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College Football Week 6 Preview

Michigan Football, Miley Cyrus, Hockey's return and Burt Reynolds.

By Zooby Q.
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The bye week blues have come and gone. It's time to go to work.

It's officially fall and that means that your favorite television shows have returned, Halloween is just around the corner and hockey is back as well.

The Michigan men of Team 134 have managed to enter Big Ten play with an undefeated record and a Top 25 ranking. That's the good news. The bad news is that the schedule starts to pick up from here and the toughest opponents on the 2013 schedule still remain. One thing is for sure though, with this team, there is no looking ahead. No talk of Ohio or that tough road game against Northwestern. This week it's all about Minnesota and the battle for The Brown Jug.

The Michigan offensive line has been a work in progress, to say the least. The presence of Taylor Lewan was a huge boost to Team 134 because of the youth that has been on display. The offensive line has been unable to give QB Devin Gardner a consistent amount of time in the pocket and that was evident in the Notre Dame game. Granted, the Irish have a very good defensive line front, but the Michigan offensive line hasn't shown the growth that Wolverine fans had hoped to see.

One month into the season and change is here.

Brady Hoke announced that there will be some changes to the offensive line for homecoming game against Minnesota. Center Jack Miller will not be snapping the ball to Gardner for the first time in 2013. LG Graham Glasgow will shift to center, a position that he has practiced at week after week. With Miller moving to the bench, LG Chris Bryant will step into the vacated spot.

Glasgow has a few inches and some extra weight on Miller and can often more range at the Center position. Bryant looks to be healthy and could lend a big presence to the offensive unit. If Bryant and Lewan can impose their big bodies on opposing defenses, it could relieve some pressure on the rest of the offensive line and make for a better end result.

Gardner has a lot of issues he is working out at the QB spot but better protection from his OL could lead to better decision making. The changes on the interior of the offensive line are a good sign from the coaching staff. The team may sit at 4-0 but it's been an ugly way to scrape through September. Hoke and his crew have decided to open things up and let some healthy competition create an opening for deserving players.

Looking at this 2013 Wolverine squad, one thing is unquestionably clear: Devin Gardner needs to chill with the turnovers.

NEWSFLASH: Devin Gardner is talented.

REALITY CHECK: Gardner turns the ball over as often as Jim Leyland smokes a cigarette.

To Gardner's credit, he has owned his mistakes. Looks like he had some to reflect during the bye week and is ready to get things back on track.

Gardner has seen the errors in his ways from watching film during the bye week. The good news is that Gardner seems to think that his mistakes are a mechanical issue and an easy fix.

Gardner is a likeable guy and it's easy to root for him. Let's hope he pulls through these struggles and gets back to his fun-loving, laid-back ways.

One thing you might not know about some of the athletes at Michigan is that they love themselves some Miley Cyrus.

As long as we are on the subject of Miley Cyrus, make sure you don't try to get too creative with a Gameday sign.

WEEK 6: MINNESOTA @ MICHIGAN

WEEK 6 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPECTACULAR


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2012

ESPN's 'College Gameday' will travel to an uncommon destination for week six.

Evanston, Illinois, the home of the Northwestern Wildcats. It's been quite a while since ESPN has traveled to campus and it should be interesting to see what kind of turnout is there for the show.

The best part of Gameday is Lee Corso, we all know this. However, there is a little something you may not have known about Mr. Corso.

The Northwestern faithful are not the the SEC crazy types to camp out days in advance for the show. One thing that we can expect to see is a lot of famous Northwestern alumni members. Look for Michael Wilbon aka Mr. Pardon The Interruption.


#25 MARYLAND @ #8 FLORIDA STATE. 12:00 PM EST. TV - ESPN

One of ESPN's stars, Mr. Scott Van Pelt aka SVP, is a proud Maryland alum. Don't look now, but Maryland is a Top 25 team.

The last few years, Maryland has been known to have the most polarizing jerseys in college football. It's a love it or hate it type of thing.

Florida State has the home field advantage here but the key could be the early kickoff. Some teams have a tough time getting fired up for the noon games and the Seminoles will have to be careful here. This is a juicy match-up with a lot of intrigue to be had.

Not too shabby of a way to kick off a solid football Saturday.

TCU @ #11 OKLAHOMA. 7:00 PM EST. TV - FOX

Stoops. Bob Stoops.

Love him or hate him, you've got to respect him. Stoops produces winners year after year at Oklahoma and this week, he took some public shots at the SEC and their mentality. Even if you hate Stoops, you've got to appreciate his honest words.

This game should be a win for the Sooners at home against a TCU that will bring it's usual defensive toughness.

#4 OHIO STATE @ #16 NORTHWESTERN. 8:00 PM EST. TV - ABC

If Ohio State is going to lose a game before visiting Ann Arbor at the end of November, this is the game.

The Buckeyes handled their first true test in week five, with an impressive win in Columbus against Wisconsin. Those 'O-H-I-O' folks are dreaming of BCS bowl games and Urban Meyer's crew will look to keep on rolling.

Pat Fitzgerald is the head coach of Northwestern and is respected by all. He's the kind of guy who you root for unless he is playing your team. In some ways, he's kind of like the Derek Jeter of the Midwest, in that you can hate him but you will respect him.

Fitzgerald's Wildcats will have one of the biggest games in Evanston's history on Saturday night.

A national stage is the perfect time to go big or go home.

#15 WASHINGTON @ #5 STANFORD. 10:30 PM EST. TV - ESPN

The biggest news in the PAC-12 this week was the firing of Lane Kiffen.

The real news should be how good the PAC-12 is right now. USC may be down but names like UCLA and Arizona State are making some noise. Oregon is still the cream of the crop but Stanford is a legitimate BCS title contender.

The Cardinal have been a consistently good team since the days of Jim Harbaugh and it's continued under David Shaw. This should be a great game and one to definitely stay up late to watch. If Washington can somehow pull off the upset, the Huskies will completely shake up the polls.

In This Stream

Game Five: Michigan vs Minnesota (10/5/13)

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