I know a boat you can get on.
Always with the show tunes with you, Geritol Fan! So distracting. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Let's see if Gopher Nation is going to get over that Gameday didn't come here, and instead went to the Alabama-LSU "Game of the Century", which is not even the game of the year.
It's not difficult to understand why they went there:
 |
| Lee Corso wants to stay warm |
That's cold, old dude.
Some day you'll understand.
I'm feeling the HYYYYYYYYPPPPEEE!, and it is time to watch me work.
Penn State Nittany Lions (-6.5) vs. Minnesota Golden Elite Rowers of the Boat. So, this is the biggest home game for the Gophers since 2003. If you remember, the Gophers blew a huge lead to Michigan back then, and they didn't ever recover under Glenn Mason. There is a lot of excitement around these parts, but this is the first real opponent that the Gophers have faced, and people forget that they narrowly escaped a loss 3 times outside of league play. Penn State has big game experience, and will not be overawed by the environment. The biggest advantage that Penn State has is that they will be in football mode strictly, whereas the Gophers have to listen to the local media hype them up as contenders. It's too early to think about the playoff or Pasadena, because the Gophers will get exposed badly. The Gophers have not won a big game in years, and until he proves me wrong, P.J. Fleck is still a snake oil salesman who only cares about himself and his brand. Penn State 35, Capsize Your Boat Elitely 10.
It's a nice brand, though. You may be right. I think it's close, because the Gophers have improved, but Penn State has seen this before. Penn State 28, Gophers 20.
Iowa Hawkeyes (+8.5) vs. Beloved Wisconsin Badgers This game is going to be a lot closer than you may think. Iowa and Wisconsin have always played very close, and this game matters in the Big Ten West. It's not a guarantee that the Gophers are going to go to Indianapolis, despite Gopher homer and Gophers approved KFAN commentator Justin Gaard's protestations. The Badgers haven't been playing well lately, but they are historically a very good team in November when coming back in the division. Iowa will be a tough out, because history tells us that. Badgers 24, Iowa 17.
I actually listen to Barreiro's show when I'm driving home from work and, oddly enough, the Gophers have only been getting moderate levels of hype. And, not surprisingly, the Badgers and the Hawkeyes aren't a topic this week. Bucky and Iowa both have had a week to nurse their wounds. Game is in Camp Randall and that should be enough. Wisconsin 21, Iowa 10.
The 131st Bronze Turkey Bowl: Knox College Prairie Fire (NL) vs. Monmouth College Scots This is by far the most important rivalry game happening this weekend. My beloved Prairie Fire are venturing onto Monmouth's home turf, for the legendary Bronze Turkey Bowl game. Take it from me, a totally unbiased source. I am a proud Knox alum, and Monmouth College is our biggest rival. We might not be very good at sports, but we did host Abraham Lincoln once. I wrote this blog post, and Monmouth College gave me a degree in English with highest honors and named me valedictorian. Knox 49, Monmouth 0.
They are generous at Monmouth. But the nasty Scots also kick Knox's butt in football every year. And this year will be no exception. Monmouth 49, Knox 20.
Minnesota Vikings (+2.5) vs. Dallas How Bout Them Cowboahs? So the Vikings are heading into Jerry World to take on the Cowboys in a pretty good game. Adam Thielen is going to miss this game due to injury, which sucks for the Vikings. The biggest culprit in last week's loss for the Vikings was a bad shank of a punt, that made it easier for the Chiefs to walk off as winners. What the Vikings need to do is to jump on the Cowboys and force them to pass. It worked for the Packers last month, and that should be the recipe. If the Vikings lose this game, they would have to make up a likely 2 game deficit on the Packers, and would be looking at winning three road playoff games in the playoffs. Cowboys 31, Vikings 17.
I don't trust either of these teams. Kirk Cousins struggles in prime time, but this time the good Cousins shows up. Vikings 28, Cowboys 24.
Carolina Panthers (+4.5) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers The Packers had a terrible performance last week in California, but thankfully everyone else in the division lost. Carolina has improved under Kyle Allen, who honestly has some talent. I remember him being good as a Texas A&M Aggie and a Houston Cougar. The Packers are going to have to avoid looking ahead to two weeks down the line in the Bay Area. The Packers just need to play better and get back to what makes them good. Packers 35, Panthers 24.
Christian McCaffrey scares me. A lot. The Packers will have to outscore the Panthers. Fortunately, they will. Packers 41, Panthers 31.
Enjoy your football weekend, and be safe if you are going out hunting this weekend. Ben out.
5 comments:
D the Greek strikes again! Called the Vikings/Cowboys game score on the nose!
You were much more optimistic than I concerning my Vikings club.
Not only the score, but also about forcing the Cowboys to pass. One can easily question the Vikings pass D last night, but some of those throws and catches were unreal. I actually came away from last night's game feeling better about the MN corners. Despite the fact they were clearly picking on him, I thought he did a good job, and didn't get called for clutching and grabbing, or get caught peeking into the backfield. I was trying to make my own D-the-Greek prediction in the 4th quarter that Hughes would get a pick-6 to seal the game. And not even D the Greek could have predicted how thoroughly Zeke would be shut down with Linval Joseph not playing.
Re the Gophers, Benster can disparage the Row the Boat mantra as much as he wants, but don't overlook who all is on board that boat. PJ has brought some serious talent and depth to the team; 3 quality RBs, 3 quality WRs, a massive O-line, a not-flashy but very accurate QB, and some real athletes on defense. I had doubts about the D earlier in the season (all the way through the Purdue game) but one thing they learned from all that was some 4th quarter resiliency. A couple of those games were won by last minute defensive plays, and I was remembering those as Penn State was driving at the end. The Gophs didn't crumble.
Re the Gophers, Benster can disparage the Row the Boat mantra as much as he wants, but don't overlook who all is on board that boat. PJ has brought some serious talent and depth to the team; 3 quality RBs, 3 quality WRs, a massive O-line, a not-flashy but very accurate QB, and some real athletes on defense.
True to a certain extent, although several key players on this team are holdovers from Kill/Claeys.
True; Kill did start the long slog toward attracting more athletic players, garnering some 3-stars, which ultimately helps you win some 4-stars. Rodney Smith, Tyler Johnson and Carter Coughlin are good examples, but a huge percentage of the team are freshman and sophomores, especially the O-line (which may have been "bred" more than recruited). Recruiting is the lifeblood of college athletics, and I'm sure one of the reasons Fleck wanted Game Day here is because of how it would turbo-charge recruiting.The way he runs the program might rankle overall, but it seems to work with young men and their families (except for the Benster). A New Year's Day bowl game, and the new contract, will bump the recruiting into a whole new orbit. Those oars are going to be making a splash for awhile.
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