I did well overall last week going 13-1 (thanks Marshall), but just 5-6 against the spread. Here is how I see week #2 going. Read and comment below.



Ball State (0-1) at Purdue (1-0) - Noon

Site: Lafayette , Ind. - Ross-Ade Stadium (62,500/Prescription Athletic Turf)
Coaches: BSU-Brady Hoke (4-9, second season); PU-Joe Tiller (56-32, eighth season at PU; 95-62-1, 14th season overall).

Highlights:

Purdue has won seven in a row at home since a season-opening loss to Bowling Green last year.
The Boilermakers shutout Syracuse , 51-0 Sunday while Ball State failed to get into the end zone in a 19-11 loss to Boston College .
BSU's last non-conference road win was at Connecticut in 2002.
QB Billy Lynch was 19-of-32 for 147 yards in his first start.
WR Dante Ridgeway has 141 career receptions, five away from the school record of 146 held by Deon Chester (1984-87).
Comment: The Cardinals played very well against a good Boston College team and may be a little better than many prognosticators had figured. Purdue totally destroyed Syracuse last week and have two weeks off to prepare for Illinois and then Notre Dame. Look for Ball State to make a game of it.

Nicks Pick: Purdue 38 – Ball State 14
Line: Purdue by 30



Central Michigan (0-1) at Michigan State (0-1) - Noon

Television: ESPN Plus (Craig Coshun, John Cooper)
Site: Lansing , Mich. - Spartan Stadium (72,027/natural grass)
Coaches: CMU-Brian Kelly (0-1 first season at CMU; 118-36-2, 14th season overall); MSU-John L. Smith (8-6, second season at MSU; 118-66, 16th season overall).

Highlights:

The Chippewas play their second straight Big Ten opponent on the road after opening the season at Indiana .
Jerry Seymour accounted for nearly half of CMU's offense in the 41-10 loss to the Hoosiers as he rushed for 111 yards on 21 carries and had a team-high 62 receiving yards.
QB Grant Arnoldink, a former walk-on, started his first game since he was in high school in 1999.
MSU dropped its season opener 19-14 at Rutgers .
Comment: The ‘Chips looked very bad defensively against an anemic Indiana offense last week, so even though the Spartans offense was terrible against Rutgers last week, they should be able to tee-off against Central for a convincing win. Thos two straight seasons of CMU beating MSU in East Lansing are a long time ago.

Nicks Pick: Michigan State 35 – Central Michigan 7
Line: Michigan State by 26



Western Michigan (1-0) at Virginia Tech (0-1) - 1:00

Site: Blacksburg , Va. - Lane Stadium (65,115/natural grass)
Series: VT leads 2-0
Coaches: WMU-Gary Darnell (46-36, eighth season at WMU, 52-58, 12 th season overall); VT-Frank Beamer (125-75-2 18th season at VT; 167-98-4 24th season overall).



More Here:

<a href='http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/nickpics/week02.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.vandelaysports.com/football/nic...pics/week02.htm</a>

Um, Billy Lynch has been gone for a few years. Joey Lynch is the BSU quarterback.

You are correct Mike - sorry.
I believe Billy is now an assistant coach at Miami (O) now.

No way the Flames score 23 on the Flashes. Bold prediction...Flashes pitch a shutout. More likely, 3-10 points. I believe that the defense is THAT improved! Douse the Flames!

Regarding your analysis of the Kansas/Toledo game, there was a stat there that glared out at me. I think, deep down on a gut level, that I sorta KNEW it, but to see it in print....damn.

Quote:#&nbsp; Toledo&nbsp; has given up 49 or more points in six of the last 30 games.

That's 20% of the last 30 games.

I realize, with today's many high-scoring offenses, that the days of shutting out many opponents are long gone, but that's just horrendous. Defenses ought to be p****d off when the opposition scores ONCE, never mind 9 times. Toledo has got to get back to that mentality, imo. I'd be perfectly happy if the DEFENSE was the star of the team.

Karl Wrote:never mind 9 times.

For some reason, I heard Mr. Rooney saying this.

Karl Wrote:

Quote:# &nbsp; Toledo &nbsp; has given up 49 or more points in six of the last 30 games.

That's 20% of the last 30 games.

And 33 percent of the last three Bowling Green games.



:D

:rolleyes: This coming from a BG fan when Toledo put 51 points on the board the year before BG put 56.

In fact, looking at the total score of the past 4 games between Toledo and BG......

Toledo 137
BGSU ™ 128

Comment: Pitt did not play last week and may start out a little sluggish in this contest. Ohio ’s new spread offense looked very good against I-AA VMI last week. Ohio is much improved this year and should be able to stay with the Panthers for most of the game.

rocketfootball Wrote::rolleyes: This coming from a BG fan when Toledo put 51 points on the board the year before BG put 56.

In fact, looking at the total score of the past 4 games between Toledo and BG......

Toledo 137
BGSU 128

Looking at the total score of the past 68 games between Toledo and BG...

Bowling Green 1278
Toledo 1206

:D

Schadenfreude Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote::rolleyes:&nbsp; This coming from a BG fan when Toledo put 51 points on the board the year before BG put 56.

In fact, looking at the total score of the past 4 games between Toledo and BG......

Toledo 137
BGSU 128

Looking at the total score of the past 68 games between Toledo and BG...

Bowling Green 1278
Toledo 1206

:D

Seems pretty close. If there were some games that UT gave up 50 points to BG then there were some games that BG gave up 50 points to UT.

Remember that one score:

1935
Toledo 63
BGSU™ 0

Nick: you are incorrect in blaming CMU's defense for what happened at IU. Keep in mind that we limited the Hoosiers to 331 total yards, and one of IU's TDs was a returned interception. The biggest culprits were poor punting and kick coverage, which allowed Indiana good to great field position all day long. Our two turnovers also hurt more, as IU took one to the house and scored after the other. I don't think CMU scored after either of Indiana's fumbles.

Nicks Pick: Northern Illinois 24 – Southern Illinois 23

Actual Final: NIU 23, SIU 22.

Nick...you the man!!

NIU....

At least CMU beat the spread (line was 26, MOV for MSU was 17). Still a pretty good pick though, Nick.


Thank you, NIU, for knocking off SIU. The #1 I-AA team was good, but not good enough!

Kent leads Liberty early 14-0.

Kansas 28, Toledo 0? WTF, Rockets? :mad:

Indiana 20, Oregon 0! :eek: CMU's loss last week is starting to look a little better!

HuronDave Wrote:Nicks Pick: Northern Illinois 24 – Southern Illinois 23

Actual Final: NIU 23, SIU 22.

Nick...you the man!!

NIU....

I'll give EMU 10 points and let SIU play with only 9 guys and the Salukis still win!

WazzuHuskie Wrote:

HuronDave Wrote:Nicks Pick:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Northern Illinois 24 – Southern Illinois 23

Actual Final: NIU 23, SIU 22.

Nick...you the man!!&nbsp;

NIU....

I'll give EMU 10 points and let SIU play with only 9 guys and the Salukis still win!

Not this year my friend.

Geez, have you ever seen somebody so cocky after his team loses 49-10? :wave:

HuronDave Wrote:Geez, have you ever seen somebody so cocky after his team loses 49-10? :wave:

Huh?

NIU won 23-22? Where did you get the 49-10?

WazzuHuskie Wrote:

HuronDave Wrote:Geez, have you ever seen somebody so cocky after his team loses 49-10?&nbsp; :wave:

Huh?

NIU won 23-22? Where did you get the 49-10?

Uh, that was self-deprecating humor. EMU lost to Florida today, 49-10. :tomato:

HuronDave Wrote:

WazzuHuskie Wrote:

HuronDave Wrote:Geez, have you ever seen somebody so cocky after his team loses 49-10?  :wave:

Huh?

NIU won 23-22? Where did you get the 49-10?

Uh, that was self-deprecating humor. EMU lost to Florida today, 49-10. :tomato:

Oh man...I am a moron. I looked past that.

Sorry dude.