[NU Sports] EE v UMICH

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Yeah - I had to leave at halftime, but you could kind of see that the team who scored first coming out of the locker room would seize control of that game. Purdue should have been up 35-3 at half, but let the Quacks hang around too long. Blast! I thought I had an upset nailed!

As for the afternoon and prime time ... ouch!

* Purdue looked like, well, the Purdue of recent years. Amazing on one series and then poor the next five. They have potential but not consistency.

* Michigan just looked awful. They must have given ND 28 points today. Why can't we play them early? I don't see Big Blue making a bowl and I think a lot of Big Ten foes will settle some old scores while they can.

* Ohio State ... ugh. I remember reports of in-fighting in the locker room at last year's LSU game at half and it just seems like this team isn't together. If the winnin' isn't easy, they fall apart and point fingers. Beanie or not, they have enough talent to hang with SC, but they don't have team chemistry or heart. That said, talent alone will still carry them through most of the Big Ten.

* Wisconsin ... our last hope? Off to a good start, but it's a heck of a slobberknocker so far with that goal-line stand and should be fun to watch.

So after a few weeks, sizing up the Big Ten ...

* ILLINOIS: Worse than expected for most, but about what I expected. They have talent on O, but no D and won't be the force they were last year (and how could they losing Lehman and Mendenhaal?). Bowl bound, but will have to pull a few upsets to make it to Florida on January 1.

* INDIANA: No real verdict yet because of the schedule, but they seem like another explosive O with questions on D. I think we'll see a lot of high-scoring Big Ten games this year and the Hoosiers are gonna be on the borderline for a bowl.

* IOWA: I was starting to believe in them, but today raised some doubts. Solid D, but will they be able to score enough to hang in there? Probably not.

* MICHIGAN: Worse than expected. Five wins might be too lofty a goal for RichRod right now.

* MICHIGAN STATE: A disappointment, and they need to knock the snot out of little punk Jimmy Claussen next week to show that they can rise to the upper level of the league - where they should be this year.

* MINNESOTA: Better than expected. They won't be bowl bound, but they could pull an upset or even two and should have a lot of optimisim heading into the new stadium.

* OHIO STATE: Miles above the league on talent, but no heart. Laurinaitis has to be wondering "I came back for this?" The D seems to blame the O and the O seems to blame each other. Still the favorite to win the league, but if you can get up on them early, they might self-destruct and are not unbeatable.

* PENN STATE: Better than expected! Speed and talent galore despite all the off-field issues. I still am not sure who will step up to lead them down the field in a tight fourth quarter game, but right now they 're looking better than anyone.

* PURDUE: About what we expected - they'll score 50 one week and throw 5 interceptions the next and wind up with 5-7 wins. Like MSU, beating Notre Dame is a must because they can't go into league play with 2 losses.

* WISCONSIN: A solid team that won't wow you on paper but also won't beat itself. Since they have both OSU and PSU at home, you have to like Bucky's chances to head to Pasadena right now.

As for us, we can't take anything for granted and have to beat Ohio next week, but I still like our chances to make a move up in the standings. Beating Ohio and Iowa are musts to get to that bye week at 5-0 and prep for the rest of league play.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!