Real Kato Blog: CFB 2023: Week 5 Recap and Week 6 Preview

Michigan and Penn State win big again; N.C. State clunks its way to a loss.

Michigan 45, Nebraska 7
This was a thorough pasting, a demolition of a Nebraska team that looked like it could give Michigan some trouble. But Michigan dominated both lines and ran for 249 yards... the game was 28-0 at the half and already effectively over. Michigan is particularly deep and talented at defensive line this year; it might be the best DL Michigan's fielded in quite some time.

It wasn't a perfect game, as the Michigan secondary continues to show a few weaknesses. CB Will Johnson and safety Rod Moore are coming back from injuries and are showing some signs of rust. The problems seem correctable, though, and Michigan still has some soft opponents to use a tune-ups before any dangerous passing teams show up on the schedule.

Michigan at Minnesota, 7:30 PM NBC (and Peacock)
I was worried that this was going to be another Peacock-only game, but it's on NBC as well.

Minnesota doesn't have Tanner Morgan and Mohamed Ibrahim any more, and the offense has taken a step back. QB Athan Kaliakmanis is a fairly capable runner but not much of a passer. RB Darius Taylor is talented, but may be injured for this game. On paper, this should be another game where Michigan stifles the running game until the score gets out of hand and Minnesota is forced away from its game plan.

The Minnesota defense doesn't look particularly stout either; UNC smoked them for 519 yards (414 through the air), and even Northwestern rang up 492 yards (400 through the air). They'll likely load up against the run as most Michigan opponents have done; it wouldn't surprise me if J.J. McCarthy had a huge day.

Prediction: Michigan 42, Minnesota 6.

Penn State 41, Northwestern 13
It was another worryingly slow start for Penn State, who fumbled the opening kickoff and only managed 3 points on its first four possessions. But Drew Allar and Nick Singleton found their rhythm in the second half and the game turned into a rout.

Penn State Bye
Penn State has a week off before returning to action against UMass in a weird mid-season non-conference game. They'll almost certainly spend most of the next couple of weeks preparing for Ohio State on the 21st.

N.C. State 10, Louisville 13
State turned in a lackluster dud of a game as it only generated 201 yards of offense and gave up three turnovers. Louisville kept the State in it with three turnovers of their own, but State committed a crucial penalty on special teams late in the game that all but sealed their fate.

State has apparently decided that QB Brennan Armstrong is not the guy, and it's pretty easy to see why; he tends to tighten up and commit mistakes in pressure situations. They've already announced that M.J. Morris will be the starter for the next game. We saw flashes of Morris' potential last season, so maybe this will be the spark the offense needs.

N.C. State vs. Marshall, 2:00 PM CW Network
Marshall is no gimme opponent; they're undefeated with wins against ECU and Virginia Tech. QB Cam Fancher is completing 71% of his passes and is also a capable runner. He's complemented by RB Rasheen Ali, who is averaging 5.2 YPC.

I'd feel better about this game if State were showing any semblance of a rushing attack. As it is, it'll probably be on Morris to manage the game with short passes and designed runs. If he keeps a steady head and avoids mistakes, he can probably rely on the Wolfpack defense to do most of the heavy lifting.

Prediction: N.C. State 24, Marshall 17.

Last Week's Notable Results

I didn't even cover all the interesting results from two weeks ago (sorry, I was away traveling) but lots happened last week too.

#19 Oregon State 21, #10 Utah 7. Oregon State is for real this year; who'd have thunk it?
#1 Georgia 27, Auburn 20. Georgia continues to be plagued by slow starts; they don't look nearly as dominant as they did last year.
#8 USC 48, Colorado 41. The game was a runaway for USC until Colorado made a late rally.
#11 Notre Dame 21, #17 Duke 14. A heartbreaker last-minute loss for Duke.
#20 Ole Miss 55, #13 LSU 49. Probably drops LSU out of playoff contention.
Kentucky 33, #22 Florida 14. Is Kentucky for real or is Florida just not all that good?
Iowa 26, Michigan State 16. Remember this is the Iowa team that Penn State just crushed. Unfortunately for Iowa, former Michigan QB Cade McNamara was injured at the end of this game and will be out for the rest of the season.

Next Week's Big Ten Games

Nebraska at Illinois, 8:00 PM Friday FS1
Maryland at #4 Ohio State, 12:00 PM Fox
Rutgers at Wisconsin, 12:00 PM Peacock
Howard at Northwestern, 3:00 PM BTN
Purdue at Iowa, 3:30 PM Peacock
#2 Michigan at Minnesota, 7:30 PM NBC

Games of the Week

#12 Oklahoma at #3 Texas,12:00 PM ABC
#11 Alabama at Texas A&M, 3:30 PM CBS
#20 Kentucky at #1 Georgia, 7:00 PM ESPN
#10 Notre Dame at #25 Louisville, 7:30 PM ABC

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Posted by Ken in: sports

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