It is another gorgeous Friday in Happy Valley. The tents are up in Paternoville and we are less than 24 hours away from Big Ten Football. If you can't wait that long [and I understand if you can't] the Broncos of Boise State will be spanking Fresno State this evening [9:00 EST on ESPN]. I realize it is a poor substitute for an IOWA game ... which is why I always keep one or two on my DVR.
I am saddened to report the fact [of which I am sure you are already aware] that the Big10 was unable to find success during the evening hours last Saturday. Purdue suffered a two-point loss to the Oregon ducks and USC pulled their infamous "looks like they might lose ... oh no ... they won" act on the Buckeyes.
Speaking of Oregon ... I am normally a supporter of their avant-garde uniforms. But the feathers on the shoulder pad thing ... IOWA did that a decade ago. Yes, that IS Tim Dwight. It feels god to get that off my chest. Now we can look ahead to this week's matchups.
Northern Illinois @ Purdue
Purdue will have a chance to rebound from their loss when they face the Huskies. Wisconsin opened their season with a 28-20 win over Northern Illinois. Let's see how the Boilermakers do. Hopefully with a win they can lay down some tracks and pick up some steam [see what I did there?] before they welcome the Fighting Irish to West Lafayette.
Indiana @ Akron
Keeping with the trend of common opponents ... the Hoosiers hit the road for a game against Akron. The Zips were zapped by PSU [31-7] in their season opener. I projected three wins for Indiana this year. They could meet that expectation this weekend.
Arizona @ IOWA
When the Wildcats of the Pac-10 conference venture to Iowa City tomorrow it will mark the final tune-up game for IOWA. I don't know much about the Arizona squad but let's hope that the boys are not looking past them [focusing on the much-anticipated showdown against Penn State]. Here's hoping that Stanzi displays a little more control on his long balls and that star-to-be Wegher proves that last week's 100+ yard performance was not a fluke.
Wofford @ Wisconsin
The Wofford Terriers ... I don't know what to say here. The Big10 Network pre-game guys should have fun crafting a headline for this one.
Temple & Penn State
The Owls will be taking a pounding and collecting a check. Reports suggest that LB Bowman will be on the sidelines, getting healthy for the Hawkeyes. It is unlikely that this game will be worth watching after half-time. This could be the last chance of the season to get tickets below face value. I passed up two pairs today ... could not risk missing the kickoff of the IOWA game.
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