State College Predictions, Week 6: In Which I Vow Never To Pick Against WMU Ever Again

After stumbling to another 4-2 week prognosticating college football games, I learned a valuable lesson: NEVER, ever bet against Western Michigan.

My season mark is now 22 wins against 8 losses. Let's see what we have for week 6, shall we?

Michigan (5-0) at Rutgers (2-3) -- High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway NJ, Saturday 7:00pm

Michigan will don the away white uniforms for the first time this season against a Rutgers team that was pummeled by Ohio State last week 58-0. But the Wolverines have struggled with the Knights since they joined the B1G a few years back. It won't be pretty, but Jalil Peppers, Jourdan Lewis and the M defense will help the Wolverines exact a little revenge.

M 37, Rutgers 6

BYU (2-3) at Michigan State (2-2) -- Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Saturday 3:30pm

It's so very uncharacteristic of Mark Dantonio teams to self combust like Sparty has the last two weeks (two and a half if you consider that awful second half at Notre Dame). Here's a little gut check game for MSU. Can they get off the mat and play like we know they can? I think they can, and they either win this game or chuck the whole season in the toilet.

MSU 27, BYU 20

Northern Illinois (1-4) at Western Michigan (5-0) -- Waldo Stadium, Kalamazoo, Saturday 6:30pm

This isn't your older brother's NIU team that will come a knockin' for Homecoming at Western. The Huskies finally got a win over an improving Ball State team last week, and they have seemed to have found their offensive behind QB Anthony Maddie, a Western transfer who tossed for 298 yards in that Ball State win. But Western finally gets the NIU demon off their back following seven straight losses.

WMU 40, NIU 27

Ball State (3-2) at Central Michigan (3-2) -- Kelly Shorts Stadium, Mount Pleasant, 3:30pm Saturday

Central looked awful last week, getting trashed at home to their arch rival Western, so like MSU, they face a turning point game. Can they get off the turf and right back into the thick of what will be another wild MAC West race, or do they get shoved by the Wayside (a bar pun if you went to CMU)? Ball State has been erratic at times this season, but they have won five of the last six in this series, including three of those at home.

CMU 27, Ball State 21

Ferris State (4-1) at GVSU (5-0) -- Lubbers Stadium, Allendale, Saturday 7pm

Reggie Bell has done well in getting Ferris' offense back on track after the graduation of Jason VanderLaan, and this will be the Lakers toughest test for their defense to date. The difference in this game will be GVSU's balance on offense where just between RB Martayveous Carter and QB Bart Williams, the Lakers have rolled up close to 2000 yards in offense. Still, Bulldog coach Tony Annese seems to always have something up his sleeve for the Lakers.

GVSU 37, Ferris 22

Faith (?-?) at Davenport (4-1) -- Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex, Grand Rapids, Saturday 12 noon

Here's a challenge for you. See if you can find out anything about the University of Faith-Florida's football team. You can't. I'm not sure what their deal is, other than they schedule mostly road games against D2 and NAIA schools and routinely get killed. The NCAA has removed the 'Glory Eagles' accreditation, which means this game doesn't count. So I'll pick Davenport, just to get the win.

Davenport 450, Faith ??