First Place Cats

This post's title would seem to be the words of a madman. But no, they are the words of a truth-speaking Fish Head who watched in person as the Cats mauled the hapless Badgers. Granted, this was the Badgers minus their starting quarterback, and featuring their star running back who apparently snorted crystal meth before each handoff whereupon he forgot he had the ball. Nonetheless, the Cats won and own sole possession of first place in the B1G West. Buy your tickets for Indianapolis now.

Next up are the Fighting Irish. Whom the Fish Head would like to see as the Fleeing Irish as they slink out of Evanston with their first loss of the season. Now for those of you who say IMPOSSIBLE, look no further than the recent history of the rivalry, and then think again. Or, examine ND's 8-0 record closely. You will see two close wins over cupcakes, and two "signature” wins, over Michigan and Stanford. How signature? Not much, given that the Cats almost beat Michigan, and Stanford has not looked strong at 5-3.

Will the Cats prevail over ND? Fish Head says Yes. Fitz will coach the team into a paroxysm of enthusiasm, hunting for the signature win to enter the Top 15 of the rankings, with Clayton, Bowser, and the defensive O-Line overpowering the Irish under the lights in Evanston.

Go Cats!

Crazy Cats

It's hard to describe how hard it is to describe this year's Cats squad.

This past weekend, the Cats pulled off a Cardiac Comeback against Nebraska. You can view this two ways. One, the Cats rallied to beat an improving Nebraska squad. Two, the Cats snuck by a cupcake who might be the worst squad in the Big Ten. Or I guess you could argue if they covered the spread :-)

Regardless of which view you pick, the Cats showed zero running game, threw the ball over 60 times, and needed several clutch first down pickups on the final drive to secure OT, all against an 0-5 squad. But...look at other results this weekend, as Sparty beat the #8 ranked Pedo Guys. Yes, the same Sparty the Cats just beat by 10. Nutty.

Next up is Rutgers with the Cats giving 20, which amazingly is 4 less than Maryland gave against Rutgers. The Cats need to run the ball like 90 times to tune up that run game, and the Fish Head believes we'll see more than Moten and Vault in the backfield. Thinking positive, the Cats win and run their conference record to 4-1 setting up an epic showdown with Wiscy for control of first place in the West. That matchup will likely be another head scratcher, given the Cats lost by 3 to Michigan and Wiscy lost to the same Michigan by 25.

Other key matchups in week 8:

Maryland v. Iowa. The Fish Head's demon spawn brother pointed out the growing Iowa bandwagon in the West. Let's hope the Texas version of Maryland shows up and puts a smack down on the Crackeyes, albeit the Cats get a shot at Iowa in Week 10, giving the Cats a very thorough control of their own fate.

Illinois v. Wisconsin. This will be a snooze fest, but interesting in the context of gauging how weak Wiscy is prior to their trip to Evanston.

Minnesota v. Nebraska. Can the Golden Possums stick it to Scott Frost? They must be insulted by the spread, they need to row.

OSU v. Purdue. Purdue's recent results are on an uptick, the Fish Head looks to the Boilers to make his weekend by wrecking the Bucknuts season.

Watch some TV

Other exciting week 7 action

Who could envision Maryland giving 24 points? That is how bad Rutgers is.

Other than that, the weekend is a snooze fest. And yea Illinois will return to its losing ways now that Rutgers is off the menu.

Gotta love the Cornholers’ positivity

Lets hope this guy is spot on:

Five Reasons Nebraska will lose to Northwestern

And this guy (Who seems more rational) is also spot-on:

Northwestern beats Nebraska by a mere point

But all in all it comes down to these points:

1. Northwestern needs to get some yards on the ground
2. Clayton needs to have a big day
3. The defense needs to slow down Martinez

Go Cats, we all need another blame-game presser from Scott Frost to enjoy!

Green Wave

Fish Head and his fin mate bump into an old gent in the neighborhood occassionally, whom we refer to as "Mister Tulane” because he always wears a Tulane t-shirt.

Thusly the Fish Head recorded and is watching the Cincinatti-Tulane game.

Go Green Wave!

Post Action Report

The Fish Head missed all the live action as he swam upstream to visit his spawn in lovely Gainesville FL, but cloud DVR and ScoreMobile are the next best thing to being there.

If a fish head could blush blush, Fish Head would chuck blush, as the week predictions were nothing less than whack.

First, Fish Head called take Sparty and give the 10 points. Only the 10 points was accurate, as NU crushed Sparty by 10 points. Fish Head promises in future to be Cat-supportive despite any evidence to the contrary, as the Cats did do exactly as mentioned - Clayton won the game primarily on the strength of several beautiful downfield balls, making up for the total lack of a running game. The Cats are in sole possession of second place, and control their own fate over the next few weeks, including the opportunity to knock off Wiscy. Maintaining momentum will require Clayton to stay healthy and hot, along with progress in the running game.

Next, Fish Head missed the call on Nebraska's Scott Frost blame game. Scott's post-game presser was sort of vaguely positive despite the beat down, and you know the going is tough when people need th Google the date of your last win. Fish Head also missed on the Rutgers call, as the Scarlet Benighteds  lost to the hapless Illini. You have to believe at this point that Rutgers finishes 1-11, and the Illini have a vague chance to achieve a rare 4 win season.

Lastly, the predicted Maryland tsunami was more like a puddle as they lost to Michigan, despite showing vague signs of competitiveness.

Better luck next week to the Fish Head.

Week 6

Thank God that Week 5 is over and Mr. Khranky Pants has returned north of The Wall. The Cats looked delicious during a surprising first half blitzkrieg, then went somnambulant in the second half as the Wolverines put them away like a salted sardine.

Now the Cats face Sparty and the line is Sparty giving 10. Sparty has a tough defensive line, so the pressure will be on Clayton to win the game thru the air, of which there was little sign in the second half against Michigan.

Fish Head hates to say it, but take Sparty and give the points.

In other action, it will be a fun treat to see the post game presser from Scott Frost after Wiscy beats hell out of Nebraska. Who will he slop blame on this time? The Illini find themselves giving points ATS, an unusual position for their hapless squad. Can Rutgers break through for a win? The Fish Head says Yes.

The other game of note is Maryland visiting the Big House. The Fighting Turtles had 2 weeks to get ready and have film showing how NU pantsed the Wolverines in the first half last week. Add in key injuries on the Michigan side and the Fish Head sees a tsunami of upset headed to Ann Arbor.