Buckeye Boredom! Now that the easy game versus Purdue is past... wait, that wasn't easy. Now that the Bucks have struggled with the lowly Boilers the rest of the season is seemingly a toss-up (minus the game with The School Up North) The Buckeyes begin a run of the gauntlet right now with the trip to MSU (6-1) , welcoming PSU (7-0), traveling to Evanston (5-1), and Champaign (Juice Williams anyone). The Buckeyes can win out and make the Rose Bowl or lose one or two and go Captial One/Outback Bowling. Records so far: Gomer (53-27) Chief (57-23)
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Oklahoma Sooners
Gomer: This could get ugly, Todd Reesing and the rest of the Jayhawks are walking into a potential blowout at OU. The Sooners are coming off the heartbreak against Texas, so they will look to take out some frustrations on the 'Hawks. Sam Bradford didn't fall far out of the Heisman race so this game could be a nice rebound to get the bid going to pass Colt McCoy. KU: 17 - OU: 41
Chief: Kansas gets the distinct honor of playing the Sooners after a loss. Let’s not forget that Sam Bradford was brilliant last week against the Longhorns throwing 5 TD passes. Reesing and the Jayhawks are the epitome of smart play—they don’t turn it over or make dumb mistakes (penalties) very often. Regardless, the Sooners are really good. I think the Jayhawks are in for a major butt-whooping. Remember, Bob Stoops doesn’t call off the dogs. KU: 17—OU: 41
Missouri Tigers vs. Texas Longhorns
Gomer: The Rising Star's fall from glory will continue this week. I've said for a few weeks that Chase Daniel would arguably be one of the worst Heisman winners EVER, and thank the Lord for last week's clunker against the Cowboys (bang bang). Texas was able to pull out a thriller against the Sooners and are now in the driver's seat for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game against either 'Bama, USC, or Florida. The question of the day will be if Colt McCoy will be able to handle last weeks success and pick apart the average Mizzou defense. The other glaring question is if Texas will bring the pressure that the Pokes brought on Chase Daniel to help force him to make poor decisions. This should easily be the best game of the week. UM: 28 - UT: 38
Chief: Boy, those first picks were boring…well, I need to have an upset somewhere and here it is. The number 1 team in the country after an epic rivalry win last week will not hold sway in week 8. The Chase Daniel/Jeremy Maclin led Tigers enter DKR with a bad taste in their mouths after being beaten by a man…he’s 41. The Pokes beat the Tigers on the scoreboard, but Mizzou couldn’t get out of their own way last week. I think this week we see another Clash of the Titans with both quarterbacks doing everything to keep their teams’ dreams alive, but Chase Daniel has just enough to outduel Colt McCoy with that last second comeback everyone expected last week. Mizzou in my upset special squeaker of the week. UM: 31—UT: 30
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan State Spartans
Gomer: The Bucks come into East Lansing with the defense showing some signs of life but struggling mightily on offense. The O struggled to put up any yardage on the 95th worst defense in the nation (Purdue, giving up 400yds/game) while offensive statistics have plummeted to make OSU the 94th worst offense in the nation (averaging 320yds/game). Michigan State has been solid in all aspects of the game... almost. Brandon Hoyer has matured throughout the last two seasons but consistenly shows poor decision making when pressure is on, problem is, the OSU d-line can't generate pressure (75th in the nation in sacks, 97th in tackles for loss). While the defense isn't getting the necessary pressure and the offense is sputtering, the Bucks tend to play much better on the road in the Big Ten the last few years than they do at home. I would not be surprised if Dantonio gets his first signature win as the head man in East Lansing, he is the D-coordinator I would do anything to have back on the side lines with Coach Tressel. If Ringer gets his Heisman groove on, we should worry, if he has less yards than Beanie, all is well for another week in Buckeye land. OSU: 19 - MSU: 17
Chief: Welcome back to 2003 Buckeye Nation! Last week, the offense couldn’t get a thing going while the defense remembered how good they were supposed to be. Malcolm Jenkins finally had a coming out party as the Bullets held the Purdue offense to 3 points on their longest field goal in school history. That being said, MSU is another animal. Javon Ringer leads the Spartan attack and this guy is good. The defense will have their hands full, but I think the edge at QB actually stays with the Bucks. Hoyer is terrible, and Pryor, while not perfect, is slowly getting better (if the coaches would start calling better plays (quick slants please!!!). MSU clobbered NU last week, but looked very suspect against a bad Iowa at home 2 weeks ago. I like Beanie and the Bucks to awaken on offense and Laurinaitis to hold Ringer to a mediocre day. This won’t mark the traditional MSU meltdown, but OSU take another step to the 3rd consecutive outright Big 10 title. OSU: 24—MSU: 13
Michigan vs. Penn State - Gomer: PSU - Chief: PSU
LSU vs. South Carolina - Gomer: LSU - Chief: LSU (close)
Virginia Tech vs. Boston College - Gomer: VT - Chief: VT
California vs. Arizona - Gomer: UA - Chief: Cal
