Week 2: Midwest Monday or "Domestic men of mystery"

By Kyle Magin

This week's slate of games might not be the most impressive—OK, it's probably safe to just watch highlights of everything beside your team's performance—but we'll find some things out about a couple of mystery squads this week. Is Notre Dame's defense really THAT dominating? Is Michigan's that porous? Did MSU find a QB in Andrew Maxwell, or does the search continue? And what's the deal with airline food?

Onto the games:

Air Force @ Michigan -21
Michigan's inexperienced defensive line showed itself to be just that in its 41-14 loss to Alabama Saturday. That's a problem against an Air Force team that, while young, perennially averages 300 rushing yards per game on the road—nearly 6 yards per touch. To be fair, though, Michigan was shredded by the best team in the nation last week, and Air Force doesn't throw the ball that well, rendering the loss of CB Blake Countess pretty much moot. If UM can load up effectively on the defensive side of the ball it matches up favorably against a young bunch of AF OLs. Denard Robinson had difficulty passing against Alabama last week—who doesn't?—but he did manage a respectable 7.4 yards per completion, suggesting his receivers could wrack up a bunch more YAC against a defense that isn't one of the country's best. One thing to note, though—the Falcons are 17-13 against the spread as road dogs in the last decade and 3-3 against BCS opponents in road openers.

Michigan State -23.5 @ Central Michigan
Contrary to looking more experienced, Central's defense, especially its rush defense, looked consistently weak against a Southeastern Missouri squad last week that didn't have an RB named Le'Veon Bell. They have up nearly 5 yards per rush—and on Bell's career day against a much better defense, that was just about his average. MSU's passing game struggled tremendously last week, with QB Andrew Maxwell completing at just a 58 percent clip and tossing 3 INTs. Central's saving grace could be its offense under the direction of QB Ryan Radcliff, who completed his passes for an average of 7.4 yards, but only completed at a 60 percent clip and got a big assist from his rushing game, which will struggle against the Spartans' front 7, who looked about as good as advertised last week. Note, though, that while MSU stomped the Chips last year, they don't traditionally fare well against CMU and own a 5-3 record against them, and they've never made the trip to Mt. Pleasant.

Iowa State @ Iowa -4
Iowa stumbled badly on offense in its neutral field opener against NIU last week, but it's hardly unique in that aspect; a lot of teams struggle to put it all together in week 1. What is troubling is the Hawkeyes have an experienced quarterback and relative question marks at RB and WR, limping to just 129 passing yards and 139 rushing yards in the season opener. Iowa State has a take-charge offense behind QB Steele Jantz, who completed more than 70 percent of his passes while his defense pitched a shutout for the last 33 minutes of the opener. Where Iowa can make hay is by putting pressure on Jantz—ISU's o-line is weak and he has very little pocket awareness and holds the ball far too long, evidenced by his four sacks Saturday. Iowa's front like can get to the QB, and if Jantz goes down or is shaky, this could be a long day for the Cyclones.

Purdue @ Notre Dame -14.5
This is an Irish team that looked REALLY impressive running the ball Saturday vs. Navy to the tune of nearly 300 rushing yards without suspended starter Cierre Wood. QB Everett Golson looked proficient passing the ball and averaged 8 yards per completion. What was really impressive, though, was that Notre Dame's defense held a Navy offense that averaged nearly 30 points last year to just 10. LB Manti Te'o looked every bit the returning All American, and that's a problem for Purdue, who even though they smoked Eastern Kentucky in their opener, have a young o-line and an easily hurt/shaken QB in Robert Marve. Purdue looked every bit the offensive juggernaut last week but a defense that allowed 450 yards on the road last year remains highly suspect. Purdue is a 14-17-1 road dog against the spread in the last 10 years.