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Michigan State
(5-5)
at Purdue
(7-3)
12:00 PM ESPN
Why to watch: Coffee's for
closers only. Going back to
2004, Michigan State has had
eight chances to become bowl
eligible when sitting on five
wins. The Spartans are 0-8, with
two more chances this year. Next
week Penn State comes to East
Lansing, but they'd like to get
it done this week with a win in
West Lafayette against a Purdue
team that battled well in a loss
last week to Penn State. With
four straight wins over the
Spartans, a victory would keep
alive a shot at the program's
first ten-win season since 1979.
The two teams have exciting
offense, with Purdue throwing as
well as anyone in the nation,
and Michigan State ranking 17th
in the nation in rushing. There
should be plenty of offense and
plenty of fight.
Why
Michigan State might win:
The Purdue defense has been
fine, but it's been pounded on
by the teams that can actually
run. Penn State ripped off 251
yards last week, Ohio State ran
for 181, Michigan ran for 189
yards and four scores, and
Minnesota ran for 232 yards. The
Boilermaker defensive back seven
will give up big gains, and no
one is tearing off big runs in
the Big Ten like Javon Ringer.
He should have a 100 yards
without breathing hard.
Why Purdue might win: Michigan
State has lost the last four
times the week after losing to
Michigan. O.K., that's not
exactly a fair stat considering
the four games have been against
Ohio State, but the Spartans
will be hard pressed to gear up
the intensity again after a
rough loss that had as much
fight and fire off the field
after the game as on it when
Chad Henne mounted the comeback.
MSU's defense is keyed by its
pass rush, but Purdue has been
great in pass protection all
year long and won't let Curtis
Painter get hit too often. On
the flip side, MSU will give up
sacks, and Purdue has just
enough of a pass rush to disrupt
Brian Hoyer.
Who to watch: It's the
final home game for one of the
Big Ten's all-time greats, who's
still an unknown outside of
die-hard fans, Dorien Bryant.
The Boilermaker receiver has 274
career catches for 3,405 yards
and 21 touchdowns, 59 carries
for 405 yards and six scores,
and a 24.75-yard average on
kickoff returns with three
touchdowns, including one to
start off last week's game
against Penn State. He'll be
certain to be the featured
target at least early on.
What will happen: Purdue
beats the mediocre teams and
loses to the good one. Michigan
State is mediocre. The offensive
balance will keep the Spartans
on their heels all game long,
and the MSU passing game won't
be able to mount a comeback.
CFN Prediction:
Purdue
31 ... Michigan State 23
...
Line: Purdue -4
Must See
Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 3
Penn State
(7-3) at Temple
(3-6)
12:00 PM ESPNU
Why to watch: The Nittany
Lions have won 24 in a row
against the Owls, with most
extremely one-sided in a
longtime battle that used to be
good back in the day. Way back
in the day. The two teams tied
in 1950 to make it 0-31-1
against Penn State since a 14-0
win back in 1941. Overcoming the
loss to Ohio State, Penn State
got a nice win over Purdue to
get in a position to possibly
finish third in the Big Ten
pecking order and go to, maybe,
the Outback or Capital One
Bowls, but that'll be decided
next week after facing Michigan
State. Temple's 3-6 record
represents a huge turnaround for
the program, and while it might
not seem like much, the team has
been competitive as it takes a
step in the right direction.
This might not be a week to make
any kind of a statement, but it
might not be a brutal blowout
like last year's 47-0 debacle.
Why Penn State might win:
The Temple offense isn't going
anywhere. The worst rushing
attack in the MAC will get shut
down as long as Penn State
decides to play its first team
linebacking corps, while Maurice
Evans and the defensive front
will eat Owl QB Vaughn Charlton
alive. The Owl offensive line
has struggled all year against
decent pass rushing teams, and
Penn State leads the nation with
40 sacks.
Why Temple might win: The Owls
can play a little defense.
Despite Joe Paterno's worries
that his team could lose if it
doesn't play well, Temple
doesn't have a shot, but it
could make things difficult if
the Nittany Lions aren't
focused, which they won't be.
The secondary will give up
passes, but it doesn't allow big
yards, partly because it hasn't
faced too many teams that throw.
Penn State isn't going to throw.
If Temple can just find a way to
hang tough on first downs and
force Anthony Morelli to throw,
the MAC's best pass defense will
take over and could be more
effective than Nittany Lion fans
might like.
Who to watch: Temple WR
Bruce Francis needs to have a
huge game. He'll draw the
attention of Penn State's Justin
King, or will at least require a
look from the safeties, after
catching eight passes for 101
yards and a touchdown last week
against Ohio. The team's leading
receiver is also the team's most
reliable weapon with a touchdown
catch in four of the last five
games.
What will happen: Penn
State will struggle early before
waking up to pull away in the
second half. A fired up Temple
will score first.
CFN Prediction:
Penn State
38 ... Temple 10
...
Line: Penn State -24.5
Must See
Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 1.5
Minnesota
(1-9) at Iowa
(5-5)
12:05
PM Big Ten Network
Why to watch: After an ugly
start, Iowa can become bowl
eligible and complete a
fantastic, hard fought
turnaround with a win over
Minnesota in the battle for the
Floyd of Rosedale trophy. After
winning three of the last four
games, the banged up Hawkeyes
want to avenge last year's ugly
34-24 loss to the Gophers and
leave Tim Brewster's club to
deal with Wisconsin next week
for the last chance at a win
since September 8th. Losers of
eight straight, and not even
coming close to Michigan or
Illinois over the last two
weeks, a moral victory, like
keeping it close late into the
fourth quarter, might be enough
right now for the reeling
Gophers. Iowa had won five in a
row in the series before last
year's loss, and hasn't lost to
Minnesota in Iowa City since
1999.
Why Minnesota might
win: For all the problems
and all horrors on defense, the
offense has been able to crank
out yards at times. Iowa, for
all the good things that have
happened over the last few
weeks, still don't have much of
an offense, ranking dead last in
the Big Ten with 310 yards and
18.2 points per game. Minnesota
has the nation's most anemic
pass rush, but if it were ever
going to get into the backfield,
this would be the week against
an Iowa O line that's the worst
in the league in pass
protection. For once, the
Gophers might be able to give
their secondary some help.
Why Iowa might win: Step right up
and take your turn; everyone's
getting rich on the Minnesota
defense. Just when it seems like
the Gophers can't do something
else awful, it gives up 448
rushing yards to Illinois and
1,149 rushing yards over the
last three weeks. Iowa can
finally pick what it wants to do
offensively, as even a mediocre
gameplan will mean 500 yards of
total offense. The biggest plus
would be if ...
Who to watch: Jake
Christensen has a huge day. The
Iowa sophomore, considering his
receiving corps has been
decimated and his offensive line
is getting him killed, has had a
much better season than he's
gotten credit for with 13
touchdown passes and just three
interceptions. While he's been
blamed by many for not moving
the offense, he came up with a
nice 299-yard, one touchdown
performance last week against
Northwestern, and might be able
to win over the fans if he can
torch the Gopher secondary.
However, if he stinks and is the
one quarterback who can't light
up Minnesota like a Christmas
tree, then the scrutiny will get
even harsher.
What will happen: Iowa
will have its fun and get bowl
eligible by shutting down the
Minnesota running game and
cranking out its best offensive
day of the year.
CFN Prediction:
Iowa
38 ... Minnesota 17
...
Line: Iowa -14
Must See
Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 1.5
Big 10 Week 11 Predictions, Part 1 |