Well color me shocked!! I went 1-4 last week, but it is okay because I did pick the upset of Iowa. Now we can all breath a sigh of relief that Iowa won't get murdered in the Rose Bowl and make the Big Ten look worse than it already looks. Everyone can say that losing Ricky Stanzi is the reason that Iowa lost, and maybe that is true. Or maybe the fact that Iowa isn't very good and they were riding a wave of unbelievable luck is true. Either way, without Stanzi, look for Iowa to lose their next 2 games and finish in a tie for third in the Big Ten.
I still can't believe that Oklahoma's offense is this terrible without Sam Bradford. It's not like he was playing for a MAC school, this is Oklahoma for god's sake. They are always in the top 10 in recruiting, and really they should be much better than this. Either way, stay away from them for the rest of the season.
Gotta love losing by a half a point 2 weeks ago, and then Houston not covering by a point this week. Their offense didn't disappoint, I just gave their defense way too much credit.
Ohio State exposed the same flaw that Iowa did against Penn State.... their offensive line. Just like the previous loss to Iowa, Penn State could not get a running game going, and then Daryl Clark looked like a very average QB. Terrell Pryor is finally doing what he did last season by sitting in the pocket for about .3 seconds and then out running everyone to the first down marker. I have never seen a QB run like him. Mike Vick was just plain fast and electrifying, and Vince Young picked his spots well, but Pryor is so smooth that he seems like he is floating. It is fun to watch when he is not doing it to Illini defenders. I have yet to see a defender take a correct pursuit angle when they are attempting to run him down.
The definition of crazy is doing the same thing you have done before, yet you expect a different outcome (not really, but it is my definition.) Well I am crazy, because I keep talking myself into picks based on how bad an opponent is. Colorado is terrible, and they have been for years now. Somehow, I thought that because Texas A&M had 2 good games, that there was not a chance in hell that the Buffs could beat them. Well that was crazy.
Oh well, I could have bet my unborn children on last weeks games, lost them, and I would still be happy. Want to know why? It is because we got the trifecta this weekend!! Notre Dame, Michigan, and Iowa all lost!!! I kept reminding myself of the Iowa and Michigan losses as I was watching Illinois self-destruct against Minnesota in the second half. I have not done a recap of the last two Illinois games and they have won, so I am not going to do it this week. You will all have to wait for my thoughts on Jacob Charest, but rest assured that I have plenty.
On to this weeks picks!!!
Wisconsin -8 vs. Michigan
Michigan is on the verge of not going to a bowl game for Back-to-Back seasons. Until last season, they had been to over 30 straight bowl games!! Wisconsin showed that they could still run the ball even without John Clay who was hurt in the second half of their game last week. Michigan continues to prove that they can't stop the run every week. I like the fact that Wisconsin will just pound the hell out of them until they crumble.
After watching the entire nation fall in love with Tate Forcier after only 2 games, it is nice to see him come back down to earth, and then proceed to dig himself half way to China. Everyone was enamored with the fact that he could run, the only problem is that he doesn't do it with the ball because he already fumbled it. This team is pretty much about to fold. It is a well known fact that many players can't stand Dick Rod, so I really don't see many of them rallying around him in order to save his job.
On a side note, many people blame Rich Rodriguez for Michigan's failure, and that is completely understandable, but what about the AD and the hire in the first place?? Lloyd Carr did not leave him with a bare team by any stretch of the imagination!! Sure he lost his QB, tailback and All-American tackle, but they had a fantastic freshman QB in Ryan Mallet, and still had a good defense, and solid recruits. Right now Mallet has 2500 yards and 18 touchdowns vs 3 INTs for Arkansas versus much stiffer competition in the SEC. Michigan had just come off of a great bowl win against Florida, and things seemed good. Instead of finding someone who could continue the success, they got Dick Rod, who wanted nothing but to run his system.
If I hear another commentator say that Dick Rod just doesn't have the athletes he wants in order to run his system I am gonna choke someone!!! No one other than USC, Florida, Texas and a handful of others have all the players they want. Quit making excuses for this guy. Don't try to make me feel sorry for this guy because he doesn't have Pat White and Steve Slaton at Michigan.
So now if you are Michigan you are completely screwed, and they deserve it!!! If you fire Dick Rod, you have 2 options: First is to find another person to run the spread with the players that he has recruited. This is completely out of the question, because as much as I hate him, Rich is the best spread coach in the country. He basically invented it at West Virginia. The second option is to go back to a coach who wants to run a pro-style offense, which means that you are another 2-3 years away from a decent season. If you think that either Forcier or Denard Robinson can become a pocket passer, than you might be crazier than I am. Either way, buckle in for at least 3 more years of a mediocre Michigan team.
Michigan State -3 @ Purdue
This should be a pretty even game. Both teams need this game to become bowl eligible, and honestly, I think that Michigan State has way more talent and are better coached than Purdue. Also, you can add Danny Hope to your list of asshole coaches. Apparently he blames Rich Rodriguez for getting one of his offensive linemen suspended earlier this season, so to rub in his victory a little more, he brought the offensive lineman with him to the post game hand shake. Not sure what was said, but they were definitely bitching at each other. Bing it. At the end of seasons, the better team usually wins in match-ups like this. College football has a way of weeding out the bad teams, and believe me, Purdue should not go to a bowl over MSU. I know their isn't much logic to this, its just a gut feeling.
Miami -3 @ North Carolina
This should be a really fun game to watch, because UNC has a great defense, and Miami has a really fun offense to watch. I think the difference in this game will be Miami's defense vs. a very average UNC offense. While Miami hasn't really shut anyone down, UNC just doesn't score. You can only rely on your defense to win you games for so long, and Miami has the ability to not only score on big plays, but their special teams can also put up points. If Miami can contain UNC's pass rush, they should win this by a touchdown. UNC does step up in big games, like their win against Virginia Tech, but they lost to an FSU team that is a shadow of what they used to be. They also lost to a terrible Virgina team and Georgia Tech, and in those games, they only scored 10 points. I always hate teams that take weaker opponents for granted, and they did that against Virginia and also a bad win against Duke. Hoping a team will show up doesn't bode well for betting on them. Never bet on a team when you talk yourself into it by saying "They could win if.."
Ohio State -17 vs. Iowa
In OSU's last 3 games they have given up 14 points. The defense is coming up big, and that was really surprising to me. Even before Ricky Stanzi got hurt, Iowa's offense was average, and they were able to overcome turnovers because their defense got stops. Now with no offense to speak of, do you really think that Iowa's defense can pitch a shutout against OSU? Yeah me neither. Even if the defense puts in a fantastic game like they did against Penn State, where are the points going to come from? Tressell is notorious for playing a very conservative game. He is going to wear down Iowa's defense and not allow Pryor to make any mistakes. Eventually OSU will impose their will and crush Iowa. Also lately he has been breaking out some trick plays, so look out for that against Iowa if the offense is failing to move the ball. The last thing is that they have a solid punt returner, and Iowa will punt a TON!!! It will come down to field position, and OSU will be on Iowa's side a lot with chances to score.
Louisville -7 vs. Syracuse
I can't believe that I haven't mentioned Syracuse yet!! They have one of my favorite college athletes to hate....... Greg Paulus!!! It was bad enough to watch him play point for Duke for 4 years, carrying out the legacy of Wojo by pounding the floor on defense and flopping on every other possession so that out-dated announcers could talk about how much of a warrior he was. Now we have to watch him scramble around and launch 6 yard bombs with his noodle arm. Make no mistake, him being terrible is probably the worst thing that has happened to ESPN in 15 years. The only thing that I can imagine that would be more frustrating for them would be if Brett Farve actually stayed retired!! There is thousands of hours of high school footage and in-depth garbage analysis of this beat off that is just wasting away at ESPN, and I love it. Paulus has thrown for 1500 yards and 11 touchdowns vs. 13 INT's this season. His terrible play begs a much larger question.... What the shit is going on at Syracuse where they have to play a basketball player who hasn't thrown a pass in a game for 4 years?? Is your recruiting that bad to where you can't find one QB who can be better than him?? It's not like Paulus gets 3 more years after this, and you are mortgaging your future on him. He only gets one shot!! You don't have another QB that you think could maybe help your program next year by playing this season over a All-American bench warmer in BASKETBALL!! Their coach should have been fired during summer camp!!
It has gotten so bad at Syracuse, that their best player who happened to be a receiver decided to leave the team in the middle of the season because he felt that NOT playing with Paulus and this garbage team might help his draft status!! That's like leaving medical school because you think watching House and reruns of Doogie Howser M.D. will give him a better chance of being a doctor.
Based solely on the fact that they are biggest joke in college sports right now is reason enough for me to bet against them!!
Have a good weekend, and don't forget that Illinois' first regular season basketball game is Friday.
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