College Football Preview: Buckeyes and Wolverines Need Big Wins

It’s a big weekend of non-conference action for Big Ten schools. Ohio State meets Miami in the Horseshoe on Saturday while Michigan travels to South Bend to take on the Irish.

When is a shootout not a shootout?
The opening weekend cupcakes for Ohio State and Miami showed that both offenses are ready to explode in 2010. Don’t expect a repeat performance in week 2. Jacory Harris opened the season by going 12 of 15 for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ rout of Florida A&M. Not to be outdone, Terrelle Pryor went 17 of 25 for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Buckeyes stomped Marshall 45-7.

Posting gaudy statistics is never easy but I can’t see either quarterback coming close to matching that level of production when Miami visits the Horseshoe on Saturday. Harris will have to deal with an Ohio State defense that didn’t give up a point while on the field against Marshall; the Thundering Herd’s lone score came on a blocked field goal. At least the Hurricanes signal-caller can count on his own defense to have his back, Miami not only shutout the Rattlers but they held Florida A&M to just 110 total yards on offense.

In the end it will come down to which offense can make more from less. The game-breaking ability of Pryor means I like Ohio State to come out in top in this one but only by a touchdown. College Football betting fans should take Miami as a +9.5 underdog at -110 with Sports Interaction.

Shoelace vs. a revitalized defense
Michigan and Notre Dame meet in a game where both programs are trying to control the hype machine. The Irish showed a mean streak on defense against Purdue, the type rarely seen during the Charlie Weis era. While Notre Dame beat the Boilermakers 23-12, fans in the Big House were treated to the Denard Robinson show. The quarterback, known as Shoelace because of his penchant for playing with his laces untied, racked up 197 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown and went 19 of 22 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown in a rout of Connecticut.

This Saturday we get to see if Shoelace can repeat that feat in South Bend. Having already drawn comparisons to former Rich Rodriguez protégé Pat White, Robinson will be expected to light up the Notre Dame defense. We’ve been down this road before with RichRod however as Tate Forcier earned similar plaudits last season before the Wolverines tanked to finish 5-7. I don’t see such an epic fall in 2010 but after running the ball 29 times against UConn, it’s only reasonable to assume that Robinson might get overworked. Look for Notre Dame’s defense to tie up Shoelace just enough to take the victory as a -4.0 favorite at -110 with Sports Interaction.

XXXIX: Gabriel Morency examines Michigan’s trip to Notre Dame and Ohio State’s match-up with Miami

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