USC 27, Notre Dame 24: Everyone and their brother think it’s a foregone conclusion that Notre Dame will clinch a BCS National Championship game birth with a win over a USC team that has managed to lose 4 games and will be without it’s starting quarterback, Matt Barkley. Think again! USC still has the best wide receivers in the country and will be playing with absolutely nothing to lose. Lane Kiffin will be back next year according to USC AD Pat Haden. USC will be replacing Barkley with former 5 star recruit Max Wittek, who is big (6-4, 235lbs) and has a huge arm. Kiffin is a coach playing with house money. He knows no one is expecting him to win with a freshman quarterback and disappointing team, but Haden said he will be back and Kiffin will construct his best game plan as a coach in his young career. USC will expose Notre Dame’s defensive weakness, their defensive backs, with talented wide receivers Marquise Lee and Robert Woods and Wittek has plenty of arm to get them the ball. A loose, talented USC team beats a less talented, tight Notre Dame team with all the pressure in the world on it.
Nebraska 31, Iowa 17: Iowa will put up a good fight on senior day in Iowa City against one of their biggest rivals, but ultimately Taylor Martinez and the rest of the Nebraska offense proves to be too much for the Hawkeyes. The regression of James Vandenberg continues as he completes less than 50% of his passes and is picked twice, one of which is returned for a touchdown in the second half thwarting any ideas of an Iowa comeback.
Northwestern 23, Illinois 10: On paper this should be a blowout for the Wildcats. However, this is rivalry week and the Illini are playing with nothing to lose. The Illini dig deep and play with pride and effort, keeping the game close until Venrick Mark rips off a long touchdown run late in the second half to ice the game for the Cats.
Indiana 38, Purdue 30: The Old Oaken Bucket game should be a shootout in West Lafayette. Danny Hope is coaching for his job and the Boilermakers are playing for a bowl game. Purdue will come up short and we will see the Danny Hope era at Purdue come to an end. Robert Marve looks great in his last game as a collegian, but is out dueled be Indiana true freshman quarterback Nate Sudfield.
Ohio State 20, Michigan 16: Ohio State wasted a perfect season this year by not self-imposing a one year bowl ban last year. Instead the Buckeyes went to a bowl game last year after a 6-6 season with interim coach Luke Fickell. That was a huge mistake as Urban Meyer has the Buckeyes unbeaten and with the way things are shaking out this year in college football the Buckeyes would have been playing in the BCS National Championship game. Ohio State and Notre Dame are the only unbeaten BCS teams left. Ohio State beats Michigan behind the legs of who else but Braxton Miller.
Michigan State 17, Minnesota 9: Outside of a breakout performance against Purdue the Minnesota offense has been putrid in Big Ten play. Aside from the Purdue game, which the Gophers scored 44 points in they have scored: 13, 13, 13, 13, 17, and 14 points in conference games. That simply isn’t good enough. The Gophers have a true freshman quarterback in Philip Nelson, have gone through 5 different starting rotations along the offensive line due to injury and just lost their most productive wide receiver. Now the Gophers are going up against what is arguably the conference’s top defense in Michigan State. The Spartans are pissed and desperate, needing a win to become bowl eligible. The Gophers on the other hand already have become bowl eligible and most people are slapping them on the back for doing so. I will go with the urgency factor here and pick Michigan State as Minnesota will be held to single digit points for the first time all year.
Penn State 24, Wisconsin 21: The Nittany Lions aren’t going to a bowl game so they will be extra fired up for their last game of the year. An emotional Nittany Lions team playing in honor of injured senior linebacker Michael Mauti gets out of the gate quickly building a 14-0 lead at halftime and will hang on at the end preserving a victory on senior day in Happy Valley. Bill O’Brien locks up coach of the year honors in the B1G with the win.
Last Week: 5-1, Overall: 72-18 (.800)
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