Cogito Ergo Cogito's College Football Week 10 Picks

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Wow, look at those two SEC teams being incredible. I'm sure they're not both over-ranked in the CFP rankings.

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The Expert Picks

	Will	Josh	Taylor	Jake
Wake Forest vs. North Carolina
Auburn vs. Texas A&M
Oregon vs. Washington
Tennessee vs. Kentucky
Boise State vs. Fresno State
SMU vs. Memphis
Michigan State vs. Purdue
NC State vs. Florida State
Clemson vs. Louisville
Texas vs. Iowa State

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What The Experts Are Saying About Their Picks

(Expert's pick in blue)

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Will Hunter-Part-time Twitch Streamer

About Wake Forest versus North Carolina:

"Sam Howell will have a good game in the national spotlight, but will come up short as Wake Forest’s magical run continues for one more game."

About Boise State versus Fresno State:

"Look for Fresno State to attempt to capitalize on any potential slip-ups by the AAC front runners in the chase for a New Years Six appearance."

About Michigan State versus Purdue:

"The Spartans aren't Iowa."

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Josh Hunter-Part-time Twitch Streamer, but he also plays football games more often than Will

About Oregon versus Washington:

"Oregon is actually a legitimate title contender in my eyes, and if they want to keep it that way, they have to beat the spread here."

About Michigan State versus Purdue:

"Anyone who thinks Purdue can upset anyone other than Iowa needs to freshen up on their CFB history."

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Taylor Hunter-Part-time Twitch Stream Viewer

About Auburn versus Texas A&M:

"How can you argue with this? 'Nuff said."

About Boise State versus Fresno State:

"Is Boise State the team with the offensive blue field?

*Checks notes*

Oh yeah, they deserve to lose."

About Texas versus Iowa State:

"LOL Texas is back."

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Jake Hunter-Has an eyelid that twitches part of the time while watching Twitch streams

About Clemson versus Louisville:

"Clemson is an absolute mess right now (by their standards), but that mess is still better than the team Louisville is fielding this season. Clemson's defense can carry them enough to win a game on the road against a weak ACC team."

About SMU versus Memphis:

"SMU took a tough loss last week, but they still have a lot of their goals in front of them as long as they keep winning. As far as Memphis goes: At least basketball season ramps up in the next few weeks, and their fans can look forward to having an underwhelming season relative to their talent level before the NCAA probably shuts down half of their team for violations. Anyways, I don't think this particular football game will be very close."

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Hottest Expert Take from

the Previous Week

"Gators by a million; it's about time the Fraud-dawgs got exposed by real competition."

-Josh, about Georgia versus Florida

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Each Expert's Picks Record So Far This Season

👸🏻Taylor: 9-1

🥈Will: 7-3

🥉Jake: 6-4

😬Josh: 3-7

Power Ranking Methods of Transportation (By How Much I Use Them)

Hello all, I just wanted to give you all a glimpse into how I get around the vast cityscape of Iowa City. This Power Ranking is not so much about which option I think is the best for everyone, but rather focused on which options I usually use and how much I use them.

8. Uber

Some people truly enjoy wasting their money, and I am not one of them. Getting an Uber is a luxury only reserved for people who can't be bothered to be responsible and drive themselves, or for people who don't have a designated driver

7. Hopping, Skipping, and Jumping

An olden method, not popular with the young kids.

6. Train

Back in the day, I remember taking the Hawkeye Express to football games, filled with anticipation for the Hawks. Now, it's just depressing to watch the Iowa football team play, and it's not worth driving 20 minutes to ride the train for 5 minutes.

5. Biking

A popular method for transportation here in IC. I haven't been able to enjoy this method of transportation much since moving here, due to a lack of owning a bike. However, I wanted to rank it higher on the list, knowing that I would most definitely take advantage of it if I had a bike.

4. Running

This method is for people who need to get places in a hurry. Usually, I try to plan my day so that I can avoid running.

3. Bus Riding

An avenue that I used to use a lot in my freshman and sophomore years. Ever since I moved into an apartment that doesn't have easy bus access, however, I've been using this system less and less, to the point where I will skip it entirely even if it means I have to walk the distance I would be riding.

2. Driving

One method that many college students use, sometimes to my chagrin, is driving. Unfortunately, none of us college students are good behind the wheel, and as such, driving around the greater Iowa City area can be a pain. However, the expanded options that driving gives far outweighs the inevitable annoyance the driving population can generate.

1. Walking

Also an old method, walking can pretty much get you anywhere, without the hassle of having to find parking. This has easily become my preferred method of getting almost anywhere within a couple miles of my house.

Well, that's my power ranked transportation list, hope you enjoyed! Let me know in the comments if you have any differing opinions, or if you have any unique transportation methods!

Iowa vs. Wisconsin Takes: Tyler Goodson Isn't Playing Like An NFL Running Back Right Now

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As a fan of college football this year, I have no specific allegiance to any particular team. However, I will be writing a number of articles regarding certain programs because of my unique knowledge and perspective associated with said teams.

First things first: I truly believe Tyler Goodson is the most physically-gifted running back Iowa has had since the Shonn Greene/Brandon Wegher era. His ability to force missed tackles, generate explosive runs, and make dynamic plays out of the backfield while packing a solid amount of power in his runs make him the most appealing three-down RB prospect Iowa has had in the program recently (including players like Akrum Wadley, Jordan Canzeri, LeShun Daniels, and Mekhi Sargent). He's simply not playing up to his ability right now.

I really want to tread lightly when it comes to "calling out" individual college athletes, but I do think it's fair to point out when a player is clearly not playing up to their own standard. Throughout much of this season, Tyler Goodson simply hasn't been doing that. The offensive line struggles absolutely have a factor in Goodson's career-low 4.1 yards per carry (the team's average is an abominable 2.9, for what it's worth), but I will point out that there have been numerous instances throughout the season where a play was blocked well enough for a solid gain only to have Goodson tackled in the backfield for a loss of two. Couple that with some back-breaking miscues/mental errors on major downs (e.g. slipping in the backfield, dropping passes, bad pass protection), and there are clearly areas for improvement that can come from the former First-Team All-Big Ten tailback.

There's been enough of a sample size at this point to begin drawing certain conclusions about what is truly going on with Iowa's offense. It's easy to point to the offensive line (justifiably) or the quarterback position (less justifiably) as the anchors that weigh this unit down, but I want to draw attention to the fact that Goodson must improve his play as well not only for the good of the team, but for his own NFL draft stock. The running back position's value in general is at an all-time low in the NFL (for good reason, in my opinion), and prospects like Goodson who are good all-around players without elite size or athleticism are at risk of not being drafted at all because college football is full of decent RB prospects each year. The way to catch the league's eye is to do one (or more) of a few things really well:

1. Be dynamic in the passing game

2. Gain solid yards consistently on almost every carry of every game in college

3. Be a positive-impact pass-blocker when called to do it

1. Goodson has historically been very good as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, which is what drives my thought that he is a legitimate NFL prospect. He needs to keep growing this area of his game, though. He'll have instances where he can break a huge gain with a favorable matchup, but I think he has at least as many plays (particularly on HB screen passes) where he gets tripped up too easily and leaves yards on the table. He also has shown that he is a bit shaky catching the ball when the pass is off-target and contested, which won't impress scouts who will expect him to make tough catches at the next level.

2. Goodson's physicality as a runner can flash at times, but he is extremely prone to losing yards almost every time he touches the ball. Part of this is play-calling (not his fault) and the run-blocking struggles Iowa has had (definitely not his fault), but Goodson has a tendency to be a bit static in the backfield at times as he waits for running lanes to open up. This allows opposing defenses to catch him for negative yards at a high rate (roughly 33% of Goodson's runs this season have gone for no gain or negative yards). Patience is a virtue, but losing yards is not. I can understand if Goodson is attempting to break a big play because the offense has struggled to move the ball, but negative rushing plays are extremely damaging to his team. While the other RBs on the team might not net the same amount of explosive plays as Goodson does, they generally seem to come in and get consistent gains of 3-4 yards. Goodson needs to hit the ground running and explode into the line more consistently to eliminate the negative runs.

3. This is fairly straight-forward. Tyler Goodson isn't a good pass-blocker at this stage of his career. While it seems odd to value that aspect of a running back's skill set, it's clearly something the NFL looks at when assessing players. Look no further than Goodson's 2020 backfield partner Mekhi Sargent, who excelled in that aspect of the game and now finds himself on an NFL roster despite mediocre physical attributes. Unless you're a true blue-chip athlete at the RB position, you have to find ways to add value to your prospect profile. Improving from a relatively bad blocker to even an average blocker would boost Goodson's NFL chances immensely.

As we've talked about, Tyler Goodson needs to step up a few areas of his own performance that he can control going forward if he expects to be entering the upcoming NFL Draft. Fortunately for Goodson, he has a very favorable matchup this upcoming Saturday against one of the nation's worst rushing defenses in Northwestern. I want to be realistic, but simultaneously demanding of a player who has shown tremendous ability in the past. If Goodson can top 125 yards on 5+ yards per carry, 4-5 receptions for 35+ yards, and at least one touchdown, I'd consider the day a success. He's only topped 100 yards one time this entire season (that's not good), and it was against Kent State. It's time for him to get back on track and play like he's shown in the past. He simply hasn't been doing that lately, and the team (and his draft stock) are suffering because of it.