2017 Week 4 Preview

A hybrid-oddity week!  What is that?  Well, it is a strange week, a very strange one.  Ten teams are in action with three league games and four non-conference games.  Even with the odd scheduling there are some intriguing games.  Michigan heads to a much improved Purdue team, Michigan State and Notre Dame have their bitter rivalry game, and Penn State heads to Iowa City for a night game that is sure to get the Hawkeye faithful good and loud.  Like always, these times are central.

Game of the Week

Iowa vs Penn State

One of the biggest worries Iowa fans had a few months ago was if the offense would be able to keep up.  The early returns are encouraging but this is a whole new animal this week.  For Penn State, they have manhandled three teams, all at home.  This is their first road trip of the season and it isn’t exactly a cakewalk.  Iowa City at night has become quite the atmosphere for upsets, just last season Michigan had their season derailed in Kinnick.  Penn State is good enough to turn this thing into a blowout but at the same time, Iowa has a punchers chance to make an early statement in the league race and give a top-five team a defeat that could end up costing them a trip to the “playoffs.”  Can’t get more GOTW than that.

• Saturday, 6:30 pm, ABC

Sleeper:

Who would have guessed this a few weeks ago?!  Thanks to some inspired play by Purdue and less-than-stellar play by Michigan, we get an extremely intriguing match-up in West Lafayette this weekend.  Purdue’s improvements have been thanks to better defensive play and cutting down on the turnovers.  Michigan’s uneven start has been because of poor offensive play, especially in regards to ball security.  If Purdue can win the turnover margin, and win it big, they might be able to pull off a massive upset and wouldn’t that make for a huge statement in Brohm’s first year?

• Saturday, 3 pm, Fox

Don’t Forget:

The two rivals enter a combined 4-1 after having long seasons last year and while it is way too soon to say that either is back, this is at least an opportunity for a bit of a statement.  For the Irish they look to continue their offensive onslaught.  In their wins they average 49 points per game but against Georgia they were held in check with just 19 points and a very ineffective rushing day.  For the Spartans they have allowed just 12 points per game but the opposition has been a pair of MAC clubs so this is by far their toughest task of the young season.

• Saturday, 7 pm, Fox

Snoozer:

So the team that lost as 45 point favorites against FCS Howard heads to the Shoe?  Yup, this one will go well.

• Saturday, 11 am, BTN…With the slate of games in the evening for the league, just sleep in.

Upset Watch:

Right End – Purdue and Iowa are too obvious and Michigan State at home as a slight underdog is not enough to make them a good upset pick.  That leaves Rutgers.  The Knights played pretty well against Washington and demolished a FCS team before and after their disappointing loss to Eastern Michigan.  Meanwhile Nebraska is sitting at 1-2 after a horrible trip out to Oregon and then losing at home to Northern Illinois.  When you turn the ball over a rate like Nebraska does, upsets will happen.  The trick is just identifying what weeks they will happen.

• Nebraska vs Rutgers, Saturday, 2:30 pm, BTN

Wrong End – Maryland is 2-0, getting a lot of votes in the poll, coming off a bye, feeling great, and playing really well but now they host UCF.  The Knights made a bowl game a year ago and demolished FIU in their opener.  Due to the weather their game against Memphis was moved to the 30th so they have had a lot of time to study tape on Maryland and have to be chomping at the bit to get back out on the field.  Even though it is a home game, UCF has been off for so long I think they take the field with a lot of energy.  Very curious to see how UM handles that initial pop.

• Maryland vs UCF, Saturday, 2 pm, FS1

Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):

Illinois – Idle

Indiana vs Georgia Southern – The former FCS powerhouse had some solid years after joining FBS but last year was down and this year has been ugly early.  They sit at 0-2 with a blowout defeat to Auburn (understandable) and a loss to FCS New Hampshire (yikes).  Hoosiers should roll easily.

• Saturday, 2:30 pm, BTN

Minnesota – Idle

Northwestern – Idle

Wisconsin – Idle

Random Musing:

Purdue is riding a two game winning streak which doesn’t sound like much but consider this…The program struggled so mightily under former coach Darrell Hazell that the last time Purdue had at least a two game winning streak was back in 2012.  Danny Hope got the team to a bowl game by going 6-6 that year.  Three of those six wins were in a row: November 10th at Iowa, November 17th at Illinois, and November 24th against Indiana.  Incidentally, not only is that the most recent winning streak until the current one for Purdue, but also marks the last time they defeated their rival to the north in the Old Oaken Bucket game.