I had a couple of shows this week, so I wasn't able to watch the Iowa-Michigan State game at Spectators with all of the other Hawkeye fans, which maybe was a good thing. I had a show in Farmington at the Sun Ray Casino on Friday, so I watched the first half at the hotel and the second half at the lounge in the casino. I knew Michigan State had a great defense, but, Iowa couldn't do much at all against them. Mark Weisman couldn't even get double digit yardage, and the Hawkeyes managed only 23 yards on the ground, after averaging over 200 per game. Jake Rudock was sharp in the second half completing all 11 passes, including two touchdowns, which put Iowa ahead 14-10 going into halftime. Unfortunately, the offense couldn't get anything else going and the defense got shredded up pretty bad. Sean Draper looked awful out there, looked like he was playing touch football. I noticed Mike Hardy playing a lot, not sure what happened to Dominic Alvis. The offense played with Kevonte Martin-Manley, too, not sure what happened to him. He could have provided something on offense, but some younger receivers did step up. Looking at the numbers, Iowa, actually put up better yardage against the Spartans than Notre Dame did, but the outcome was different. The Hawkeyes have a week off to prepare for the Ohio State Buckeyes, which could be an ugly one. I still think the Hawks will come up with six wins and make a bowl game.
I watched a few other games while at the lounge, but most of them were blowouts. The wife and I decided to go to the New Mexico-New Mexico State game when we got home. It's a 15 minute walk to the stadium, which is fantastic. It was the second college football game I've actually been to in my life. The first was October 26, 1991, in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State tied Oklahoma State 6-6, it was one of the worst college, or any level of football, games that I have ever seen. No offense, four field goals, it was ridiculous. The UNM game was quite a bit different, the Lobos won 66-17 and put up over 500 yards rushing and ran a kick back 100 yards. New Mexico State might have the worst team in the country, they have some decent players, but they got dominated. It was pretty fun to watch. The Lobos have so many talented running backs on the roster. I think Bob Davie will have the team in a bowl game within a couple of years, I don't think they will this year. Had they beat UTSA and UNLV they could have had a shot, but the schedule the rest of the year is pretty tough.
My Top 25
1-Alabama
2-Ohio State
3-Oregon
4-Clemson
5-Stanford
6-Florida State
7-Georgia
8-Louisville
9-Texas A&M
10-Miami
11-UCLA
12-Oklahoma
13-South Carolina
14-Michigan
15-LSU
16-Florida
17-Fresno State
18-Baylor
19-Northern Illinois
20-Texas Tech
21-Northwestern
22-Virginia Tech
23-Oklahoma State
24-Washington
25-Missouri
Predictions: I was 9-3 this weekend, 44-18 on the season now!
Here are the big games for this week
Rutgers at Louisville: If the game was at Rutgers, I would give them a chance to keep it close, but I don't see it happening. Louisville 45 Rutgers 27
Oregon at Washington: Washington is a good team that played well against Stanford. Oregon is a great team and have won most of their games in the 56-17 range. Oregon 45 Washington 28
Missouri at Georgia: Missouri has been surprising so far this year, still undefeated, but the tough part of the schedule is coming up. Georgia fought off some injuries and held on to beat Tennessee. Georgia 34 Missouri 24
South Carolina at Arkansas: This is a tough one, South Carolina didn't look too sharp in their win over Kentucky, and Arkansas doesn't have as much talent as the Gamecocks. South Carolina 27 Arkansas 21
Texas A&M at Ole Miss: A&M enjoyed a week off, while Ole Miss was knocked off for a second straight week, pushing them out of the top 25. This will be their third straight. A&M 41 Ole Miss 27
Florida at LSU: I wasn't sure about LSU before the season started, but they are looking pretty good. Florida looked good against Arkansas, even without their starting QB, who is done for the year. LSU 45 Florida 24
Oklahoma vs Texas: Oklahoma squeaked out a win against TCU, and Mack Brown avoided getting fired as Texas narrowly escaped against Iowa State. (I do think the Cyclones got hosed at the end.) Oklahoma 42 Texas 28
Oregon State at Washington State: Both of these teams are looking pretty sharp on offense right now, this should be a nice shootout. Washington State 48 Oregon State 42
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech: I think Pittsburgh has a pretty solid offense, but could struggle against Virginia Tech on the road. Va Tech 28 Pittsburgh 21
Baylor at Kansas State: Baylor is putting up points like crazy! Kansas State desperately needs a victory after losing to Texas and Oklahoma State in conference play. Baylor 56 Kansas State 24
Indiana at Michigan State: Indiana shocked me by beating up Penn State Saturday. Michigan State's defense is ridiculously good. Michigan State 31 Indiana 23
Northwestern at Wisconsin: Both teams have lost to Ohio State, but hung with them pretty good. I'm picking Wisconsin at home. Wisconsin 27 Northwestern 24
Michigan at Penn State: Michigan looked like they were back to normal after a couple sloppy losses to weak opponents. Penn State couldn't shut down Indiana's offense. Michigan 35 Penn State 21
New Mexico at Wyoming: The Lobos ran all day on NMSU. Wyoming has one of the better QB's in the Mountain West, should be another high-scoring affair. Wyoming 52 New Mexico 35
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