Who thinks that Sparty gets their first ever victory over Scott Frost?

Mike: Do we find out this week if last week’s “close but no cigar” performance by Nebraska against Oklahoma was just an anomaly or something to build on?

Patrick: Time to get taken to “The Woodshed”.

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

The biggest game of Frost’s tenure? An opportunity to start 4-2 (assuming Nebraska beats NW).

Jill: Nate, you should know by now that we can assume nothing about the Huskers.

Andy: So, if the Michigan St. stadium is “The Woodshed”, is the game being played in the coaches/administrators parking lot? I thought people got taken out behind the woodshed. Because the woodshed is, well, full of wood.

Wisconsin (-6) vs. Notre Dame at Solider Field, Chicago

Patrick: University of Wisconsin 9 University of Notre Dame 7

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

I’m not sure if Notre Dame stole Florida State’s soul in week 1, but they have not been overly impressive since that week. It’s possible that Florida State might not win a game this season. Wisconsin showed something against a really good Penn State team.

Wisconsin by 10.

Mike: Neither school has a great offense, but Wisconsin has a decent defense. Bucky 23, Flatulent Stereotypes from Ireland 13

Jill: On a neutral field, I’ll pick the team I know a little bit more about. Follow me for more insightful analysis! Badgers by 7.

Andy: Notre Dame is entering a pretty tough six-game stretch after looking like hot garbage while going 3-0 against a soft opening three. We don’t know much about Wiscy after losing a grunting B1G snoozer to Penn St. and easily beating the EMU’s. The Domer defense does not look good and...well...(Sean Connery voice) I just hate them, Trebek. Wiscy 27 Domers 19

Illinois (+11) at Purdue

Patrick: Purdue University 24 University of Illinois 21

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

Illinois is 1-3. Goodness, how did we lose to them? It’s infuriating. Purdue by 3.

Mike: But is David Bell going to be able to play for Purdue? I’m betting not, and so I’d take the points. Purdon’t 24, Ill 20

Jill: At this point, I don’t think the Illini believe in themselves anymore. Bert is making beating Nebraska look more and more like a fireable offense (all around) every week. Boilers 27 Illini 18

Andy: In a week with most of the conference playing their non-con softies, we get...this. Purdue 20 Illinois 13

Iowa State (-7) at Baylor

Patrick: Iowa State University 32 Baylor University 17

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

Iowa State’s only loss so far this season was to a currently ranked top 10 team. Baylor, on the other hand, is Baylor, though they did beat an impressive Kansas team by 38. Iowa State wins by 17.

Mike: Both teams have stout defenses and great running backs. Iowa State’s problem is that they have a quarterback that turns the ball over. Baptists 27, Circular Winds 20

Jill: I still have a kneejerk response to pick against Baylor no matter what. Clones 34 Bears 24

Andy: I hear ya’, Jill, although I save the venom for Penn St. because as weird a place as Baylor is, at least those religious wackos aren’t constantly still clamoring for an Art Briles statue. Anyway, Baylor is 3-0 after what amounts to three scrimmages while Iowa St has duked it out a couple of times and had a week off against UNLV. Cyclones 36 Baylor 20

UCLA (-4) at Stanford

Patrick: University of California Los Angeles 38 Stanford University 27

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

Chip Kelly is doing what we thought Frost would do and that’s build a winner. Yes, UCLA lost to Fresno State last week. That’s a good Fresno State team who only lost to Oregon by 7. Both have had to adapt and Frost probably took two years too long to do so.

UCLA gets back on the saddle and beats Stanford by 10.

Mike: Remember when David Shaw was a big time coach? Well, not this week. Kelly’s team will have a Chip on their shoulder. Ucla 38, Weird Tree 23

Jill: I’m getting too old to stay up for #PAC12AfterDark. However, it will be fun to see if Chip Kelly can keep UCLA on this upward trajectory. Bruins by 10.

Andy: Gotta admit - it was fun watching UCLA whup up on LSU after Big Ed fired his entire staff following a crap Covid season then start 2021 by shit-talking the Bruins. Also, Stanford’s 24-7 loss to a thoroughly unimpressive K-State squad gives me pause. Bruins 26 Weird Tree 13

Nebraska (+5) at Michigan State

Patrick: Michigan State University 13 University of Nebraska 10

Nate M: I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.

Can Nebraska stop Michigan State from running the ball? Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III is currently averaging 8.6 yards per rush on 57 attempts. I think that is the key to the game. If both teams play clean team football then I think Nebraska wins. However, we can’t have nice things. I think Michigan State could be slightly overrated. In the game against Miami it was turnovers that were the difference. Nebraska played close and should have beat a top 5 team in Oklahoma. Maybe Oklahoma is overrated? It’s possible. But when trying to decide whether Nebraska is going to beat Michigan State I go back to one thing. Nebraska lost to Illinois.

Michigan State 34 - Nebraska 30.

Mike: I think Nebraska’s defense is better than Michigan State’s, and Nebraska’s offense has more talent than Sparty’s. I’m making the homer pick here: Huskers 28, Sparty 24

Jill: I’m going back and forth on this one. Nebraska’s rush defense hasn’t shown they can stop the ground game and MSU’s is on a whole different level than any they have seen this season. With this game being in East Lansing, I think the Huskers need a mistake-free game and some big plays to win. Depending on the Huskers to play mistake-free is a bad bet. Sparty by seven.

Andy: I poked around on some Michigan St. boards and the 3-0 start has many Sparty fans just out of their goddamned minds. They are convinced we think the loss to Oklahoma is the greatest loss in the history of football (the fan base has definitely NOT done a 180 after that game) and to listen to them talk, you would think the Spartans just beat the Clinton Portis/Jeremy Shockey/Jonathon Vilma/Ed Reed Hurricanes 38-17.

“Miami’s defense has holes? F**K YOU!!!!”

The attitude seems to be we are going to be an easy 44-10 win or some such score on their way to being 7-0 for Michigan. Hmmm.

All that being said, Kenneth Williams III is going to give us problems. In 2 years at Wake Forest, he averaged over 5 ypc and popped big runs. Do I think he’s going to run the Big 10 gauntlet and average the close to 9 ypc he has thus far? No but I believe he is the real deal and our propensity for giving up 20+ yard runs this year is cause for worry.

Unfortunately, we can’t begin to match that with our RB and the simple fact is, line issues or not, we don’t have a game-breaker at that position. We do have one at QB and whether by scramble or design he can potentially match Williams for big running plays. Also, isn’t it interesting how his accuracy has returned with a talented WR room? The Sparty secondary won’t be as tight as Oklahoma’s and that could be difference.

I’m rolling the dice this week’s practice was more focused than the one last year when everyone swelled because we beat Penn St. We make all of our XP’s, go on 4th down a couple extra times in MSU territory, bend but don’t break on defense and poke our head back over .500. Huskers 31 MSU 24