The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com October 22, 2007 - 5B MAIZE GAUGE The Michigan Daily football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box- score. The defense-o-meter measures the intensity of the defense, the Carr-o-meter judges Lloyd Carr's demeanor following the game and the hypemeter measures the fans' game performance. A~ * DEFENSE-O-METER 3 After some early mistakes and shoddy tackling gave the Illini a 14-3 lead, the defense stiffened. It allowedjust 29 4 rushing yards to mobile quarterbacks Juice Williams and Crables Eddie McGee and held Illinois tojust three second-half points while the Michigan offense made its comeback. CARR-O-METER 3/ Carr couldn't have been more proud oftquarterback Chad Henne. The coach said just one word summed up the injured 4 senior's play: courageous. Although he didn't seem too Lloyd excited to be talking to the media so close midnight, Carr Carrs was generally pleased with his team's performance. He even answered questions about special teams this week. THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL 6. WEST VIRGINIA: Unranked aweek ago, the rts stafern ilo t Mountaineers move back into our polls after a nonconference laugher. Unfortunately for them, r pbia1h zed w} it rsplace they haveto travel tothe unfriendly confines of Rutgers this week. gec more firs-place votes, batsa solid showing on nearlyaever ballot was enaughto vaultnche Tigers to the top. Apparently, it's easier to top our rankings thanto beat Auburn. 8.FLORIDA: Sosophomore quarterback Tim Tebow is good. He beat Kentucky signal caller Andre Woodson this weekend, and he may very well add more impressive gamesto his Heisman highlight taoe by the endof the year. HYPEMETER An incredible atmosphere at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. A Afterspending all day tailgating, the Ilini fans were readyfor Michigan, making their presencefelt early and often. Clad Big Houses almost completely in orange and yelling throughout the game, the Illinois fans impressed us. Even with the clock winding down and the game appearingto be over, mostfans stayed untilithe clock struck zero, hopingfor some sort of miracle comeback. PRE ASSOCIATED. O The nation's No. 2 team faltered for the third week in a row, as South Florida lost at Rutgers. Boston College moved up to the cursed spot after a bye week. And with a last-second touchdown to beat Auburn, Louisiana State moved up to No. 3. TEAM LAST WEEK THIS WEEK 1. Ohio Slate beat Michigan at Penn Stale State 2417 2. Boston College idle at Virginia Tech 3. Louisiana State beat Auburn 30-24 at Alabama 4. Oklahoma beat lowa State 17-7 idle 5. Oregon beat Washington 55-34 Southern Cal 6. West Virginia beat Mississippi at Rutgers State 38-13 7. Arizona State idle California 8. Virginia Tech idle Boston College 9. Southern Cal beat Notre at Oregon Dame 38-0 9. Florida beat Kentucky 45-37 at Georgia 11. South Florida lost to Rutgers 30-27 at Connecticut 12. Kansas beat Colorado19-14 at Texas A&M 13. Missouri beat TexasTech 41-10 Iowa State 14. Kentucky lost to Florida 45-37 Mississippi State 15. South Carolina lost to Vanderbilt17-6 at Tennessee 16. Hawaii idle New Mexico State 17. Texas beat Baylor 31-10 Nebraska 18. California lost to UCLA 30-21 at Arizona State 19. Michigan beatlIllinois 27-17 Minnesota 20. Georgia idle Florida 21. Virginia beat Maryland 18-17 at N.C. State 22. Alabama beat Tennessee 41-17 Louisiana State 23. Auburn lost to Louisiana Mississippi State 30-24 24. Penn State beat Indiana 36-31 Ohio State 25. Rutgers beat South West Virginia Florida30-27 Games updated through Oct. 21 3. BOSTON COLLEGE: Coming off abyeweek, the Eagles move up a spot in our poll. We'll see ifit lasts. After beatingup on powerhouses such as Army, UMass and Bowling Green earlier this season, they has to travel to Blacksburg this week. 10. SOUTHERN CAL: The Trojans absolutely embarrassed Notre Dame 38-0, the biggest margin of defeat inthe series' history, to get their season back on the righttrack after afewtough games. Muh. Sounds a little familiar. S.OREGON: The Ducks'offense continues to cut through its schedule, making the Michigan defense look a little less bad every week. Oregon willneed to keep attacking, though: It plays Southern Cal and Arizona State over the next two weeks. Staff Picks recap: Scott Bell's pretty ridiculous run continued this week. He extended his lead over the closest picker to10 games. He's now an incredible 28 games above .500. Almost as surprising, he's just 2-5 with his best bets. So a word to the wise: Pick everything he picks except for the one he's sup- posedly most confident with. Daniel Bromwich and Kevin Wright both had great weeks, too. Their 13-8 records distanced them from Jack Herman (can you say dismal?) and the celebrity picker for a tight race for second place. They're also the only two writers whose best bet records are above .500. Engineering sophomore Alex Szypa won't be back next week as guest picker. He only bested Herman, but he did escape with a best-bet victory thanks to his school loyalty. If you'd like to be in the running to replace Szypa, e-mail the football beat at footballbeat07@umich.edu to get in the pool of potential participants. STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers do their best a: * to predict what happens in the 2007 College football season. Scott Daniel Bell Bromwich 1ac CKevi Herman Wright Sex Szypa No.24Michigan(-2) vs. ILLINOIS No.1 OHIOSTATE(-17)vs. Michigan State No. 2 South Florida (-2) vs. RUTGERS No. 4 Oklahoma (-29.5) vs. IOWA STATE, No. 5 LSU 00.5) vs. No.18Auburn No. 6 S. CAROLINA (-3.5) vs. Vanderbilt No.7 Oregon (-11.5) vs. WASH INGTON No. 8 KENTUCKY (+6.5) vs. No.14Florida .,o. 9 WEST VIRGINIA(-24)vs. Miss. St. No.10 California (No Line) vs. UCLA No.13 USC (-17) vs. Notre Dame No.15Kansas(-3.) vs. COLORADO S.15MISSOURI (-.5)vs. No.22 T.Tech No.19 Texas (-25) vs BAYLOR No. 20 Tennessee (PK) vs. ALABAMA No. 23 Cincinnati (-9.5) vs. PITTSBURGH: o.25 Kansas St. (+3) vs. OKLAHOMA ST Iowa (+7) vs. PURDUE WISCONSIN(-23.5)vs Northern Illinois Penn State (-7.5) vs. INDIANA Northwestern(-0) vs. E. Michigan test tat Record Last Week Overall Record Michigan Michigan State South Florida Oklahoma Auburn Vanderbilt Oregon Florida West Virginia California Southern Cal Colorado Missouri Texas Alabama Cincinnati Kansas State Purdue Wisconsin Indiana Northwestern Texas 15-6-0 (0-i) 9971-4(2-5) Michigan Michigan State Rutgers Oklahoma. Loxi lana. Stata South Carolina Oregon Florida West Virginia California Southern Cal Kansas Missouri Texas Alabama Cincinnati Kansas State Purdue Northern Illinois Penn State Northwestern Oregon 13-8-0 (1-0) 89-81-4 (-2) Illinois Michigan State Rutgers. Oklahoma Louisiana State South Carolina Oregon Kentucky Mississippi State California Notre Dame Kansas Missouri Texas .......Al.a b.am a.......... Cincinnati Kansas State Iowa. N. Illinois Penn State Northwestern Rutgers 8-13-0 (1-0) 82-88-4 (2-5) Michigan Michigan State South Florida Iowa State Auburn. Vanderbilt Oregon Kentucky Mississippi State California Southern Cal Colorado Missouri Baylor .Alabama Cincinnati Oklahoma State Iowa Wisconsin Indiana Northwestern South Florida 13-8-0 (0-1) 89-81-4 (4-3) Michigan Michigan State South Florida Oklahoma Auburn_ South Carolina Washington Kentucky Mississippi State California Southern Cal Kansas Missouri Texas .Alabam. Cincinnati Oklahoma State Purdue Wisconsin Penn State Eastern Michigan Michigan 9-12-0 (1-0) 83-87-4 (2-5) S"