BTB Pick ‘Em/Blue White Roundtable Extravaganza

Time for an HHV first: Combining my picks for the Big Ten games (which thus far, are looking “meh”) with some quick answers for the Blue-White Roundtable.

First, let’s get the picks out of the way…

Ohio State vs Northwestern – OSU has had two weeks to prepare and Northwestern is now down to its 3rd string tailback.  Bad news for the Wild Kitties.

Wisconsin v. Indiana – If the Badgers want to have any hope whatsoever of going bowling this year, they’d better take care of business at Indiana.

Purdue vs. Michigan State – With a bye week looming before a showdown with PSU on Nov. 22, look for Sparty to take care of business with the Boilers.

Michigan vs. Minnesota – Both teams are coming off devastating last-second losses.  Minnesota simply has more to play for though than a Michigan squad that is only playing for pride at this point.

Penn State vs. Iowa – Iowa’s susceptible secondary and tendency to shoot themselves in the foot at critical moments in games will doom them once again.

Illinois vs. Western Michigan (1 point) – I don’t care how good Western Michigan might be, they’re a MAC team and Illinois is a Big Ten team and Big Ten teams aren’t supposed to lose to MAC teams.

There, now that’s out of the way, it’s time to quickly answer some Blue-White Roundtable questions which for the 20th week in a row is being put together by Zombie Nation

1. Do you agree with Joe Paterno, that teams shouldn’t have toartificially inflate scores just to please the voters? We all know it’s just how college football works, but how comfortable are you with that?

I agree with JoePa on this one. The idea that you have to not only win but win big turns college football into a fucking beauty pageant and is one of the reasons why I’m a big fan of a 4 or 8-team playoff system.

With that being said though, given the current climate in college football today, I’m hoping to heck that I’m wrong about the Iowa game being close and that we blow them out by 30.

Of course, in the end, it is on the other team to stop you.

2. Iowa has been a very up-and-down team this season, and it’s defense can actually play. What are some of the unit-to-unit match ups you’re looking forward to seeing this week? Which team will win your chosen battle and why?

Excluding the obvious matchup (Shonn Greene v. PSU’s defense) I’m curious to see Ricky Stanzi versus the Penn State defense.  I feel that our D-line will be able to get enough pressure on Stanzi to have him running for his life several times and could help force a costly mistake out of him.  In my opinion, that will be the key to escaping Iowa City with a “W.”
3. Backtrack a week. There were riots downtown following the Ohio State win. The State College Borough Council had plenty of discussion about “why” it happened, and what could be done to “prevent it” in the future. Of course, they got nowhere. Are wild, dangerous events like this just a part of life at a big-time football school? Or should (or, can) something be done about it?

Look, anytime there’s a major victory like this, people are going to amass in the streets and chant and cheer and curse and whatnot.  It’s a part of being a big-time football school and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.  The only reason this incident even gets labeled as a “riot” is because a few street lamps got torn down, some cars were shaken, and a bunch of people got pepper-sprayed.  Having grown up in Happy Valley though, I can assure you that this was the tamest “riot” we’ve had since the apocalyptic 1998 Arts Fest riots.

Lightening Round

- Royster has a big game (100+ yds)?

Yes…But most of it won’t come until the second half.

- Devlin sees decent playing time?

Doubtful.  Only if Clark suffers another concussion or is extremely ineffective.

-Chances (%) PSU holds Iowa below 10 pts?

20&%.  Shonn Greene will rumble for at least one TD and I feel Iowa will move the ball consistently enough to rack up a field goal or two.

Don’t forget the other “Despondent Respondents” below…
Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
There is No Name on My Jersey
Tangled Up in White and Blue
White and Blue
William Yurakso
We Want the Lion

Better Know An Opponent: Iowa

I apologize for the lack of postings this week, I’ve been extremely busy with real world stuff.  Not to mention the fact that I’m scrambling to get Part One of my basketball preview finished.  Look for that to be up Sunday afternoon, right around when the Fighting DeChellises tip off in their lone exhibition against Bloomsburg.

In the meantime, it’s time to better know this week’s opponent: The Iowa Black Heart Gold Pants

LAST TIME AROUND: October 6, 2007.  The Nittany Lions were fresh off back-to-back WTF losses at Michigan and Illinois respectively and the calls for Anthony Morelli’s head had reached a fever pitch after Morelli had made costly fuck-up after costly fuck-up in the previous two losses.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, starting tailback Austin Scott had been kicked off the team following a rape charge that would later be dismissed.

This however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the Nittany Nation was introduced that day to Evan Royster and his 86 yards rushing before Royster got injured, bringing in Rodney Kinlaw to clean up and finish with 168 yards and 2 TDs himself.  Morelli did throw a couple interceptions but also had some brilliant long bomb connections to his wideouts, including a beatiful TD strike to Derrick Williams and another one to Chris Bell that was dropped in the end zone.  The defense was its usual dominant self, holding Iowa to 194 total offensive yards, including a measley 48 yards rushing. The end result was a 27-7 shellacking by the good guys.

OFFENSE:

Shonn Greene is the leader of the pack, hitting the centennial mark in rushing yards for each one of his games this season and inspiring yet another lame idea for an “insert color here”-out.  He has been a nightmare for opposing defenses thus far and that won’t change this weekend either.  However, if the PSU defense can successfully stack 8 guys and take away the power running game like they did with Beanie Wells at Ohio State, they should be able to negate Greene enough to the point where he’s not consistently ripping off huge chunks of yardage.

Such a focus on stopping the run though could lead to us being susceptible to some big throws via QB Ricky Stanzi, better known as “The Stanz.”

Jumping sharks: Just one of many talents of "The Stanz." Eyyyyyyy!

The Stanz relieved the ineffective Jake Christensen earlier in the year and along with Shonn Greene’s emergence, also helped ignite a passing attack that had laid dormant most of the season.  His numbers are not eye-popping though as he’s only thrown for 200+ yards once this year and additionally has been susceptible to making mistakes as evidenced by his 6 INTs to go along with his 9 TD passes.  This is surprising given that he’s got a couple of quality receivers in Andy Brodell and Derell Johnson-Koulianos.  The key for PSU’s defense will be getting pressure on Stanzi and forcing him to run for his life and make a bad throw or two.  That seemed to work wonders for the Illini last week.

DEFENSE:

Very comparable to OSU.  The Hawkeyes rank in the Top 10 in scoring defense in the country, anchored by D-lineman Mitch King and his 11 tackles for loss, including 3 sacks.  No doubt they are going to try to negate Evan Royster to start the game so Daryll Clark had best be ready to start throwing a few deep balls to keep the defense honest and give Royster a little breathing room.  Fortunately, Iowa’s secondary does feature a weak spot according to BHGP:

The only weakness, week-in and week-out, is free safety Brett Greenwood, who is attacked mercilessly by smart coordinators and seems to be perpetually out of position against the deep ball down the sideline.

Speaking of running games: It sure would be nice to see a return of Stephfvan Roygreen this weekend…Though I’m not going to hold my breath on it.  There, now go out and prove me wrong!

Stephfvan Roygreen searches for his next town to terrorize

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Given the defensive nature of this game (and the predicted “Big Ten weather conditions” of cold, breezy, and a mix of snow/rain), kicking will be ultra-important.  Kevin Kelly’s clutchness we’re all well aware of by now, so we’ll skip that.  Iowa’s field goal kicking game leaves something else to be desired though as Trent Mossbrucker (sounds like Brent Musberger’s alter ego) while 13/15 on the year has a long of only 39 yards.

Return-wise, Andy Brodell does have a punt return for a TD on the year.  This is easily trumped however by Derrick Williams’ 3 special teams TDs (2 on kickoffs, one on a punt).  As always, any team that punts the ball straight to D-Will should have its punter and coaching staff take a mandatory IQ test.

PREDICTION:

This game will resemble the classic, rough-and-tumble, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust, Big Ten football that us longtime followers were used to.  Iowa’s defense will be stingy enough to prevent PSU’s offense from exploding and should keep this game close throughout.  However, the Hawkeyes appear to have a disturbing inability to win close games, as their 4 losses this season have occurred by a combined 12 points.  Additionally, The Stanz showed us last week against Illinois that while he has the ability to lead his team down the field, he also carries the ability to shoot his team in the foot at critical moments.  Look for that to be the difference-maker as PSU pulls away in the fourth quarter following a costly mistake by The Stanz.

Penn State 24, Iowa 13.

Actually, There’s One More Demon To Exorcise

And what would this demon be?  Look back to 1997 and 1999, the last two times Penn State entered into its first November game with an unblemished record.  The following catastrophes proceeded to occur:

1997 – The first of 9 straight defeats to Michigan, completely taking the air out of PSU’s sails and confirming that the Sports Illustrated cover curse is for real (PSU was ranked #1 in SI’s college football preview that year).  PSU never recovered from such a beatdown and would go on to lose two more times that season, including a painful-to-watch Citrus Bowl defeat at the hands of Florida in which PSU played without Curtis Enis and Joe Jurevicius, who were suspended for accepting a suit and playing hooky respectively.

1999 – The “Day Of Infamy” for Penn State fans.  Many folks claim that Minnesota’s upset-clinching field goal actually clinched the years of futility that would permeate into the first half of the 2000’s.  Every fan can tell you where they were on the day when PSU’s aura of invincibility against the weak/mediocre teams was wiped away.

Those who were there will also tell you about the deafening silence and disbelief that overcame Beaver Stadium (save for the 50 Minnesota fans in attendance) when Minnesota’s Arland Bruce caught that prayer of a 4th-and-forever pass to get the first down and set up the winning score…Even though everyone secretly held out hope that LaVar Arrington would yet again save the day by leaping his way into another opposing field goal attempt.  Basically put: asking a fan about the 1999 Minnesota game is a lot like asking “Where were you when 9/11 happened?”

So, what’s the point, Ventura? Well, it’s quite simple:  This team cannot rest on its laurels, period.  If they do, they WILL lose one of these last three games.  Iowa may be coming off a loss to Illinois but they are still extremely dangerous because of their powerful running game and solid defense.  Make no mistake about it: The Hawkeyes must be taken super-serially.

And don’t look now but Michigan State is in the hunt for a piece of the Big Ten title.  Think playing the role of “potential spoiler” with regards to our national title bid is the only thing MSU will have to play for when they come to Happy Valley?  Think again…

If the coaching staff is TRULY doing their jobs, then they should be showing the aforementioned videos over and over again to remind the players that if they let their guard down, they’re going to take one to the chin…

We’re Gonna Need a MONTAGE (And Some Riot Gear)

RiotFAIL!

Props to Anthony and Steve for heeding the call and sending me pictures from the front line of last night’s riots.  Here’s a little photo montage for you…

And for an added bonus, here’s some YouTube rioting goodness..falling street lamps and all.

Speechless…

Somebody please slap me, this just wasn’t supposed to happen…Penn State wasn’t supposed to travel into Columbus, score the game’s only TD and come up with a couple of clutch turnovers.  Penn State hadn’t played anybody of note, they were supposed to get brought back down to Earth tonight by a hungry Buckeye team supported by a fanbase who feel it’s their constitutional right to play in the BCS Championship Game.

Well guess what: All you talking heads on ESPN, especially those who wrote off PSU’s schedule or donned giant Buckeye heads on College Gameday (Lee Corso) can put it in your straws and SUCK IT…Suck it long, and suck it hard with Alex Trebek!  This Penn State team just has it…And by “It” I’m talking about pure iron will, the refusal to throw the towel in no matter how drastic the circumstances..these kids simply refuse to lose, period.

I’ll admit, things looked pretty hopeless after Kevin Kelly shanked that field goal in the 4th quarter that would’ve tied the game and OSU was suddenly running the ball with a little more ease.  I had my head buried in my hands, ready to mourn yet another promising season gone bad, right along with the 1997, 1999, and 2005 campaigns where we won our first several games and shot up into the Top 5 before losing…That was until Pryor foolishly decided to run outside and had the ball popped loose which led to a series of fortunate events for us.

Honestly, I don’t know what else to say…Hats off to OSU and their defense for keeping our offense in check most of the night.  Pryor will also be a gamer someday, but his time just hasn’t arrived yet.

Right now, it’s Miami or bust.  I’m 100% convinced this team has the intangibles in place to complement their talent offensively and defensively to win the national title.

One more thing before I sign off:  If anyone is in downtown State College celebrating or observing the riots occuring and happens to be taking digital snapshots, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, send them my way via email (happyhourvalley@gmail.com).  I will happily post them on this blog for the rest of the PSU community to enjoy.  Spread the wealth…

Blue-White Roundtable Is Ready To Bust a Nut

Well, my laziness got the best of me yesterday as I didn’t get around to writing down answers to this week’s Blue-White Roundtable, brought to you by We Want the Lion.  Thus, I’m going to do it right now, with College Gameday blaring in the background.

As always, the supporting cast is listed below: 
Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
Tangled Up In Blue And White
There is No Name On My Jersey
We Want the Lion
Zombie Nation
William F. Yurasko

Was Ohio State’s blowout of Michigan State last weekend an anomaly or are the Buckeyes “back”?

A lot of credit goes to the Buckeye defense for picking up 5 turnovers and giving themselves plenty of short-field situations from which to get easy scores.  However, look at the discrepancy in plays called: 52 runs to 11 passes. We’ll find out whether the Buckeyes are truly back tonight when they will be forced to have more balance in their playcalling in order to win.

What can Penn State do to avoid a slow start in this game?

Hang onto the damn ball!  I’ve lost count of how many straight games we’ve played now where Daryll Clark fumbles the football at least once in the first quarter.  If Clark keeps it up, OSU will probably take advantage of it by picking up critical points off turnovers.

Why is Ohio State ranked ahead of Penn State in the computer rankings? And why is every media member and his brother picking Ohio State this week?

To answer the computer rankings question: OSU’s schedule strength has just been better thus far.  It’s hard to complain about getting screwed by computers when you have Temple, Coastal Carolina, and Syracuse on your non-conference slate.  Not to mention the fact PSU aside from Illinois, has beaten the bottom-feeders of the Big Ten (Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue) whereas OSU has played more Big Ten teams that will finish near the top (Michigan State and Minnesota).

As for Part 2 of this question:  If you didn’t follow PSU or the Big Ten so closely and you saw a statistic that mentioned PSU not only has failed to win in Columbus since joining the Big Ten but has failed to score even 10 points in all of those outings, who would you pick?  Exactly, my thoughts.  That’s why it’s hard for me to blame most people for being skeptical about PSU’s 2.5-point favoritism from Vegas.

Lightning Round

Who gets more TDs on the ground, Clark or Pryor?

Pryor.  He simply runs the ball more times than Clark does.

If the winner of this game wins out, will they get a shot in the BCS title game?

Penn State will have the better shot at the BCS title game if they win tonight, all they will need is for either Texas or Alabama to slip up.  Such a scenario is highly probable as I don’t see both teams making it through the rest of their seasons unscathed; particularly an Alabama squad that starts games white-hot but finishes ice-cold.  That surely has to bite the Tide in the ass at some point.

Should the Buckeyes (currently 9th in the BCS standings) win however, they’re still going to need a boatload of help from up above…I’m talking of course, about Texas and Bama BOTH losing followed by all but one of the teams between 4-8 in the BCS losing: Oklahoma, USC, Oklahoma State, Georgia, and Texas Tech.

Does dotting the “I” even compare to our drum major doing flips?

I’ll let the photographic evidence do the talking…

Nope.

(picture taken from Georgia Sports Blog)

Better Know An Opponent: Ohio State

And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: After an incessant amount of hype and ESPN talking heads offering their two cents on who’s going to emerge victorious, Penn State and Ohio State will finally take the field tomorrow night at 8 PM in the Horseshoe in what should be an epic battle between two Top 10 teams; one of whom is looking to shut up the few naysayers who claim they haven’t played a legit opponent (i.e. Mark May) and the other whom is looking to shake off the stigma of wilting in big games over the past few years…May the best media-hater win.

LAST TIME OUT: October 27, 2007 – #1 Ohio State came into Happy Valley for PSU’s annual 8 PM home game and for the 20th straight years, College Gameday was there to cover it..flying beer cans and all.  The game itself started out promising, as Anthony Morelli *gasp* led a responsive first drive downfield for a TD to counteract OSU’s field goal to give PSU a 7-3 lead.  However, that was about it regarding the positives as Beanie Wells ripped apart PSU’s defense on the ground and Todd Boeckman led an unstoppable aerial attack that allowed the punter to roast smores on the sideline since he didn’t see the field once that night.  When the dust had settled, OSU came away with its most lopsided win in Happy Valley by a score of 37-17.

OFFENSE: The media would have you believe that it’s mostly about the battle of the QB’s Darryl Clark v. Terelle Pryor and which QB will step up on Saturday night.  Both teams will be facing arguably the toughest defenses, but this should bode more of a question mark for Pryor, who has yet to be forced into having to throw a lot in order to win games.

Pryor’s amazing running ability has been more than good enough thus far, as it allowed him to run all over Michigan State last weekend and also led to a clutch TD at Wisconsin with the Buckeyes trailing with under a minute to play there.  I cannot emphasize this enough: If PSU wants to win this game they ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY must contain Pryor’s ground attack and force him to throw the football more than he would like to.

Consequently, PSU’s defense will also have to contain Beanie Wells and not allow him to pick up consistent 7+ yard chunks that Brandon Minor seemed to be getting in the first half against Michigan last week (which is way easier said than done).  You know damn well that OSU will look to establish the run first by pounding Beanie down our throats and Pryor zig-zagging off-tackle, so look for PSU to come out stacking the box with 8 guys to try and prevent this from happening.  Take away OSU’s favorite offensive strategy though, and suddenly Pryor is forced to start chucking it to his wideouts, which is something he’s not accustomed to doing on a regular basis…”Costly mistake potential” anybody?

The Buckeyes’ offensive line apparently is having some issues of its own, as they’ve been plagued by inconsistency and injuries and are being forced to start a true freshman in one of the spots.  This does not bode well for OSU against a PSU D-line that is proving to be one of the most formidable in the country, led by rising superstar Aaron Maybin.  If OSU continues with its O-line struggles, look for Maybin to get his share of “shout outs” from an inebriated Brent Musberger and his closet PSU fan partner Kirk Herbstreit.

DEFENSE:

James Laurinaitis shouldn’t be the only thing garnering hype for the Buckeyes D.  Therefore, I’m going to spread the wealth and give a shout-out to the entire Buckeye defensive unit which has given up on average only 97 yards passing (10th in the nation) and 97 yards rushing (17th in the nation).

In other words: We’re in a for a stiff test offensively as well.  The key matchup here will be PSU’s O-line versus the Buckeyes’ D line and whether they can open holes for Evan Royster and the occassional Darryl Clark draw/sweeps and also give Clark enough time to hit his numerous receiving threats in stride.  I don’t doubt we’ll have some success doing this, but will it be consistent enough to put double-digits in points on the board for the first time in Columbus?

SPECIAL TEAMS:

This is the segment in “Better Know An Opponent” where I pray to Allah that the opposing team sends all its punts and kickoffs straight into the arms of Derrick Williams.  If he gets a chance to cleanly field a kick, then the Buckeyes deserve what is about to come them…

OSU’s Ryan Pretorius has proven himself to be an accurate kicker from inside 40 yards (8/8 on 20-29 yarders and 3/4 on 30-39 yarders) but is shaky when you go beyond that (2/5 on kicks beyond 40 yards).  However, it’s Aaron Pettrey to the rescue as the kickoffs guy for OSU has been perfect thus far on kicks greater than 40 yards, including 2/2 on 50+ yarders.

Kevin Kelly though, will also be a key factor with his perfection inside 40 yards and his 2/3 performance from 50+ yards.  He could help us get points where other teams with less stable kickers would come away with zilch.

PREDICTION: This game, along with Wisconsin, was one in which I had crossed off as a “sure-fire loss” in the preseason.  Of course, I never imagined the Spread HD would become something to be taken seriously.  Jay Paterno challenged the Big Ten to an honor du-el and got laughed at, but nobody’s laughing now.

This is hands-down, the best PSU team to enter Columbus since they joined the Big Ten and with the way everything has been clicking offensively and defensively, PSU has a realistic chance at not only scoring 10 points or more but actually coming away with the long-coveted “W.”  If there is ANY time to put conventional wisdom aside and allow yourself to float in the Bizarro World, now is the time to do so.  So screw you history, I’m taking PSU in this one…And I won’t regret it for one minute if I’m wrong.

Penn State 24, Ohio State 20.

Buckeyes Play “No Respect” Card; Lions Fans Know Better.

In an attempt to bring about complacency and cockiness into the Penn State fanbase, Ohio State’s players are beginning to typecast themselves as the Big Ten’s Rodney Dangerfield.  In other words, they don’t get any respect.  At least, so sayeth Adam Rittenberg, ESPN’s Big Ten blogger.

Here’s a brief excerpt from said article:

Despite a favorable computer average, Ohio State’s sagging image among the human voters resulted in the Buckeyes being slotted No. 9 in the initial BCS standings, two spots behind Georgia. Heading into Saturday night’s showdown against No. 3 Penn State (ABC, 8 p.m. ET), Wells knows exactly where Ohio State stands.

“I definitely see us as underdogs,” he said. “We’ve not been producing to the expectations of the media or whoever it may be. A lot of people aren’t thinking we’re a great football team.”

Added Buckeyes cornerback Malcolm Jenkins: “If we could come out with a win, it would force some people to respect us again because we pretty much don’t have any right now.”

That’s right: If you actually buy into such crap and completely ignore the total ass-whipping the Buckeyes laid upon a Top 25 Michigan State team in East Lansing last weekend which garnered plenty of praise from college football analysts across the country, then OSU is a disrespected team that gets no love from anybody but themselves.

We see through your charade, Buckeyes, and we sure as hell aren’t falling for your “reverse psychology” tricks…Not when we have yet to score even 10 effin’ points in Columbus since joining the Big Ten in 1993.

Michigan Late Night Bullet-Points

How's it taste, Dick Rod?

Yeah, it’s late (past 2 AM here in State College) and I will probably pass out the moment I shut my eyes for more than a few seconds but I feel the need to get a few things off my chest:

• Everything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong, and I’m not just talking about Clark’s fumble, Kelly’s kick hitting the goal post, or PSU’s run defense magically disappearing.  The bad omens were plenty visible during pre-game when the “Blue Sapphires” baton twirler dropped her baton and the drum major fell flat on his ass during his first flip.
• The team faced more than its share of adversity, trailing by 10 points in the first half and trailing at halftime for the first time this season.  This could very well pay off in the long run because it likely brought our players back down to Earth and made them realize that just because they sport a #3 ranking and are putting up mad stats doesn’t mean that opponents are going to suddenly bow and worship us, they have to bring their A-game every week or they will find themselves on the “no fun” end of an ass-whooping.  Look for a more focused team to show up to Columbus next weekend.
• Words cannot describe how goddamn frustrating it was to see Brandon Minor and Steven Threet run in the same fucking directions (up the middle and off tackle, respectively) over and over again and yet continued to pick up hefty chunks of yardage.  It took a couple personnel changes (i.e. substituting Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales out for Michael Mauti and Bani Gbadyu) before we finally put an end to their shenanigans
• Nick Sheridan is every opposing defense’s gift from the football gods:  The kid wasn’t even good enough to start at QB for his HIGH SCHOOL team and he’s the second string QB at THE University of Michigan?  This would be the equivalent of JayPa seeing significant playing time during his days as a PSU QB.  Needless to say, Sheridan looked every bit like the high school bench warmer that he is by allowing us to get a momentum-shifting safety that allegedly prompted Dick Rod to grab him by the collar and start calling him a “dumb motherfucker.”
• To be fair to Sheridan though, Steven Threet didn’t fare any better when he was put back in to replace Sheridan and subsequently committed the much-awaited for costly fumble that Michigan has given up in every game this year.
• Note to the coaching staff: STEPFHON GREEN IS NOT EVAN ROYSTER.  The kid is not made to run up the middle every fucking time, his strengths lie in off tackle runs and screen passes.
• Speaking of Stepfhon Green and screen passes: I have to wonder how many people in Vegas were slamming their drinks on the table in disgust and screaming at the televisions when Green scored on that 80-yard screen pass late in the game to push PSU’s lead from 22 to 29, covering the 24-point PSU spread in the process…
• It’s also quite apparent that Dick Rod has no idea how to play with a lead.  I’ve lost count of how many times this season I’ve seen Michigan jump out to a quick start and lead by 10, only to completely shut down and end up suffering a thorough beating.  I realize he doesn’t have his type of players yet to fit his system, but one has to wonder if he is the kind of guy Michigan will be able to count on to get it done in the clutch because he sure as hell couldn’t get it done with all his uber-talented West Virginia teams in a far weaker Big East conference.  Something tells me that Dick Rod is going to become the Big Ten’s next John Cooper (and even more of an ass, if you can imagine that).

More related than one may think…

Big Ten Blogger Pick ‘Em (Week 8)

For those of you may be wondering why there’s no “Better Know An Opponent” segment this week:  To be quite frank with you, The Nittany Line’s preview pretty much features the same thoughts/analysis I would’ve provided and there’s no point in me putting in the blood, sweat, and tears that go into a typical blog post just to rehash the same ol’ crap.  I will, however, offer a score prediction whenever I go over my pick for the scUM-PSU game here on another fine edition of “BTB Pick ‘Em”

Let’s get to the games, shall we?

Purdue @ Northwestern – The “Joe Tiller Farewell Tour” at Purdue has been one of the most painful to watch since the Smashing Pumpkins’ original lineup called it quits back in 2000 as the team continues to disappoint with each passing game (no pun intended). Things don’t look to be getting much better against a pissed off Northwestern team looking to regain its mojo back from its first five games.

Ohio State @ Michigan State – This game is practically a toss-up. Look for a “Battle Of The Network Tailbacks” between Beanie Wells and Javon Ringer, first man to 200 yards wins.  The stifling defense of MSU will also provide yet another road test for Terrelle Pryor and company, will Pryor be able to pull off some heroics once again?  Brian Hoyer must also step up at QB and string together a solid passing game in order to keep OSU from stacking the box and trying to eliminate the run…I’m just not sure if he’s up to the task.

I’m taking the Buckeyes in a game that should remain tight from the opening kickoff to the final play.

Wisconsin @ Iowa – Iowa finally showed signs of life offensively last week at Indiana.  I want to see them do it against a decent opponent though that has some signs of life on defense (despite what PSU showcased in Madison last weekend) before I can start taking them seriously.  I’m taking the Badgers here.

Indiana @ Illinois – Just what the doctor ordered for the Illini.  Look for Juice and Company to shred apart a crap-tastic Hoosier defense.  Indiana will keep it fairly close though with their offense going up against a not-so-hot-themselves Illini defense…But it won’t be enough.

Michigan @ Penn State -  Let’s see…Michigan’s offense blows, much like Bob Saget trying to desperately score some coke in Half-Baked.  Their defense isn’t too shabby, but they’re very vulnerable to a strong passing attack, plus the offense is so pitiful that the defense spends most of the game on the field and tires out anyway.

So as far as a prediction goes, here it is: Penn State 45-14. After 12 years of frustration, get ready for the most one-sided slaughtering since Peter Weller in Robocop.

Steven Threet will take a similar number of shots to the body.