Ummm…

 All I can say is Rutgers must be really bad to only beat Temple by 2.

B1G Championship

The Fish Head was on a spawning trip and unable to post since the Iowa game. OK that’s a lie, I have just been lazy!

Big news since Iowa. The Cats dispatched Minnesota and Illinois to close out the regular season, and then journeyed to Indy for the B1G Championship game. Dwayne Haskins proved too much for the Cats, despite Fish Head and his finned brother cheering them on in person. Wait’ll next year!

On to the Holiday Bowl to beat the Utes. While practice for the bowl game proceeds, Fitz should be using the on-field experience combined with the $275M practice facility to lock up some big time recruits.

December 31 here we come!

Champs!

The Cats not only covered the spread against Iowa (Thanks Vegas for those un-needed 10 points!), they beat the Hawkeyes 14-10, and with some help from two other hapless squads, captured the B1G West title, with two games to go!

Now for the first of those remaining two games, we have the Minnesota Golden Gophers. And two key factors. One, does NU show up to play, given their season is already concluded successfully, and two, is Minnesota really on a roll after beating Purdue, or will they revert to their previous sad-sack incompetence especially on defense?

The Fish Head says NU shows up ready for bear (gophers are sort of like a teeny weeny bear), coached up by Fitz to finish the season with a rolling bang; and PJ Fleck gets exposed for the yakkety yakker he is. Take the Cats and give the points.

See you at either Lucas Oil or Pasadena, whichever one you make it to.

Spread my A—

Iowa is favored by 10 1/2. Take the Cats and the POINTS!

Still First Place Cats

The Fighting Irish did not slink out of Evanston, they raced out with a 31-21 win. The Cats played it tough but did not have enough juice to pull off the upset.

Nonetheless, this non-conference game does not influence the B1G standings, where the Cats remain in first place in the West. Can they stay in first place? That is a very tricky question, follow the link below for the full run-down of scenarios:

Crazy scenario analysis

Next up for the Cats is @ Iowa. The Cats will need to improve on offense to overcome the Hawkeye defense, and, not get distracted by the showy new helmets that the Iowa squad will be sporting.

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.

Go Big or Go Home

Fish Head just watched Big Ten Tailgate on TV, and saw the bit about Nebraska’s game, which was drowned out by cheers of “Go Big Red”.

Yes Big Red, Go Home to whatever swampy cornfield you came from. Sorry but Pervy Purdue Pete is going to find his hammer and pound you like a nail!

Last minute week 5 ramblings

The Fish Head dreads the 4:30PM kick on Fox. This cannot end well for the Cats, and nobody likes to see Mr. Khaki Pants succeed. Let’s all pray for a tornado or lightning or a tsunami.

Around the conference, it’s more of the same mostly. Sparty has a cupcake in the Chippewas, whose signature win was over the mighty Maine Bears. The Hoosiers will beat hell out of Rutgers, same as everyone else has, and Scott Frost will continue his excuse tour by getting pummeled by Purdue.

Closing out the day, the Wife Beaters face the Pedo Guys in Happy Valley. This game should be a shoot out with two highly touted (over-rated?) qb’s and CFP implications. But firstly who cares and secondly the game will mostly go to show how weak the Big Ten is this year.

Hope to see you at the suicide prevention clinic at the end of the Cats game, unless we have to go there at half time.

Doom and Gloom

It was bad enough losing Justin Jackson to graduation, but now Jeremy Larkin is gone too.

Read the bad news here.

Answers for Week 4

We need to test if the Fish Head is Nostradamus or Nosmartsamus. Granted my predictions were vague, insulting, and non-binary but poetic license applies.

1. How droopy will the Lovie merkin masks be after the Penn State Pedos drop 60 points on the Illini?
1. Fish Head Scores! Penn State crushed the Illini 63-24, albeit the Illini hung tough till the 4Q. And yes, I saw an announcer doing an interview wearing a merkin. Embarrassing look for Illinois.
2. Which Maryland shows up to play Minnesota? The Texas Maryland or the Temple Maryland?
1. Fish Head Scores! It was the Texas version of Maryland as the Golden Goats showed their true colors in a 42-13 blowout loss. And no Maryland players died, so that's good too.
3. How soon does Scott Frost ask for his UCF job back?
1. Fish Head Scores! Its no longer about asking, its about begging as the Cornholers were walloped by Michigan 56-10 and dropped to 0-3. UCF on the other hand crushed FAU and moved to 3-0.
4. Will Purdue’s march to 0-4 be obvious in the first quarter against BC?
1. Fish Head Loses! Purdue pantsed BC 30-13, with BC looking hapless on offense with 4 picks thrown.
5. Is anyone dumb enough to take Rutgers and the points against Buffalo?
1. Fish Head Scores! The Buffalo Bulls thumped Rutgers 42-13, easily covering ATS of -5. Better to just put your paper money in the shredder than bet on Rutgers.
6. Green Wave, Red Wave, Blue Wave. Should Tulane just phone in a forfeit?
1. Fish Head Scores! The Green Wave got swamped 49-6 by the Bucknuts. Next time use the phone, Tulane.
7. Does anyone believe IU can start 4-0?
1. Fish Head Scores! Nobody believed it and that was spot on as the Hoosiers lost 35-21 to Sparty. But at least they looked vaguely competitive.
8. Can the State of Iowa survive an invasion of rabid Badgers?
1. Fish Head Scores! Iowa lost 28-17 to Wiscy, albeit Iowa had the game locked and collapsed at the end, and the Badgers were more dyspeptic than rabid.

Heading into week 5, the Fish Head does not look forward to NU's anemic offense facing Michigan's defense. Fish Head votes for another Bye week.

Questions for Week 4

1. How droopy will the Lovie merkin masks be after the Penn State Pedos drop 60 points on the Illini?
2. Which Maryland shows up to play Minnesota? The Texas Maryland or the Temple Maryland?
3. How soon does Scott Frost ask for his UCF job back?
4. Will Purdue’s march to 0-4 be obvious in the first quarter against BC?
5. Is anyone dumb enough to take Rutgers and the points against Buffalo?
6. Green Wave, Red Wave, Blue Wave. Should Tulane just phone in a forfeit?
7. Does anyone believe IU can start 4-0?
8. Can the State of Iowa survive an invasion of rabid Badgers?

Thank God.....

....for the Bye week. Our burnt and blackened souls need it after the Akron collapse.

Week 3

The Cats face the fearsome Akron Zips in a must-win game Saturday night.

The 21 point spread favoring the Cats gives the Fish Head trepidatious gills. The Cats looked very flat against Duke, and can not afford a slow start against the Zips, who pummeled the always tough Morgan State Bears in week 2, after battling Nebraska to a scoreless (and playless) tie in week 1.

Key matchups to watch are Kato Nelson versus Clayton Thorson, and Jeremy Larkin versus Van Edwards. Fish Head expects the Cats to come out hot looking for a high scoring first quarter, which will excite all the folks in the $2 cheap seats, before it settles into a defensive struggle the rest of the way.

Don’t make your bowl reservations quite yet.

Week 2 Funk

The Fish Head is in a deep funk, floating upside down on the surface.

The Cats got thoroughly beaten by Duke, the offense looked anemic, and worse, the Cats week 1 win was tarnished as Purdue fell to the Fighting Pelicans of Eastern Michigan. As the coup de grace, Coach Fitz blamed the loss on the players, despite the obvious lack of a coherent game plan on offense.

The Akron game looms large next week, and the Cats need to reboot and improve in all phases of the game.

In other exciting Big Ten action, Nebraska lost to Colorado 33-28. Scott Frost’s prayers for rain were not answered a second week. Josh Heupel continues to laugh in Orlando.

Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Maryland all beat their cupcakes. Sorry Rutgers, yes you are a tasty cupcake despite being a conference game.

Iowa’s defense beat Iowa State. Kirk Ferentz issued a BOLO to find his offense. The Illini stayed on track for their planned 2-10 season by beating Western Illinois, setting themselves up to run off the next 10 games as losses. Which actually seems likely as they have lost their starting QB and their star receiver.

The Fish Head is a proud Hoosier so it’s great to see IU start 2-0 after crushing Virginia 20-16. And yes that’s Virginia, not Va Tech and not West Virginia. In other words, a cupcake in disguise but still 2-0.

The Minnesota Gofers snuck by Fresno State to go 2-0. I am unconvinced by PJ Fleck’s enthusiastic yammering and expect a mid season implosion in Minneapolis.

Pedo State looked strong in taking down Pitt 51-6. Of course Pitt was so pathetic that they abandoned the field goal since they couldn’t handle snaps. The Fish Head stands by his prediction from last week that Happy Valley has seen better days.

Last but not least, Mark Dantonio pulled off a miracle by making Herm Edwards look good, as MSU choked one away losing to Arizona State 16-13. Can you say goodbye Top 25?

Next week the Cats face the Akron Zips in a night game, which the Fish Head will be surreptitiously watching via cell phone during the 93rd spawnaversary of his mother. Hard to judge the caliber of the Zips who beat Morgan State (FBS) handily, but given two weak Cats performances so far, trouble could be brewing.

Need a different cupcake

Duke beat the Cats 21-7, making two consecutive years of beat downs by the Dukies.

I suggest the Cats schedule a better cupcake, say NIU, EIU, or Texas State.

Observations from Week 1

I’m missing the in-person action due to health issues, but that doesn’t prevent me from commenting on action around the conference after week 1.

• Illinois snuck by the Kent State Molten Flashes. The only highlight of the game was the TV shots of Illini fans wearing Lovie Smith merkins on their faces.
• The Fighting Terps trashed Texas again. Maybe the Texas AD needs to pick tastier cupcakes.
• Go M Blue. Like, just go away and take Super Khaki Pants with you, and please do not wreck our bowl results again this year.
• MSU survived Utah State. Name one American who can find Utah on a map.
• The Buckeyes won. Who cares, we all still hate the Bucknuts. At least their coaches are not pedophiles.
• Speaking of pedo guys, Penn State snuck by Appalachian State, renowned giant killers whose sterling history is tarnished by recent Michigan performances. Look for a long and unhappy season in Happy Valley.
• Rutgers - seriously they are not in the Big Ten are they? We all know Texas is a State but who the hell is Texas State?
• Iowa beat hell out of NIU. Oh how far the Huskies have fallen.
• Scott Frost started the season with a bang at Nebraska, too bad it was the banging of thunder that caused the game to be cancelled. Josh Heupel had better results for the week.
• GO CATS as they took down Purdue. Must have been a great Fitz speech in the locker room at halftime as the Cats offense looked Uber flat in the second half.
• The Badgers beat Western Kentucky. And nobody cared.
• Lastly, Minnesota started a walk-on QB with a name like an Austrian city and beat NM State. I have Fleck’d boogers that had more football tradition than New Mexico State.

Go Cats beat the Dukies.

Big Cats win in the Pinstripe Bowl

Fitz trolls Kannell

This year....

I saved $600 and they gyp'd me out of parking entirely! So much for 20 years of faithful season ticket purchases!

Yes I am confident that I wasted $600 on parking.

Yes its 2 years since I posted....

And the 2013 football season is dead as a doornail. Yep, three pastings in a row, the Cats are 4-3 with reduced (no?) hopes of making a bowl. See you in 2015 when I post again.

What we have to look forward to now

Wait'll next year!

SOS - Save Our Season

Dear God, Yaweh, Allah, or Agnostic Deity of Last Choice,

Please save our season. I promise I'll go to church. Synagog. Pray on the Mat. Pretend I don't care if you exist. Whatever!

Please make Joe Pa have an aneurysm in the first quarter. But then make him all better after we win, I am not mean-spirited that way.

Please make their goofy QB rotation scheme work in favor of our leaky secondary. Make Matt McGloin throw like Rex Grossman - right into the hands of the CBs.

Please make some doofus season ticket holders actually show up in their seats - in purple.

Please make Zach remember that passing out drunk on the CTA is not a recipe for a long safe life. And that if someone is knifing him, I'm not helping I'm moving to the next car like the sign says.

Thank you already for taking care of that little SOB Moye. We appreciate you taking out their only true receiving threat for us. Was that little gem left-over good will from when I last went to church 17 years ago?

Lastly, please shine those rays from the Ark of the Covenant onto Dan our QB. Give him the power to lead your armies to a crushing victory over the forces of darkness.

Oh, and that stupid f-cking Nittany lion thing. Everyone knows there are no lions in Pennsylvania, and there is no such place as Happy Valley. So if you could....say...tsunami all of that right out of existence, I'd much appreciate it. Nobody really needs Pennsylvania anyway.

224 days to season opener at BC

The Cats finished the season in disappointing fashion, with blowout losses to Illinois and Wiscy, and a close but especially disappointing bowl loss to Texas Tech.

All you can say is....224 days to the season opener and hopefully Persa comes back in good health. See you all in Boston!

Cats crush Redbirds

The Cats crushed the Illinoise State Redbirds 37-3, blitzing them with 30 points in the first half.

Dan Persa continued his super-efficient passing attack, completing another 85% or so of his pass attempts, including several TD throws. More amazingly, the run game peeked out of its hidey hole and amassed a few yards on the ground.

The weather did not cooperate and portions of the West Lot (including our parking spot) were deep underwater. Its not often you get to see your brother bailing water from a pot hole with a beer cup. Good times!

Next up for the Cats is Rice. Rice played Texas close in week 1, but could only manage to sneak by North Texas "Mean Green" 32-31 in week 2. Considering the Mean Green's ratty record (5 wins in the previous four years), this bodes well for the Cats in week 3.

Long time no post!

The Cats opened at Vanderbilt in Nashville, and the Fish Head and Let's Go Somewhere and Get F-cked Up drove down to cheer on the team.

The Cats escaped with a sloppy 23-21 win over the Commodores, and the refs escaped with only a moderate amount of rubbish thrown on them by the angry Vandy fans. And, LGSAGFU got more wasted on the absinthe than the Fish Head did; tailgating at Morton's is highly recommended (skip the weird bleu cheese fries).

Next up for the Cats is Illinois State, victors over Central Missouri State (who?) by 55-54. The Redbirds might be a tougher challenge for the Cats defense than the hapless Commodores.

Spring Scrimmage

April 24. 8 AM. West Lot. Be there. Nuff said!

Let's take a little drive