats.
There are still a lot of questions about how to watch the NU – Rice game on Saturday night. I know that Rice is playing it online and evidently you can watch it on Flo TV. Lake the Posts is all over this issue, so follow it for up to date information on watching the game.
Speaking of the game, it is going to be crazy hot in Houston on Saturday. Keep up to date with the Weather Channel Online. According to the Trib Fitz plans to bring 70 players and could play as many as 67 in order to counteract the weather. He also told Teddy Greenstein that he would consider slowing down the offense a little to account for the weather. This may not be a bad idea, as long as it does not affect the intensity and confidence of the offensive attack.
Thanks to Sippin on Purple for doing the research and finding that Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinal gave the Cats their single AP vote. See his ballot here.
Most of the other news stories of the week were retweeted on Tuesday or Wednesday. Follow me at www.Twitter.com/expectvictoryrt
Big Ten Rundown:
For the first time there is some movement in my rankings, but not as much as you might think. My picks from last week: 9-2.
1 Ohio State: The only thing that I was wrong about last week is that I predicted that Miami would give OSU some trouble. The Buckeye defense is suffocating and forced plenty of turnovers. OSU has some breathing room now before it begins to prepare for the meat of its schedule. They play Ohio on Saturday. Prediction: WIN
T-2 Iowa: Iowa had no problems with their in-state rivals, a team that has caused them problems in the past. The team is looking very efficient, but will be tested for the first time at Arizona this weekend. The late start might be an intangible issue, but the bigger issue is the Wildcats themselves. They were in the hunt for the Pac 10 title late last year. Iowa cannot afford to turn the ball over and give Arizona a short field. Prediction: WIN
T-2 Wisconsin: Wisconsin had another pretty solid game against a team that did not provide much of a challenge in San Jose State. Wisconsin stays at home this week and hosts Arizona State. ASU is not expected to do much in the Pac 10 this year, and the mid-level teams in this conference have been less than impressive so far. Camp Randall will be rocking for this late-afternoon tilt. Prediction: WIN
4 Michigan State: MSU was not particularly impressive, but came away with an easy victory. It gets its first report card game Saturday against Notre Dame. MSU does not have the running threat at QB that Michigan did. But working over the middle against the ND zone should be able to put points on the board. ND made great adjustments at halftime against Michigan, so MSU will be well-advised to get their points early and strap-in the defense. This game is traditionally exciting. Prediction: WIN in OT
5 Penn State: The Nits were absolutely outclassed by Alabama Saturday night, which killed the momentum of an absolutely dominating Big Ten Saturday. The only reason that Penn State keeps its position is that they were playing the defending National Champion and I am not certain that anyone below PSU on this list could have fared any better. They get a breather against Kent this weekend. Prediction: WIN
6 Northwestern: Had a dominating performance against a highly inferior team. Fitz called in the dogs early when many more points could have been scored. Rice will pose some more matchup problems on offense, but the Cats should be able to score in bunches. The heat will be the biggest factor in this game. Prediction: WIN
Feature Team of the Week
7 Michigan: I was able to see Michigan live this weekend and I have some mixed feelings about placing them at 7. Denard Robinson is as advertised and seeing him live was a thing of beauty. But there are some issues that Michigan will need to overcome if they want to hit the big time. The rest of the running game struggled mightily against a mediocre ND run defense. ND stayed in their lanes a lot better in the second half and almost shut them down long enough to come back and win the game. More disciplined defenses such as Iowa, OSU, and MSU should be able to shut down Robinson from the beginning. Robinson’s passing numbers against the Irish are a little misleading too. He found receivers on quick slants in enormous holes in the defense, which went for big yards on a few occasions. The better defenses will not allow this to happen
On defense, Michigan has big problems. Very few would dispute that ND would have won the game if Crist would have played the entire first half. He carved up the Michigan defense, and allowed the running game to be pretty successful as well. When an offense gets in a rhythm, this defense is in trouble. While the Blue did a nice job of shutting down Michael Floyd, the long TD to Kyle Rudolph, when a Tight End was running free behind the secondary, would have been repeated on at least two more occasions had Crist not overthrown the ball.
Michigan should start off 5-0, which will put them well on their way to a bowl, but there are very disappointing things in the Wolverines’ future. Prediction: WIN.
8 Purdue: Purdue took care of business and now gets Ball State as they continue to clear their heads from the week one trouncing by Notre Dame. The loss of Keith Smith will be a killed for this offense, which now needs to find a new go to guy. Given that the team is not even sure yet whether Marve is the guy, there are still a lot of question marks in West Lafayette. Prediction: WIN
9 Indiana: After the week off, travels to Western Kentucky. This has a little of the makings of a trap, but the two weeks to prepare this offense should pay off for Bill Lynch’s boys. Prediction: WIN
10 Illinois: Illinois hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday, which could cause some problems. The Illini are still trying to figure out some personnel issues. They are not built to make it to a bowl, but they could find a way to play their way out of the Big Ten cellar this year. Prediction: WIN
11 Minnesota: Hmmm, loss to South Dakota, and not they play USC. This story is getting worse all the time for Tim Brewster. Someone suggested that the ball coach change his Twitter handle from playforBrew to prayforBrew. Brewster’s boys will be playing for his job this year, but not in this game. Prediction: LOSS
X Nebraska: Gets their first challenge of the year against Jake Locker and Washington on Saturday, which should be a highly entertaining game. Both QBs are very proficient at running their offense. In a weekend without many “must see” games, this one meets the criteria in my book. Prediction: WIN
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