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Purdue and Northwestern owe the Big Ten an apology. Those were the only two teams in the conference to actually lose last week, and both did so on long, west coast road trips. Purdue blew their game while Northwestern merely struggled offensively throughout. The elusive perfect week is hard to come by, especially with some conference games sprinkled throughout the early schedule now. That is the case this week.
Cincinnati (1-0) at #5 Ohio State (1-0), Noon, ABC
Ohio State has won 41 consecutive games against teams from the state of Ohio, dating back to approximately 1734. In reality, they have not lost to a team from Ohio since losing to Oberlin 7-6 in 1921. Cincinnati is a pretty good team, however, and could put a bit of a scare into the Buckeyes. It’s going to take a pretty strong effort to pull off the upset in Columbus, but the Bearcats should at least make things interesting. Ohio State 31, Cincinnati 21
Army (1-0) at #7 Michigan (1-0), Noon, FOX
I have looked at this one for a while as a strangely interesting game. Talent-wise, Army is not even in the same area code as Michigan. The Black Knights are extremely disciplined, however, and are perfectly fine with lengthy drives that kill the clock. They beat Rice last week 14-7 and their scoring drives were 16 plays, 95 yards and 18 plays, 96 yards. Both took longer than 9 minutes. Army can win this game 17-14 by simply holding on to the ball for 45 minutes. It almost worked last year at Oklahoma. Michigan 21, Army 14
Rutgers (1-0) at #20 Iowa (1-0), Noon, Fox Sports 1
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Our first Big Ten game of the year and it involves Rutgers. Both teams won comfortably last week after some early struggles, but this is still Rutgers. The Hawkeyes just don’t lose games like this at home. The Iowa secondary was a bit suspect last week, but fortunately Rutgers struggles with the forward pass. Expect Iowa to pull away here. Iowa 34, Rutgers 10
#21 Syracuse (1-0) at Maryland (1-0), Noon, ESPN
Sure, Maryland scored 79 points last week, but that was against a bad FCS team. Syracuse is an entirely different animal. The Orange shut out Liberty last week and have the look of a pretty good team this year. This game will tell us more about how good Maryland is. The Terrapins are still expected to struggle in the Big Ten, but a win here would definitely make other teams take notice. Syracuse 28, Maryland 17
Vanderbilt (0-1) at Purdue (0-1), Noon, BTN
It is probably too early to have a “loser leaves town” game for bowl eligibility, but after Purdue tripped over its own genitalia to lose last week we desperately need this game now. Vanderbilt is a better overall team than Nevada, but not overwhelmingly so. They have some weapons, including Ke’Shawn Vaughn who shredded a Hazell defense four years ago while with Illinois. I question their defense, however. I think at home, with the rotation issues from Friday fixed, not turning it over five times, and not playing at altitude will greatly help Purdue. Those were all factors in barely losing last week. This is an important game not just for this year, but I think for Brohm’s entire tenure. Since we’re at home I think he gets it done. Purdue 31, Vanderbilt 24
Central Michigan (1-0) at #17 Wisconsin (1-0), 3:30pm, BTN
Wisconsin looked really good last week in cruising to a 49-0 win at South Florida. The strategy of having a good defense and Heisman caliber running back is a pretty easy equation to ride to a win. It should work again this week against an overmatched MAC foe. Wisconsin 56, Central Michigan 10
#25 Nebraska (1-0) at Colorado (1-0), 3:30pm, FOX
I am still not sold on Scott Frost. Not after they struggled a bit with South Alabama last week. Colorado had a pretty easy win over Colorado State behind 125 yards and 3 TDs from Alex Fontenot. With the Buffaloes playing at home and them believing this is a rivalry I think Colorado pulls this off. They already won in Lincoln last year and have a pretty balanced offense to compete here. Colorado 24, Nebraska 21
Illinois (1-0) at Connecticut (1-0), 3:30pm, CBS Sports Network
Last week the Illini rolled over a bad Akron team and this week they are headed east to play an even worse UConn team. The Huskies were horrific last season and barely got past Wagner last week. If Illinois can’t win this one it is going to be a long season in Champaign. Illinois 41, UConn 10
Eastern Illinois (0-1) at Indiana (1-0), 3:30pm, BTN
Indiana was in a game with Ball State into the fourth quarter last week, while Eastern Illinois lost to Chattanooga. The Hoosiers win big. Indiana 56, Eastern Illinois 7
Buffalo (1-0) at #15 Penn State (1-0), 7:30pm, FOX
Buffalo is pretty good for the MAC. They were 10-4 last season, won big at Rutgers, and lost the MAC title game by a point to Northern Illinois. That is probably enough to keep this game interesting for a half or so. Penn State 45, Buffalo 20
Western Michigan (1-0) at #19 Michigan State (1-0), 7:30pm, BTN
The difference between playing Monmouth and Michigan State is huge for Western Michigan. Still, this is a fun little in-state game that could get interesting if Tim Lester’s crew can start hot. Usually Michigan State wins these with ease, but you never know. Michigan State 31, Western Michigan 14
Minnesota (1-0) at Fresno State (0-1), 10:30pm, CBS Sports Network
The Gophers did not look good last week against South Dakota State and needed to get bailed out by a questionable penalty on a kickoff return for a touchdown just before halftime that ended up being the difference. Now they have to go cross country and face a good Group of 5 team on its home field. As we found out last week, that is never an easy task (especially when we didn’t make it easy on ourselves). Fresno State 24, Minnesota 21