The Big Ten Report – College Game of the Year Edition
SportsThe Big Ten Conference has become a two-team race, and now we’re just a week away from the dream matchup between Michigan and Ohio State. These two teams looked ahead last weekend and both survived single-digit wins over bad teams. After these two shows, there’s a well-defined No. 3 team playing just 25 minutes from our main office in Wisconsin.
I said a couple of weeks ago that Wisconsin and Iowa would be competing for third place and a spot in the Capitol One Bowl when the two teams meet on November 11. But since then, Iowa has gone into a tailspin and it will be interesting to see what kind of effort they give this week. Coach Ferentz has won the last four games in this series and it will be interesting to see if he can get his team ready for this borderline rivalry after such a disappointing 2006 season. Here’s a recap of some of the highlights from last weekend and a preview of a very important week ahead:
Iowa hosted Northwestern and it looked as though they would have no trouble posting their seventh win of the season. They entered as 20-point favorites and were released as the Midwest Game of the Year by another sports service. This was too much weight to put on QB Drew Tate’s shoulders, as his team went flat and was dominated by the Cats. Northwestern controlled the first half, scoring two touchdowns and picking up a key interception in the end zone to launch a Hawkeye drive. This score could have been much worse than 14-0, as the Cats left empty-handed on two more trips to the red zone.
The second part was very similar to the first. Neither team was able to generate much offense, with each team managing just one touchdown each. The Cats were unlucky on their way to this win, as they dominated the yardage total, 445-266. They had great balance on 200+ rushing and passing yards and it reminded me of the days when Randy Walker was in charge. This was their first conference win of the season and I expect them to play well for the rest of this season. They have another winnable game in two weeks when they host Illinois.
As for Iowa, this was their second embarrassing loss of the season. They also suffered a loss to Indiana and may now struggle to win another game this season. They will host Wisconsin this weekend and the line is currently off the board due to the status of Badger QB John Stocco. The Badgers will never be in a more favorable situation to end their current losing streak against the Hawkeyes. Iowa has already qualified for one bowl game, but it will take place before New Year’s Day. Northwestern will host Ohio State next weekend and currently enters as a 23-point dog. Unlike last week, I don’t expect Ohio State to look forward to this one.
The Wisconsin Badgers nearly wrapped up a trip to Orlando with their win against Penn State this past weekend. We had the ‘low’ in this game and everything worked perfectly with only 16 points scored. State moved the ball into the thirty, but their momentum seemed to stop once they got close to the red zone. The Lions forced two turnovers, but it could have easily been more if it weren’t for a few missed interceptions by the secondary. Wisconsin snapped a 3-3 tie late in the second quarter when Paul Hubbard hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Stocco. This would be the only touchdown scored in the game and Stocco would go out with a shoulder injury in the fourth.
The Badgers went up by two scores early in the fourth quarter when Taylor Melhaff kicked a field goal to give Wisconsin the lead, 13-3. This scoring series was set up when a punt bounced off a Lion player deep in the red zone. The Badgers looked bad all day on offense and didn’t ask backup quarterback Donovan to light up the scoring. He threw just one pass and Badger fans will be worried if Stocco can’t return to action next week in Iowa City.
But the biggest story of this game was the broken leg sustained by 79-year-old coach Joe Paterno. He was dropped on a passing play that went wide and you could easily tell he was in pain. He held her leg for several minutes before doctors finally coaxed him into a sitting position. He eventually agreed to a leg brace before being carried off the field and flew back to State College ahead of the team. My guess is that Joe Pa will return next week when his team hosts Temple in some capacity. That being said, State is favored by 35 points against rival in-state and could easily coach this team to a win, so a bye week may not be such a bad idea.
Finally, Purdue came within one win of a bowl game with a win at East Lansing, 17-15. The Boilermakers led throughout this contest until early in the fourth quarter when TJ Williams hauled in a 21-yard TD pass from QB Drew Stanton. Sparty moved up a point, but like so many games this season he couldn’t hold on to the lead. The loss was discouraging for coach John L. Smith, who learned last week that the remaining two years of his contract would be terminated. Purdue drove down the field late in the quarter and with 4:49 remaining in the game, Casey Welch kicked a 19-yard field goal to give them a two-point lead for good.
The stats in this game were even with both teams having over 300 total yards, but Michigan State was much more even as they rushed for 145 yards. This team seems to find ways to lose football games and that is a nightmare when it comes to handicap. No one knows what kind of effort to expect from them and therefore they are a team to stay away from when playing.
This is a nice win for Purdue, which will now face a bottom two to close out conference play. Both games can be won before the season ends with a trip to Hawaii. It is quite possible that this team could record nine wins. They will enter Champaign next weekend as a two-point underdog and would take a serious look at the visiting team. Michigan State will host Minnesota and the line in this game is even. But like I said, State is a team that cannot be trusted and I would expect a double-digit winner in this game, whichever side it is.
As it stands now, only six of the eleven teams in the conference will bowl. The conference could get a seventh offer if Indiana could upset one of its last two games, but it will be a major underdog in both contests (Michigan +19, at Purdue). The conference should receive two BCS bids with the loser of the Ohio State-Michigan game going to the Rose Bowl and the winner going to Glendale.
Final Thoughts on College Football
1) Arkansas continues to win football games, but fails to impress people in the standings. They have three difficult games ahead of them and I expect them to lose at least two of them due to a lack of passing game.
2) The Louisville/West Virginia game lived up to the hype and I feel like if Louisville can carry the table, they’ll be in Glendale playing for the National Championship. This won’t be an easy game either, as this team can put points on the board and may be worth looking at as an underdog.
3) I still believe Florida will win the SEC after playing a brutal schedule and easily beat Arkansas if the two teams meet in Atlanta. If a one-loss team emerged in the title game, I suspect it would be them.
This week we are going with our “College Game of the Year” after the September one was pushed. We’ll get the win with this game and we’d like you to come on board as we’ve had an amazing three weekends in football.
Free Pick – Boise State -13 over San Jose State.