1iA-The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 5, 2006
I
Iowa vs.
Purdue
highlights
wee end
Last week Across the Big Ten warned John
L. Smith, "Those who don't learn from his-
tory are doomed to repeat it." We should've
taken our own advice when picking the Mich-
igan State-Illinois game. Two weeks ago, we
picked the Spartans, and they lost. Last week,
we picked the Spartans, and they lost. Maybe
next time we'll be more cautious when pick-
ing a Michigan State game. As for this week,
the Big Ten slate is as exciting as listening to
Ben Stein talk. These games may be stinkers
to watch during a tailgate, but they're always
a great excuse to hide your emerging alcohol-
ism. And now, the picks:
Penn State (1-1 Big Ten, 3-2 overall)
at Minnesota (0-2, 2-3), Saturday, Octo-
ber 7 - noon.
Penn State can't look past this game toward
next Saturday night's game against the Wol-
verines. Last week was a convincing win for
the Nittany Lions against a terrible North-
western team. The defense
allowed just one third-down
conversion in 13 tries and
held the Wildcats to 81 yards ACrOSS th
on the ground.Penn State will with H. Jo
need that run defense to be at
Delgado shines
n playoff debut
Drew Tate and the Hawkeyes host Purdue Saturday afternoon.
Eastern Michigan. The oddsmakers in Vegas
have no faith in the Wildcats and neither does
ATBT. Look out for Badger running back P.J.
Hill to have a monster game.
Wisconsin 45, Northwestern 10
Indiana (0-1, 2-3) at illi-
* f nois (1-1, 2-3), Saturday,
October 7 - noon.
e Big Ten This matchup consists of.
se Bosch the two Big Ten's black sheep
of the Big Ten With the suc-
its best against Minnesota's r
Gopher running back Amir Pin
91 yards against a Michigan te
allowed any other back to top 6
Gophers may be just what thec
for depressed Twins fans by tI
day rolls around, so this could
ritory for JoePa. Look for Min
advantage.
Minnesota 17, Penn State 13
Northwestern (0-1, 2-3)e
(1-1, 4-1), Saturday, Octobe
Dub this one the Baby Bo
youngest coaches in Division I
at Camp Randell Stadium. Thi:
pose no problem for Wiscons
gers play in one of the most hi
ments for visiting teams, and t
a declawed Wildcats team. Th
been a rough one for Northw
their emotional season-openin
Miami (GH), the Wildcats have
only win coming in a weak, 14-
- - -8 A 1. " l tl "
ushing attack. cess of Ohio State, Michigan and even Iowa,
nix rushed for the Big Ten likes to forget that it has teams
am that hasn't like Indiana and Illinois to keep it balanced.
0. The Golden The Fighting Illini finally won their first Big
doctor ordered Ten game in two years against Michigan
he time Satur- State, and Ron Zook is looking to build on
be hostile ter- the momentum from that win. Juice Williams
nesota to take looked good for a freshman last week, throw-
ing for 122 yards and a touchdown while run-
ning for 103 yards. Add to that the threat of
running back Pierre Thomas and the Hoo-
siers may be in trouble - Indiana gave up
at Wisconsin eight straight scores to Wisconsin last week.
@r 7 - noon. The Fighting Illini may not be the Badgers,
wl as the two but just about anyone can look good when in-
-A square off ing up with the Hoosiers, including your IM
s game should football team.
sin. The Bad-
ostile environ- Illinois 28, Indiana 14
hey're hosting
its season has Purdue (1-0, 4-1) at No. 19 Iowa (1-
vestern. Since 1,4-1), Saturday, October 7 - 12:03
g win against p.m., ESPNU.
gone 1-3, their If this game starts three minutes later than
6 slapfest with everyone else, it must be important. Despite
the tough loss to Notre Dame, Purdue is still
scorching the statsheets to the tune of 36.8
points per game. And when you give teams
like that an inch, they can take a mile. Iowa's
offense, on the other hand, hasn't had a 100-
yard runner or 100-yard receiver this season,
a pretty unbelievable statistic when you con-
sider the Hawkeyes have played cupcakes
Montana and Illinois and a mediocre Syra-
cuse. Last season, Tate and then-starting Pur-
due quarterback Brandon Kirsch combined to
throw for a whopping 710 yards. Fireworks
are going to fly again this season, but desper-
ation will work in favor of Iowa. And nothing
is more comforting to a desperate team than
home-field advantage. Purdue drops its sec-
ond straight game against a ranked opponent
on the road, but it'll be interesting.
No. 19 Iowa 34, Purdue 27
Bowling Green (2-1, 3-2) at No. 1 Ohio
State, October 7 - 3:30 p.m.
What can you even say about this game?
A Mid American Conference team travel into
the Horseshoe to play the No. I team in the
nation. Is there even a reason to do an analysis
of this game? Ohio State is a 35 - 35-point
- favorite in this one. That means there is
a better chance of Paris Hilton making guest
picks for ATBT than the Falcons winning this
game. And another thing; Ohio State has won
22 straight games against in-state opponents.
Fortunately, there is another game going on at
4:30 p.m. on Saturday that'll keep you occu-
pied from watching this public sacrifice.
No. I Ohio State 53, Bowling Green 10
NEW YORK (AP) - Minus two
top starters, the New York Mets got
dynamic postseason debuts from
Carlos Delgado and David Wright to
jump ahead of the Dodgers.
Back in the playoffs for the first
time since losing the 2000 Subway
Series, the Mets capitalized on a
wild baserunning blunder by Los
Angeles and a perfectly respect-
able performance from emergency
starter John Maine in a 6-5 victory
yesterday.
Billy Wagner closed it for his first
postseason save, fanning Nomar
Garciaparra with a runner on second
for the final out.
"This is one of the games that's
really the way we play," New York
manager Willie Randolph said.
Playing in the first playoff game
of his 14-year career, Delgado had
four hits, a mammoth homer and the
go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning.
Wright drove in three runs, help-
ing the Mets take a 1-0 lead in the
best-of-five series.
"I was very excited," Delgado
said. "I had butterflies in my
stomach the first couple innings.
I was saying, 'Whoa, what is
going on here?' But I was able to
kind of control my emotions and
just go out and play."
"We haven't quit all season long,
especially these last couple months"
Dodgers manager Grady Little said.
"We'll keep coming at you."
The Mets started a rookie in the
opener after Orlando Hernandez
tore a muscle in his right calf while
jogging in the outfield Tuesday. He
is expected to miss the entire post-
season.
Already without injured ace
Pedro Martinez, New York scram-
bled Tuesday night to find a healthy,
rested starter and picked Maine, an
afterthought in the offseason trade
that sent Kris Benson to Baltimore
for reliever Jorge Julio.
The 25-year-old Maine went 6-5
with a 3.60 ERA for the NL East
champions, who tied the crosstown
Yankees for the best record in base-
ball at 97-65.
Yet he probably would have
been left out of the playoff rota-
tion altogether if Martinez hadn't
gone down.
"My nerves I think were worse in
the second inning than they were in
the first, Maine said. "It wasn't too
bad"
Lifted with a 2-1 lead in the fifth
after throwing 80 pitches, Maine got
a break on a bizarre play when the
Dodgers had two runners cut down
at home plate in the second.
With two on and none out, rookie
Russell Martin hit an opposite-field
drive off the base of the right-field
wall. But Jeff Kent hesitated at sec-
ond base, apparently thinking the
ball might be caught, and got an
extremely late jump.
That left J.D. Drew, who was on
first, practically running up Kent's
back as coach Rich Donnelly waved
one - or both - around third. A
quick, accurate relay from right
fielder Shawn Green to second base-
manJose Valentin tocatcherPaul Lo
Duca nailed Kent, who attempted a
headfirst dive into the plate.
"If I hold him, we've got two guys
at third base' Donnelly said. "I was
hoping they'd throw the ball away. I
didn't really want to send Jeff. J.D.
was right behind him, and I thought,
one's going to be out and one's going
to be safe"
Drew was left in no-man's land,
trapped about halfway between
third and home. But Lo Duca, who
got spun around on the play at the
plate, didn't realize that at first as he
struggled to his feet.
With Lo Duca unaware for a
moment, Drew tried to sneak his
way in. Maine pointed at Lo Duca,
trying to alert him that another run-
ner was coming. The catcher turned
his head, suddenly noticed Drew
bearing down on him and applied
a second tag as Drew also tried a
headfirst dive.
"We needed this game, as far as
momentum goes," Wright said. "We
have a team full of igniters. When
a couple of these guys get going, it
rubs off."
Delgado had played the most
games of any active player without
reaching the postseason. He also
was No. 1 on the active home run list
without a playoff appearance.
"It's nice to see him finally get an
opportunity on this stage and come
through," Randolph said.
4
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