I'm now dividing my time between three teams. Penn State who I follwed to the Big House yesterday only to see them try to run the ball against a team that's clearly vulnerable to the pass. Michigan wins as Joe decided to run the ball down the Wolverines throats which ain't happening. Hart wore down a pretty good PSU defense. Hats off to the Wolverweasels, it was a long ride back to Wheeling. West Virginia rolls over East Carolina. If you haven't seen this team play, check them out. They're just plain fun to watch. If you're at the game don't go to the bathroom, you might miss two scores. They keep rolling over people and keep dropping in the polls. Like the Penn State teams of old. All you can do is beat the guys on your schedule but check out guys like Pat White (20-22-2TDs ad ran for 2TDs)Slaton, Noel Devine, Renaud and a 265 lb fullback who runs a 4.56. They're just fun. Third on the list is Ball State. Their QB Nate Davis is a local kid from Bellaire, OH which is about 5 mile from where I sit. I saw him in high school two years ago and knew he was special. He almost beat Michigan last year and was a dropped pass at the end of the game yesterday from beating Nebraska. How about them apples Huskerman? All in all I'm just having fun this year. Even my Steelers seem to be back on track. All it would take is an October 27th PSU clobbering of the Buckeyes and I can go to the couch.
Todd, The Big Ten teams could be a mixed bag this fall. I see no clear favorite at this point. I really thought you could beat Michigan yesterday. Iowa gave Wisconisn a scare. Northwestern is so bad, I really do not know how good we are at this point. Purdue might be a sleeper. No one will go undefeated in the Big Ten in conference play. Don
Tod, I was also amazed that Penn State didn't challenge Michigan's Dbacks. That's the way to beat them and the Nits had a senior QB to do it. Was this more of JoePa's doing? .........JO'Co
I'm with you on West Virgina. I love that offense with Pat White and Steve Slaton...now toss in the freshman Noel Devine and it just doesn't get much better than that.
Joe's been doing a pretty good job of keeping his nose out of the play calling. At Michigan he reverted to form. I was watching him on the sideline and he was jawing at the coaches who call the plays. Classic Paterno play calling: 1st Down: Draw play. 2nd Down: Pitch to the short side of the field. 3rd Down: Pass to the sideline with receiver falling out of bounds. 4th Down: Punt
Got to admit, Paterno was right about some of those play calls. The 3rd and one, 20 yard pass was a classic blunder. I saw a lot of biching and moaning but didn't see Joe intercept the signals called in by McQuery. It's the same play not to lose philosophy that Paterno dials up every time they play Michigan. Of course , it doesn't help that they have -0- track record at developing QB's and having an erratic rifle armed stiff who is so clueless, even a freshman will outperform him. With the benefit of a friendlier schedule, they should do better than last year. I love W. Virginia's offense, but they have no defense and they are playing the only team to completely shut down their offense on the road. I don't see them beating S. Florida. Their D is excellent and Grothe is the best kept secret in college football. That kid can run and pass .USF has the ability to beat any team in college football when they don't shoot themselves in the foot. If they don't win the Big East, it will probably be because of their kicker. Rutgers is also a tougher team and will contend. Their offense is much better, but their D may be a little off. They have great wide receivers to go with a great RB in Rice. They also have S. Florida, WVU and Cincy at home. Cincy is the darkhorse, plays great D and the offense looks much improved. I think Kelly's a better coach than the one they lost Dantonio. Louisville is completely one dimensional and can only win in a high scoring no D type of game. Their D is so bad that even Murray State moved the ball on them and made it a game early on.
A tough loss Aj, however I did fully expect the Stripeheads to play you tough at home even without Henne.....Hart is one tough kid.
The Buckeyes are looking good and if they continue to improve will be the team to beat in the Big 10. That RB Sein sp? looks like he's going to be something special. You don't see big backs with his speed. So far the Big 10 race will be OSU and maybe Michigan. I don't see Wisconsin or PSU being a factor unless PSU can upset the Bucks, but even still, they just don't have the look of a champion not unless Morelli dons a superman cape and transforms into something we haven't seen.
Those Buckeyes are VERY young and as you well know with that many youngsters, a train wreck can happen any week.....special teams has uncharacteristically been a concern and those are the kinds of things that will beat you in the toughest places to play in the Big 10 - AA, State College, Madison. I see no clear standouts as yet and fully expect the Nits, Badgers and the Stripeheads to be in the hunt to the end.....I'm not sure about Iowa, Purdue, MSU or ILL yet but don't have a bad day when you play any of them.....
I forgot about Purdue. Where is Stu to keep me in line? I don't think Illinois is going anywhere. They have some talent but are not well coached. MSU has some limitations. Iowa ?? They don't look good.
What's happened to Iowa, Frentz seemed to really have that program in a good place to be a consistent top of the B10 type of team year in and year out...he won 10 games 3 years in a row and was recruiting very well. Last year things sort of collapsed on him and this year he lost a game to a horrible ISU team at home.
ISU-Iowa is a big rivalry game.....anything can happen in those ballgames..... I did see the Hawks give the Badgers fits in Madison this weekend and this is supposed to be a strong Badger team and playing in Madison ANYTIME is no picnic.....