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Southern Illinois (1-0) at
Northwestern (2-0),
12:30 EST
Why to watch:
Northwestern might not have been
all that smooth over the first
two wins over Syracuse and Duke,
and the victories might have
only come against the
bottom-feeders of the two lowest
BCS conferences, but wins are
wins are wins. Southern Illinois
isn’t going to be a pushover,
but if the Wildcats can get by
the FCS foe and beat Ohio, it’ll
be a 4-0 start when Big Ten play
kicks in at Iowa. SIU is
expected to be a
middle-of-the-pack team in the
Gateway Conference after losing
head coach Jerry Kill to
Northern Illinois. The Salukis
started out the year with a
37-31 win over Hampton last
week.
Why Southern Illinois might
win: SIU has a veteran
defense that struggled last week
against Hampton, but it has a
good set of linebackers who have
been through the wars. This is a
team that went to the FCS
playoffs last year and has a
recent history of success. With
a balanced offense to go along
with the veteran D, this might
be interesting for a half.
Why Northwestern might win:
Hampton ripped off 403 passing
yards on the Saluki secondary
last week. NU QB C.J. Bacher
hasn’t gotten on track yet, but
this might be the game to do it
after struggling a bit with his
efficiency. He should have all
the time in the world behind a
line that’s given up one sack in
the first two games.
Who to watch: Bacher led
the Big Ten in total offense
last season but he hasn’t been
sharp so far. He had a nice
first game against Syracuse
completing 23-of-35 passes fro
215 yards and three touchdowns
with an interception, but he
only hit on 14-of-31 throws
against Duke with no touchdowns.
He has had time and a running
game to support him, and now
it’s time to start clicking in
the new up-tempo offense.
What will happen: It’ll
take about a half, and then the
Wildcats will put the game away
with a good mix of offense.
However, SIU will get its licks
in with a big offensive day to
keep it interesting.
CFN Prediction:
Northwestern 38 … Southern
Illinois 23 ... Line: No Line
Must See Rating: (5
Hole in the Wall - 1
First Blood) … 1.5
-
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Consultants FREE selections
Florida Atlantic (1-1) at
Michigan State (1-1),
12:00 EST ESPN2
Why to watch: The
Spartans got back on track after
a season-opening shootout loss
to Cal by blasting Eastern
Michigan 42-10. Javon Ringer
scored five times and the
defense shut down the Eagle
spread attack, and now the hope
is for this to be tune-up time
before Notre Dame comes to town
next week. Florida Atlantic came
up with a good shootout win over
UAB after getting blasted by
Texas in week one. QB Rusty
Smith leads a good team that
remains the favorite to win the
Sun Belt, but it’s trying to
make itself into more of a
national player and it needs big
wins to do it. This would count,
as would a win at Minnesota next
week. But really, the Owls are
prepping for conference play in
a Sun Belt that’ll be far better
and far more difficult to get
through than last year.
Why Florida Atlantic might
win: The Michigan State
secondary has been allowing
yards in bunches so far. The EMU
quarterbacks weren’t great, but
they threw for plenty of big
plays, while Cal fired away at
will with bombs in both the
passing and running games. Smith
has been excellent so far
throwing for 253 yards against
Texas and 325 against UAB, and
he should be able to hit the
250-yard mark if he gets time to
work. The MSU pass rush hasn’t
been anything special so far.
Why Michigan State might win:
The FAU run defense hasn’t
started the season. Texas
running the ball for 232 yards
and two touchdowns is one thing,
but UAB cranking out 156 yards
and two scores, and 326 yards
through the air, is another. MSU
should be able to blow the Owls
off the ball for a full four
quarters, and it should get
another huge day from …
Who to watch: Ringer. The
senior has taken over the goal
line duties to go along with his
job of moving the ball between
the 20s, and the stats are
coming. He had a nice first game
against Cal, but he wasn’t able
to break free. Last week he ran
34 times for 135 yards and five
touchdowns while remaining the
team’s best kickoff returner.
That’s fine, but he’s not all
that big and he’ll be needed
fresh as the season goes on. In
a perfect world, this is someone
else’s game; 70 touches in two
games are too many.
What will happen: Smith
will get his yards and FAU will
have some good offensive
moments, but the Spartan offense
will be too bruising and too
effective. The game will blow
open midway through the third
quarter.
CFN Prediction: Michigan
State 37 … Florida Atlantic 17
... Line: Michigan State -16.5
Must See Rating: (5
Hole in the Wall - 1
First Blood) … 1.5
-
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Consultants FREE selections
Montana State (1-0) at Minnesota
(2-0),
12:05 EST Big Ten Network
Why to watch: After going
1-11 last year, Minnesota isn’t
going to sneeze at a 2-0 start,
especially after beating Bowling
Green on the road with a
impressive 42-17 performance.
Barring a disaster, Gopher head
coach Tim Brewster should triple
his win total from last year
going into a winnable revenge
game against a Florida Atlantic
team that pulled off a stunner
over the Gophers last season.
Things are moving forward, while
Montana State took a step back
getting crushed by Kansas State
69-10. The Bobcats are expected
to challenge for the Big Sky
title with a decent defense and
a high-octane offense that hung
59 points on Adams State in a
blowout first game win. This is
it for the FBS portion of the
program, so MSU has to try to
make its noise this week before
playing South Dakota.
Why Montana State might win:
While it struggled last week to
do much of anything against
Kansas State, the defense is
aggressive and decent when it
comes to forcing turnovers and
mistakes. Against Bowling Green,
the Gopher defense had one of
its best games in the Tim
Brewster era, but the secondary
will still give up yards in
chunks. However ...
Why Minnesota might win:
the Bobcats don’t have enough of
a passing game to take advantage
of the soft Gopher secondary.
Minnesota, for all its faults
and flaws, has been great at
hanging on to the ball so far
with just two lost fumbles and
six takeaways. MSU likely won’t
have the turnover-margin
advantage needed to pull off the
upset.
Who to watch: Just when
things were starting to go well
for the Gophers, they suffered a
crippling blow when top running
back Duane Bennett tore his ACL
against Bowling Green. Lost for
the year, Bennett leaves a
gaping hole in experience as
well as production. His absence
means QB Adam Weber will have to
do even more, and freshmen Shady
Salamon and DeLeon Eskridge are
now the Minnesota running game.
Salamon and Eskridge go from
being the future to a very
important part of the dream to
get to a bowl game.
What will happen: Helped
by the confidence from the
Bowling Green win, Minnesota
will be sharp through the air
early on and solid on the ground
in the second half. Montana
State will put up some points in
the second half when the Gophers
start to let down, but this
shouldn’t be a 60-minute battle.
CFN Prediction: Minnesota
40 … Montana State 20 ... Line:
No Line
Must See Rating: (5
Hole in the Wall - 1
First Blood) … 1.5
-
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Consultants FREE selections
UL Lafayette (0-1) at Illinois
(1-1),
12:00 EST Big Ten Network
Why to watch: If you like
running, and especially if you
like running quarterbacks, get
your popcorn ready and enjoy
because two of the best should
put on a show. UL Lafayette
veteran Michael Desormeaux leads
a Ragin’ Cajun attack that tore
off 263 yards in the
season-opening loss to Southern
Miss, while Juice Williams and
the Illinois offense cranked out
399 rushing yards and five
touchdowns in last week’s 47-21
win over Eastern Illinois. The
Illini needs this home win with
road trips to Penn State and
Michigan up next, while ULL gets
another fun game against a
running quarterback when Julian
Edelman and Kent State make the
trip to Louisiana next week.
Why UL Lafayette might win:
Illinois is decimated up front.
The linebackers have been fine,
but the Illini D line has been
crippled by injuries and is a
mere shadow of what it was
supposed to be to start the
year. While the Illini D has
been able to generate pressure
on the passer and has been able
to get into the backfield, the
run defense has been gashed
allowing 402 yards in the first
two games.
Why Illinois might win:
427 yards. That’s how many ULL
gave up in the season opener
against Southern Miss with
Golden Eagle RB Damion Fletcher
tearing off 222 yards and two
touchdowns, and QB Austin Davis
running for 63 yards and two
scores. Illinois should be able
to get Williams into the open,
and the Illini backs should
combine for well over 100 yards.
It’ll be a stunner if Illinois
doesn’t crank out 300 yards on
the ground.
Who to watch: Fortunately
Illinois doesn’t have to worry
about the pass this week, but
the secondary could use some
work and needs help. CB Miami
Thomas is out for the year with
a torn ACL and star JUCO
transfer Donsay Hardeman is
still out with a knee problem.
Now the Illinois secondary will
have to do some shifting around
to secure things before dealing
with the Penn State receiving
corps.
What will happen: The two
teams will combine for more than
600 rushing yards. The ULL
defense won’t stop Illinois at
any time in the first half and
the outcome should be decided by
midway though the third quarter.
CFN Prediction: Illinois
45 … UL Lafayette 24 ... Line:
Illinois -24.5
Must See Rating: (5
Hole in the Wall - 1
First Blood) … 1.5
-
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Consultants FREE selections
Iowa State (2-0) at Iowa (2-0),
12:05 EST Big Ten Network
Why to watch: It doesn’t
seem to matter how good or bad
the teams are, or how the
seasons have started, Iowa State
and Iowa always battle in a fun
rivalry that’s produced some
great showdowns over the last
few years. Last season, Iowa
started out 2-0 having won its
first two games by a combined
score of 51-3, and it lost to
the Cyclones 15-13. Iowa beat
ISU 27-17 in 2006, but lost 23-3
in 2005 after starting the year
with a 56-0 win over Ball State.
In other words, don’t look into
Iowa’s tremendous start with
wins over Maine and FIU by a
combined score of 88-3. However,
unlike the last few seasons,
Iowa State is solid having
beaten South Dakota State and
Kent State without a problem.
Iowa can prove it’s for real
after spending last year
suffering through a variety of
injuries, while Iowa State has
won four of its last five games
and is one of the Big 12’s
fastest improving teams.
Why Iowa State might win:
The offense is doing what it
needs to do to produce. The
ground game has been terrific,
helped by the running of the
quarterbacks, while the passing
attack has been ultra-efficient.
This has been a nearly-perfect
balanced Cyclone attack
averaging 195 rushing yards and
187 passing yards per game, and
while the Iowa defense is good,
it hasn’t seen a real offense
yet.
Why Iowa might win: The
Iowa State run defense hasn’t
been a brick wall. Now the
Hawkeyes are pounding the ball
well thanks to the emergence of
Shonn Greene, who has torn off
239 yards in two games. The
Cyclones gave up 180 rushing
yards to South Dakota State and
243 yards to Kent State. It’s
possible Iowa could keep the ISU
offense off the field with long
drive after long drive.
Who to watch: The Iowa
passing game is getting two key
weapons back to help out new
starting quarterback Ricky
Stanzi. Trey Stross is finally
back in the mix after missing
the first two games, along with
a few games down the stretch
last season, with a hamstring
injury. Also returning is tight
end Tony Moeaki, a superior pass
catcher who missed almost all of
last year and the first two
games of this season with a foot
problem.
What will happen: Iowa
State always plays Iowa tough,
but this year’s Cyclone team is
good enough to come up with the
upset. However, this is as
healthy as the Hawkeyes have
been since the start of last
season and it’ll show with a
solid offensive performance.
CFN Prediction: Iowa 31 …
Iowa State 23 ... Line: Iowa
-13.5
Must See Rating: (5
Hole in the Wall - 1
First Blood) … 3
-
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Consultants FREE selections
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Big 10 Week
Three Fearless Predictions,
Part 2
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