Monday, September 14, 2009

Monday Night Quarterback
Another week, another beatdow in the national media. Yes, Michigan had a great victory over Notre Dame - albeit a very overrated Fighting Irish squad - but what else can you take away from the weekend? Struggles with the MAC all around, including the stunner in East Lansing. OSU played well enough to win, but again floundered when it mattered, thanks not to the conservative approach by Jim Tressel, but by the obvious lack of leadership and true quarterbacking skills from Tyrelle Pryor. Purdue tried in vain to give the league a shot in the arm but a furious rally came up short.

Oh the trials and tribulations of the Big Ten...

Team of the Week: Pretty obvious that it is Michigan. Talk about put up or shut up. Michigan has responded very, very well the first two weeks of this season. Rumors of the demise of all that is holy and well in Ann Arbor were GREATLY exaggerated.

Player of the Week: Tate Forcier. USC isn't the only team with a true freshman leading his team to big time victories.

Around the Big Ten
Wisconsin - Despite a team full of flu-ridden players, Wisconsin fought, scrapped and clawed to a very nice, underrated, overtime win over Fresno State. Next up: Wofford

Purdue - The Boilers gave a tremendous effort but a two-point conversion to tie with a minute to go was just short. I undersold this team - either that or Oregon was vastly overrated. Next up: Northern Illinois

Penn State - Ho hum, another easy win. Not as easy as most expected, but cut Big Ten wannabe Syracuse some slack, they are better than the past few years - by far. Even with a former Dukie at QB. Next up: Temple

Ohio State - Sorry Buckeyes who are ticked at Tressel, he isn't to blame. His conservativeness kept OSU in that game. Tyrelle Pryor is the problem. He can't pass, he can't lead, his immaturity shows in his visible frustration. Toledo won't be a cupcake at a neutral site. Next Up: Toledo in Cleveland

Northwestern - The Wildcats were almost the victim of one of the directional Michigan schools. A late field goal sealed the win, but left a sour taste in NU's mouth. What about the old adage that the biggest improvement comes between week one and two? Next up: at Syracuse

Minnesota - Who says you can't ride waves of emotion to a win? The Golden Gophers did that against a good MWC team (Air Force) and got the home opener out of the way. Things get exponentially tougher this weekend. Next up: Cal

Michigan State - Ouch. Ugh. Yuck. This loss to Central Michigan wasn't nearly as bad as those in 1991 or 1992, even if this State team is better than those two. CMU deserved to win and got all the bounces. MSU also shot itself with a so-so run game and penalties at all the wrong times. Now Spartans get to see why they love Dantonio so much. Next up: at Notre Dame

Michigan - Not a win for the ages by any stretch, but a much-needed, program-righting win for Rich Rod and crew. Overrated or not, a win over a rival like ND is huge for a team this young. Michigan should be able to run to 4-0 before meeting it's next rival - MSU. Next up: Eastern Michigan

Iowa - The Hawkeyes bounced back in a big way with a statement win at Iowa State. The Hawkeyes showed that game to game improvement we expect and sent a message, NIU was a fluke. Next up: Arizona

Indiana - The Hoosiers nearly got stung by the third of the directional Michigan school trifecta but dodged a major bullet in getting a much-needed win. IU stays in the MAC with a trip to Akron, where they will again get all they want and more from an underdog. Next up: at Akron

Illinois - Big win over FCS foe Illinois State and now a week off. The Illini are still very underwhelming to date and could challenge the Spartans for biggest disappointment if things don't get on track soon.

Get Gamm Winner:
Dan Meyer beat three others with the tiebreaker and picks with me this week. Tiebreaker is MSU at Notre Dame. Comment on the games in BOLD.

Cal at Minnesota
Eastern Michigan at Michigan
Northern Illinois at Purdue
Temple at Penn State
Wofford at Wisconsin
Indiana at Akron
Michigan State at Notre Dame
Toledo vs. Ohio State
Arizona at Iowa
Northwestern at Syracuse




12 comments:

Unknown said...

quick correction.

Air Force is in the Mountain West, not WAC.

Gopher Nation'
The Daily Gopher

mayo170 said...

jeez. Anyone else going through excruciating pain trying to pick this week? You'd think this would be easy this time of the year!

BruceS said...

I'll be first to get my picks in this week with the hope of getting the bad taste out of my mouth after a rough week last Saturday. (winners in CAPS)
CAL vs minnesota
eastern michigan vs MICHIGAN
temple vs PENN STATE
wofford vs WISCONSIN
INDIANA vs akron
MICHIGAN STATE vs notre dame
toledo vs OHIO STATE
arizona vs IOWA
NORTHWESTERN vs syracuse
GO GREEN

Andy Gamm said...

Thanks! Mistake made in haste.

mayo170 said...

Cal 44 at Minnesota 31
Eastern Michigan 22 at Michigan 38
Northern Illinois 24 at Purdue 34
Temple 3 at Penn State 42
Wofford 3 at Wisconsin 34
Indiana 24 at Akron 22
Michigan State 28 at Notre Dame 34
Toledo 16 vs. Ohio State 31
Arizona 27 at Iowa 29
Northwestern 24 at Syracuse 28

This weekend's picks are tough after last weekend's showing. The only good thing I saw coming out of the weekend besides the domers losing at the last second was this: http://www.estradaglasses.com/

Buckeye Nation said...

Andy,

I agree on your observation on the OSU-USC game. I thought Tressel's play-calling was fine. Terrelle Pryor's execution was pretty mediocre, and that INT he threw on the first possession was a killer. OSU dominated USC by and large that game.
Look for the Buckeyes and Pryor to bounce back in a big way.
Even in heart-breaking defeat, they now know they can beat anybody, contrary to what they were hearing leading up to the game.

Phats said...

MICHIGAN 31 eastern mich 21

PURDUE 41 northern illinois 21

Penn State 48 temple 0

WISCONSIN 35 wofford 7

AKRON 28 indiana 21

MICHIGAN STATE 31 notre dame 28

OHIO STATE 28 toledo 14

IOWA 31 arizona 21

NORTHWESTERN 31 syracuse 24

Andy Gamm said...

St. Louis says:

Game
Winner
Score

Indiana @ Akron
Indiana
28-24

Iowa vs Arizona
Iowa
35-24

Michigan vs Eastern Michigan
Michigan
42-8

Michigan State @ Notre Dame
Notre Dame
31-24

Minnesota vs California
Cal
31-21

Northwestern @ Syracuse
Northwestern
27-17

Ohio State vs Toledo
Ohio State
38-14

Penn State vs Temple
Penn State
48-7

Purdue vs Northern Illinois
Purdue
28-14

Wisconsin vs Wofford
Wisconsin
42-6

Phats said...

Oops forgot Minnesota/Cal

CAL 35 minnesota 14

BruceS said...

I need to add my prediction on the Purdue game as well as my tiebreaker score.
PURDUE vs niu
MSU 27 notre dame 24
GO GREEN

Buckeye Nation said...

Cal 38 at Minnesota 14
Eastern Michigan 13 at Michigan 32
Northern Illinois 21 at Purdue 34
Temple 10 at Penn State 48
Wofford 13 at Wisconsin 27
Indiana 23 at Akron 24
Michigan State 21 at Notre Dame 24
Toledo 10 vs. Ohio State 42
Arizona 17 at Iowa 20
Northwestern 20 at Syracuse 17

Dan Meyer said...

Just in case Andy doesn't get my e-mail--Week 3 picks.

CALIFORNIA 31 at Minnesota 17
Eastern MI 10 at MICHIGAN 28
Northern IL 24 at PURDUE 27
Temple 7 at PENN STATE 41
Wofford 0 at WISCONSIN 31
INDIANA 21 at Akron 20
*Michigan State 21 at NOTRE DAME 24--Home field pick, could easily be wrong.
Toledo 7 at OHIO STATE 28
Arizona 14 at IOWA 17
NORTHWESTERN 28 at Syracuse 24