The Big Red is going to the Big House where Brady Hoke has yet to lose a game in his tenure as head coach. Coming off a loss to Sparty, the Wolverines will be fired up and ready to make a statement as they protect their turf. Michigan's offense took some huge lumps going negative rush yardage against the boys in green, which might have us licking our chops. However, make no mistake, we are not the Michigan State defense. Gardener may not be the best QB we have faced, but you gotta get to him to rattle him and that will be a tall task.
The Cornhuskers are jacked after the miracle catch in a hard-fought game at home. The defense showed up and offered flashes of the hard hitting, run stuffing & QB blitzing talent many expected before the first game's kickoff. Can they carry that over against a Wolverine offense that is arguably better than a Purple Cat offense? Remember, Northwestern went way down the depth chart to field a running back. Add to that, the Cornhusker offense is dinged and likely without players like Turner, Bell, Long, Long & Cotton. The offensive line may be a patchwork of this-n-that. And of course, there is the two quarterback rotation, with both Armstrong and Kellogg prone to tossing interceptions in a scheme that tends toward the pass. Not how you want to show up in Ann Arbor.
I'm a avid fan of Nebraska football and am pulling for a win every time our young men step on the field. That said, I hope I am wrong and will happily admit it in this case if I am. It will be a tough game, fought tooth-and-nail. In the end, home field is the big advantage....
Blue & Maize: 31
Scarlet & Cream: 24
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I told you guys not to worry. The U of M is in free fall. Nice Husker win in AA.
thanks Ben and good luck this week, just not too much luck ok? ;)
Thanks and same to you boomboom. It would take a monumental effort for the Spartans to beat the Huskers in Lincoln.
Michigan did not recover from the a$$ kicking that they took in East Lansing.
We were lucky that Pat Narduzzi created the script on how to dismember the Wolvie offense.
Bo and Co. took the script and edged the heartless team from Ann Arbor. Michigan may(?) beat Northwestern in Evanston on Saturday due to the MAJOR injuries that the Mildcats have. Michigan will likely lose at Iowa City and will be CRUSHED by the Bucks.
Not much left of the cadaver that is now Michigan football 2013.
And that's a good thing. :)
Michigan is 5-0 in conference? Actually they are 2-2.
I will try to keep this pretty short and not talk about the negative intangibles of our coaching. I am basing my prediction solely on two events that took place in the Northwestern. The first one was when our defense acted like Blackshirts and kept NW our of the end zone after TA's last int. The second of course was the hail mary play that resulted in the W. These two plays grew our team and gave our guys some mojo that they have not been able to generate from our coaches.....thusly it carries on to Ann Arbor and we get to see our guys play like Huskers.
Huskers 35
Meeechigun 31
Soooo, here we are. 6-2 where most thought or hoped for 7-1. Now the B1G stretch run in November begins. Without further ado....some stats to digest:
Rushing Offense--NU 13th MI 79th
Passing Offense--NU 88th MI 44th
Total Offense--NU 30th(468yds) MI 63rd(412yds)
Turnovers Gained/Lost--NU 15/16 MI 16/18
Rushing Defense--NU 85th MI 14th
Pass Efficiency Defense--NU 40th MI 30th
Total Defense--NU 70th MI 28th
Tackles for Loss--NU 6.8 per game MI 5.4 per game
Bonus ST Stats
KO Return Defense--NU 15th MI 82nd
Punt Return Defense--NU 53rd MI 60th
KO Return--NU 40th MI 37th
Punt Return--NU 114th MI 80th
Net Punting--38th (38yds) MI 84th (36yds)
What do I take from all this? Nothing. Ok, just kidding. There are some disparities in a few stats (see rush offenses and defenses), but they are pretty much cancelled out on the defensive side. Or the other team will possibly have a hard time exploiting the matchup with their ineptitude. Maybe we change the course of the game with our sound KO Return defense.....just kidding. In all, turnovers probably decide this game. The talk that "MI and Gardner are a turnover machine" has some validity, but as you can tell in the stats they've only lost 2 more than us putting us in similar talks.
The biggest problem I see is 100K maize and blue people going ape after a tough loss to their rival in a must win game on an unfamiliar grass field. Throw in 2 relatively inexperienced QBs on the road in an essentially must win game for MI with a OC who likes to get away from what works to experiment with things that likely don't....well, you can see where this is going.
I even sometimes wonder if Bo has lost his passion here. All the comments about the pressure "wearing on them" from a f'ing delusional fan base (having fun here LOL) is not, and has not been the best approach as leaders to a bunch of young men looking up to them for direction. It almost feels like an obsession with the social media and blogs for these guys when the pressure here is very similar to at least a good 15 other major schools across the country. The inexperience in coaching would be where I would point the finger of not understanding the magnitude of being in the spotlight as a major coach at a major university.
Bright side? The new forecast shows a high of 52 degrees and very windy (25-30mph winds). Maybe, just maybe this forces Beck's conservative hand a bit. Ameer is a stud and still should get his yards even with MI going to be geared to stopping him. Armstrong is gonna have to make a couple plays to win it and can. Maybe this staff finds something from last week and everyone has a come together moment. It can happen. Many teams have a "a ha" moment and the tide changes. This is the time to use that springboard. While neither team is ranked, this would definitely be considered a "bigger" victory for Bo and staff. Probably right behind Okie St in my book. I just hope the magic wasn't all used up last week....the problem is, I fear it has. I am still skeptical until I am shown something different.
MI 37 NU 23
(Now prove me wrong so my MSU tickets are twice the fun!!!)
this is a difficult game to predict, both teams have been inconsistent on both sides of the ball and both QB's have had turn over problems both teams have meaningless victory's over weaker competition so throw all that out the window
Huskers need this one if they are gonna win their division for the 4th time in the last 5 years
High Octane Grain 38
Wolverina's 28
Oddsmakers have Mich favored by 6-1/2. Home field advantage w/current 19 game home winning streak on line. Mich D is stout vs. run, only allowing 101 yds/game. The Big House holds 109,000+. Jake Cotton is doubtful, as is Long. TM is out. Turner is unsure. Bell is probable. Mich is hungry after last week. Doesn't look good, does it, Husker fans?
Here's the good news: Mich is one dimensional w/Gardner at QB. He is fumble prone, and has 11 INTs to date. Their O line is ordinary at best, with a mediocre running game. Husker D has shown improvement in the last 3 games. When the Blackshirts blitz, this will cause problems for Gardner. Look for a low score from the Mich offensive side.
On the other side, Mich's D really does contain the run well, but it's weak against the pass. NU's Abdulah is unlike any back Mich has faced. Look for him to soften up the Mich D and allow NU's reciever corp to break free on some one-on-one coverage. If Beck lets TA play his game, we can see some big plays. Look for NU to score on a balanced attack plan.
Mich is unpredictable, just like NU. Mich struggled vs Akron, winning 28-24, and vs UConn, winning 24-21. Losing to Penn State, 40-43 in multiple OT's. Yet Mich handled Minny, winning 42-13. NU won last year in Lincoln, 23-9. Both teams are beat up, maybe Mich a bit more. Only NU is playing to control it's own destiny, while Mich is not with 2 B1G losses. This game is pivotal for NU to win and set up the deciding Legends division game with MState.
So, after reading all this data, I asked the ol' Magic 8 Ball, who would win this game. It came up with 'Ask Again'. So I dunked it in a vat of fresh, full-strength Kool-aid and asked again. The Magic 8 Ball sez:
Corn Kernels 24
Weasels 21
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