1.) Schweinfurth 6-0 (0-2 upset)
1.) Seeberg 6-0 (0-2 upset)
3.) Hoying 5-1 (1-1 upset)
3.) Draper 5-1 (0-2 upset)
I can guarantee you, man, that none of these games is a tape-leg. Some of the players might have a piece of tape on their leg or their shoe, but their legs are not made of tape.
Anyway, college football scheduling gods, send us some good ones next week. You know, some good ones?
Iowa Hawkeyes @ Iowa State Cyclones
Draper: Gameday is in Ames this week....let that sink in. That should tell you how crappy these games are this week. I'm sure the CyHawk rivalry is really big for the 100 people in Iowa, but it's very difficult to get excited for a game who's rivalry trophy once had a guy giving corn to a child. Is Iowa good? eh....maybe? They certainly took care of ....Rutgers.... Is Iowa State good? Probably not after a 3OT squeaker over Northern Iowa. Who knows? Let's just hope Iowa trucks someone else on a national stage this time. Iowa: 30 -- ISU: 17
Hoying: Riddle me this: Iowa State goes to triple overtime with Northern Iowa in the season opener, and stays ranked in the top 25. Then last week they don't play at all and fall out of the rankings. It doesn't really matter (early season polls are meaningless and the AP and Coaches' Polls are all meaningless, all the time), but it would have been nice to have at least one ranked matchup in the bucket of slop that is week 3. As stated above, Iowa State is bad, but they've been known to look clueless against lower competition and jump up and bite an Oklahoma or West Virginia. Oddly enough, they haven't done this to the Hawkeyes lately like they always did in the earlier 2000's, so are the Cyclones due? Probably not. Iowa dominated last week's game against Rutgers (I know, I know, Rutgers, but again, Northern Iowa), forcing turnovers and generally frustrating the hapless Scarlet Knight offense. Considering the 'Clones put up a whopping 13 on Northern Iowa before extra time started, I wouldn't be too worried were I Iowa. Iowa: 27--ISU: 10
Schweinfurth: Ahh, the CyHawk. One of the craziest rivalry games around. While this game can get interesting, this is one I will turn on late just to watch the insanity. It always seems that when Iowa feels like they have a great team, the Cyclones come out of nowhere and bag tag the Hawkeyes. As funny as it would be to see Iowa State leg drop Herky, I just don't see it happening. I'll take the coaching genius (and infinite time B1G coach of the year) of Kirk Ferentz's squad this year. Iowa: 24--ISU: 17
Seeberg: This one is, oddly, even more difficult to predict than most early-season rivalry games. The Cyclones were hot garbage for the better part of half a century but still played the usually respectable Hawkeyes well. This year, both squads were expected to be pretty solid, and the black and yellow have held up their end of the bargain while ISU needed a lot of OT to beat an FCS opponent (yay abbreviations!). The Cyclones get this one at home, and given the awful slate of games this week, even College Game Day will be there! With two weeks to prepare this one should be another nail-biter, but the Hawkeyes should sneak out of Ames with the CyHawk Trophy again. Iowa: 27--ISU: 24
Arizona State Sun Devils @ Michigan State Spartans
Draper: And not for the battle between one of college football's most outspoken coaches and one of the most boring. I don't see much from MSU on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense has been great. Arizona State is a bit of mess...and they're coming to East Lansing. Look for Sparty to have a workmanlike win that no one will see or care about. ASU: 10 -- MSU: 24
Hoying: Last year Sun Devil coach Herm Edwards scored his signature victory of the year in the desert, kicking a last second FG to send the Spartans home losers. This year? Don't count on it. ASU needed all 4 quarters to put away Sacramento State last week, and their red zone offense is just atrocious. At least the defense is working. But Michigan State's defense is working just as well, and they have something resembling an offense Lewerking as well. This one should be over quickly. ASU: 13--MSU: 24
Schweinfurth: What looks worse the Spartans' offense or those atrocious Oregon wannabe uniforms they wore last week. I think it's a toss up. MSU needed a full scale rehire on the offensive coaching staff and all they did was reshuffle the deck. I guess it's good that the Walrus isn't calling plays anymore? As much as the Spartan offence offends me, Dantonio's defenses are always legit. The PAC-12 is bad and ASU is toward the mid-bottom of that conference. It won't matter if Herm is playing to win the game, the Spartans should pull this out. Another loss to ASU and Dino's seat may start getting warm. ASU: 10--MSU: 20
Seeberg: Despite their conference being a perennial dumpster fire the last few years, the ASU squad managed an upset of Sparty out west last year. Lightning doesn't strike twice in a row, however, and western teams aren't much of a fan of traveling three time zones east. I doubt this game will be aesthetically pleasing- especially if Sparty breaks out those nausea-inducing highlighter green pants (with a WHITE stripe...just...why??) again so I wouldn't flip over to this one. Just watch the scoreboard on the bottom line and see Dantonio and Co. steadily pull away. ASU: 17--MSU: 34
Florida Gators @ Kentucky Wildcats
Draper: Can the Wildcats do it again after slaying the UF beast? Sadly, they've lost a lot of talent but the Gators were a laughing stock vs. Miami...except for the D-line. The Gator pass rush was tenacious and should get after Kentucky's QB (no I don't want to find his name). Mark Stoops has the Cats believing but I think the talent on the other side will be too much, but I think it will be a little close for comfort. Florida falls backwards into another shaky win and stays highly ranked for some reason. UF: 13 -- UK: 10
Hoying: Finally, FINALLY, last year, after 31 years of futility, the Wildcats broke through against the Gators. What are they going to do to Dan Mullen in Gainesville if he starts 0-2 against the SEC's erstwhile joke team? Kentucky was Actually Pretty Good last year (you may remember them knocking off Penn State in the Citrus Bowl, lol) but they practically lost their entire offense with the departure of RB Benny Snell. Good thing Florida looks like poo this year, winning a sloppy opener against Miami leaving Gator fans to wonder if they'll ever find another competent QB again after the ascension of St. Tebow (and Will Grier getting run out of town on a rail). As time goes by, the stats tend to regress to the mean, and the mean in this series looks a lot more like 31 in a row for Florida than 2 in a row for Kentucky. UF: 27--UK: 24
Schweinfurth: Kentucky lost a lot off a decent 2018 team. Gone is Benny Snell and in comes??? Yea. Look last year was a miracle season for the Wildcats. Florida is coming to ruin that this year and put the basketball school back in their place. UF: 35--UK: 20
Seeberg: So are either of these teams...crap, what's the word I'm looking for...good? We know the Gators were supposed to be and the weight of expectations has not suited UF well the last several seasons down in Gainesville. Meanwhile, UK lost approximately 94.3% of its offense after Benny Snell left, but what a year it was, beating Florida for the first time since the FIRST George Bush was VICE President. The boys in blue will be charged up to start a new streak of their own, but they just don't have enough offensively to overcome a more talented Gator team. Could be close, but a new streak begins nonetheless. UF: 27--UK: 17
THE Ohio State University Buckeyes @ Indiana Hoosiers
Draper: OSU played a nearly flawless game last week as we enter conference schedule a little early. Weird stuff happens in Bloomington (not to cost the game, but to make it close) every once in awhile.That being said, I'm not terribly worried this year. Michael Penix (IU's QB) may miss the game which would normally be a boon, but backup QBs have a tendency to come out and torch the Bucks. Regardless, I don't see the Hoosier defense stifling Fields, Dobbins, and Co. The WRs this year have been exceptional for the Bucks and I think the trend continues here. The biggest question for the passing game will be if there is enough to go around (I think the Dobbins/Teague eats well this week). OSU hasn't faced any adversity this year so there's always a chance, but I don't think this is the week. Keep the train rolling. OSU: 42 -- IU: 13
Hoying: The Buckeyes continue their slog against crappy out of conference opponents this week...wait, what? Another one of these? Didn't Ohio State go to Indiana to open the season two years ago? Oh well, here we go again. You may remember that game as JK Dobbins's coming out party. I mean, yeah, JT threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs, too, but the Buckeyes leaned heavily on Dobbins as he racked up 180 yards in his first game for the Scarlet and Gray. Expect to see more of that after last week's solid performance. You may also remember that 2017 game for the circus catches the IU receivers were making to pick on our secondary, showing the cracks in the Silver Bullet edifice that threatened to bring the whole house down last year. Expect to see less of that now that Greg Mattison and Al Washington spontaneously burst into existence this year to reshape the Buckeye D into something workable. Indiana has a new dual threat quarterback, which might give Buckeye fans nightmares to a few other showdowns with the Hoosiers in recent memory, but this game should follow a familiar script: IU comes out with a few surprises, catches the Buckeyes sleeping for a little while, then Dobbins or KJ Hill or Chase Young makes a huge play and the Bucks never look back. OSU: 34--IU: 20
Schweinfurth: It's always fun to return to where we started. Just ask JK Dobbins. What might make Dobbins scarier is this offense looks way more dangerous than the one he set Buckeye freshman rushing records two years ago. But enough about Dobbins, the Bullets look like an actual defense this year and not the Silver BBs of last year. Arnett still needs better ball awareness when thrown at, but has been serviceable for the most part. The linebacker play has been much, much better. It's amazing what happens when you don't have the backers' heads turned at the snap and they can locate the ball immediately. Indiana's starter is questionable, but the Hoosiers are the B1G chaos team. This is close for a half and then Chase Young breaks their will. OSU: 42--IU: 24
Seeberg: Well, last week was phenomenal. All of us here at Let's Go Bucks expected a closer contest and what we got was more akin to a no-contest. Now this young Buckeye team hits the "road" for the first time (albeit in a stadium typically with more Buckeye than Hoosier fans) against IU. Make no mistake, this IS your older brother's IU team. They have two talented QBs, several respectable offensive weapons, a bowling ball of a running back...and a defense? Dobbins and Fields need to rule the day at high 11 AM central time. A heavy dose of J.K. will open up play-action passes and, more importantly, keep Fields from getting field turf all over him. Running to set up the pass sounds, well, Tressel-esque and boring, but Ryan Day actually prefers touchdowns to field goals (see: 6 TDs, 0 FG attempts last week), so in Day's hands it's actually an effective philosophy. Keep everything in front as a defense, shut down red zone trips, and get out of recently-hairy Bloomington with a solid conference W. OSU: 38--IU: 17
Upset Special
Draper: Temple over Maryland
Hoying: Stanford over Central Florida
Schweinfurth: Florida State over UVA
Seeberg: Pitt over Penn State
