Holy WoW!

I flipped over after the Alabama/UT game to see the end of the Indiana/PSU game. What a play by Indiana in OT to win their first game against a top ten team since 1987! Congrats!

Nice to see the Hoosiers win in football!

I’m putting Hoosiers on my cars tomorrow!!!

My Buckeyes win and cover. The officiating against Nebraska was questionable at best. OSU did not impress me in this first game. The O and D lines were not up to snuff. Looks like there is still a lot of work to do.

Purdue!!!!!!! I am so glad they beat the Squakeyes. And.... what about Rutgers?

My Michigan Wolverines won!!!! They beat a very good (at least on paper) team, to win big. The starting QB, Joe Milton had never started a game in previous seasons, the offensive line had 4 new guys, and the secondary was also made up of all guys who had never started or some who had never played a game before. As such, most Michigan fans were expecting a loss to the Golden Gophers, but, us Wolverine fans were very pleasantly surprised to see the team perform very well and get a decisive victory. Only thing I did not like was that the Field Goal kicker, Jake Moody, missed 3 FG attempts!!!! The Wolverines could have scored a total of 58 points!!!!!
But, today morning I am a very happy Wolverine!!!
GO BLUE!!!!!!!

Week 1 Wrap-up:

Friday - IL @ #14 WI at 7:00 central time on BTN. As expected, the Badgers won and covered. I watched most of the game and it was total domination on both sides of the ball. WI only blip was fumbling which IL returned for a TD. One thing I learned was WI DBs had 96 starts between them which is 4th most in Power 5, and that should pay dividends against pass happy opponents.
Saturday:

NE @ #5 tOSU at 11:00 central time on FOX. As expected, the Buckeyes won and covered the huge spread. I didn't get to see the game but the replay looks like a competitive 1st half and then total domination in the second half.

Rutgers @ MSU at at 11:00 central time on BTN. I was surprisingly wrong about the Sparties winning, but right on failing to cover. I didn't get to see the game, but Rutgers lead wire to wire. One of the key stats is turnovers where they were +1 on INTs and +3 on Fumbles. It's not just that MSU turned the ball over, it's where they turned the ball over - their own 1 yard line (result TD), their own 23 yard line (result TD).

#8 PSU @ IU at at 2:30 central time on FS1. I was wrong on the Nittany Lions winning and covering. I didn't get to see any of this game, but they kept flashing highlights while I was watching Purdue. Looked like an exciting back and forth game, and an exciting OT finish.

IA @ Purdue at at 2:30 central time on BTN. As predicted, the Spoilermakers pulled off the upset. Let's set the stage for how big this was - Head coach was out due to COVID and all-American was out for undisclosed reasons. The dirty commies at the NCAA ruled head coach couldn’t coach virtually and even worse no contact within 90 minutes of kickoff. One if the coordinators, coach's brother, filled in as head coach and earned his first career head coaching win. Honorable mention kudos go to Purdue's QB who gave up an INT at the end of the 2nd, and start of 3rd, but didn't get rattled and lead his team to the comeback win (282 yards passing and 3 passing TDs)

#18 UofM @ #21 MN at at 6:30 central time on ABC. I was very wrong about the Golden Gophers pulling off the upset. UofM took the lead halfway through the 1st quarter and never looked back.

MD @ NWU at at 6:30 central time on BTN. I was correct on the Wildcats winning but very wrong on failing to cover. MD scored a field goal on first drive and then were done for the rest of the lopsided game.

Kudos:

WI Badgers - first team to earn win in this Big Ten season

WI's QB Mertz - first time starter made good decisions and was very accurate (first and only incomplete pass towards end of 3rd quarter). 248 yards passing for 5 TDs and 0 INTs.

WI's defense - they pitched a shutout (offense gave up the 7 points), had a INT, had a fumble recovery, held IL to 87 yards passing, and 7 tackles for loss.

tOSU QB fields - 276 yards passing for 2 TDs, 0 INTs, only one incompletion. Also had 54 yards rushing and a rushing TD.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano - Wow! What a difference a coach makes. First big ten win since 2017. Rutgers was a good team during his first stint as head coach, but he had left to coach in the NFL prior to the Big Ten admitting Rutgers.

IU head coach Tom Allen - coached a hell of a game and made 2 clutch decisions - (1) letting PSU score quick to get the ball back with time (jeers to PSU for not having situational awareness). (2) going for 2 in the OT instead of tying it with a FG.

Brian Brohm, Purdue offensive coordinator and QB Coach - first time in his life being head coach at any level, and he coached his underdog team to a come from behind win.

Purdue WR Bell - The sophomore caught 13 passes for 121 yards and 3 TDs (including game winner)

UofM offensive line - the hogs lead the way for 253 yards rushing and 5 rushing TDs, and gave their first time starting QB plenty of time.

UofM defense - 5 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, recovered 2 fumbles, had an INT, and held a very good team to 24 points.

NWU offensive line - the big guys lead the way for 325 yards rushing and 4 rushing TD, and gave up zero sacks.

NWU defense - they absolutely demoralized the Terps. Held them to 143 yards passing 64 yards rushing, forced 3 INTs, and forced a fumble. 27% of MD's offense was on their first drive.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Wow Indiana breaks into the top 25.

quote:

Honorable mention kudos go to Purdue's QB who gave up an INT at the end of the 2nd, and start of 3rd, but didn't get rattled and lead his team to the comeback win (282 yards passing and 3 passing TDs)

Former walk-on QB who beat out two 4-star recruits for the start this year!

My Badgers may be hosed.

Graham Mertz, officially their #2 quarterback behind Coan, but started the 1st game of the 2020 season due to an injury to Coan, and who did freaking awesome (5 TDs & 95%+ completion), tested positive for the WuFlu yesterday.

Today, I hear that their #3 quarterback has also tested positive.

So, if the Badgers play against the Cornhuskers this weekend, it will be with their 4th string QB, at least for now.

From Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel

quote:

Wisconsin plays Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan during that 21 day window. As we’ve been saying on the podcast, 21 days is a very conservative protocol that could upend the season.

First indication that the Wisconsin/Nebraska game may not be played. Hope that's not the case.

link

Cancelled

Damn. Bleacher Report's story says WI's head coach, starting QB, 2nd string QB, and 8 others tested positive.

Nebraska was negotiating with Tennessee-Chattanooga to play this Saturday in place of the cancelled game against Wisconsin.

The B1G said, “Nuh-uh.”

Link

As a Michigan fan for decades (and a tough couple of decades), I am happy to report, this could be our year!!! Go Blue!!

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
As a Michigan fan for decades (and a tough couple of decades), I am happy to report, this could be our year!!! Go Blue!!

GO BLUE!!!!!! Hope they run up the score on the Spartans this Saturday!!!!

As a former Michigan letterman and a Ann Arbor resident, I am real happy with how the Wolverines performed in their first game against the Golden Gophers. All the football analysts on the Big10 Network and on the various programs on ESPN had very confidently predicted that Michigan was going to lose to a "superior" team. Well, just the very opposite happened!!!!

Week 2 (all times Central time):
Friday:

MN @ MD at 6:30 on ESPN. The Gophers are 20 point favorites. Neither team was competitive last week, but the Gophers at least showed signs of life so I'm going with them to win and cover.
Saturday:

Little Brother @ #13 Big Brother at 11:00 on Fox. UofM is favored by 24. I'm going with the Wolverines to win and cover due to the Sparty's turnovers last week and Michigan's ability to turn into more points than Rutgers did.

Purdue @ IL at 11:00 on BTN. My Boilermakers are favored by 7. Purdue wins and covers.

#17 IU @ Rutgers at 2:30 on BTN. In this battle of undefeated teams, the Hosers are favored by 11.5. I'm going with IU to win but fail to cover.

NWU @ IA at 2:30 on ESPN. The Hawkeyes are favored by 2.5. I'm going with Iowa to win and cover.

#3 tOSU @ #18 PSU at 6:30 on ABC. The Buckeyes are favored by 12.5, and I'm going with tOSU to win and cover. I wouldn't be surprised if they have the spread covered by half and win handily.

Those are my wild assed guesses. What are yours?

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Hmmmm.Last time Sparty beat Michigan was when Saban was coach, the mid 90s. Ohio State should run the table.

Week 2 Wrap-up:
Friday:

MN @ MD at 6:30 on ESPN. I was wrong on MN winning and covering. The Gophers managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They got off to a slow start in the 1st quarter, but had a dominant 21 unanswered point 2nd quarter and lead 28-21 at half. The domination continued in the 3rd quarter with 10 unanswered points. Then, they put in a soft "prevent" defense and gave up 17 points in the 4th quarter which meant OT. They exchanged TDs in the first OT, but inexplicably the MN FG kicker missed the extra point. Speaking of MN's defense, they only had 1 sack and 0 QB hurries versus a team that passed 35 times which translated into giving up 394 yards passing for 3 TDs. They couldn't stop the run either as they gave up 281 yards for 3 TDs and only 1 tackle for loss.
Saturday:

Little Brother @ #13 Big Brother at 11:00 on Fox. Wow! I was very wrong on UofM winning and covering. This game was on at the same time as Purdue so I didn't see it, but plenty of MSU highlights were showed during Purdue's game. Given that it was an upset, I was surprised to pull up the box score and find out neither team threw an INT or coughed up the football (i.e. usually when a heavily weighted favorite loses turnovers are a huge factor). One of the most telling stats is MSU's D had 1 sack, 2 QB hurries, and 6 tackles for loss versus UofM's D having 0, 2, 2. I'm looking forward to seeing BTN's 60-minute sped up replay of this game.

Purdue @ IL at 11:00 on BTN. I was correct on Purdue winning, but they tied the spread (what's the deal with dumb ass odds makers doing even numbers instead of half points?). A win is a win, but this one was a little concerning. IL's 1st and 2nd string QB were out due to COVID and Purdue's all-Ammerican Rondale Moore is out for the 2nd week in a row for undisclosed reasons (he even deleted his Instagram account which adds to the mystery). I wasn't surprised that Purdue jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but they let IL back in it so were only up 17-10 at half. Looks like they made some good half-time adjustments and ended the 3rd quarter 31-10. hen, they put in a soft "prevent" defense and gave up 17 points in the 4th quarter. They let IL all the way down to the 15 yard line and I thought they were going to blow it, but stopped them on 3 straight plays and inexplicably on 4th down with 1:50 left IL's 4th string QB (Purdue knocked out the 3rd string QB earlier in the game) threw a short pass instead of a 10+ yard pass. IL had 2 TO's left so Purdue needed a first down and of course they turn to David Bell who snagged 27 yards to secure the 1st down and the victory. Have I mentioned that I hate the chicken shit "prevent" defense?

#17 IU @ Rutgers at 2:30 on BTN. I was correct on IU winning but wrong on failing to cover. I didn't get to see any of this game, but it looks like Rutgers lead until deep in the 2nd quarter then IU snagged 2 INTs and converted into 2 TDs and never looked back. They also snagged an INT early in the 3rd and converted it into 3 points. They won by 16 and 17 of the points were off turnovers.

NWU @ IA at 2:30 on ESPN. I was incorrect on winner and spread. All of the highlights were in the first half where IA lead 17-0 at the end of 1 and lead 20-14. NWU had the only points midway through the 3rd and then a whole lot of punting, INTs, and turning over on downs. Both teams turned the ball over 3 times so that was a wash.

#3 tOSU @ #18 PSU at 6:30 on ABC. As predicted, tOSU won and covered the spread by half-time. Only surprise was tOSU not dominating the 2nd half too. I didn't get to see any of this game either.

Cheers:

MD. They certainly learned a lot more from their week 1 loss than MN

MD's QB Tagovailoa. After a disastrous first week, the young man hit the film room, studied up, and the coaches said he absorbed coaching like a sponge. It paid off in the form of 394 yards passing for 3 TDs, and 64 yards rushing for 2 TDs.

MSU. After an astonishing week 1 loss to Rutgers, they regrouped and took down the #13 team.

MSU's QB Lombardi. 17 completions for 323 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs.

MSU's WR White. 8 receptions for 196 yards and a TD

Purdue's QB O'Connell. He was 29 for 35 racking up 371 yards and 2 TDs with 0 INTs.

Purdue's WR David Bell. 9 receptions for 122 yards and a TD. This is his 5th straight game with over 100 yards receiving which is a Purdue record.

Purdue's RB Horvath. 22 carries for 102 yards and a TD. The powerful young man reminds me of Purdue alum Mike Alstott (Alstott was at Purdue when I was a student) and even wears the #40. 2nd game in a row with over 100 yards rushing and 2nd game in a row of leaping over a defender who was expecting the big guy to lower his shoulder.

IU's defense. 3 clutch INTs (Rutgers 6 yard line, Rutgers 28 yard line, and IU's 45 which gave the O a short field), 4 sacks, 3 hurries, and 8 tackles for a loss. They only gave up 122 yards passing and 125 yards rushing.

IU's QB Penix Jr. 17 completions for 238 yards and 3 TDS (0 INTs). He also rushed for 20 yards and 1 TD (0 fumbles).

NWU's D. They buckled down midway through the 2nd quarter and didn't let up any more points. During that clamp down they had 3 INTs, forced 3 punts, and stopped two 4th down conversion attempts.

tOSU's QB Fields. Young man kept himself in the Heisman hunt with a 28 completion, 4 TD, 0 INT performance.

tOSU's RB Teague III. 23 carries for 110 yards and a TD. He had more rushing than PSU.

tOSU's WR Olave. 7 receptions for 120 yards and 2 TDs (26 yds and 49 yds).

Jeers:

The ESPN announcers for the MN @ MD. Approximately every 60 seconds the hacks repeated that MD's QB Taulia Tagovailoa is the younger brother of Miami Dolphin QB Tua Tagovailoa. Some of the worst announcing I've heard in a long time.

The "prevent" defense. I only watched 2 games this weekend and it cost MN a win and damn near cost Purdue a win.

Time keeper in tOSU @ PSU game. tOSU slowly took a knee with 2 seconds left, and they started the clock too slow and said 1 second left. PSU turned that into a FG. In the end it didn't matter, but bad officiating is bad officiating.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.