Week 2
Of The Collegiate
Football Season!
This Week's Question:
What Conference Will Your Team Be In
Next Year?
Just kidding!!
(unless you're Texas A&M or part of the Big 12)
:):):)
Let's See What Folks Think
Of This Week's
Upcoming Games...
Grab your coffee or coke...Let's Go!
IOWA
Silver Fox: #1 Iowa fan...hellohello-o-o-o
Black and Gold Girl: I predict an Iowa win by a spread of at least 14. They looked strong against Tennessee Tech, which wasn't difficult, but I think it gave our new quarterback some confidence and he came out firing. He held off on making the rookie mistake of three interceptions in one game, fumbling the hike, etc. McNutt is emerging as a team leader and, though it seems like we can't keep any single runningback healthy, I think we'll be able to continue to run the ball to set up our passing game. I like Iowa State's new coach, but I just don't think they have what it would take to beat the Hawks this year. Go Hawks!
Hawk Guy: Hawk Guy commentary always appreciated...
Turnkey Tim: Iowa, Iowa State week. Hawks have won six of the last eight. This week's game will be payed at 11am on Saturday at Jack trice Stadium in Ames. Should we be concerned? Yes. The cyclones usually always bring their best for us, and usually always play as if this could be their only bowl game of the year. The stadium will be loud unless we take them out of the game early. This is the 3rd year for Iowa State's head coach and he states that this is his best team yet.They are more athletic but not a deep team. They only beat UNI last week by one point, but the same can be said for us in 2009. It took the Hawks two last-second field goal blocks to win the game. Iowa State won with their QB-he fought hard to win. They will try to do the same against us this week. Will it work? Hell no! Both sides of the ball has room to improve, but I like the way we played last week.
I said it before, I'll say it again, this is an athletic fast defense. As a unit, they need more time to gel, but they will get there. We missed many QB sacks last week by the defensive line, being overaggressive. That is a good problem to have. We had a couple of picks and and a few stunts that we normally don't see this early in the year. Because of our speed and depth at defensive back, expect more nickel packages, linebacker and corner blitzes. We will face many spread teams this year and I like what I see in Norm's willingness to get more creative. We will still use the 4-3 as our base defense and enough stunts and blitzes to shake things up and keep teams guessing.
Offensively, I though James Vandenberg played great. His passes are on target and he commands the offense with great effectiveness. he looks like a team leader and has done it before. McNutt looks as if he could be poised for a great year. Keenan Davis had a great catch on the goal line as well. Line blocking was good, not great, but they will get there. My only real disappointment was that running back McCall got hurt. He was better than advertised. He could have really helped us out this year. Coker will be back in form this week and I look for him to rush over 100 yards. We also had a few dropped balls but given the weather conditions this does not surprise me that much. Our tight ends could also be very effective in the passing game. I'm looking for CJ Fiedorwicz to have a huge catch in the game this weekend. Bottom line Iowa wins. Final score: Iowa 27 Iowa State 17.
Hawkinator: thinking of your family...
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Steve: Wisconsin Steve must still be celebrating the Packer win last night.
Wow, Angie is correct.....I got so excited about the Packers I forgot all about our Badgers! Of course I would predict that not only would they win but win big! Their new players and exciting management makes for a good mix. They are shaking and bakin and Wisconsin Steve feels poorly that he didn't put his beloved Badgers on the front of the burner! Have a great weekend everybody........
Minnesota:
Ace: Ace must be preparing for his trek down to the Austin City Limits Festival next week...
Michigan
A'maize'n Blue: Big game this weekend for the Wolverines! College Gameday is coming to the Big House for its first ever night game, and who better to play but those fighting/flopping Irish. The two schools with the most wins in NCAA history (my Wolverines are number 1) will be squaring off in their annual rivalry game. Michigan got off to a slow start last week in the mud bowl (like so many other teams across the midwest faced) but played good up until the 4th quarter...which they never got to play. Denard didn't do much last week, but in his defense it was a combination of not having to and not getting the chance to. Both RB's Shaw and Touissant came up just shy of 100 yards rushing and the amazing play of LB Brandon Herron (returning a 96yard interception and 29yard fumble for TD's...which earned him a coveted Gameday Helmet sticker) pretty much kept the ball out of Denard's hands. With the Irish coming to town Robinson may have to make more plays himself this time, or at least air the ball out, and it will be interesting to see how many points they can put up playing a full 4qtrs of football. Notre Dame is going through extreme QB woes right now, their starter Crist was benched in last week's game and backup Rees came in and while he threw for 200yds and 2 TD's he also threw 2Ints, one of them a costly drive killer at the 4 yard line. Michigan has too solid of a defense for the Irish to stand a chance I believe. Look for their offense to put up an all around good performance again, Shaw should eclipse 100yds on the ground and I expect 200yds passing out of Denard this time, the Wolverines will really want to exercise the offense and put on a great show under their new lights....and the national spotlight as well. Whoever the QB is for the Irish is going to have a very unpleasant night and a very, very dirty jersey by the end of the game. The Wolverines are going to send Notre Dame packing and move to 2-0 on the season, and while it is a big rivalry game in the books and between the teams this game feels like a warm up for Michigan's big games coming up in the next few weeks. Final score: Michigan 42 Notre Dame 17
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Ohio State
Buck-I: thinking of your family...
Nebraska
Bo Big Red: Nebraska's young players had the jitters for the first game of the season.Offense was not as fast as was announced,they were going to play fast,no huddle,just snap and go,after going 3 and out the first series,they took some time,and played well I thought,and expected a better beating than 40-7 win ,I was looking for 56-7 oh well a win is a win.Fresno lost there 1st game last week,and their 2nd will be this saturday at 6:00pm saturday. Nebraska is #1 rated in the Big Ten and # 10 in the nation.The BLACK SHIRTS showed up last week ,and should of got rid of the butterflies for this weeks game against Fresno State a W.A.C. team wich Nebraska is 21and 0 in last 21 games against W.A.C. teams,and Fresno State has won 9 games per season,the last 4 yrs,and went to 11 bowl games in the last 14 seasons.This will be closer than last week .but look for NEBRASKA win by 2 Touchdowns.game will end 35-14 NEBRASKA WINS AT HOME!!!!!!!!
Bill's Big 10 Corner: The Big 10 was 10-2 this past weekend with Minnesota and Indiana suffering the loses. My "game ball" goes to Northwestern for traveling to Boston College as an underdog and winning 24-17 with their back up QB.
Challenging games this week:
Alabama at Penn St - Alabama is #2 in the country and should be able to win in Happy Valley.
Purdue at Rice - Purdue travels to Houston and should be in for another tight game.
Virginia at Indiana - Indiana will need to step up the level of their game to avoid an 0-2 start.
Notre Dame at Michigan - Michigan has won 4 of the last 5 and is at home. I'll take the Wolverines.
Look ahead to next week: Pitt at Iowa, Mich St at ND, Washington at Nebraska, Arizona St at ILL .
Big 12
Texas
Bevo jr: Well, it was a win against Rice, but the ‘Horns were rough in spots. We can do better, and I believe Texas’ execution will be much improved in Week 2
When we play BYU on Saturday nite. But will it be enough? BYU is good both running & passing, and we’re not yet solid against the run – c’mon “D” line tighten up!
Expect even more new looks on offense than last week; this learning process, new looks, new schemes & sets, etc, (and the mistakes that go with it) from all the new coaching staff changes will be ongoing probably until mid-season. Need to compress that learning curve because Oklahoma is game #5 – gotta get prepared for the Sooners; they are looking B-A-D!
This week, look for UT to continue to play two QB’s, Garrett Gilbert and David Ash, with different looks and their own special play sets. Names to watch – true freshman RB Malcolm Brown will get more PT and more yards (he’s a beast); and speaking of frosh, WR Jaxson Shipley played BIG last week – we like him!
UT – 24, BYU – 21; but could go either way. Too early to be too confident - yet. (Still having flashbacks from 2010)
HOOK ‘EM HORNS!
Oklahoma State
Boones Boy:
Texas A&M
Hullabaloo: No game for the Aggies this week. The team gets an extra week to break down the film from the SMU game (a 46-14 beatdown btw) as they prepare for the mighty Idaho Vandals. Unfortunately no football for the week means even more focus on the A&M to SEC drama which has been ramped up thanks to stinking Baylor and their stinking lawsuit threat. Everybody join in with me: “Free A&M! Free A&M! Free A&M!”
**Blog writer Angie's side note; I laughed so hard at Hullabaloo's comments, I spit my coffee out!**
Pac-12
Colorado
Buffalo Up: The Buffs are coming off a disappointing matchup in Hawaii where the Warriors dominated with their defensive line, it appeared that the Buffs didn’t recover from jet lag until the second half. Despite a spirited rally they were doomed by 4th quarter miscues and dropped the contest 34-17. This week’s matchup is the conclusion of a Home and Home series with Cal. Despite the fact that they are now in the same conference, the game in Boulder will not count towards conference standings as the game was scheduled prior to realignment and adequate replacements could not be found.
Cal destroyed the Buffs last year in Berkley and this year doesn’t seem to be any more hopeful. The Bears have found their QB1 in Zach Maynard and the Buffs would have to make major strides on the offensive line to hold up against any defense. Tyler Hansen looked passable at Quarterback and the Defense played surprisingly well except for the line which was thought to be a strength entering the season. If the Buffs can figure out what went wrong last week they should be able to put up a decent fight at home against the Bears, if not it’s going to get ugly quick.
Utah
Red 5 Standing By: Utah begins a new chapter on Saturday when it faces USC at the Coliseum in its inaugural Pac-12 game. While the venue will, as always, be steeped in tradition, the reality is that neither team looked particularly strong in its opener last week. USC struggled to beat Minnesota 19-17, and Utah’s offense struggled mightily in the second half against FCS division Montana State (Utah prevailed 27-10 after being up 24-0 in the first half). I expect a close but low-scoring affair, with USC on top by a score of 20-13.
commentary comes in!
Would Love To Have Volunteer Fan Commentators From:
Big 10
Illinois
Michigan state
Purdue
Northwestern
Indiana
Penn state
Big 12
Have Texas and Oklahoma State, Texas A&M...how about Oklahoma, Iowa State etc
Pac-12
Any fans out there? I have Colorado and Utah covered, how about other team fans?
Independent team fans?
Open to suggestions, Notre Dame? etc :)
Email me (Angie) at [email protected]
or comment on this here post with your email. Thanks!