Monday, September 20, 2010

Big 10 Review Week 3

 Final Scores
Purdue 24, Ball State 13
Penn State 24, Kent State 0
Ohio State 43, Ohio 7
Michigan 42, UMass 37
Illinois 28, Northern Illinois 22
Wisconsin 20, Arizona State 19
USC 32, Minnesota 21
Indiana 38, Western Kentucky 21
Northwestern 30, Rice 13
Michigan State 34, Notre Dame 31 (ot)
Arizona 34, Iowa 27

Taught a Master's Class
Ohio State Buckeyes
Terrelle Pryor didn't have is most mistake free game, but he still managed to look very good. OSU raced out to a 34-0 lead, and the Bobcats never challenged. The defense held Ohio to 191 yards on the day.

Northwestern Wildcats
Dan Persa completed 75% of his passes, which he turned into 307 yards passing on the day. The defense intercepted Rice QB Nick Fanuzzi twice, and helt the Owls to 86 yards on the ground.

Michigan State Spartans
The Baker and Bell show kept the Spartans in the game, and Kirk cousins had a solid performance, but the biggest contributer was a one play call where Mak Dantonio called for a fake field goal in OT, and it worked to beat the Irish in East Lansing. See the post below on Mark Dantonio's heart attack that he suffered after the game.

Didn't Learn Much
Purdue Boilermakers
If Purdue can't blow out 1-AA Western Illinois and Ball State, what are they going to do when they get into Big 10 play?

Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines showed a chink in their 2010 armor on Saturday. Denard Robinson did his thing, and Michael Shaw stepped up to be another source of offense, but that 4th quarter collapse would have turned into another embarrassing loss to a 1-AA program at the Big House if there had been more time to play. I can't say that I am surprised, as I called the game pretty much the way it went.

Illinois Fightless Illini
NIU didn't even have HC Jerry Kill because of an illness (get well coach Kill!!!) and Illinois still couldn't handle a Husky team that had barely escaped North Dakota the week before. Sad.

Wisconsin Badgers
This is the biggest underachierver in the country. The Badgers were expected to dominate this season, and they have played half speed football for 3 weeks in a row. This time they barely escaped going to OT due to a blocked extra point. This is not how you keep pace with Ohio State.

Indiana Hoosiers
IU did what they had to do, and that was about it. There was no WOW moment against WKU, which is a team that you should grab as many of such moments as humanly possible.

Penn State Nittany Lions
The defense showed up...Robert Bolden played like a freshman QB, and rushing game never really got cranking. These are bad signs for when the schedule gets tough again.

Failing Grade
Minnesota (Less Than) Golden Gophers
The Gophers brought the house to life in the 3rd quarter by going on a beautiful drive down the field to score a TD and go up 14-13. On the ensuing kickoff, USC's Robert Woods returned the kick 97 yards for a score, and the house got dead silent, and there went the Gopher's momentum, and most likely, their season.

Iowa Hawkeyes
I almost feel bad for failing the Hawkeyes, based on the task that they had last Saturday, but they made many mistakes on Saturday night in Tucson. Why did Ricky Stanzi insist on throwing the ball anywhere near Arizona DB Trevin Wade? Wade picked him twice.

Week 4 Schedule
Ball State (1-2) at Iowa (2-1)
Central Michigan (2-1) at Northwestern (3-0)
Austin Peay (2-1) at Wisconsin (3-0)
Toledo (2-1) at Purdue (2-1)
Northern Colorado (2-1) at Michigan State (3-0)
Bowling Green (1-2) at Michigan (3-0)
Temple (3-0) at Penn State (2-1)
Eastern Michigan (0-3) at Ohio State (3-0)
Akron (0-3) at Indiana (2-0)
Northern Illinois (1-2) at Minnesota (1-2)
Illinois is idle

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