You know why I love the opening month of the season? It is like your birthday when you open all the gifts and get to see everything new and play with every thing new. For the second straight week we have all 14 teams in action. Some will try to back up bold opening week wins while some will try to bounce back from opening losses. A few have much tougher opponents after a soft opener and we get to learn more about them. Sometimes the start of a new season is most enjoyable part of the year, especially when you are an Indiana fan – I kid, I kid! You know the times are all central, right?
Game of the Week:
Michigan State vs Oregon
The nice thing about the tournament is this game is early enough that the loser can still recover. The other nice thing about the tournament is with the importance of strength of schedule, games like this will be more and more common. Both teams had surprisingly flat openers on the defensive end, giving up much more yards and points than anyone expected. UO also has the issue of Vernon Davis getting rocked against Eastern Washington. He says he is healthy but that was a nasty shot. Factor in that this is his first road test in the FBS ranks and you have all the trappings of an upset. Wait, MSU is favored? First time in over 40 games Vegas is tagging Oregon as an underdog. Damn this is going to be a fun one!
- Saturday, 7pm, ABC
Sleeper:
The Cyclones host arch rival Iowa in a huge game for both teams. ISU’s non-conference slate is pretty easy – this is the toughest game – so a win tomorrow should mean a 4-0 start making a measly 2-6 finish gets them to a bowl. Something that would be huge for coach Rhodes and a program that has struggled the last few seasons. For Iowa, coach Ferentz is already under .500 in his tenure against ISU so another loss would turn the heat up and undo a lot of good will last week’s nice start created. The bad blood in this on is also fun as it means so much. Iowa has 50 kids and 7 starters from the state. ISU has 49 and 7. This one matters in the recruiting game as much as in the fans’ bragging rights.
- Saturday, 3:45pm, Fox
Don’t Forget:
The Rams host the Gopher’s in an upset special game. CSU won ten games a year ago and despite losing their biggest offensive weapons and their coach to Florida, this is one of the better group of five programs year in year out and playing in the altitude of Fort Collins is always a worry. Gopher’s defense should allow them to get out with a win, but don’t expect this to be a cakewalk.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, CBSSN
Snoozer:
Best thing about this game is now that Hawaii has been bringing back more of the old Rainbow Warrior look, they are becoming lovable again. Regrettably, the ESPN prediction machine gives OSU a 99.4% chance of winning so this should be a dusting.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, BTN…Or attempt to swim to Hawaii. Actually heading to Hawaii even via swimming sounds like a better use of my time than this game.
Upset Watch:
Right End – Every Big Ten team is favored but based on the success the Ducks have had for a decade now and how they pulled away last year it feel like this is a chance for MSU to make an early statement. Beating Baylor in the bowl was a nice opening argument but taking this game would feel like a big step towards planting their flag on mount Ohio State.
Wrong End – Indiana vs FIU. I’ve already talked about how losses would be damaging to Iowa and that the trip to Colorado State won’t be fun. Even Rutgers should be mindful against Washington State but I am going to Bloomington. Indiana’s defense was about as useful as a knife when ordering soup. They host a Florida International team that won last week as big underdogs at Central Florida so they will be a confident bunch. A 1-1 start with such a soft schedule could be the first step of the end of the Wilson era.
- Saturday, 7pm, BTN
Elsewhere (Alphabetical)
Illinois vs Western Illinois – UI looked crisp against hapless Kent State a week ago. WIU is a mediocre FCS team that went just 5-7 last year so the Illini should cruise to 2-0.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Maryland vs Bowling Green – Terps had a very strange opener struggling for a half with Richmond before pulling away. Their offense looked shaky but relied on a fantastic special teams day to win. BG is one of the best teams in the MAC and had some great stretches of play against Tennessee. Much like the Gopher game, don’t expect a cakewalk but Maryland should survive this sneaky tough test.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Michigan vs Oregon State – Despite losing Michigan did a lot of good things against Utah on the road a week ago. OSU was the opposite. Despite winning they struggled for the majority of the game against Weber State, a team that went 2-10 in FCS last year. Wolverines enjoy home cooking to get back on track.
- Saturday, 11am, ABC
Nebraska vs South Alabama – Did you know USA made a bowl game a year ago and comes in with a better record after winning their opener? It won’t matter. Huskers did a lot right offensively last week and their defense should enjoy playing a weaker opponent to gain some confidence after getting embarrassed by BYU.
- Saturday, 7pm, BTN
Northwestern vs Eastern Illinois – EIU got smoked to fellow FCS club Western Illinois a week ago and we all know what NU did to Stanford. ‘Cats should glide to an easy win and a quick 2-0 start.
- Saturday, 3pm, ESPNN
Penn State vs Buffalo – We all know the struggles PSU had a week ago. UB is an interesting story. They made a bowl in 2013 but after a 3-4 start they fired their coach. After the season they hired Lance Leipold who went 109-6 (53-3) and won 7 national titles at Division 3 UW-Whitewater. Rarely do coaches go D-3 to FBS so this will be an interesting experiment. UB’s strength defensively is their line so if they can do what Temple did, this one could be more interesting than expected.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPN2
Purdue vs Indiana State – Boilers had the most disheartening opening of all the teams that lost. They were underdogs but dictated play for vast stretches of their tilt against Marshall and lost it late. An 0-2 start puts any bowl hopes (and Hazell’s career) in serious jeopardy so they need to bounce back against their in-state FCS foe.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPNN
Rutgers vs Washington State – RU had the easiest opener in the league and had many players suspended in the first half so we still aren’t 100 percent sure what to make of this team. WSU is the same for a different reason. They lost as 30 point favorites in week one so all bets are off for this one. RU should win, but both teams seem to be operating in a fog right now.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ESPNU
Wisconsin vs Miami (OH) – RedHawks have been a mess of a program for several years and went just 2-10 in Chuck Martin’s first year. This should be a lopsided Badger victory as they lick some of their wounds from the Alabama game.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPNU
Random Musing
Got some long trips this week as Washington State has 7 hour flight to New Jersey and Hawaii has a 10 and a half hour flight to get to Columbus. My question is though since both Oregon schools are coming to Michigan, was there anyway for them to car pool, or plane pool? That would be some good environmental PR by the institutions to show they play good football and care about mother nature.
Big Ten and Counting 