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| Friday, September 29 Harvey could make it a Rocky trip for Michigan By Rod Gilmore Special to ESPN.com | ||||||||
| This week features the first week dominated by conference games. The inter-conference matchups have been fun, but now we get down to the business of jockeying for conference supremacy. Michigan-Illinois highlights a great week of conference matchups and one fun, non-conference clash.
No. 10 Michigan at No. 17 Illinois This is a huge game for both programs, and you can catch it on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET. I'll be watching. However, Michigan QB Drew Henson may not be watching -- he may be in the lineup. After missing the first three with a broken bone in his foot, Henson appears ready to play. Since Henson's backup John Navarre struggled on the road against UCLA, don't be surprised if Michigan goes to Henson in this conference road game. The Wolverines are still looking toward the Orange Bowl and a national title and can't afford another loss. Expect Michigan to play a physical game with their fine offensive line (more than 200 yards rushing against UCLA) and A-Train (Anthony Thomas).
The Spartans have won the last three games, and really have had their way running the ball against the Irish. In each of the last three games, the Spartans have had a runner gain more than 100 yards. However, this is a different Irish team. Defensively, they are more aggressive. For years, you could count on Notre Dame to play zone coverage and put 6 or 7 men around the line of scrimmage to stop the run. Not any more. Notre Dame discovered man-to-man coverage this year and now will put eight men in the box to stop the run. They'll need to do that this week to handle Spartan running back T.J. Duckett. He's the Spartans' 255-pound running back who is faster than Ron Dayne and better at changing directions than Dayne. (Relax! I didn't say he was better than Dayne -- yet. Dayne was more patient and waited for blocks better). Duckett wanted to go to Notre Dame, but, according to a Sports Illustrated article last spring, didn't have the grades. That was an unfair characterization because Duckett is a great kid who is doing just fine in school, thank you very much. He's also doing fine on the field. He'll have incentive to run well against the Irish. There will be a lot of pressure on Duckett because the Spartans are inexperienced at wide receiver and quarterback. The Irish must force Michigan State to throw the ball, something the Spartans haven't done very well lately. That's not surprising since Gari Scott, Plax Burris and QB Bill Burke used up their eligibility. The Spartans haven't been able to replace that passing attack. The top three Spartan receivers have only 16 catches among them. Expect Spartan QB Ryan Van Dyke to get back into the lineup this weekend. Michigan State offensive coordinator Morris Watts told me that Van Dyke should play and that he will play the quarterback who is performing best. That means freshman Joe Smoker, who has performed well in relief, will likely give way to Van Dyke. For Notre Dame, the question is how well freshman QB Gary Godsey will do in his first start in a hostile environment. It will be loud in Spartan Stadium. Typically, young quarterbacks struggle in their first road games (see Ken Dorsey of Miami at Washington and John Navarre of Michigan at UCLA). Expect Godsey to have similar problems, and expect the Spartans to win unless the Irish special teams can come up with big plays once again. Kentucky at No. 4 Florida Steve Spurrier got the Gators' attention by cracking down on the trash talking and celebration antics the Gators engaged in last week before and after the Tennessee game. Spurrier will force WR Jabar Gaffney to sit out the first half of this game for his throat slashing gesture after catching the game winning TD pass. Good for you, Coach. But I think Spurrier is also trying to avoid a letdown this week by turning the heat up on his team. Last week the Gators were fortunate to pull out a win against Tennessee. QB Jesse Palmer had a huge game winning drive and seems ready to blossom. However, Florida's defense got pounded by RB Travis Henry and a young Volunteer offensive line. Are the Gators more athletic than physical? Are they susceptible to a letdown? Facing a Kentucky team that throws the ball instead of pounding it is probably good for the Gators. This is a better matchup for Florida's defense. Expect DE Alex Brown and DT Gerard Warren to be able to put pressure on Kentucky's huge (about 275 pounds) QB Jared Lorenzen. But the Gators must run the ball better (only 39 yards against the Volunteers) or Lorenzen will have plenty of opportunities to put points on the board. Expect the Gators to respond to Spurrier's discipline and avoid the letdown. Minnesota at No. 21 Purdue
It wasn't long ago this game was a headliner; not this year. Penn State is struggling at 1-3 and even thought Ohio State is 3-0, it hasn't made believers out of anyone yet. The Buckeyes used defensive scoring to beat Fresno State, finally over came Arizona, and was fortunate to escape with a win over Miami (Ohio). Penn State simply has no offense right now. In four games, the Nittany Lions have shown one offensive spark, against La. Tech. There is no reason to believe they will get better this week. The Pittsburgh-Penn State game was the litmus test for Penn State, and the Nittany Lions failed miserably. Again, they couldn't score points and couldn't run the ball. Expect a defensive struggle, because Ohio State has not set the world on fire offensively. Jonathan Wells is starting to run well, but QB Steve Bellasari still appears uncomfortable in this offense. (He's hit a couple of long passes, but has struggled on the short and mid-range passes.) It looks like it will be difficult for Joe Paterno to get seven wins this year and reach Bear Bryant's record. No. 25 Mississippi State at South Carolina South Carolina's no-huddle offense against Joe Lee Dunn's bizarre (creative?) defensive schemes (he once used only 2 defensive linemen). This will be fun to watch. QB Phil Petty will try to call plays at the line of scrimmage while the Mississippi State defense jumps around to try to confuse him. Advantage Bulldogs, but South Carolina can play defense too. Don't expect QB Wayne Madkin to jump start the Mississippi State offense like he did against BYU by running the ball. The Gamecocks pursue and gang tackle very well, and Madkin hadn't been much of a scrambler prior to last week. (He ran for more than 100 yards last week, which is more than he had in his career total going into the game.) But for real fun, keep your eyes on Bulldog DB Fred Smoot. He's a player and an entertainer. He'll talk smack. Check him out at Smootsmack.com. No. 11 Clemson at Virginia No one seems to notice that Clemson QB Woody Dantzler is quietly becoming the most exciting QB this side of Michael Vick. He's posting great numbers and leading Clemson towards a showdown with Florida State in a few weeks. Put everything else aside and just watch Dantzler go to work in Clemson's no-huddle, one-back offense. Pure excitement. But Clemson could have some trouble with Virginia because the Tigers are banged up on the defensive line. Terry Jolly and Jason Holloman are both unlikely to play, which will hurt Clemson's run defense. Expect Virginia to try to exploit this. Northwestern at No. 6 Wisconsin Barry Alvarez gambled that he could afford to sit some of his suspended players in this conference game instead of sitting everyone in the non-conference games. The Badgers barely defeated Cincinatti last week without DT Wendell Bryant and All-Everything CB Jamar Fletcher. Fletcher will be out again, which will hurt because Northwestern will spread out the Badger defense as Cincy did. That means more pressure on the Badger secondary and possible running lanes for the Wildcats solid running back Damien Anderson. Wisconsin needs better play from QB Brooks Bollinger who has struggled ever since the Rose Bowl (he may be missing WR Chris Chambers and Nick Davis). If Northwestern can force Bollinger into passing situations (2nd and long and 3rd and long), then Northwestern has a chance. Could Wisconsin be looking ahead to Michigan next week? | ALSO SEE Gilmore: No. 8 UCLA at Oregon Game Plan: No. 10 Michigan Game Plan: Illinois Mackovic: Conference season a whole new game Fowler: Opponents drown in noise at Ducks' pond | |||||||
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