Michigan

[BBHorn86]

Maryland is not a pound it running team. They are a spread team, so we matched up better.

OSU, to my eye, looked rather slow in the running game compared to their norm. That's not a good comparison game.

Illinois was an eye-opener. If that was systemic and not an indication of just a team playing flat, then we are in trouble this week.

Michigan is a running team. We are not. I see us starting slow but keeping it close until late. Then Michigan pulls away. We are not deep enough in the front 7 on defense.

Logic aside, you never know what kind of Franklin team will show up. They seem to play on emotion, like Franklin himself. Michigan will be viewed as a big game, at home, so maybe we need to throw reason out the window. Maybe it becomes an upset win.

But my bet has to be on Michigan .... because .... this is an early game. It will be chilly and possibly wet. Students will be just getting out of bed. The stadium won't provide the energy that this team needs. I would think differently if it was a night game in warm weather, with a championship on the line.

Michigan has much more at stake.

You make a lot of good points and your prediction is sound. That said, aside from Michigan State Michigan has not played a tough schedule. Wisconsin now looks like they are coming around but you can take the chance that McNamara can't beat you and focus on the run. The smart play would be to take Michigan but Vegas knows what it is doing and made PSU the initial favorite. I would stay away from this game betting wise and will not be surprised if we play our best game since Auburn and win.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Too bad Don Brown isn’t there anymore to put a safety 1 on 1 against Dotson in the slot

Pure genius

 

[fastlax16]

Too bad Don Brown isn’t there anymore to put a safety 1 on 1 against Dotson in the slot

Pure genius

Once a Don Brown defense, always a Don Brown defense. Dude was that good.

 

[Psugo823]

Too bad Don Brown isn’t there anymore to put a safety 1 on 1 against Dotson in the slot

Pure genius

He could put Billy Barty on him this year and it wouldn't matter, Penn State has the worst offensive line in the nation.

 

[NittanyIllinois]

Exactly! Made a similar post in another thread. All these supposedly great b1g teams is a complete house of cards. MSU has looked mediocre all year and fortunate not to have multiple losses at this point - but they were ranked #2 in the CFB Invitational Poll based on beating MeatChicken. MSU looks like the worst team ever to be #2 in the fairly brief history of the CFB Invitational and its accompanying "Selection Poll". MSU is not a great football team - decent at best - as a "decent, but not great" Purdue team proved this past weekend. MeatChicken is supposedly great but there is nothing to really base that on - their best win is against a "decent, but not great" 3-loss Wisconsin team, etc., etc., etc..... as you go through b1g. But the notion that MeatChicken is incredible and nearly unbeatable is farcical. Given the way a depleted PSU Team (something like 5 starters lost to injury for the season since the start of the Season - i.e., Preseason Practice) challenged duhO$U, duhO$U is not the world-beater that many are claiming - duhO$U would get smoked in the CFB Invitational by the SEC Teams.

1. MSU was never #2.

2. Nobody is calling Michigan "incredible and nearly unbeatable". Aren't they Vegas underdogs for this weekend?

3. Lots of teams have several injuries.

4. People like you were laughing about the prospect of OSU getting smoked by Clemson in last year's CFP

5. There's no way of knowing whether these Big Ten teams are a "house of cards" at this point. The next few weeks will give us some separation, but probably won't truly know until bowl season. But that's true across CFB this year. Other than UGA, pretty much everybody is a mystery.

 

[McCloudersportLion]

You are a tri or possibly quad confused guy but hopefully the BIG thing will be keeping the SatchSquatchMo DE's Michigan has from blowing it awl up and giving their boring 2 qb goofer offensive system more oppurtunity than they deserve. Do that and PSU can chew UM up awl day passing and Clifford scrampled lamb chopping it in bursts on the run.