State College Football Predictions, Week Four: Gut Check Time!

Ferris State's last second touchdown lifted me to a 5-1 record last week, so I have become a charter member in the Reggie Bell fan club. But while cats have nine lives, Bulldogs only have three, so they can't keep counting on miracle finishes, can they?

Q: What's better for your fan base, getting out to a 38-6 lead like Michigan State did, only to give most of it back? Or letting your weaker opponent get out to a 21-7 lead, and then outscoring them 38-7 like Michigan did?

A: Neither, your fan base wants you to blow every opponent out by fifty points so they can drink more.

Let's get to my week four predictions, which is sure to piss off any Chippewa fans in the house. So far this season I have 14 wins and 4 losses.

This week the rubber meets the road as the Big Ten season starts in earnest, and Central and Western face must win games if the petition to get their storied rivalry on ESPN's GameDay is to have any merit (it doesn't).

Penn State (2-1) at Michigan (3-0), Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, 3:30pm Saturday

Even the most die hard M fans will admit the churning in their guts every time the Wolverines take the field, because by this point they are gun shy of an offense that has no running game and a defense that let's a crap team like Colorado pass for over 325 yards on them. Penn State is yet another in a long series of uneasy games for the Wolverines as they try and remain undefeated heading into East Lansing on October 29. Penn State sucks, but so did Colorado, so that's no solace for the Wolverine faithful.

Michigan 27, Penn State 14

Wisconsin (3-0) at Michigan State (3-0), Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, noon Saturday

Wisconsin will want to churn the ball with their running game, and the Spartans don't allow that to happen. Which MSU team will show up offensively, the one that easily rolled up the scoreboard on Notre Dame in the first half, or the one that meekly played too close to the vest in the fourth quarter, allowing the Irish to get within a touchdown? Rest easy, Spartyland, it will be the former, not the latter.

MSU 30, Wisconsin 6

Central Michigan (3-0) at Virginia (0-3), Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, VA 12:30pm Saturday

Yes, CMU is THAT good. Cooper Rush is the real deal at QB, and their defense is pretty damn good. The problem here is Wahoo coach Bronco Medenhall is a really good college football coach who isn't about to go 0-4 at the expense of a MAC team. He probably stayed up all week watching film to figure out how to shut down Rush. It will be the first of two tough weeks for the Chips dealing with Broncos.

Virginia 20, CMU 16

Georgia Southern (3-0) at Western Michigan (3-0), Waldo Stadium, Kalamazoo, 7:30pm Saturday.

This is the game of the weekend, as the Eagles triple option run offense takes on the Broncos wide open, free wheeling passing game. Western looked great last week chewing up a pathetically bad Illinois team. It won't be that easy this week, but at least they'll live up to their end of the bargain and get to the CMU game undefeated.

WMU 27, Ga Southern 21

Grand Valley (3-0) at Walsh (0-3), Memorial Stadium, North Canton, OH 2:30pm Saturday

The only thing stopping the Lakers from getting to their showdown with Ferris undefeated is defeating themselves. I'm not sure that's even possible against a Walsh team that has looked inept at times this season. They will probably start freshman quarterback Mitchell Ault out against a Laker defense that eats freshman for breakfast.

GVSU (name your score, I'll say 45), Walsh 3

Ashland (3-0) at Ferris State (3-0), Topp Taggart Field, Big Rapids, 3:30pm Saturday

After pulling a houdini act and escaping with a road win against young but game Northwood last week, the Bulldogs face their toughest test of the season against Ashland, who are ranked 5th in NCAA Division 2 (Ferris is seventh) and have been putting up 38 points per game. My head says go with Ashland, but my heart is with Reggie Bell and the cardiac Dogs, who have the home field advantage.

Ferris 37, Ashland 32