Informal, and comical, video breaking down the betting lines for tomorrow’s game:
| [tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7yu5d_9BDQ[/tube] |
Tag: Purdue Boilermakers
A Chat with Dan Voltz
Michigan only inked two offensive linemen in their 2011 recruiting class. Therefore, the coaches will be hitting that area very hard for 2012, possibly taking 5 kids. Illinois guard Dan Voltz is one of the Wolverine’s early targets and he recently answered a few questions about his recruitment for UMGoBlog.
Sean O’Connell: How many offers do you hold?
Dan Voltz: “I currently hold 16 offers. They are from Arizona, Boston College, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Stanford, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Western Michigan, and Wisconsin.”
Sean O’Connell: What are your top three factors when looking at schools?
Dan Voltz: “Football tradition, academics, and campus.”
Sean O’Connell: Does location matter?
Dan Voltz: “Location does matter. I am a big midwest guy and would love to play football in the midwest. But if there is a school outside of the midwest that I like, I won’t hesitate to look at it.”
Sean O’Connell: Do you have a school you grew up cheering for? If so will that factor into your decision?
Adversary Recruiting (January)
Adversary Recruiting for January, 2011. Big Ten Football Recruiting
2011 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings (As of 1-1-11)
| 1 |  |
Status quo, still, again. LB Shazier was a nice Christmas gift. | 8 |  |
A busy December catapults the Illini. |
| 2 |  |
Hops over Nebraska with a solid December. | 9 |  |
Decent month. |
| 3 |  |
Two decommits in December. | 10 |  |
Has been sinking like a stone recently. |
| 4 |  |
Up one spot for the second straight month. | 11 |  |
Out of the cellar. Zettel was a big get. |
| 5 |  |
A good month amid much turmoil. | 12 |  |
Holding at #12. |
| 6 |  |
An 11-1 season is doing well for them. | 13 |  |
Had a decent December, but not much quality. |
| 7 |  |
Slow month for Sparty. |
December was a rather busy month recruiting wise in the Big Ten, with Illinois leading the way. The Illini had their best month
recruiting so far, as The Fighting Zookers gained verbal commits from eight prospects. Athlete Dondi Kirby is the highest rated of the six and will end up somewhere in the Illini defensive backfield. Standing 6’3”, Kirby actually has decent skills at the corner position although most project him as a safety. He is a very aggressive tackler who does a great job in run support. Dondi did not play during the 2010 season because of a torn ACL. He also had offers from Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and USC among others. Patrick Flavin was another big get for Illinois. Having offers from schools such as Cal, Boston College, Iowa and Oregon, Falvin is a perfect offensive lineman for the Illini offense. He is pretty quick, has good feet and can get to the second level very well. Patrick will need a redshirt to fill out, but he should be a constant on the o-line for years to come. Athlete Matt LaCosse is a very versatile athlete who could play either quarterback or tight end. He will more than likely play tight end in Champaign. At 6’6” 220lbs and running a 4.6, LaCosse will be a nightmare matchup for any linebacker or safety. The former Minnesota verbal also has offers from Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis and Purdue among others. Illinois also received verbals from linebacker Ralph Cooper, safety Nick North, wide outs Kenny Knight and Jeremy Whitlow and defensive ends Kenny Nelson and Emmanuel Bawa.
| Name | Position | Location | High School |  |
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| Kenny Knight | Wide Receiver | Beverly Hills, MI | Country Day |  |
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| Jeremy Whitlow | Wide Receiver | Cleveland, OH | Central Catholic | – | |
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| Patrick Flavin | Offensive Tackle | Lisle, IL | Benet Academy | |
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| Emmanuel Bawa | Defensive End | Hyattsville, MD | Northwestern | |
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| Kenny Nelson | Defensive End | Detroit, MI | Cass Tech | – | |
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| Ralph Cooper | Linebacker | Winnsboro, SC | Fairfield Central | |
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| Dondi Kirby | Athlete | Monroeville, PA | Gateway | |
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| Nick North | Safety | Hollywood, FL | McArthur | |
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After nearly three months, Minnesota received a slew of verbals in December. Eight prospects gave new coach Jerry Kill verbal pledges during the past month. Coach Kill is going the JC and prep school route, making it clear that the Gophers want to get players in that can see the field quickly. The two most likely to step in right away are big wide out Ge’Shun Harris and super speedy and aggressive safety Drayquan Crawford.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx2f7ebSiSA[/tube]
Adversary Recruiting (December)
Big Ten Recruiting For The Month of December
2011 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings (As of 12/5)
| 1 | |
Status quo, still. | 7 | |
Loses Sousa and Hart (maybe?). Hopefully Dee is temporary. |
| 2 | |
Jackson is a very good get. | 8 | |
Two decommits and the firing of the coach; not the best month. |
| 3 | |
The loss of Justice Hayes stings a bit. | 9 | |
Two losses in the class, but still solid. |
| 4 | |
No action for the second straight month. | 10 | |
Despite their poor record and firing of Brewster, they actually have an OK class. |
| 5 | |
Follows up a nice October with a great November. | 11 | |
Pretty meh for a Zooker class. |
| 6 | |
Jumps Michigan. | 12 | |
Had a decent month. |
| 13 | |
They had a good July, but have struggled since. |
The Wisconsin Badgers had a good November, following up their impressive October. Tight end/defensive end Austin Traylor was probably the best get for Bucky in November. During his senior year Traylor had 99 tackles and 10 sacks on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively he had 639 yards receiving and five TD’s as a tight end. In Madison he will be a tight end. Austin has offers from Arizona, Boston College, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and West Virginia among others. Hard – nosed linebacker Derek Watt is the brother of current Badger J.J. Derek was a verbal commit to Northwestern before receiving and accepting the offer from Wisconsin. It is a gray shirt offer, but that was good enough for Watt. Cornerback Darius Hillary is a really good looking athlete. He played returner, corner and safety for his school, but will be a corner in college. He looks pretty good in run support and is a solid tackler. He also has offers from Boston College, UConn, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Stanford among others.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIBIOLKIjs[/tube]
| Player | High School | |
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| Austin Traylor | Walnut Ridge H.S. |  |
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| Derek Watt | Pewaukee H.S. | |
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| Darius Hillary | Sycamore H.S. | |
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Recruiting had been slow since July for Purdue, but things sped up a little in November with verbal commits from three kids. Akeem Hunt is a very nice looking running back, who will fit in great with Purdue’s scheme. Hunt has a nice combo of vision and balance. And he also has great hands for a running back. Hunt chose the Boilers over Auburn, Minnesota, South Carolina, Wake Forest and Wisconsin. Doug Gentry should be a great complement to the shifty Hunt. Gentry has a little wiggle to his game as well and runs with pretty good balance and power. During his sophomore and junior seasons Doug combined for nearly 3,700 yards rushing and had 39 touchdowns. He also has an offer from Georgia Tech. Wrapping up Purdue’s November is wideout Shane Mikesky. The 6’4” Mikesky is a decent blocker and also has pretty good speed. He’s a bit of a sleeper, but looks like a good athlete with some promise.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDo_A-R8aYw[/tube]
| Player | High School | |
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| Doug Gentry | Mexia H.S. | |
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| Akeem Hunt | Newton H.S. | |
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| Shane Mikesky | Zionsville H.S. | – | |
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Nebraska continues to roll in recruiting, gaining verbals from highly rated cornerback Charles Jackson and Indiana decommit Max Pirman. Jackson, an Army All-American, possesses very good hips and feet to go along with his excellent speed and size. He is a very aggressive corner who has a world of upside. Charles also has offers from Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma among others. Pirman is a little raw and needs to bulk up, but has good potential. He will be a defensive end in Lincoln.
Wisconsin Game Prediction
Michigan vs. Wisconsin 2010 Game Prediction
21 Wolverines will run under the M Club Supports you banner for the last time this Saturday. Emotions will be high. The vast amount of underclassmen want to send them out with a win in their last game in the Big House. An embattled coaching staff wants to show true 
progress this year by beating a Top 10 team.
For the immense amount of youth on this team, particularly the defense, 7-3 is about where I figured they would be at this stage of the season before fall camp started. Attrition and injuries on an already depth depleted defense after the start of camp have pushed more and more true and redshirt freshman into the fray, ready or not. There have been more than adequate learning opportunities for them, and they continue to progress. Sure Purdue and lousy weather last week lead the way in Michigan only giving up 9 offensive points. That said, the offense turned the ball over 5 times ( 6 if you count the 4th down failure on the wrong side of the field) and did what was needed to win in a game that probably would have ended in a loss in 2009.
Up next is Wisconsin, a team who put up 83 points last week against Indiana ( yet gained less than 500 yards). Poor Bucky the Badger ended up doing 535 pushups.
Not much about Wisconsin has changed over the past few decades. When they have a junior and senior laden team with an experienced QB, they’re good. This year, they’re darn good. A massive offensive line weighing in over 3/4 of a ton looks to push an undersized Michigan Defensive front and use play action passing to expose an inexperienced secondary.