Thursday, September 10, 2009

Big Weekend for Big Ten: My Week 2 Picks for the 11 a.m. games

It's time for another week of picks. Last week the Big Ten went 10-1 and I went 11-0 with my picks. I plan to stay undefeated this week with my picks, but if I do, then the Big Ten certainly will not have a 10-1 record this week. Lets take a look at the games...

Western Michigan (0-1) vs. Indiana (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on the Big Ten Network
Who to watch For: Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller completed 22 passes for 259 yards against Michigan last week, throwing one touchdown and two interceptions. Hiller ranks 13th all time in MAC history in career passing yards and 6th in career passing touchdowns.
Prediction: Indiana will pick up win number two, which is good because wins are going to be hard to come by for the Hoosiers as the season progresses. Indiana 17, Western Michigan 10

Central Michigan (0-1) vs. Michigan St. (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on ESPN2
Who to watch for: CMU QB Dan LeFevour has passed for 9,575 yards, thrown 74 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,253 in his career as a Chippewa.
Prediction: Michigan St. will continue to use both Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol at QB, and the MSU defense will be too much for the Chippewas. Michigan State 30, Central Michigan 14

Eastern Michigan (0-1) vs. Northwestern (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on the Big Ten Network
Who to watch for: Northwestern's Corey Wootton is on the watch list for several defensive awards this season. The defensive end only played a quarter in week 1 vs. Towson after sitting out much of spring practice nursing the Torn ACL he suffered in the Alamo Bowl last season. Look to see if he gets more time this weekend.
Prediction: Wildcats QB Mike Kafka has a big day and Northwestern trounces EMU, 40-10.

Syracuse (0-1) vs. Penn St (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on the Big Ten Network
Who to watch for: Daryll Clark and Greg Paulus. Look for Clark to have another big day at QB for the Lions, but I expect Paulus to have a pretty good game in his second career start with the Orange.
Prediction: This will be a close game for one or two quarters, but the Lions pull away in the second half. Penn State 37, Syracuse 17.

Iowa (1-0) vs. Iowa State (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on FSN (Mediacom in Iowa)
Who to watch for: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was almost non-existent in Iowa's near stumble against FCS foe Northern Iowa. Last year, "DJK" was one of Ricky Stanzi's go-to receivers, having 44 catches for 639 yards. But last week, he made only one catch for 22 yards and only saw the field for a couple of plays.
Prediction: First Rivalry game of the season, the Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Although the Hawkeyes never seem to play well at Iowa State, I see Iowa winning a close one to get them to 2-0. Hawkeyes win this one 24-17.

Fresno State (1-0) vs. Wisconsin (1-0)
Game Time: 11 a.m. on ESPN
Who to watch for: Fresno State running back Ryan Matthews ran for 106 yards last week against UC-Davis. The junior has run for over 1,500 yards in his career.
Prediction: *UPSET ALERT* Wisconsin almost blew it last week at home against Northern Illinois, look for Fresno State to pull off the upset at Camp Randall this week. Fresno State wins it on the road, 36-27

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