Last Saturday’s game against Wisconsin proved that you can never give up on this Michigan football team. All the hype about the strength and conditioning program is proving to be much more than just hype. In the second half, Michigan’s defensive front appeared to dominate the line of scrimmage over the much bigger Wisconsin offensive lineman. And is it simply a coincidence that’s Michigan’s offense came to life in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin?

Michigan has allowed 19 points in the second half this year through four games vs. 72 in the first half. The defense is clearly taking advantage of opponents’ second half let-downs. If only the Wolverine offense can avoid putting the defense in some incredibly tough situations and score some points in the first half we might have something.

Big Ten thoughts -

Ohio State was the beneficiary of what I thought was an incredibly poor officiating call last Saturday. Adam Weber (who looks to be the class of the Big Ten at the quarterback position) completed a pass to Traye Simmons on 3rd down and 7. Simmons tried to make the most of the play with a second effort but was stacked up by several Buckeyes. Ohio State was unable to tackle Simmons but did clearly stop his forward progress. Despite this, the ref was late blowing the whistle. In the meantime, Ohio State players were trying to strip the ball. There were so many players around the ball that no one could see what was going on in there. Eventually, someone strips the ball after forward progress was stopped and OSU ends up with it at Minnesota’s 35 yard line. Ohio State is even able to score from there and goes up 20-3.

Minnesota made a late comeback against the overrated Buckeyes but the poor call on the fumble blew a close game wide open. Minnesota looked the best it has in years and gave OSU a run for its money. Weber looks like he’ll make a decent pro quarterback in the future.

Tressel succumbed to public outcry (a Cooper flaw) and benched Boeckman for Pryor. Tressel has also put every position up for grabs as well which seems odd after some many players returned for a senior year in search of a very elusive national championship. Is Tressel saying that the seniors aren’t making the grade? Pryor is an amazing talent but, like any freshman, he’s going to make some mistakes. Unlike other positions, mistakes at the quarterback position can result in losses. By benching Boeckman and starting Pryor, Tressel seems to be throwing the season away. Pryor will lose two Big Ten games for the Buckeyes with bad decisions. He faces his biggest test yet at Camp Randall stadium (actually Troy and Minnesota were hardly tests – more like quizzes) where the pressure could get extremely high. Boeckman probably could have brought home the Big Ten title. I doubt Pryor will be able to do that.

Illinois looked one dimensional against Penn State. Zook is apparently still afraid to let Juice throw the ball. At times, its rushing offense looked great against Penn State but is there any threat of a pass?

Penn State still hasn’t proven anything to me. They played nobody until Illinois and then they played Illinois at home. Penn State is at Purdue this weekend. Come Sunday, I’ll still be waiting for them to prove something to me. Let me amend that a bit, the Lions have some lightning fast players on offense.

Michigan State looks even more one dimensional then Penn State. Will the Spartans be able to avoid the midseason disaster? They will for one more week as they face Iowa at home.

If Michigan can avoid another terrible start, look for them to hand it to Illinois.

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