Week 11: We're baaaack

By Kyle Magin

Wow, been awhile. It's nice to see you again. I missed you. Let's reacquaint ourselves in a comfortable manner. 

There. We're back at it, so what say we dive into a few of this week's key matchups? Hopefully we'll get back to a regular posting schedule this weekend. 

Northwestern @ Michigan -9.5

On the surface this is a very attractive line. Northwestern struggles passing the ball and is really in no shape to get into a shooting match with the Wolverines, who have the superior defense and slightly, although only incrementally, superior passing game. Both rushing attacks are deadly effective. Northwestern's key to closing the gap and covering or potentially winning will be its ability to force turnovers—27 total this season—and Michigan's propensity for losing the ball. That said, if UM gets up early, NW just doesn't have the horses to come back. 

Oregon State @ Stanford -4

Stanford does very little well except stopping you from scoring. Oregon State does that, and QB Sean Mannion excels at finding his targets deep downfield to hurt you. He's a gunslinger, with 8 TDs and 8 INTs, but does as good a job as anyone in the country of moving his team into scoring position. 

Texas A&M vs. Alabama -14

Alabama, in due deference to Denard Robinson, has not seen a quarterback with the skill set and accuracy of A&M's Johnny Manziel. Manziel, though, has seen defenses slightly below Alabama's lofty stature—LSU and Florida—and fared pretty poorly. The key for Alabama will be containing the edges and making Manziel beat you with his arm. He can do that, but it limits his fantastic ability to create on the run, and I'd never bet against a bunch of defensive backs coached by Saban losing more than just a few battles downfield. Manziel goes for 12.4-plus yards per completion, but he can pretty much rule out his fantastic running game getting their usual 250-plus yards per game. If Manziel can find his targets downfield, Alabama's A.J. McCarron will need to find his stride again after stumbling against an arguably comparable defense last week in LSU. He's got a strong running game to keep some of the heat off, but two touchdowns might be outside the realm of possibility if the Aggies can take a shot and stay on their feet. 

Penn State @ Nebraska -4

Penn State is dangerous, and playing spoiler on Nebraska's march toward the B1G title game this weekend. The Lions have struggled against mobile quarterbacks this year, though.