Monday, September 11, 2006

Monday Morning QB...
Week two of the college football season is in the books and after a stellar 11-0 start, the Big Ten fell to earth over the weekend. The match-ups were tougher - by far - and the results tell the story. 7-4 for the week, with three big road losses and a shocking home loss to a 1-AA squad.

Penn State played Notre Dame for the first time in 14 years and found out that they have work to do to be anywhere close to last year's team. The Nittany Lions were outmatched on defense and struggled to get things rolling on the offensive side of the ball. Minnesota ran into an angry Cal team and lost its first non-conference regular season game in the last several years. Illinois got smacked around at Rutgers and really, really struggled on the offensive side of the ball. Finally, there was Northwestern, playing an emotional home opener against 1-AA New Hampshire. New Hampshire took control early and never looked back in a telling loss for Northwestern.

On the bright side, Ohio State dominated defending national champion Texas and in the process boosted Troy Smith up the early Heisman watch list. Michigan and Michigan State had no troubles (well, virtually no troubles - fans of both schools know what I am speaking about) with in-state, directional MAC squads although both Indiana and Purdue did struggle to put away their MAC foes (Ball State and Miami-OH). Iowa fought to a tough, overtime road win without Drew Tate and Wisconsin breezed over 1-AA Western Illinois.

Team of the Week...
How can it not be the Buckeyes? Ohio State served notice that it reloaded just fine, thank you, on defense and is fully loaded on offense. From the looks of it, only the scarlet and gray's own possible complacency (if it ever comes to fruition) stands in the way of the Bucks and a trip to the national title game.

Player of the Week...
Michigan State's Matt Trannon was brilliant in a Spartan blowout win over Eastern Michigan. Trannon broke the school record for receptions in a game with 14, scored two touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass as well. It might well have been the best game ever for the senior who may have previously been more well known for what he meant to Tom Izzo and the basketball team.

Get Gamm Standings...
No one out-picked yours truly this week but that shouldn't stop you from continuing to try!

T1 - Gamm - 20-2 (.909), 1 GG win
T1 - Buckeye Nation - 20-2 (.909), 1 GG win
T1 - Dan Meyer - 20-2 (.909)
T1 - mayo170 - 20-2 (.909)
T1 - Aaron Roberts - 20-2 (.909)
T6 - andrewj1313 - 19-3 (.864)
T6 - phatsdawg - 19-3 (.864)
T6 - flakcat - 19-3 (.864)
9 - BigTenSportsFan - 18-4 (.818)
10 - Mike - 10-1 (.909)*
11 - PUFan - 8-3 (.727)*

* = Did not play week two

This weekend's slate:
Iowa State @ Iowa
Syracuse @ Illinois
Michigan State @ Pittsburgh
Cincinnati @ Ohio State
Ball State @ Purdue
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern
Youngstown State @ Penn State
Michigan @ Notre Dame (TIEBREAKER)
Southern Illinois @ Indiana
Temple @ Minnesota
San Diego State @ Wisconsin

7 comments:

Andy Gamm said...

Aaron - there was a winner in week one because someone "Got Gamm" i.e. outpicked me. For week two, no one had a better record than I did.

Get Gamm is simply the name of my picking contest.

Dan Meyer said...

Predicting a home team sweep but easily could be wrong on MSU, UM and Illinois and possibly wrong on some others.

Syracuse 17 at ILLINOIS 21
Iowa State 10 at IOWA 24
Michigan State 21 at PITTSBURGH 28
Cincinnati 7 at OHIO STATE 38
Eastern Michigan 10 at NORTHWESTERN 20
Ball State 21 at PURDUE 37
Michigan 24 at NOTRE DAME 28
Youngstown State 3 at PENN STATE 27
Southern Illinois 14 at INDIANA 20
San Diego State 17 at WISCONSIN 31
Temple 7 at MINNESOTA 34

Anonymous said...

IOWA 31 iowa state 28

SYRACUSE 35 illinois 14

PITT 28 michigan state 21

OHIO STATE 28 cincy 3

PURDUE 38 ball state 21

EASTERN MICHIGAN 21 northwestern 20

PENN STATE 42 youngstown 7

MICHIGAN 28 notre dame 27

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 28 indiana 21

MINNESOTA 42 temple 3

WISCONSIN 35 san diego state 21

BigTenSportsFan said...

Iowa State 3 @ Iowa 61
Syracuse 17 @ Illinois 45
Michigan State 48 @ Pittsburgh 7
Cincinnati 0 @ Ohio State 34
Ball State 56 @ Purdue 57 (3OT!)
Eastern Michigan 3 @ Northwestern 45
Youngstown State 0 @ Penn State 81
Michigan 31 @ Notre Dame 6
Southern Illinois 20 @ Indiana 47
Temple 2 @ Minnesota 41
San Diego State 5 @ Wisconsin 60

AndrewJ1313 said...

Syracuse 20, Illinois 10;
Iowa 35, Iowa State 16; -Only if Tate plays
Michigan State 38, Pittsburgh 17;
Northwestern 28, Eastern Michigan 27;
Purdue 44, Ball State 17; - Ah, Purdue, when will you play somebody.
Notre Dame 38, Michigan 17;
Penn State 42, Youngstown State 0;
Indiana 20, Southern Illinois 17;
Wisconsin 35, San Diego State 24;
Minnesota 27, Temple 13;
Ohio State 52, Cincinnati 3.

GO BUCKS!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Syracuse 17 @ Illinois 20
Iowa State 34 @ Iowa 32
Michigan State 27 @ Pittsburgh 28
Cincinnati 6 @ Ohio State 38
Eastern Michigan 18 @ Northwestern 29
Ball State 27 @ Purdue 38
Michigan 24 @ Notre Dame 32
Youngstown State 13 @ Penn State 38
Southern Illinois 17 @ Indiana 27
San Diego State 13 @ Wisconsin 28
Temple 17 @ Minnesota 41

Anonymous said...

Syracuse 21 @ Illinois 10
Iowa State 24 @ Iowa 35
Michigan State 17 @ Pittsburgh 21
Cincinnati 3 @ Ohio State 42
Eastern Michigan 24 @ Northwestern 21
Ball State 10 @ Purdue 24

Youngstown State 3 @ Penn State 35
Southern Illinois 10 @ Indiana 24
San Diego State 10 @ Wisconsin 21
Temple 3 @ Minnesota 21

Michigan 17 @ Notre Dame 10