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Nick's Picks 2005 - Week #2 Picks

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MAC Quick Notes

Friday Games: Pittsburgh @ Ohio

Saturday Games: Temple @ Wisconsin, Akron @ Purdue, CMU @ Miami,
NIU @ Northwestern, Buffalo @ Syracuse, SE Missouri @ Kent,
Louisiana-Lafayette @ EMU, Bowling Green @ Ball State, WMU @ Toledo

MAC QUICK NOTES

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FRIDAY - September 9

Pittsburgh (0-1, 0-0 Big East) @ Ohio (0-1, 0-0 MAC) - 8 p.m.

Television: ESPN2 (Dave Pasch, play-by-play; Rodney Gilmore, analyst; Stacey Dales-Schuman, sideline reporter)

Site: Athens, Ohio - Peden Stadium (24,000/Field Turf)

Series: Pittsburgh leads 6-0 ... the Panthers won last year 24-3 in the most recent meeting ... this is the first meeting in Athens.

Game Notes:

• The Bobcats opened with a 38-14 loss at Northwestern while the Panthers were topped at home by Notre Dame 42-21.
• 19 Bobcat players made their debut last week, eight of them true freshmen.
• Senior CB Dion Byrum, playing in his 35th career game, returned a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown.
• The Bobcats have won there last three home openers - next week the Bobcats play at Virginia Tech.

Comment:

Pitt is primed for an upset this Friday night. Dave Wannestedt did not do well for the Chicago Bears or the Miami Dolphins during his tenure and last week Pitt was totally unprepared for Notre Dame. Considering that they play Nebraska next week and this game is Frank Solich’s home opener in Athens, an ‘upset special’ looms on the horizon.

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 24 - Pitt 21 (Nick's upset special!)
Line: Pitt by 14

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SATURDAY - September 10

Temple (0-1, Independent) @ Wisconsin - 11 a.m. (CT)

Television: ESPNU/ESPN Plus (Wayne Larrivee, play-by-play; John Congemi, analyst; Quint Kessinich, sideline reporter).

Site: Madison, Wisc. - Camp Randall Stadium (80,360/Field Turf)

Series: TU leads 1-0 ... the Owls won 24-18 in 1990 in Madison en route to a 7-4 season.

Game Notes:

• Last week the Badgers topped MAC member Bowling Green 56-42 while the Owls were beaten at Arizona State 63-16.
• The Owls were not flagged for any penalties last week.
• DT Antwon Burton, who missed the entire 2004 season with a broken foot, made 5 tackles vs. the Sun Devils and was credited with 2 tackles for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
• TU is looking to snap an eight game road losing streak while UW has won seven consecutive home games.

Akron (0-0, 0-0 MAC) @ #15/16 Purdue (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten) - 12 noon

2004 Records: Akron (6-5, 6-2 MAC); Purdue (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten)

Broadband: ESPN 360.

Site: West Lafayette, Ind. - Ross-Ade Stadium (62,500/Prescription Athletic Turf)

Series: PU leads 1-0 ... the Boilermakers won 33-14 on Sept. 22, 2001)

Game Notes:

• The season opener for both teams and marks the fifth consecutive road opener for Akron at a Big Ten school.
• The Zips have dropped 10 of their last 11 openers.
• QB Luke Getsy, a transfer from Pittsburgh, will make his first start - his last start came in 2003 for the Panthers against Kent State.
• WR Domenik Hixon made the switch from DB last year and responded with 66 receptions for 882 yards and 6 TDs.

Comment:

For the most part the Big Ten beat up on the MAC last weekend and this game looks to fall into that same mold. Purdue is a very good team with lots of talent while Akron has many new faces to break in this fall. This is not the game to have so many unproven players to be unleashed. Look for a Boilermaker blowout.

Nick’s Pick: Purdue 48 – Akron 6
Line: Purdue by 35

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Central Michigan (0-1, 0-0 MAC) @ Miami (0-1, 0-0 MAC) - 2 p.m.

Television: Time Warner/Miami Package (Tom Michaels, play-by-play; Gino DiGiandomenico, analyst).

Site: Oxford, Ohio - Yager Stadium (24,286/Field Turf)

Series: Miami leads 11-8-1 ... the series is tied 5-5 in Oxford ... the RedHawks have won the last three ... this is the first meeting since 1999 and first in Oxford since 1996.

Game Notes:

• The conference opener for each team - both also lost vs. Big Ten foes last week - CMU 20-13 to Indiana and Miami 34-14 at Ohio State.
• True freshman Ontario Sneed set a Chippewa record with 148 rushing yards in his first ever game.
• Miami has a three-game losing streak dating back to last year but has a 10-game home winning streak over the last two seasons.
• Miami has won 9 consecutive league openers.
• CMU captured its MAC opener last year under then first year head coach Brian Kelly.

Northern Illinois (0-1, 0-0 MAC) at Northwestern (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) - 3 p.m. (CT)

Television: ESPN Classic (Mike Adamle, play-by-play; other talent to be announced).

Site: Evanston, Ill. - Ryan Field (47,130/Natural; Grass)

Series: NU leads 5-0-1 ... all 6 meetings have been in Evanston ... the most recent game was in 2000, a 35-17 Wildcat victory ... the tie was 16-16 in 1987.

Game Notes:

• The Huskies face their second consecutive Big Ten opponent (lost 33-17 at Michigan) and the Wildcats will host their second straight MAC foe (beat Ohio 38-14).
• NIU hasn't lost its first two games of the season since 1999.
• The Huskies have compiled a winning record on the road in each of the last three seasons and are 12-6 on the road (including a neutral site bowl win) during that time.
• NU has won six in a row at home.
• Both head coaches are graduates of Miami University - Novak in 1967 and Walker in 1976.
• NIU rushed for 211 yards at Michigan and had 411 yards of total offense.

Comment:

NIU gave a very good performance at Michigan last week but turnovers killed them from pulling off a huge upset. This Northwestern team is very good and they handled Ohio quite easily last weekend. NIU is playing for "Chicago bragging rights," but Northwestern has never lost to NIU. This should be the MAC game of the week with the Huskies losing a heartbreaker.

Buffalo (0-1, 0-0 MAC) at Syracuse (0-1, 0-1 Big East) - 3:30 p.m.

Site: Syracuse, N.Y. - Carrier Dome (49,262/Field Turf)

Series: UB leads 3-2-1 ... Syracuse has won the last two games - 63-7 in 2000 and 37-17 in 2004.

Game Notes:

• The Bulls played Sept. 1 in a 38-0 loss at Connecticut while the Orange played Sunday night in a 15-7 home loss to West Virginia.
• SU rookie head coach Greg Robinson is looking for his first career win after inheriting a squad that had wins last year over bowl bound teams from Cincinnati, Connecticut Boston College and Pittsburgh.
• UB is looking to snap a road losing streak of 15 games, last beating Rutgers 34-11 in 2002.
• The Bulls garnered just 137 yards of total offense last week but defensively received 3 tackles for a loss and 2 sacks by DE Aaron Sanders.

Comment:

This publication really thought that Buffalo had turned the corner this year and would be much more competitive. Judging by the performance at UConn last weekend, this is still the same ole’ Bulls. Syracuse has too much speed and talent for this game to be very close.

Nick’s Pick: Syracuse 41 – Buffalo 7
Line: Syracuse by 24

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SE Missouri St. (0-1, 0-0 Ohio Valley) @ Kent State (0-1, 0-0 MAC) - 4 p.m.

Site: Kent, Ohio - Dix Stadium (29,287/ Field Turf)

Series: First Meeting

Game Notes:

• SEMO opened the season with a 58-23 loss to Southern Illinois.
• Kent State was stymied at Michigan State 49-14 ... 16 different players made their first ever appearance for KSU last week.
• The Golden Flashes have not started a season 0-2 since 2000 and have won their last four home openers.
• QB Michael Machen completed 31 passes to 11 different receivers last week in his first start but the Golden Flashes rushing game was held to 14 yards.

Comment:

Without Josh Cribbs KSU had no running game at MSU last weekend. This SEMS team is certainly no where as talented as that Spartan team. Kent State should have their way against a lower level team from the I-AA ranks. This is a good ‘bounce-back’ game for the program.

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 42 – SE Missouri St. 17
Line: NL

Louisiana Lafayette (0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) @ Eastern Michigan (0-1, 0-0 MAC) - 6pm

Site: Ypsilanti, Mich. - Rynearson Stadium (30,200/Field Turf)

Series: First Meeting

Game Notes:

• The Rajun Cajuns opened with a 60-3 loss to Texas while the Eagles dropped a 28-26 decision at Cincinnati.
• Sophomore Duan Bracey (cornerback/wide receiver) became the first Eagles player since Kenny Christian in 1999 to start on both offense and defense.
• EMU had seven true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen see action.
• The Eagles have won 5 of their last 6 home openers.
• QB Matt Bohnet had 33 attempts with no interceptions last week and also led the team with 65 rushing yards.

Bowling Green (0-1, 0-0 MAC) at Ball State (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) - 7 p.m.

Site: Muncie, Ind. - Ball State Stadium (22,500/Natural Grass)

Series: BGSU leads 18-8-1 ... the Falcons have won the last four meetings.

Game Notes:

• The conference opener for two teams that lost on the road against Big Ten opponents last week - BG 56-42 lost at Wisconsin while BSU was crushed 56-0 at Iowa.
• In the last four games dating back to last year, Cardinals QB Joey Lynch has completed 69-of-106 attempts (.594 pct.) for 8 TDs and 1 interception.
• Falcons QB Omar Jacobs picked up where he left off last year (45 TDs) with 5 scoring passes at Wisconsin and 458 yards (30-of-51).
• BG freshman WR Cory Partridge had the best first-game performance of a Falcon receiver with 8 receptions for 160 yards.
• BSU has won both of its MAC openers under Brady Hoke - BG is 5-3 in MAC road games under Gregg Brandon.

Comment:

Assuming Ball State watched the game film of the BG/Wisconsin game and tries to play “ground chuck” football, the Cardinals just do not have the players to compete with the Falcons this season. BG’s defense must get better ASAP and going against a depleted BSU offense will gauge how much, if any, improvement has been made. BG should be able to name the score here.

Western Michigan (0-0, 0-0 MAC) at Toledo (0-1, 0-0 MAC) - 7 p.m.

Television: Comcast Local (Talent to be announced)

Site: Toledo, Ohio - Glass Bowl (26,248/ NeXturf)

Series: UT leads 35-24 ... the Rockets have won the last four, 10 of the last 11 meetings and the last 8 games played in Toledo.

Game Notes:

• Toledo was the lone MAC team to win last week, 62-14 over Western Illinois.
• WMU played well in a 32-19 loss at #25/23 Virginia with Broncos FS C.J. Wilson scoring on a 55-yard interception return and WR Greg Jennings tied a school mark with 16 receptions for 156 yards.
• The Rockets are looking to start 2-0 for the third time in five seasons under Amstutz.
• UT has won 14 straight at the Glass Bowl and 31 of its last 32 home games.
• Rockets QB Bruce Gradkowski played just one half last week completing 9-of-17 passing for 134 yards and 2 TDs.

Comment:

I predicted WMU to have the MAC’s best turnaround in the league and they certainly looked the part last weekend at Virginia. This team may have been 1-10 in 2004 but Gary Darnell did recruit well during his term as head coach. The new coaching staff certainly has some quality players make this game interesting. Toledo is at home where they rarely ever lose, but expect the Broncos to show that they will become a force to be dealt with later in the season. Toledo will hold on late for victory, but WMU will still be fighting for a 6-5 record this season as their schedule gets much easier after this weekend.

Nick’s Pick: Toledo 41 – Western Michigan 28
Line: Toledo by 23

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