by Max
The first week of conference action produced numerous
exciting games and upsets as some of the preseason
favorites went down in a big way. Our conference
preseason pick Purdue, fell at the dome by a score
of 42-35 in double overtime. The media selected
Michigan to win the Big 10 and they also went
down in Madison. My personal choice of Ohio State
looked good as they handled Iowa in a big revenge
game. The following will recap the highlights
from week one of conference play and preview a
very important week ahead.
The feature game turned out to be a dud, as Iowa
did not even show up at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes
dominated this game in every aspect including
out gaining the Hawks by 400 yards on offense.
Iowa could not run the football whatsoever with
minus nine yards for the game. QB Drew Tate was
sacked five times and has not found any chemistry
with this unit against strong competition.
The result of this game made our eyes light up
as we selected Ohio State as our top game of the
week. We knew the Bucks would have revenge on
their mind after their performance last season
and they certainly did not disappoint us. Troy
Smith has established himself as the No. 1 starter
and he completed 13-of-19 passes for 191 yards
with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Justin
Zwick will be holding the clipboard all season
long as this team marches on toward the championship.
Iowa has major problems and will struggle to make
a bowl game this season. The expectations were
too high as this team overachieved last season.
Despite better talent, this team has lost their
edge and has not seen the breaks go their way
this season. Kirk Ferentz is still a great coach
and I would like for Iowa to cover some games
this season playing the underdog role.
Ohio State is off this coming weekend and will
have two full weeks to prepare for their first
road trip of the season. They will travel to State
College to take on the Lions. This sets up a very
interesting game with title hopes possibly hanging
in the balance for both sides. Iowa gets a home
game with Illinois this week and come in as a
17-point favorite. This would be a game that I
would stay away from because it has been hard
to forecast which Iowa team will show up. The
under may be the only play to consider.
The rain did not keep the crowd away Saturday
night as the Badgers took on the Wolverines. This
was an exciting game from start to finish and
the home team came away with a 3-point victory
snapping the Wolverines 23 game-winning streak
in Big Ten openers. Bucky trailed by four points
and seemed to become stagnant on the 5-yard line.
On third down and goal, John Stocco took the snap
from the gun and run a quarterback draw to score
the winning touchdown and propel the Badgers to
victory.
This was a game the Wolvernines seemingly had
control of late in the game when Chad Henne threw
a 49-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham on
a flea flicker. But Coach Carr and his conservative
style of play could not run out the clock and
thus gave Wisconsin one more opportunity, which
they took full advantage of. RB Brian Calhoun
had another strong effort going for 155 yards
via the ground and also caught seven passes for
59 via the air. You can all but pencil him in
for first team running back in the conference.
RB Michael Hart did not play for the second straight
week and without his productivity Chad Henne appears
to be lost as he again completed less then 50
percent of his passes. Is Matt Gutierrez still
alive? If so, I would see what he can bring to
the table because Henne looks lost with Hart or
Braylon Edwards.
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Michigan enters this week unranked and travels
west to take on their in-state rivals. MSU blew
a big lead last year before Braylon Edwards
went off and single-handily pushed the Wolverines
to victory. Revenge will definitely be on the
minds of Sparty. Wisconsin will stay at home
for the fourth time this season when they welcome
in the undefeated Hoosiers. The Badges enter
this game as an 18 ½ point favorite. This is
a must win for Wisconsin because after this
the schedule gets tougher as four of their next
five are played away from Camp Randall. The
Badgers final seven games are all losable, so
I would hold off talks of a Sugar Bowl berth.
The Nittany Lions nearly saw the season go up
in smoke with a trip to Evanston. State turned
the ball over four times and trailed by nine
points when intermission struck. The Cats seemed
to have their number of late as they won the
two preceding games and appeared to have this
game in the bag as well. But then the State
defense woke up holding Northwestern to just
six points in the second half and allowed State
to drive for the winning touchdown. QB Robinson
got hot converting a 4th-and-15 from his own
15-yard line. Then, on 3rd-and-6 from the Northwestern
36, Robinson was hit as he threw, but his pass
found an open Williams on the left side at about
the 10. Williams shook away from safety Reggie
McPherson and raced into the end zone.
Anwar Phillips then intercepted a pass by Basanez
near midfield to seal the win and snap Northwestern's
two-game winning streak against Penn State.
Robinson completed 17-of-36 passes for 271 yards
and had three interceptions. He also rushed
for 60 yards. With his TD run, he became the
first Penn State player to reach 1,000 yards
rushing and passing in a career. This was a
landmark win for this 2005 team and the schedule
is looking very promising, as this could be
the year Penn State returns to a New Year's
Day bowl. However, I do not think Michael Robinson
is that good of a quarterback and I expect this
team to stubble four times during the remainder
of the season.
They will welcome in Minnesota this week and
enter the game as a surprising underdog. The
Gophers will not be able to run against State
with much success so this may be a game to side
with the home squad. The Cats are off this week
before hosting the Badgers in two weeks. Wisconsin
has not had much success of late in Evanston
and it will be interesting to see how much they
will be favored by.
An interesting non-conference game takes place
in West Lafayette as Purdue plays their annual
in-state meeting with Notre Dame. Both teams
play a similar style of offense and with the
Irish defense much improved; Purdue definitely
will have their hands full coming off a disappointing
loss last week. I will stay away from the game,
but if I were forced to take a side, it would
be with the Boilers.
Final Thoughts Around College Football
1) Is there nothing more
painful to watch then a Joe Paterno press conference?
He cannot understand why the media is so critical
of him over the last few years. He does not
give good answers to any of the questions he
is asked and seems offended when someone questions
a decision that he made. Simple answer to solve
all of these issues: win football games.
2) How bad was the clipping call in the third
quarter of the USC/Oregon game? The Ducks called
a great play on fourth down and goal as the
receiver took the reverse and walked into the
endzone, handed the ball to the official, went
to the sideline when a clip occurred. The officials
did not allow the touchdown and thus Oregon's
chance of covering went by the wayside. Memo
to the official: that penalty is called a late
hit and thus the touchdown should have counted
and the penalty should have been assessed on
the extra point.
3) The game I will be most interested in this
week in Florida at Alabama. Bama has a favorable
schedule and a win here will get their fans
talking undefeated season. If they pull off
the upset, they will be favored in every game
that they play for the remainder of the season.
However, Mike Shula is still with a landmark
win during his tenure and Urban Meyer is a coach
you never want to bet against. Roll Tide!
The schedule looks very promising this week,
as we will be going with our, "Revenge Game
of the Year." This has always been a big money
maker and we are confident we will once again
grab the money.
The Free Pick got back on the winning track
last week as Tulsa took care of Memphis in overtime.
This week I examine the MAC and find that Bowling
Green has schedule Temple for their homecoming
game. Smart move. Take BGU -28 over Temple.
Free Pick record 10-3-1.
Docs
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