Up and coming is another big weekend in college football.
The Big Ten conference has a huge game this weekend when Ohio State meets Oklahoma Saturday evening. I expect that the Buckeyes will beat the Sooners by more than a touchdown, but I also expected to be a pretty good game, one that I look forward to watching. It’s an old nemesis/rival against a team that we need to measure up to if we’re going to be consistently competing for championships again.
Nebraska versus Oregon is one of the bigger Big Ten games of the weekend, at least when you look at the league’s profile. Practically no one in the media is picking Nebraska to win this game, according to the OWH, of 45 national writers, 40 picked Oregon.
Two exciting rivalry games, Penn State versus Pittsburgh, and Iowa versus Iowa State, are tomorrow. I don’t expect Pittsburgh to put up much of a fight against Penn State, but the Hawkeye versus Cyclone matchup is always interesting, if nothing else but for the insults.
Your Big Ten match ups look like this:
Friday
- Purdue vs Ohio
Saturday
11:00 AM
- Iowa vs Iowa State
- Michigan vs Cincinnati
- Wisconsin vs Florida Atlantic
- Maryland vs Towson
- Northwestern vs Duke
I’ll probably start out watching Iowa versus Iowa State, and see if Wisconsin destroys Florida Atlantic early on. Honestly, the Big Ten should win all these games. It is an opportunity to bounce around between them and see how our opponents look.
2:30 PM
- Michigan State vs Western Michigan
- Penn State vs Pitt
- Indiana vs Virginia
- Rutgers vs Eastern Michigan
Western Michigan played pretty well against a USC team last weekend and I will be interesting to see if Sparty has gotten their crap together the season. Indiana and Rutgers might have the most interesting games of the set. Penn State should smash Pitt into the ground.
3:30 PM
- Nebraska vs Oregon
6:30 PM
- Ohio State vs Oklahoma
7:00 PM
- Illinois vs Western Kentucky
I am wondering if were going to start making fun of Illinois the same way we make fun of Rutgers. Illinois shouldn’t give up the points that Rutgers did last season, but I don’t expect them to really make any headway under Lovie Smith.
9:00 PM
- Minnesota vs Oregon State - The #Pac12AfterDark game should be fun and it should be one that the Gophers win. The Beavers struggled with Portland State last weekend and the week before gave up 58 points the Colorado State.
Other Big Games This Weekend:
Clemson vs Auburn - 6:00 PM Saturday
USC vs Stanford - 7:30 PM Saturday
Notre Dame vs Georgia - 6:30 PM Saturday
Nebraska's Best 'Back-Up' | Hail Varsity
Gifford’s extensive role on Saturday was somewhat of a surprise, even to the linebacker himself. After all, he was listed as second on the depth chart at field outside linebacker behind senior Marcus Newby.
5 Huskers Who Have to Come Up Big Against Oregon | Hail Varsity
In a battle between two programs trying to reestablish past success, here are five players who have to play well if the Huskers are to beat the Ducks.
Bob Diaco Took His Antics (and Lies) to Nebraska - The UConn Blog
Bob Diaco makes the dubious claim that he’s always accountable.
Recruiting Roundup: September 4-10 | High School Soccer News
Goalkeeper Makinzie Short (FC Boulder) committed to Nebraska.
The ties behind a power matchup | Oregon Ducks Football | Eugene, Oregon
Before Jim Harbaugh stepped on campus at Manatee High to help his dad recruit Willie Taggart, legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne plucked a dynamic touchdown-machine from the Bradenton, Fla., powerhouse.
Taggart began his prep career as the backup quarterback behind Tommie Frazier, the College Football Hall of Fame inductee who led the Cornhuskers to a 33-3 record as a starter with four Big 8 championships and two national titles.
C-USA rejected Liberty University's generous offer to join the league ... but the Flames ended up as the big winners | Harry Minium | pilotonline.com
In January, the school petitioned the NCAA for permission to move to FBS as an independent, an unprecedented request that the NCAA surprisingly approved just a month later.
Tom Herman’s rebuild at Texas will take time, and that should have been expected - Burnt Orange Nation
Despite the Maryland loss, Texas’ long-term goals under Tom Herman remain completely intact.
Urban Meyer driven 'insane' by Herman, Muschamp blaming inherited players - CBSSports.com
Meyer said it drives him "insane" when coaches blame players they inherited from a previous staff.
If you take a little bit closer look at this, you’d have to admit that Urban Meyer hasn’t exactly been asked to go into extremely difficult situations and turn them around. Ohio State, Florida – both are hotbeds of recruiting and with Meyer’s resume, it’s not exactly like it was difficult for him to turn teams into winners. I think he’s right about what he said about blaming players, but at the same time Urban Meyer is kind of an ass.
Ohio State’s Urban Meyer is right. Don’t blame the players in public - Land-Grant Holy Land
The rest of his remarks were even more illuminating.
Message to Tom Herman: Urban Meyer isn’t your friend or mentor - Barking Carnival
Urban Meyer just threw Tom Herman under the treads of an Abrams tank and backed over him twice.
Here was Tom Herman's post-practice response to the criticism from Urban Meyer. pic.twitter.com/4CRRMvaoM6
— Max Olson (@max_olson) September 7, 2017
Behind Enemy Lines: A Q&A with this week's opponent - Maize n Brew
I interview Phil Neuffer, from Down The Drive, the Cincinnati Bearcats SB Nation blog to find out more information about this weeks matchup.
Minnesota Football vs Oregon State - Week 2 Preview - The Daily Gopher
P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers will get their first road test of the season with a non-conference trip to Corvallis
Wide Right & Natty Lite Discusses Iowa - Iowa State Football - Black Heart Gold Pants
A Q&A to get you primed for the big game this weekend.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF IOWA STATE'S BAD TROLLING | Go Iowa Awesome
"The Team Out East" isn't Iowa State's first attempt at bad trolling. Let's take a walk down memory lane.
Advanced Stats: Can Ohio State keep up with Oklahoma in a shoot out? - Land-Grant Holy Land
Baker Mayfield and his deep receiving corps are deadly. Can Ohio State’s secondary bounce back from a rocky start against Indiana?
The Lions could put together a pretty decent NFL team, especially once Barkley joins the ranks next season.
Ross never played a down of football in college. He graduated with my oldest son, here in Chaska. I coached against his dad and our kids played against each other in rec league soccer. Amazing that he’s in the NFL. I wish him the best.
Woman Sues Former Colorado Assistant
“Colorado president Bruce Benson, football coach Mike MacIntyre, athletic director Rick George and chancellor Phil DiStefano all face claims of negligence and civil conspiracy, while Tumpkin is being sued for claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
Update on games involving programs in Florida after the UCF cancellation, FIU appears to be last holdout among teams that had home games: pic.twitter.com/dp8OrR7xF7
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 8, 2017
Some pathetic person sent this to Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin’s Family
People of 2017: please tell me how any part of this is ok. And to the sender: did it occur to you that a child may open it?#orelseWHAT? pic.twitter.com/Co1s2Hb94r
— charlene sumlin (@courshel) September 7, 2017
Then There’s This
Argh! I got nothing!
If you’d like to send me weird non-football stuff to put here, please do so. Perhaps send me your recipe for glazed ham balls. I wouldn’t be more excited than to make them as an appetizer in my crockpot.
Have a great Friday!