Now that Shonn Greene is replacing Leon Washington, can't wait for the pundits to say that he's going to take the majority of the carries for the Jets.
TJ the last three weeks - 59 carries, 378 yards, 4 TD. Ball don't lie.
Anyway, I'm sure that Noffke has read this already, but Stewart Mandel has his College Football Mailbag up on CNNSI, and the headliners are the Iowa Hawkeyes! You gotta understand, I'm not exactly an Iowa fan, but I always root for the Big Ten to do well overall, so it's great to see that Strength of Schedule has the Hawks ahead of Florida, Alabama, and Texas in the BCS computer rankings. Mandel has an excellent explanation.
My Big Ten Power Rankings for Week Nine:
1. Iowa - Looking like they've got that magical feeling right now. Get Indiana at home this week with a chance to drive another stake into the evil heart of Vampire Bill Lynch.
2. Penn State - They keep on cruising towards an at-large BCS berth and, also, ruining the bowl season for every bowl-eligible B10 team behind them if they get it. Dominated Michigan last week. Tough road date at Northwestern. This would be a great chance for the 'Cats to play spoiler and give their season a massive boost at the same time (and their bowl-winning prospects!)
3. Ohio State - They get a gimme against New Mexico State (???) this week, after crushing Minnesota. With a pair of losses, they are out of the BCS hunt, but they could look awfully good in the CapitalOne Bowl!
4. Michigan State - Sparty continues their midseason surge despite a narrow loss to Iowa last week. Next three games (@ Minnesota, Western Michigan, @Purdue) are going to decide the season. They need to win all three to quiet the doubters.
5. Wisconsin - Wisconsin makes me want to fall asleep. Let's see, 5-2 (2-2), just had a bye week, get a surging Purdue squad this week... have lost their last two to the cream of the conference. Alamo Bowl, get ready for the BADGERS! I probably won't watch.
6. Northwestern - A spirited, come-from-behind win at home jumps NU back into the bowl game hunt. But can they continue the momentum with #12 Penn State coming to Evanston? They better, because after that comes a road date at Iowa, then the rivalry game at Champaign, before closing out at Wisconsin. At 5-3, NU has got to win two of those games to guarantee themselves a bowl. Big game at Ryan Field this week.
7. Purdue - Here by virtue of their two game winning streak, including the huge upset against Ohio State. Apparently the Boilers don't have a lot of give-up in 'em. Who knew? A .500 finish would make a lot of West Lafayettians very happy this year.
8. Michigan - Freshman quarterbacks. Ouchies. A couple of winnable games coming up at Illinois and then home against Purdue, but this defense is porous and the offense is disjointed. Good teams have an easy time containing their explosiveness. Delaware State? ehhh... not so much.
9. Minnesota - It's one thing to lose to Penn State and Ohio State, both on the road. It's another to lose by a combined 58-7. That's just a two week extended beatdown. Still alive for the postseason, but need to win against Michigan State this weekend to make anyone optimistic. A huge slide for the Golden Gophers.
10. Indiana - Much as I want to put them last, the Hoosiers did demonstrate the things they can do well at Ryan Field last week. Namely, make big plays. Ray Fisher had a TD return, and WR's Tanden Doss and DeMarlo Belcher continued to flash big-play potential. Also, Darius Willis had a 70-yard run to open the game, followed by the obligatory benching and six straight runs into the defensive tackle. Jammie Kirlew also spent a disturbing amount of time in the Northwestern backfield bugging Mike Kafka. Indiana Plus: Good Players!
Indiana Minus: TERRIBLE COACHING!!!! Seriously, Bill Lynch used his last timeout with over seven minutes left in the 4th quarter as Northwestern was roaring back, got stuffed on 4th down from the NU 33 with the game on the line (call a short pass! or a run! not a 20-yard out!), then was forced to try and kick a 59 yard field goal with 0:05 left on the clock and a first year kicker with nowhere close to that kind of range.
11. Illinois - Ron Zook looks like Andrew Klein from Entourage after his wife found out about the cheating. At least ten times a game. This team is awful.
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