Corn Nation Predictions: Huskers vs. Purdue

Mike: It was one thing two years ago to lose badly to Purdue.

It’s another to be the UNDERDOG against Purdue.

Patrick G: 11 Days until Nebrasketball starts....crap, I need to start writing more.

Jill: The WBB team is receiving votes in the coach’s poll, the football team is ranked 8th. Oh, that is the SDSU Jackrabbits. Wrong browser tab. Sorry. Carry on.

Andy: Hello from Denver. What a beautiful Saturday morning. I have a mild drinking at altitude headache, I’m still living in a world where I’m totally OK with being an underdog to Purdue (#OneMoreYear! #SarcasmFont!) and I’m within shouting distance of Boulder which may have given me a contact high as well as contact crabs. Let’s do this.

Michigan State (-2) at Northwestern

Mike: Sparty just seems much more consistent this season than NW, who’s been up and down. Sparty 31, NW 24

Patrick G: For some reason this game intrigues me. It has been a weird season so I blame that. Lets go with Michigan State University 23 Nortwestern University 10

Paul: Sparty isn’t going to win the Big Ten this year, but they are orders of magnitude better than last year. Sparty rolls 34-20

Jill: Considering that NW is the only team that SB Nation’s advanced stats gives the Huskers a chance at beating the rest of the year...yep Sparty rolls. Ok, maybe they don’t roll as much as B1G their way into a grinding, ugly, close win. MSU 22 NW 18

Andy: Normally with these two teams in the places they currently reside, I’d look at that line and think something funky was up or wonder which Mich St injury I was missing. I’m instead going to assume that the bookies are being lazy and actually attributing a home field advantage to Northwestern. Which is dumb. However, since Sparty blows no one out ever this season: MSU 21 Northwest of Somewhere 16

Minnesota (+7.5) at Iowa

Mike: I think the boat has done sprung a leak the last few weeks. The Pork State keeps Floyd. Iowa can’t run the ball all that well, but they at least have a quarterback. Squawkeyes 23, Goofers 14

Patrick G: I want to pull for Minnesota in this but I don’t think Fleck has the boats aligned in his river navy quite yet. Floyd stays in Iowa City. University of Iowa 12 University of Minnesota 6

Paul: Both of these teams have underwhelmed this year...but Iowa is still better than Minnesota. Hawks win in an ugly one, 17-9

Jill: Jon’s rotten son overplayed his hand, and it appears Purdue made the best coaching hire in the Big Ten last year. Whoda thunk? I despise Iowa and I used to feel pity for Minny until Fleck came along. I want the Gophers to win, but they won’t. Akrum Wadley is the difference. Iowegia 7 Minnewegia 3

Andy: Two teams on the skids. I guess we’re picking it because it might be a battle? Home field stuff says take Iowa even though their playing more like those vultures that eat dead crap off the highway that Hawks. Or their eyes. What a stupid name for a team. Anyway, I think both these teams have more of desire to cause their fans pain lately, so anti-home field advantage it is. Goofers 20 Iowa 18

Penn State (+6.5) at Ohio State

Mike: Last year, a blocked field goal totally rolled this game. Urbz never forgets sad pizza; his offense is rolling in recent weeks (as we all know). Bucknuts 38, Nitts 27

Patrick G: Big Ten game of the year folks. The Buckeyes have been known to lose in the horseshoe so I wouldn’t be surprised if Penn State pulls off this upset. However, Ohio State has been rolling the past two months. It will come down to the Buckeyes defense shutting down Barkley. I’m going to go with Ohio State University 27 Pennsylvania State University 23

Paul: Barkley will win the Heisman, but I don’t think Penn State wins the game. Ohio State finally gets it’s shit together. THE Ohio State University 31, Penn State 28

Jill: Oh ye of little faith. This PSU defense is holding opposing teams to an average of 9.6 points and is #1 in FBS. Now, I don’t think they are going to hold tOSU under 10, but I don’t think they give up 38 either. /Checks offensive numbers. tOSU is #2 in FBS at 47+ points. //Grabs popcorn. I still pick the Nits (Ewwwww!) 24 Buckeyes 21

Andy: So it’s Urbs against the school that made self-defense classes for grade school boys into the region’s hottest cottage industry. (No, Penn St., you never get to forget about that.) Hmmm.

Two things. 1) This “revenge” thing hasn’t exactly been working out for Urban. People have to quit pretending he’s some holy terror whose rage at a previous loss can instill the will to win into the Buckeyes as if he is some sort of football Dark Jedi.

2) Both of these teams have baasically been playing controlled scrimmages against inferior competition for most of the year. Ohio St got Bakered early and have played no one since. Penn St got a warmup game against ranked Michigan last week and totalled a pretty damn good defense. Playing ¹⁄₂ a team recently trumps playing no one.
Penn St. 27 OSU 23

TCU (-6.5) at Iowa State

Mike: Two of the better head coaches in the nation battling in Ames makes this a game Husker fans should keep an eye on. The rise of the Clones is certainly impressive, but Gary Patterson has the better program. Frogs 38, Clones 24

Patrick G.: Iowa state will win this because they screw everything up for he Big 12.

Plus, maybe this is the loss the makes Patterson realize there is a ceiling at TCU and he will need to go to a more prestigious academi.....football institution to coach at. You know, wherever that may be. Iowa State University 17 Texas Christian University 14

Paul: I pissed Ian Boyd off this week by saying that there is no reason to think Iowa State will be an year in year out good team.

Read the whole thread in which a friend from college who went to Iowa State for grad school gave me the bird-flipping emoji.

Oh yeah...the score prediction. TCU 37-ISU 17

Jill: Paul, you are awesome. You know, for somebody who grew up in Iowa. At least you left the dark side.

You live in Texas?

Nevermind.

Where was I? TCU wins. Frogs 34 Cyclones 20

Andy: Iowa St., Texas loss aside, is actually pretty good and that 30-point spread against the Okies was probably pretty stupid even at the time. They’ll give TCU a fight and walk out heads held high, but Iowa is a state for which Clubber Lang always predicts “pain” in the end. Enjoy your week in the rankings. TCU 33 Dust Devils 23

Nebraska (+5) at Purdue

Mike: Lots of reasons why I think Nebraska can win: Huskers have more talent, and Tanner Lee has been playing much smarter over the last few weeks. But frankly, X’s and O’s are going to beat the Jimmies and Joes this week. Boilermakers 27, Huskers 21

Patrick G.:

University of Nebraska 11 Purdue University 10

Paul: I can’t bring myself to pick Purdue over Nebraska. So Huskers 21 - Boilermakers 13.

Jill: I have reached new levels of apathy and despair with this Husker program. I’m perfectly happy carrying around my phone playing the audio on the TuneIn app while I accomplish real things on a Saturday. As God intended. I consider the biggest victory of the year the fact that we managed to sell our unused tickets near face value.

Oh wait, it’s dark by the time the Huskers play this weekend? I need a different excuse?

Shit.

My internet is out?

Seriously, I don’t want to watch, but I can’t pick Purdue to win even though I know it is a very real and likely possibility. This game really comes down to how much the Huskers care at this point. Will they scrape together the pride or will they let the Boilers punch them in the mouth and ask for more?

If Nebraska pulls it together and gives as good as they get, I will root for this team, win or lose.

Nebraska 21 Purdue 20

Andy: The good news is that I don’t think it’ll be as bad as the shellacking 2 years ago that saw us trailing 42-16 in the 4th quarter. But these last three years have left me numb to a lot of things including a previous inability to pick against the Huskers on game day. Purdue’s defense is for real and our offense is a shit show from the guys in headphones to what’s happening on the field. Purdue 23 Huskers 13