Big 10 Picks: Abbreviated Edition with your Sermon of the Day

Submitted by jamiemac on


There will be no formal Big 10 Picks edition this week. Next week, with a full slate of league games, we'll pick this feature back up. Doing it on non conference weekends is fun, but forces my hand to call way too many games. There is no way I could duplicate last week's success over the course of another 10 games, so we're taking a pass on the full schedule.

Instead, let me indulge in a few thoughts before I fire the car up for the short drive up to Ann Arbor to see the Wolverines quiet the Caw.

Can we please layoff Boubacar Cissoko. Do we throw players under the bus 120 minutes into their career as a starter? Is that really what we want the Michigan fanbase to be all about? Some of the hate surrounding Cissoko in the wake of the Notre Dame game makes me to a double take to make sure I didnt step into a taping of Buckeye Roundtable.

Please remember that this team is still young, will make plenty of mistakes and go through bouts where its play is whatever the opposite of last week's magic is. I hope when that happens that I dont check into this blog and read all sorts of threads denigrating the players. Last week, we had folks crying that Stonum, a sophomore after spending his first year as second string, was a disappointment. Now we're pilloring Cissoko. Keep in mind that this team, nay Rodriguez's whole program, remains a work in progress. In the end, its going to be a fine wine. Vintage. Just stop and smell the bouquet before you chug the whole thing down. Try to enjoy the harvesting.

Getting back to Cissoko, what is there to really say? He got worked all last Saturday. But, he was going toe to toe with a future first round draft pick and somebody who I think is one of the favorites for the Biletnekoff Award. It was a mistmach. I'd love to know the thought process behind planning that matchup, but also sticking with it as it became obvious that Cissoko had more than his hands full with Floyd. Is Rodriguez pushing him, throwing him out there on that island to better his game?

This is like a swimming coach taking a prize pupil who can race sprints well in alll four strokes and trying to mold him into a distance individual medley racer. That first race might end with a sixth place dud, but if the kid has talent, seeing first hand how to handle that competition in that forum is invaluable. The next race should be better. Cissoko just went up against the best and saw where it is his game was defecient. Can we at least wait and see how he takes that experience and how he builds from it before we cast him aside and start comparing him to past whipping boys. Please?

Dont forget, he had a good opening day, that included a game changing opening quarter pick. Yes, I said game changing. Two players later, the Denard Robinson run happened. After that, the rout was on. Despite being abused against the Irish, he had another pick on his hands, but just could not close the deal. He is one play away from all of us celebrating him, instead we fans light him up all week. The difference in sporting results is sometimes a fine line.

Alright, my moralizing is done. Be your own fan. But, expect some fighting words like a scorned Bandie if I think player a critique is a bit over the top.

Enough of that. More randon, less pious thoughts:

*****Today is a huge day for the mid majors with Utah traveling to Oregon and BYU hosting Florida State. If the upsarts (can you really call BYU, a 7-point favorite, an upstart?) pull off wins and TCU beats Clemson next week, the Moutain West suddenly has a round robin slate that will have BCS Title game implications. Is there any way we can quickly drop Boise State into the MWC? This league is one more high end team away from being better than half of the BCS leagues. Just E-pinion.

******The Florida-Tennesse line has grown from -24 to -30 during the last two weeks. The public demands Urban Meyer runs up the score. Their pocketbooks are at stake.

*******Are you excited by the possible return of BOOM MALLET'ED? Tonight the Ryan Mallett era at Arkansas gets underway in earnest when the Hogs host UGA. The Dawgs have already played two high end foes, while this is the Razorbacks first real sweat of the year. Are the Hogs this year's Ole Miss, an SEC West team that makes a leap and pulls off at least one stunning upset? Be very quiet about any expectations, but I give a Arky-UM Outback Bowl about a 25 percent chance of happening right now. That said, whats the Over/Under on botched snaps tonight?

******* There are two Big 10/Pac Challenges today with Cal and Arizona playing at Minnesota and Iowa. The Bears are close to two touchdown chalk on the road. Big 10 boosters better hope Kinnick Stadium magic is out in full force because they will need a Hawkeyes win to help the league save some face. That said, a Minnesota win might be as important to the league as a Buckeye win might have been last week. It would be the eighth best team in one league beating the second best in another. People would certainly re-evaluate the depth of the league.

******* We're all getting our popcorn ready for the Tailspin Bowl in South Bend aren't we? Is history and program identity finally starting to catchup with Mark Dantonio? Is there a coach not named Lane Kiffin more in a pressure cooker today than Charlie Weis? Winner rights the ship and has a lot of their preseason goals still in front of them. The Loser? Well, their hometown will certainly be a special place this week, won't it?

I dont have a full card of Big 10 games, but I will offer up some Big 10 Picks and count them in the record. Check out my blog for a full acount of my thoughts on today's games and where else I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

Iowa -4 over Arizona. The Hawks win 21-9, scoring a touchdown, four field goals and a safety. Iowa is 35-19-1 ATS at home.

Indiana +3.5 over Akron. The Hoosiers have matched up well with the MAC, despite how bad things are down in Bloomington for the football team. They did lose to Ball State and Central last season, but those were some special teams. Indiana is better this year and Akron is no version of CMU or BSU. I felt IU would be 3-0 heading into the Michigan game. I'll take these 3.5 points.

MSU +11 over Notre Dame. We are all versed in the series history that trends to Sparty here. But, let me throw something else out there. The Spartans are road dogs today after losing outright at home as double digit favorites. Teams in that role are 90-55-3 ATS the last 13 years. We're rolling with that system today.

There you go, an abbreviated version of Big 10 picks. Enjoy the games today.




Comments

steve sharik

September 19th, 2009 at 10:10 AM ^

I agree with you that people have been way too harsh on BooBoo. I don't think he was put in a position to be successful by the coaching staff last Saturday. However, I do think there had to be a good reason for it, the biggest one being his stinger issue, IMO. The best thing to do against Floyd/Tate would have been to jam them at the line, whether it be cover 2 or bump man (safety help notwithstanding). However, BooBoo simply couldn't do that and play many snaps given his injury. What I am puzzled about is the decision to play so much man free with so little pressure. In other words, if I were DC last week, the only time I put my corners on an island is if we were bringing the house.

While I agree with you that we should take it easy on BooBoo, give the kid a chance, and wait for him to blossom, I don't think giving him too much credit is the way to do that. I believe that's what you're doing when you imply that he made a game-changing play the week before. Yes, he was very good opening day. Yes, that play changed the game. However, he was simply taking advantage of good plays made by other players on that play. What made that play was the pressure on the WMU QB. It caused him to throw early and miss his *wide open* receiver. Credit for that game changer goes to Coach Robinson and the guys in the front 7 or 8 who put the pressure on the QB.

Changing gears, I think that how much success ND has offensively today might give us an idea on where our defense is. When the domers take on USC, we'll really be able to tell more about where our defense was when we played ND. I, for one, really hope the Irish put a beat-down on the Spartinas.

HKBlue

September 19th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^

Thanks for the picks.

Does evaluating a player's peformance = hating?

I don't think so.

I may be crazy, but I am thinking it may be the annual SSIFS (Shoot-Self-In-Foot-Saturday) for the Trojans.

2 Off-Topic Comments (since I don't get a chance to comment much):

1) Would Stevie Brown be a LB if Carr is still coaching?

2) How nice is it to watch and not know whether a given play is a run or a pass?

Finally, 2009 = Season Shootout (or maybe Rod-emption Year?)

Blue Durham

September 19th, 2009 at 6:05 PM ^

The UM football team has made great strides since last year. Are they perfect? Far from it, but it is a process, and serious progress is being made. As with any team not named USC, there will be bumps. Let's just enjoy the ride, that is what sports are all about anyway, right?