SB Nation - Adam Weber

2009 Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition: Across The Board, Marked Improvement Over 2008

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:08:08 -0000

Another year has passed and no Big Ten QB has made any kind of national impact...or at least a positive one. Terrelle Pryor was on the tail end of some Heisman lists, but the USC game quickly bucked him off those. Daryll Clark found himself spewing astronomical stats in almost every game...except the ones that mattered on a BCS level.

2009 QB Rankings, First Edition: Optimism!

2009 QB Rankings, Second Edition: Back to Reality!

2009 QB Rankings, Third Edition: You're Better Than This!

One obvious observation - the quarterback play was improved all the way across the Big Ten. In fact, let me illustrate this:

Improved QB Situation from 2008: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, NW, Wisconsin, Indiana,

Declining QB Situation from 2008: Illinois, Minnesota

Similar QB Situation of 2008: Penn State, OSU, Iowa

In the running back focused league of 2008, QB's struggled with injuries and consistency. Although two of them (Painter, Hoyer) made it to 3rd string status in the NFL, the ratings were horrendous and offenses stagnated badly when the run game was slowed. Last year, only four quarterbacks had a 126 QB rating or higher. This year, that number rose to nine.

Our group of QB's here, who mostly avoided injuries, consists of four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. Since none of the seven non-seniors are good enough to jump to the NFL right now, that's a good amount of returning starters for next year. Weber and Forcier will face major challenges to their hold on the starting job. Without further adieu, enjoy the 2009 Big Ten Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition.

	QB	Team	Comments
#1	Daryll Clark	PSU	Destroyed Michigan State last week. Rivals has him as the 27th best QB in the nation, for what it's worth. Since this rankings inception in 2008, has always been #1 in my rankings.
#2	Mike Kafka	NW	Played his best game of the year versus Wisky, a mistake free 326 yard, 2 TD performance. Ran the NW Spread well all year and would have semi-torched PSU if not for injury.
#3	Kirk Cousins	MSU	Laser-rocket armed Baptist boy will be an asset for the Spartans for the next two years. Hit a bit of a sophomore wall toward the end of the year, running into Penn State and Purdue defenses who confused him into picks and incompletions. Cousins v. Western: 22-25, 353 yards, 2 TD's. Nice.
#4	Terrelle Pryor	OSU	All he does is win games, right? That's bullshit. He would have won more games if he didn't go noodle armed against Purdue and USC. Does TreS misuse him? Yes. But when Pryor get's unleashed, things get wild. TP is almost impossible to slow on the ground, as witnessed in AA Saturday.
#5	Joey Elliot	PU	A great leader and less injury prone than Painter. 22/13 TD/INT ratio compared to 13/11 for 2008 Painter. Also sported a QB Rating 13 points higher. 8 TD's in his final three games. Definitely one of the pleasant surprises in the Big Ten.
#6	Scott Tolzien	WI	FAR better than the 2008 combo of Evridge/Sherer. Blew apart a couple opponents selling out to stop the run. Things to work on in the offseason: 1) Mobility and 2) Not being so cavalier throwing the ball into coverage. 16/10 TD/INT Ratio.
#7	Ricky Stanzi	Iowa	Worse QB rating than 2008 and almost lost a couple of games with INT's. After an offseason of Tom Brady comparisons and TRE's orgasmic musings about perfect mechanics, took a step backward by throwing some inconceivable picks. Injury won't affect 2010 performance.
#8	Ben Chappell	IND	Another pleasant surprise who made a habit of scaring the hell out of teams in the first half, only to regress terrible in the second half. Stats v. Wisky three weeks ago: 25-35, 323 yards, 3 TD's, 2 Picks. Microcosm of a thoroughly entertaining Hoosier team.
#9	Adam Weber	MN	I called for his benching four weeks ago. After torching State like Stewie torching Brian during the "Got My Money" Family Guy episode, had three consecutive bad performances. This offense can't transition to MarQueis Gray quick enough. Threw the single worst Big Ten pass of the year (the pick6 to Derek Domino of South Dakota St).
#10	Juice Williams	ILL	Juice shredded Michigan and was generally effective versus NW. Early season struggles are hard to overcome on this list though, especially coming from the main catalyst of the Big Ten's most disappointing team.
#11	Tate Forcier	UM	He's not REALLY the worst QB in the Big Ten. But I'm a Michigan fan and he threw four picks against OSU, thus prolonging a 5 game losing streak.

Throwing It All Away

JG2112 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:24:10 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Need I say I'm sorry?

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In 2005, Minnesota traveled to Michigan and won the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986. I was very pleased - for the first time as a Gopher student/alum, I was able to call my father, the Michigan grad, and gloat. He was gracious and congratulatory, as it had been only the 4th time in his lifetime that the Jug took up residence in Minnesota. Perhaps the Gophers were on the rise?

After the victory, I really hoped that the Gophers would build on such a rare victory to have a special season. It didn't happen - the Gophers lost their next two at home to Wisconsin and to Ohio State, later was blown out by Iowa, and then lost the annual Music City Bowl appearance to Virginia. I was really disheartened - after such a great and rare victory, the Gophers stumbled and wasted it. I felt they had thrown it all away.

Fast forward to today. I've got the same feeling after watching the Gophers stumble to what really was their third shutout in Big Ten play this year (one TD against Ohio State in garbage time). Obviously, this is not because of any heavyweight victory, but because of the team itself. This season was thrown away by Tim Brewster in early 2009.

Prior performance obviously cannot guarantee future results. However, look at this bio line:

In his fourth season coordinating Northwestern's spread attack and his fifth at NU overall, Mike Dunbar has the Wildcat offense ranked among the nation's elite after averaging more than 400 yards per game in 2004.

A year ago, Northwestern ranked 29th nationally in total offense (409.5 ypg) while facing a formidable slew of defenses. In the Big Ten, the Wildcats ranked fourth in total offense (third in rushing offense and third in passing offense).

Look at that. Third in rushing offense. That was during Dunbar's third season as Northwestern's offensive coordinator. That Northwestern team beat Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois in finishing 6-6. Dunbar obviously knew how to coordinate a successful Big Ten offense, he just needed more talent and practice within the system for Minnesota to get it work. Dunbar's third season at Minnesota would have been ..... 2009.

Instead, Brewster threw it all away.

MarQueis Gray is still the highest-profile recruit Brewster has signed at Minnesota. As has been stated around here before, he was delayed a year due to GPA / entrance exam issues. He was obviously recruited to play in Dunbar's spread offense. Had Dunbar been retained, Gray probably would have been utlized more than 3 isolated plays a game, and certainly would not have been foolishly used as a WR in certain sets (if you've trying to have a QB learn a playbook, and the limited nature of his playing time suggests he hasn't grasped much of said playbook, the last thing you'd do is make him practice as a WR too, right?) It's not too far-fetched to think that Gray could have started a few games this year had the spread been the base offense.

Instead, Brewster threw that all away, and in all honesty, threw away a year (or more) of Gray's college career.

And what more to say about this defense? What a performance today, and in all honesty, this whole season. The seniors have all played really sound, fundamental defense all year, and were a joy to watch. I was very skeptical of a few aspects of this defense prior to and during the first month of the year, and I'm going to ingest crow. Kevin Cosgrove, you've done very well this year. Ronnie Lee, really? Fine job.

And this must stand alone: Ryan Collado, when used as a run-stopper or blitzer, you are a fine player. I am happy the coaches have figured out your strengths.

And yet, Brewster has thrown the excellent performance of this group of seniors all away.

On retrospect, this team would have won the Wisconsin and Illinois games and yes, could have won the Iowa game had the team not decided to trash and re-vamp its offense during the offseason. A spread offense system can really simplify the scheme for younger quarterbacks, which could have given Gray more playing time. And yes, Adam Weber would have been in year 3 of the scheme and could have worked on better synergy with his linemen and teammates, instead of having to sit in meetings every day with Jedd Fisch learning the 500 hand signals needed to comprehend his plays.

The 2009 season was a natural crescendo for the defensive players on the team, and Brewster should have known that. He had a group of JUCOs that he signed that were seniors, along with Brown, Small, Campbell, and Triplett. This year was a year to make a statement with the team moving into a new stadium and having the nation's attention.

However, whenever the Gophers had a network audience, what happened? Functional to very good defense was squandered because an offense was suffering from its offensive coordinator learning how to call plays on the fly.

As we all predicted how this season would turn out for Minnesota, the TDG consensus was slightly below to right around .500. Obviously, they ended up right at .500. However, the road traveled has been really unsatisfactory. What should have been a team in Brewster's third year humming on all cylinders with a fast, athletic offense and veteran defense descended into a team with that great defense, but with a slow, plodding confused offense that in 5 of its games scored 0 or 1 offensive touchdowns. It descended into fans and Gopher coaches yelling at each other during the SDSU game.

As the team looks to 2010, it has to replace 9 senior starters on defense, as well as its most prolific WR ever, get its linemen in functional shape so a running game can get established, and most importantly, Jedd Fisch needs to pare back his playbook so that Gray and Weber can comprehend what the hell he wants to do. Calling a coherent game plan would also be welcome.

College football has really been tough for this writer and his father since the 2007 season has started. Both schools the family supports have had the worst year in their respective histories. Despite that, we both have optimism things are turning around, no matter what the MSM wants to tell the uninformed fan. All that is really asked for is some consistency, some organic growth, not tearing down that which was or is growing well and could become something special. So, as my father hopes that his alma mater doesn't throw it all away by dumping a coach with 89 freshmen and sophomores on his roster and with 25 more on the way this year, I also hope that Brewster will stay the course, let his team develop, not bow to pressure to change coaches or coordinators, and not throw it all away. I hope that when Minnesota and Michigan play again for that Jug in 2011, the winner of the game can do more with it than what was done in 2005.

Not the 12-0 We Wanted Most, But a 12-0 We'll Gladly Take

Oops Pow Surprise — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:05:29 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

WHO WANTS STEEL RIBS OR STEEL HAM? (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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So. A month ago, if you'd been told that "12-0" was happening today, you'd probably be getting all giddy and buying a ticket for Pasadena. Of course, that 12-0 didn't come to fruition, on account of the Stanzageddon and all, but we do have the next best thing: Iowa 12, Minnesota 0.

Was it ugly? Christ yes, it was ugly; Iowa was 1-12 on 3rd down conversions, and theirs wasn't even the ugliest offense of the game.

Minnesota's offense, on the other hand, was one of the worst we've seen all season long. The two Minnesota quarterbacks - Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray - combined to go 14-42 through the air for 153 yards and one interception. That's an average of 3.6 yards per attempt, which is melt-your-retinas ugly. Oh, and Weber lost two of his three fumbles. Yes, Minnesota accounted for more yards than Iowa--201 to 171--but they needed 18 more plays to do so, meaning Iowa's own train wreck of an offense was at least more efficient. Sort of.

As for that Iowa offense, what's there to say? They clearly missed Adam Robinson's running ability when he went down with a re-injury of his ankle; he should be back in plenty of time for the bowl, so no real harm done here. But Brandon Wegher, from Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, one of the great town names in America (/Musberger'd), is really not an every-down back yet, and has no business trying to fill that role right now. That's not to say he's a bust or anything nearly as dour; it's just that there's a reason why, if all the tailbacks were healthy, he'd be about 4th or 5th string right now (Jewel Hampton, Robinson, Jeff Brinson, and maybe Paki Bomb). He's just a true freshman. Most true freshmen aren't ready to run the rock 25 times in a game--especially when they're evidently so green with the playbook that they're telegraphing every run play before the snap.

In fact, if this game proved anything, it's that injuries have wrecked any hope or semblance of consistency for the Iowa offense; James Vandenberg was the 20th different player to start on offense for Iowa this season. For the Iowa defense? 15--and two of those extra four starters were at the same position (Greg Castillo and Willie Lowe, for Shaun Prater at LCB). That's remarkably important; continuity is a big deal in a team sport like football, and as much as Kirk Ferentz and his staff preach the importance of the "next man in," with the notable exception of Riley Reiff, there's always been a marked dropoff in performance from starter to backup.

Thus, getting healthy for the bowl game and getting the best possible lineup (Bulaga, Dace Richardson, Rafael Eubanks, Reiff, and Kyle Calloway on the line; A-Rob and Brett Morse in the backfield; Trey Stross, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, and Tony Moeaki as receivers) would be a welcome development for the offense. How many times has that ideal lineup been healthy and starting all at once? Twice: at Wisconsin and about the first 10 minutes of at Michigan State.

And let's not even get started on losing Hampton and Brinson before the season.

Yes, the above lineup is pretty unimpeachably Iowa's best; while Marvin McNutt is obviously talented, he's done his best as the third receiver instead of starting at wideout--think back to Mo Brown in 2002, for example. Unless something bad happens in practice between now and the bowl game, the Iowa offense is going to look a lot better, and it'll be independent of the playcalling (which always looks a lot better when the players can reliably execute it).

As for the defense, they were utterly lights-out; Weber was harassed throughout the day, and it's to his credit that he was "only" sacked five times. The Iowa defensive line combined for 7.0 TFL and 4 of the 5 sacks, and they abused the offensive line so thoroughly that Bob Griese was left questioning everything about the Gopher unit and their commitment to the sport. That was nice.

Really, this was as vintage a 2009 Iowa game as any this season. The offense struggled through injuries to key contributors but put up enough points to take a double-digit lead, and the defense choked the opposing offense to death long before the final whistle sounded. It's never been pretty, but at the end of the day, you cannot argue with this: it's another 10-win season for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Well done, men. Well done indeed.

Now let's go cook up some steel bacon for dinner.

When the Expected Happens Unexpectedly

Buck Bravo — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:53:35 -0000

Everyone expected Iowa to cruise to an easy win versus Minnesota. Prior to the game, I would have made the following arguments for a decisive Iowa victory:

Iowa's offense will dominate the Minnesota defensive line. What happened?: Minnesota's defense dominated Iowa's offense. Iowa's second string freshman quarterback couldn't figure out the blitz and the Gopher defense would have allowed only 3 points had the Gopher offense functioned at even a low level of competence.
Iowa's defense is one of the best in the Big Ten, and will shut down Minnesota's offense by overwhelming the offensive line. What happened?: Minnesota's offensive line held their own against the Iowa defensive front. Adam Weber had plenty of time to throw the ball more often than not, but was unable to hit his receivers. Iowa did stop the running game up the middle, but sweep plays were effective when set up properly.
Iowa will win by a wide margin due to superior athletes on the field and great coaching. What happened?: Minnesota had the better players, especially on defense. Kevin Cosgrove's defense held the Hawkeyes to just 12 points, despite compensating for an offense that was working against them. Iowa was held to 55 yards rushing and 172 total yards of total offense.

So, what was unexpected? Minnesota had better players and should have won the game. Nobody expected that to be the case. Minnesota's defense was the most dominant on the field, Minnesota's offensive line provided ample time for Weber in the pocket, and Minnesota had better speed.

Why did the Gophers lose? Both teams had bad quarterbacking, but Minnesota's was so horrendous that it actually lost the game. 2 fumbles, an interception, and only 35% passing efficiency. Several wide open receivers were flat out missed.

Why did this happen? there are two possibilities:

If MarQuies Gray is incapable of running more than one play in a row and there are no other players trained to play quarterback, then the coaching staff was forced to leave Weber in and hope that he figures things out.
If MarQuies Gray is capable of running at least a simple offense and the coaching staff is unwilling to let him play, than the coaches lost this game. There is no remaining doubt that Gray is a superior athlete, and it is unlikely that he is less accurate with his passing game than Weber. He could have been instructed to look at one receiver, and run if the throw wasn't there. It would have been better than getting shut out.

The Gophers should have won had it been for different personnel at just one position. A few questions to ask:

So, if Gray cannot run a simple offense and Alipate is redshirting, is there another quarterback who could have been brought in who would have been even remotely competent?
What ever happened to David Pittman? Wasn't he the JUCO player of the year as a quarterback? Why is he riding the bench as a wide receiver when he could have been a backup quarterback?
Wasn't Troy Stoudermire a high school quarterback? Could he have at least been trained to run the Wildcat formation during emergency situations and put in for the second half?

At least this year they only lost by 12.

Game Thread - Minnesota at Iowa, November 21, 2009

JG2112 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:25:59 -0000

More photos » by CHARLIE NEIBERGALL - AP

We're coming for you Floyd.

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Screw that negativity. Minnesota is going to take back the PIG. We've got that beautiful trophy case in TCF Bank Stadium and IT NEEDS SWINE.

Here are a couple keys to the game today:

(1) If Iowa is getting to Adam Weber without having to blitz, Minnesota's offense is in trouble.

(2) If Iowa QB Vandenberg throws a couple interceptions (Iowa has 11 TOs the past three games), Minnesota has to capitalize on the mistakes and turn them into points.

(3) Watch Iowa WRs Marvin McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos against the Gophers secondary. Simmons and Sherels are a little bit nicked up, and McNutt has a decided height (6'5") and speed advantage over Simmons and Carter. The MN safeties have to provide support and pick up the run fakes quickly and accurately in order to stop the Herkeye running attack.

Thanks for coming here all year to chat. Let's not let this descend into WEBER HATE DAY. Remember: THIS IS HERKEYE HATE WEEK. Focus your antipathy on the enemy - there is plenty of time for navel-gazing, starting tomorrow.

Big Game Weekend Morning Thread

Avinash — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:00:17 -0000

IT'S BIG GAME MORNING GOLDEN BEARS! Mike Tepper says all that needs to be said.

Before we get to the games on tap, let's talk about how awesome our professors can be for teaching through fire alarms (the answer is no, because no one at the Furd would ever protest anything unless it was ironic. It's confusing why Twist never transferred there). All hail Professor Tse for finishing his lecture on the Evans Hall exterior!

Here are the side dishes first. Schedule for the morning's after the jump!

7 AM PST/10 AM EST
College Gameday from Tucson: They're just making sure they go to all the Pac-10 schools before ending up in Berkeley one day.

9 AM PST/noon EST

Ohio State at Michigan, ABC HD: Rich Rod probably isn't fighting for his job, but the Harbaugh love machine is rolling. Something for Cal fans to keep their eyes on.

Harvard at Yale, Versus: The only rivalry game nerdier than ours. This actually might be the best game of the morning.

Chattanooga at Alabama, SEC TV/CSN California: There should be a rule that you lose a spot in the rankings for scheduling a game like this so late.

Minnesota at Iowa, ESPN HD: The fate of another Big 10 BCS at-large bid (Fiesta?) hangs on Adam Weber's arm. Oh God.

North Carolina at Boston College, ESPN2 HD: Battle for the Meineke Car Care Bowl?

Duke at Miami, ESPNU: Cutcliffe's running out of opportunities to take the the Blue Devisl

9:30 AM/12:30 PM EST

Oklahoma at Texas Tech, FSN HD/CSN Bay Area: Last year this was the Big 12 title game. Now...winner goes to the Alamo Bowl? How times have changed.

Poll

It's Big Game Saturday and I am....

Excited

54 votes

Nervous

51 votes

Dour

10 votes

Angry

4 votes

Happy

5 votes

124 votes | Poll has closed

The Last Gopher Friday Preview Until Pizza Pizza? Minnesota at Iowa, November 21, 2009

JG2112 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:15:14 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

I knew life wouldn't be good once I got kicked out of the Institute of Technology.

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Give me or Tressel the Patriots. We would have punted on third down. 10:06 AM Nov 17th from TweetDeck
- from the "Not Kirk Ferentz" Twitter stream - http://twitter.com/NotKirkFerentz

Saturday is the end of the college football year, for all intents and purposes. outside of some rivalry games and conference title games. Then onto the bowls. Really, other than Florida/Alabama and Texas (or maybe TCU?) , the 66 or so bowl participants will be taking part in exhibition games in late December and early January in mostly warm climates, of which the most impressive part of the experience is usually the gifts given to the student-athletes that somehow are allowed under NCAA rules (example: last year each Gopher got a Vizio 26-inch LCD HDTV, a Bulova watch, and a Hat at the Insight Bowl.) Besides the gifts, ask Corey Wootton, Willis McGahee or Glen Mason: only bad things really happen in bowl games for the participants.

But back to tomorrow, when Tim Brewster will try for a significant milestone - his first rivalry game win. Last week Brew got his first win in November as a college coach. This week, a Big Ten win in November will increase his record in rivalry games to a robust 1-7. This comes on the heels of Maturi's weird comments to Sid in Thursday's Star Tribune, which indicated an endorsement of the program's direction but a peculiar non-endorsement of the coach. And while we can be literal and say that the only way that Brewster's job comes under fire is if they lose the next two games by 100 in the aggregate, the fact it's even being suggested is foolish in my opinion, but could be suggestive of things going on at Fort Bierman.

Iowa enters this game having endured a rough November thus far. First off, Northwestern put paid to Iowa's national championship hopes in Kinnick, and then Kirk Ferentz's lack of backbone gave away the outright Big Ten Title to Ohio State (pending their beatdown of Michigan). Oh yeah, Minnesota won't be the beneficiary of any Stanzi-balls on Saturday, either.

That really is unfortunate, because the backup QB, freshman James Vandenberg, played rather well in the Horseshoe, completing 20/33 for 233 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs (one at the end of the 1st half, one in OT). Playing in front of friendly fans may make him more relaxed. Then again, the pressure of Senior Day and the Pig may make him channel his inner Stanzi and get acquainted with BIG PLAYE TRAYE.

Looking at the rest of the offense, you know what you're getting with Iowa. The big hogs up front are interchangeable and generally awesome. LT Brian Bulaga is the standout. The Hawkeyes like running stretch plays where a TE (normally Tony Moeaki) will go in motion to Bulaga's side, and whichever RB is in the game (Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher, Paki O'Meara) will plow behind those two for big chunks of yardage. As has been the case this year, Minnesota's DTs need to keep Iowa's line occupied so Campbell, Triplett, Lawrence and/or Cooper can flow to the ball, attack the lead blocker, and cut the play back for the help to arrive. If the D-line is pushed around and Iowa's line can get to the second level, this game will get ugly.

That's without mentioning Iowa's passing game, which as mentioned above, went for over 230 yards on Ohio State last week. Marvin McNutt is a former QB with significant height (please grow six inches Carter kthx) and superb speed, and I think every Minnesota fan knows about Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Simmons (who returned to practice Wednesday after recovering from a leg ailment) and Marcus Sherels are carrying injuries which may make them vulnerable in pass coverage.

As for Iowa's defense, yikes. On the line, meet 2007 Cretin Derham Hall grad Broderick Binns (7 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks), along with Adrian Clayborn (8.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss and THAT punt block against Penn State) and Karl Klug. The linebackers include A.J. Edds (65 tackles), Pat Angerer (119 tackles) and Jeremiah Hunter (83 tackles), and if you look to the secondary, meet Tyler Sash (6 INTs, 76 tackles), Amari Spievey, and Brett Greenwood.

This is the kind of defense that will give the Gopher offense fits (namely, competent and well-drilled). Iowa rarely sends its linebackers on blitzes because the front four can get pressure by itself. In almost every Gopher game this year we've watched this happen, so I'm even more concerned about tomorrow's game. Other than against Sparty, the Gophers, since the Penn State game, have had horrific pass protection which has led to Adam Weber looking like a true freshman in the pocket.

And sorry everyone, but this isn't the game to fully let MarQueis Gray loose on the football world. Brewster had his chance last week and decided not to, which suggests either coaching stubbornness or player incapabilities at this point. Gray, at this point in his development, would have been most effective against a team with slower defensive players who were frequently blitzing him and leaving him wide open running lanes, such as on November 14th at TCF. The last place you want Gray deciphering coverages is against a Norm Parker-drilled defense of veteran players, whose LBs don't even need to blitz you to get pressure.

So tomorrow you can expect Weber to be in the pocket, with lots of max protect (TEs and RBs) to provide support for Alford, Wills and Carufel in the hopes that Weber is given more than 3 seconds to wait for his WRs to break free from what are excellent Herkeye defensive backs. Once again, Hoese and Tow-Arnett will likely be utilized extensively in the passing game, trying to break the tackles of those excellent LBs. Blergh.

Oh, and have I mentioned that Brandon Green missed practice Wednesday with a knee injury and is questionable for Saturday? Calling Messrs. McKnight, Stoudermire, and yes, Carpenter, please be ready for action.

Anything else? Yeah. The forecast Saturday: around 55 and sunny.

Also, an aside: yeah, I recognize this is a conspiracy theory, BUT. The slate of games on Saturday is one of the least attractive collection of games I can ever remember this late in the season (thanks Florida and Alabama, among others, for scheduling soup cans this weekend). One of ESPN/ABC's featured games is Kansas at Texas.

Anyone else find it uniquely coincidental that ESPN is releasing an amazing slow drip of information from multiple sources (where have these former players been since August?) about Kansas HC Mark Mangino's bad temper and abuse at practice the same week it needs to drum up interest in a rather lackluster prime time game? At all?

Okay.

So what about Saturday? Minnesota has a chance here. It needs to attack Iowa's defense straight-on, because it can be run on. Weber cannot expect to spend much time, if any, looking in the pocket, and Fisch should not abandon the running game and put Weber into obvious passing situations.

As for Minnesota on defense, they need to roll support over to whoever is guarding the tall McNutt. Of course, this leaves the Gophers susceptible to either Johnson-Koulianos or Moeaki, but, you've got to try something.

Bottom line: games this year in Iowa City have been close. Northern Iowa, Arkansas State, Michigan, Indiana and NW were really all very tense, close games. Saturday SHOULD be no different. If the Gophers are not competitive, however, I guess Maturi will be having a discussion with Mr. Brewster about what is expected when the Gophers get their new TVs in Arizona. I don't see it happening.

Iowa 27 - Minnesota 20.

The Lazy Blogger's Illini basketball and football preview

Joe Kutsunis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:05:33 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Everything points to Juice sitting out the Northwestern game on Saturday with the high ankle sprain. Look for RS Freshman Jacob Charest to start in his place. (Minneapolis. AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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Folks, I am a busy man, I've got alot going on in my life right now. I wont bother you with specifics, but suffice to say, looking at my computer today with the prospect of writing two game previews is much less appealing than it sounds. So I am going to take the lazy man's shortcut here and just combine the two into an unrepentant shortcut of a post.

First the football team. Lucky for me the Big Ten Network (please send me money) replays all of the football games over the course of the week, so I was able to reacquaint myself with the supreme victory over Minnesota from Saturday. Upon a second viewing, with the knowledge of how the game ultimately ended, I have had to reassess the Illini play overall. Adam Weber basically handed the Illini the game in the first half. He stayed in the pocket waaaay too long and took some very dumb sacks as well as throw passes so inaccurate that somewhere Eric Decker is weeping. He wasw much more on his game in the second half, and as a result the Illini defense looked no where near as good as earlier in the game. Basically what I am saying is, the defense is going to have to play better this week if we want to beat Northwestern. Other than Terry Hawthorne that is. That guy is all right.

On the other hand I really like the way Jacob Charest is throwing the ball lately he is hitting his receivers right in the numbers, and provided those receivers don't drop the passes again this week, the offense will move the ball. The real kudos must go to the offensive line who are opening holes for the backs and giving both Juice and Charest a lot more time to work with. You don't have a successful offense without a successful offensive line.

So as long as all that good stuff I just said keeps happening, the Illini should roll. 11am Saturday kickoff.

Now for the basketball team.

Its the big opening game of the real season, and Bruce has suggested he will go with the same starting lineup for last week's exhibition finale. Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Demetri McCamey. No Jeff Jordan for his suspension, so the primary guard sub is going to be Legion, and like the exhibition, Dominique will get alot of action at the 3. Given their loss in OT to D3 Illinois College, SIUE should not pose a legitimate threat to the Illini, but I do want to see some all around better play. The games do count now, so I hope we will see some real dominance on the floor by Mike Davis. Everyone is hoping he will make another big jump this year, and there is no time like the present

Tip Off is tonight at 7.
Once again I will be running an open thread for both games. Please come keep me company.

Week 11 in the Non-Con: What I Want

Bama Hawkeye — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:44:30 -0000

We have favorites and we have loyalties, but if the Big Ten is going to climb out the national perception doldrums, we're going to have to do it together. That means that we have to all be pulling in the same direction. Here's what I want to see from each Big Ten team in their non-conference battles this week. These columns are really short this time of year...

Minnesota (vs. South Dakota State)

I want to see Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray demonstrate why each should be the starting quarterback. I want to see the running game pound the smaller Jackrabbit (yes, that's the SDSU nickname) line. I want Minnesota to be up by such a comfortable margin that even if the Jackrabbits brought alum Adam Vinatieri out of stands to kick a game-ending field goal, it would only close the gap to a three touchdown defecit.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 11 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Weekly winners get a chance to write 500 words on the site.

What I Want

I want Minnesota to play withe the fire they showed in the second half last week.

What I Expect

Minnesota to clinch a bowl berth with a win that is closer than it should be.

What We've Got So Far

The Big Ten is 30-10 (.750) out of conference. The league is 5-8 against BCS Conference teams (plus Notre Dame). Indiana's loss to Virginia guarantees that the Big Ten can finish with no better than a .500 record against the other BCS schools. The league has two losses to non-BCS teams (Northern Illinois over Purdue and Central Michigan over Michigan State).

Defensive Discussions, Week 11 In The Big Ten: Pryor v. Angerer, Clay v. Graham

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:54:50 -0000

Here's the questions I asked last week with some answers -

Will Wisconsin go for the jugular early against Indiana? Nope. The Badgers ran their base 4-3 and showed tremendous confidence in their corners, a confidence that Chappell exploited as the game went on. Although O'Brien Schofield had a couple impact plays, the Badgers never blitzed and stayed contently in their zone.

Will Illinois bring pressure against Adam Weber? Clay Nurse and co had 7 sacks, so the answer is most definitely YES...I think that's the most in the Big Ten for a single game this year. Another quick example of why I tear my hair out at Weber dropping back so much behind that horrible pass blocking line.

How will Greg Robinson stop the bleeding against Purdue? He won't. But it's looking more and more like a talent issue in Ann Arbor - Robinson has altered his players and his schemes but no one makes plays. The safeties are the worst in Michigan history.

Who will smash Pryor first? No one. Pryor's legs helped OSU pick up huge first downs and avoid getting stuck in 3rd and long.

How will Northwestern stop Brandon Wegher? Pressure and stacking the box. The Wildcats attacked with their base defense, but this time their playmakers made a difference. After ending Ricky Stanzi's regular season, the Wildcats forced Iowa to throw into deep zones by jamming LB's into gaps at the LOS. Wegher had 63 yards and the Iowa QB's were a predictable 13-36 passing.

So onto this weeks' questions...

How will Iowa contain TP? I checked BHGP for some analysis on this. Finding none, I checked my DVR for a hint on the Iowa defensive gameplan for the monster game on Sat. Frankly (and any semi-coherent Iowa fan will know this), Iowa doesn't exactly mix up its defensive schemes. That 4-3 depends on the individual talent and toughness of every player, not on blitzing, stunting, or mixed coverages. In fact, Indiana burnt Iowa 3-4 times when the Hawkeyes blitzed. So when TP and the Buckeye shotgun attack comes 'acallin', expect more of the same. A linebacker will spy Pryor and I expect the DE's will take wider splits to force TP back into Klug. The OSU power run game has been consistently okay, but Iowa won't fear it thanks to the experience of Angerer and Hunter.

How will Northwestern slow the sudden threat of Illinois' downfield passing attack? Charest completed passes of 42, 31, 27, 24, 23, 17, and 14 yards last week against Mini. This new facet has been added because Juice was incompetent at throwing the ball and what does Zook have to lose by giving his future QB some experience? Northwestern has put it's pants on after early season defensive debacles, due mostly to injuries and missed tackles. Now that Wootton has turned into a probable double team drawer and the linebackers are actually tackling, it seems some early blitzes to rile young Charest might be in line. Don't sleep on this Wildcat D - every single position has improved throughout the season, even while playing harder opponents.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 11 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Weekly winners get a chance to write 500 words on the site.

Will NO IT WON'T HAPPEN Michigan be able HAHA WRONG FAIL to slow John Clay? Um. IDK. Early season Michigan was a comeback team, but if Wisconsin takes a lead on the back of it's Student Body Right/Left/Middle running game, this contest is over. DE Brandon Graham is a 1st Team All Big 10 Performer, probably the best run stopping DE in the conference, while Martin and Van Bergen are above average defensive lineman. If the DE's can shoot up field and kill the off tackles/sweeps (like Graham has been doing regularly), the Wolverines stand a chance. If not, the horrendous LB's get to handfight 320 lb. linemen while I cry softly in my man cave.

Can Indiana continue it's yard gobbling offensive form against a solid PSU defense? Penn State's defense has been the cause of zero of it's big game problems this year. If Ray Small doesn't slash a 40 yard punt return at the start of last weeks game, it's a 10-7 game late into the 4th quarter. And it's so obvious why they succeed - probably the Big Ten's best collection of linebackers in the last 10 years (Lee, Bowman, Hull) and a good front four. But Indiana has come out firing on all cylinders against just about everyone except Virginia - I'm talking trick plays, constant misdirection, incredibly effective slants to big receivers. Indiana does break down when Chappell gets pressured and I'm sure a Penn State defensive coach noticed this. So pressure early? Is that a Penn State MO? Or will they follow the Wisconsin route (sit back in zone coverage and forget about blitzing)?

The Spartans play a decent passing offense. Will we finally see some wrinkles in the Big Ten's worst pass defense? No. Next question. Narduzzi doesn't wrinkle, he simply watches his talented front 7 stop everyone's run game while the bedraggled secondary gives up lots of points and yards. And when he does switch to a 3-3, THIS HAPPENS.