The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com November 17, 2008 - 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 Rod-O-Meter judges how emotional (positive or negative) Rich Rodriguez was following the game and the Hype-O-Meter measures the fans' performance. DEFENSE--MET ER 2/4The defense automatically gets one Obi for senior Ter- rance Taylor's body slam. We thought only running h acks could (allegedly) lay that kind of wood. The defen- Obis sive line rocked out all afternoon, hut the secondary had as many holes as the Michigan Stadium crowd. ROD-0-METER Rodriguez must have realized his shtick was getting old, because he was much less sarcastic after this loss. 4~ Instead, he was just boring. No witty insights, a lot of Rich Rods generic comments about Ohio State next Saturday and the same answers to the same questions he's been asked all season. Maybe he's getting sick of that, too. HYPE-C-METER During halftime, the Michigan Stadium press box announcer said, "Earlier today, the attendance was 107,856." By that time, the student section was more than half empty - Big Houses but it was never full in the first place. Sure, the weather was terrible and the team is bad. But for the last game in the Big House this year, the turnout was horrendous. NOTABLE QUOTABLE "He just told us that he loved playing with us and, 'Don't let a season like this happen again.' Even if we did go 0-13, we are Michi- gan and we stand for everything that Michi- gan's about.... His words are very powerful, and they'll stick with me for the rest of my life." -Redshirt sophomore left guard John Ferrara on senior nose ! tackle Terrance Taylor r THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL The 1S t higt n Daily Top 10 returns for its 12th installmient 6SUHENCL h rjn a ef j 6. SOUTHERN CAL Thu Trojans came from this se as;0 . Ech week. Daily staffers wl} fill it allots, behind to rock Stanford's world. The wvithi first place votes receiv ng to points, secotd Trojans were stretched but didn't break. Get place votes reccivilig .and So on. The restilts are your mind out of the gutter. rmbh ..hed wvith first-place votes in aenhse. ASSCITEDPRSS OL TEAM 1. Alabama (11-0) 2. Texas Tech (10- 0) 3. Florida (9-1) 4. Texas (10-1) S. Oklahoma(9-1) 6. Southern Cal (9-1) 7. Penn State (10-1) 8. Utah (11-0) 9. Boise State (10- 0) 10. Ohio State (9-2) 11. Oklahoma State (9-2) 12. Missouri (9-2) 13. Georgia (9-2) 14. Ball State (9-0) 15. Texas Christian (9-2) 16. Brigham Young (10-1) 17. Michigan State (9-2) 18. Louisiana State (7-3) 19. Cincinnati (8-2) 20. Pittsburgh (7-2) 21. Oregon State (7-3) 22. Maryland (7-3) 23. Miami (FL) (7-3) 24. Oregon (8-3) 25. North Carolina (7-3) LAST WEEK beat Mississippi State 32-7 bye beat South Carolina 56-6 beat Kansas 35-7 bye beatStanford45-23 beat Indiana 34-7 beat San Diego State 63-14 beat Idaho 45-10 beat Illinois 30-20 beat Colorado 30-7 beat Iowa State 52-20 beat Auburn 17-13 beat Miami (OH) 31-16 bye beat Air Force 38-24 THIS WEEK bye at Oklahoma Citadel bye Texas Tech bye Michigan State Brigham Young at Nevada Michigan bye bye bye at utan 8. UTAH: The Utah-Brigham Young game might be the mostcompetitive rivalry game this weekend, andyouprobably won't even be able to watch it. It's on the mtn., the Rocky Mountain equivalent of theBTN. ';<: 3.FLORIDA (2): South Carolina and former Gator coach Steve Spurrier is known to run the score up on opponents. Florida coach Urban Meyer gave him a taste of his own medicine, handinghim the worst loss of his coaching career Saturday. bye at Penn State beat Troy 40-31 Mississippi beat Pittsburgh Louisville 28-20 bye at Cincinnati beat at Arizona California 34-21 beat North Florida State Carolina 17-15 beat Virginia at Georgia Tech Tech 16-14 beat Arizona bye 55-45 lost to North Carolina Maryland 17-15 State Games updated through Nov.16 10. BALL STATE (1): Cardinal coach Brady Hoke, a former Lloyd Carr assistant, is leading an undefeated team and has a chance to makea BCS game. So, that'sthe formula for winning? Wonder what Mike DeBord is up to. 5. OKLAHOMA: Texas Tech knocked the Sooners outofthe national title race late lastseason. Oklahoma will have the chance to return the favor thisweekend. How many great games can the Big 12 have this year? Don't answer. It's rhetorical. STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers predict what will happen in the 2008 college football season. Dan Feldman Michigan (-4) vs. Northwestern Northwestern No.1 Alabama (-21) vs. Mississippi Stale Mississippi State No.3 Florida (-21) vs. No.24 South Carolina Florida No. 4 Tesas (-13) at Katsas Tesas No. 6 Southern Cal (-23) at Stanford Southern Cal No. 7 Pest State (-36) vs. Indiana Indiana No.8 Utah (28.5) at San Diego State San Diego State No. 9 Boise State (-36.5) at Idaho Idaho No. 10 Ohio State (10) at Ilinois Ohio State No. itrOklahoma State t7) at Colorado Colorado No.12Missouri (-275) at Iowa State Iowa State No. 13 Georgia (-9) at Auburn Georgia No.14 eall State 19.5) at Miami (Ohio) Ball State No.16BrighamYoung(-5.5) at AirForce Air Force No.17 North Carolina (-3) at Maryland Maryland No.19 Ltuisiana State-8.5) vs.Troy Louisiana State No.20 Florida State (-7) vs Boston College BostonCollege Ho. 22 Cincinnati (-.5) at Louisville Cincinnati No.23 Oregon State (3) vs. California Oregon State No. 25 Tulsa 45 at Houston Houston Wisconsin 14) vs. Minnesota Minnesota Purdue (+17.5) at Iowa Purdue Best Bet Texas Record Last Week 13-B-i (1-0) Overall Record 151-119-4 (7-4-1) Courtney Ratkowiak Michigan Alabama Sooth Carolina Texas Southern Cal Indiana San Diego State Idaho Illinois Oklahoma State Iowa State Georgia Miami (Ohio) Brigham Young North Carolina Louisiana State Florida State Cincinnati Oregon State Tulsa Minnesota Purdue Indiana 137-133-4 (9-2-1) Ian Robinson Northwestern Alabama Florida Texas Southern Cal Indiana. San Diego State Idaho Ohio State. Oklahoma State Iowa State Georgia Miami (Ohio) Brigham Young Maryland Louisiana State Florida State Louisville Oregon State Tulsa Minnesota Purdue Maryland 12-9-1 (1-0) 154-116-3 (9-2-1) Nate Sandals Northwestern Alabama Florida Texas Southern Cal Indiana San Diego State Boise State Illinois Oklahoma State Iowa State Georgia Miami(Ohio) Brigham Young North Garolina Louisiana State BostonColege Louisville Oregon State Tulsa Minnesota Iowa San Diego State 149-121-4 (6-6) Andrew Goddeeris Michigan Alabama Florida Texas Southern Cal Penn State San Diego State Idaho Ohio State Oklahoma State Missouri Georgia Ball State Brigham Young North Garolina Louisiana State Florida State Cincinnati California Tulsa Minnesota Iowa Tulsa 142-128-4 (3---1) - -; Remember, if you want your chance to be a star, e-mail danfeld@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest-tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season.