I did a Q&A with The Wolverine Blog today. I talk a little offense, a little defense, and what I expect Iowa to try to do against Michigan tomorrow. Nothing too ground breaking going on, but head over there and check it out.

Iowa Offense vs. Michigan Defense

Category	Iowa O: Stat	Iowa O: Rank	Michigan D: Stat	Michigan D: Rank	Advantage
Rushing Yards	172.20	45	146.33	55	-
Passing Yards	254.20	32	304.33	119	+
Passing Efficiency	173.87	3	134.98	82	+
Sacks	2.00	62	1.50	85
Total Yards	426.40	33	450.67	112	+
Scoring	33.60	33	26.83	75	+
Turnovers	1.00	6	1.50	64	+
3rd Down Conversion	46.67	27	40.23	71	+
Red Zone %	85.71	40	85.71	81	+

Michigan's defense is bad. The only stat that the Wolverines are on the better side of the median is rushing yards allowed. That isn't, though, because they have a good run defense. They are giving up over 4 yards per carry and have allowed 12 rushing TDs. They use a 3 man front, which doesn't generate a lot of pressure on its own. They will throw a lot of guys in the box though and try to bring pressure from different angles. Iowa's offensive line shouldn't have too many problems with Michigan's D-line, so the key will really be getting blocks on the second level. With Michigan's aggressiveness, if Adam Robinson can get by the first wave of defenders, there won't much standing between him and the goal-line (though he can probably be caught from behind).

Really though were Iowa should hold the biggest advantage is passing the ball. Michigan's secondary is very young and very inexperienced...and they are asked to play man-to-man a lot. The cornerbacks are especially green and have been exploited by team after team. Michigan is giving up the second most passing yards per game (304.33 yards), though in their defense, teams have thrown it the third most against them (about 40 passes per game). The Wolverine secondary is vulnerable against a dink-and-dunk offense (see the Michigan-Indiana game) and to the long ball (see the Michigan-Michigan State game). As long as Stanzi has time to sit in the pocket and make his reads (which he should...Michigan hasn't gotten to the QB very often), then he should be able to pick Michigan's secondary apart.

Overall Advantage: Iowa obviously has a huge advantage with the ball

Ray Hamilton
W Strongsville 28 - Mayfield | (5-2)
The Mustangs have really turned their season around. After losing the first two games, they have ripped off 5 straight and pitched their first shutout on Friday beating Mayfield 28-0. Hamilton had 3 catches for 89 yards and afterwards updated his blog.

Next Game: vs. Brush - 10/15

Austin Blythe
L Williamsburg 7 - Solon 22 | (6-1)
Williamsburg lost their first game of the year against James Morris' old school, Solon. Williamsburg's offense was completely shut down and surprisingly ineffective. Previously the Raiders had scored at least 38 points in each game, but were held to just 7 on Friday. You can see Blythe on a couple of plays in KCRG's highlights (Blythe is #77 in white).

Next Game: vs. Clear Creek-Amana - 10/15

Jake Duzey
L Lake Orion 45 - Athens 7 | (2-5)
There was not much out there on this game. Lake Orion was and still is undefeated after facing Athens. Duzey had 3 catches for 66 yards and a TD.

Next Game: at Troy - 10/22

I had a little bit more time on my hands with the bye week so I attempted to justify all of my picks. There are still a few spots that I am unsure, but I tried to do my best picking the teams based my criteria: overall record, head-to-head results, resume/strength of schedule, performance/statistics. I found that I tend to value a good defense better than a good offense and that I was using statistics probably a little too much. Anyway, here's my ballot for the week.

Ohio State: I moved OSU down last week after Alabama had two top-10 wins. Well, that was short lived. OSU may not be the flashiest team around, but I they are the most complete. They have won every game pretty handily with the exception of last week's game at Illinois that actually doesn't look so bad with the Illini's thrashing of Penn State.

Oregon: Oregon is a very close two. They have a better resume than Ohio State with a win over Stanford, but in the last 3 games the Ducks defense has given up a lot of points. I'll take a strong defense over a flashy offense.

Nebraska: Nebraska rivals Ohio State for the most complete team. They have an electric quarterback in Taylor Martinez and an outstanding defense. Right now, however, Nebraska resume isn't very strong, though their best two wins were on the road at Washington and at Kansas State. Win the next 3 weeks though (against Texas, OK State, and Missouri) and Nebraska may find itself ranked even higher.

Boise State: Oregon State beating Arizona helps Boise's resume a little and Virginia Tech seems to have shaken their terrible start. Other than Boise State has just rolled a bunch of not very good teams...and that's the way the rest of the season will probably go.

TCU: Pretty much the same thing can be said about TCU. The Oregon State win was good and that's about it.

Michigan State: MSU has two wins in a row against ranked teams and a previous win against a Notre Dame team that is starting to play a little better. Michigan State's offense has been surprisingly efficient and the defense did well to shut down Denard Robinson/Michigan.

The bye week was all kinds of awesome. I got some extra sleep, the Iowa Football team had time to heal some minor injuries, and there was a ton of exciting football to watch on Saturday. The afternoon session of flipping between Alabama getting upset by South Carolina and Michigan State exploiting all of Michigan's weaknesses was absolutely great.

The only bad part about the bye week was that Iowa's strength of schedule took a beating as Iowa State got woodshedded against Utah, Arizona fell just short against Oregon State, Penn State lost to Illinois (who is kind looking not too bad actually), Ball State lost handily to Western Michigan, and Eastern Illinois lost its 6th consecutive game. Win against its next 3 opponents and the poor non-conference SOS will be forgotten, but at this point it certainly looks bad.

So, moving forward...next up is a game at Michigan. I tried to pay particular attention to them on Saturday while they were playing Michigan State. After watching the game, my confidence level for this upcoming game definitely rose, but I still think this game could very close and high scoring (by Iowa standards), similar to last year's 30-28 win.

Michigan...a repeat of last year?

Thus far, Michigan's 2010 season  very closely resembles 2009. A heroic quarterback leading the Wolverines to a few big wins early in the season; a perfect non-conference schedule followed by a shaky win against Indiana; a steady climb up the top-25 before losing to Michigan State... In 2009, after the MSU loss, Michigan went on to lose to Iowa and then every other Big Ten team it faced. I don't think that'll happen this year, but it's not hard to imagine at least 3 more losses with Iowa, Ohio State, and Wisconsin still ahead.