Midway point, folks. 12 teams in action across six league games plus Indiana with a makeup game after an earlier game was lost due to the weather. While we are still a little bit away from that massive Penn State stretch with games against Michigan and at Ohio State game, there are still lots to love about this week of football, highlighted by a little rivalry action in Ann Arbor.
Game of the Week
Michigan vs Michigan State
Has either team been flawless offensively? Hell no, far from it…but both clubs have solid defenses and have scratched out ways to win, entering a combined 7-1 for this game. There are two big questions in this game. First, can anyone take down Michigan when they aren’t firing on all cylinders? We know O’Korn is now starting at quarterback and this team has been lurching so far but once it clicks they will be scary good so I’ll ask again, can anyone step up and pull off the upset? The second question is, is Michigan State back? They went 3-9 a year ago, a massive drop off from winning the league in 2015. Beating Iowa is nice, but upsetting Michigan in the Big House would a definite answer to the popular question, is ____________ (MSU in this case), back?
- Saturday, 6:30 pm, ABC
Sleeper:
Badgers have played just one power league team on the year: Northwestern last week and boy was that a slop fest. Now they play their first road game at a power league team and it isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Nebraska lives and dies by turnovers but talent for talent, Nebraska is up to the task of upsetting the Badgers. To avoid this, UW’s offense has to be more efficient and just a whole hell of a lot better than it was a week ago.
- Saturday, 7 pm, BTN
Don’t Forget:
The only road trip the Nittany Lions have had so far this season came down to the last play. Northwestern is coming off a solid effort against Wisconsin. What do these statements equal? I think it equals the Wildcats having a puncher’s chance. They have to get Justin Jackson going, however. At Wisconsin he was held in check and when NU’s star running back is slowed down, it makes winning next to impossible for Fitzy’s gang.
- Saturday, 11 am, ABC
Snoozer:
Indiana vs Charleston Southern
Hats off to CSU for helping Indiana out on short notice (yeah they are getting paid but still) but this is in the middle of league play. I’m sure as heck not wasting any awesome league game time to watch the Bucs and Hoosiers.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, BTN…Sometimes I like to take a quick nap during the 2:30 and 3 o’clock games in order to be fully charged for the prime time games. Try it, in fact, try it during this game.
Upset Watch:
Blah blah blah I could be lazy and re write something about MSU heading to Michigan or Wisconsin’s tango with Nebraska but that’s boring. Here’s a real upset. A real big upset. A real big crazy upset. Maryland with their third string quarterback winning in the Shoe. I know, I know the odds are long, especially with J.T. Barrett seeming to round into form but Ohio State has played just one legit team (Oklahoma) and two seemingly competent(?) teams (Indiana and Army). Minnesota has won at Texas and Minnesota as well as get humiliated by UCF. Those are three tests already. With UM’s running game and improving defense, you see the direction this program is headed and stunning the Buckeyes as 31 point underdogs would be one massive coming out party for the Terps.
- Maryland at Ohio State, Saturday, 3 pm, Fox
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Illinois at Iowa – The hapless Hawkeye offense gets the best tonic, reeling Illinois. The Illini’s promising early returns have evaporated against USF and Big Ten teams so Iowa hopes to use homecoming weekend as a way to jump start their season and get back in the Big Ten west race, especially if the Huskers knock off Wisconsin.
- Saturday, 11 am, BTN
Minnesota at Purdue – Boilermakers were off last week but the last time we saw them they were coming back to earth against Michigan. Meanwhile, Minnesota lost its first game of the year a week ago at home to Maryland – certainly not an ideal loss for a divisional title sleeper. Gophers need to take advantage of this softer game but if Purdue gets back to how they were playing a month ago, this won’t be an easy out. I expect Minnesota to simplify things and let both their backs get ample carries in West Lafayette.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, ESPN2
Rutgers – Idle
Random Musing
I’ve talked about the MSU-UM rivalry before but it is worth going over again. Michigan likes to say they are dominating it because they lead the series 69-35-5, have 11 national titles to 4, and have 42 league titles to 11 (9 Big Ten) but MSU didn’t even join the Big Ten until 1950 and wasn’t much of a program prior to 1947. Why does this matter? Well…
- 1898-1947 UM went 30-6-3. That means since ’47 the series is 39-29-2. Way closer.
- National titles: pre 1947 Michigan had 8 of them to zero. That means since ’47 Michigan has 3, MSU claims 6 and has 3 consensus titles with four fully recognized.
- Michigan had 16 Big Ten titles before MSU even joined. Since it is 26 to 9 which is still a 3:1 ratio, but that’s a whole lot better than the 4:1 ratio Michigan likes to advertise
So remember, just because a rivalry can be boiled down to record, titles, and other successes, there is still a reason to look into context for these things because the fact of the matter is, MSU has more than held their own in this series post World War II.
Big Ten and Counting 