Well another week, another woeful performance by the Big Ten. Six teams lost out-of-conference games. This time surrendering to the Pac 12, Big 12 (x3), independent and once again our Midwest brothers from the MAC. With so many awful games expect some harsh grades.
Team of the Week – Ohio State – A – They rebounded nicely from the Virginia Tech game and made a statement blowing out Kent State. The not-so Golden Flashes are terrible but 66-0 is pretty damn impressive anyway you slice it. J.T. Barrett setting records in just his third career game is pretty damn impressive too. After some shakiness in the opening two games the defense was…you guessed it…pretty damn impressive in holding the overwhelmed KSU club to just 126 total yards.
Illinois – F – They lost 44-19 but it could have been by even more. 1-11 on third down is terrible. 72 rushing yards and 2.6 average is pathetic. 11 penalties for 110 yards is laughable and 3 turnovers is inexcusable.
Indiana – F – Harsh but fair. After seeing all those fellow Big Ten clubs lose to good MAC teams how are you not more prepared? Defense gave up 39 first downs, 571 total yards and 21 points in the fourth quarter to cap the collapse. Another team with sloppy penalties left and right as they got tagged 11 times for 143 yards. The defense was so bad they I can’t even give IU a C or D thanks to the solid game by the offense.
Iowa – F – 275 yards and 17 total points. ISU had given up 506 / 34 and 471 / 32 in their previous two games so this wasn’t the 85 Bears. It didn’t help that he hawks were sloppy (2 turnovers) and couldn’t run (129 yards, 2.9 avg to get there). Worse, Iowa doesn’t have a qb that can throw Iowa’s offense into action and put up points when the ground game falters. The defense played a little better but still had issues. They generated zero sacks and were shredded through the air in the second half. Don’t even need to get into the coaching (or lack there of) this week. Pathetic.
Maryland – D- – Entertainment value does not factor into these grades, sorry Terps. So how exactly do you lose a game when you force 4 turnovers? Well 4 of 15 on third down is a good place to start. Giving back 71 yards to the other team through penalties adds a bit. A turnover of your own also contributes. Oh, giving up 694 yards and 511 passing yards will also do the trick.
Michigan – D – They needed to make a statement like Ohio State did. Instead they limped to a 17-10 halftime lead and played sloppy all day with 3 turnovers. They made it look a little better in the second half but Miami (OH) was a team they should have killed. Perhaps they are still a little gun-shy after last week’s nightmare.
Michigan State – Idle
Minnesota – F – Boy oh boy where to start picking apart this one. Five turnovers, 2.5 yards per rush, 5.8 per pass, and not scoring until down 30-0 in the fourth. Great offensive day. Oh, that defense Gopher fans were selling put them in a 24-0 hole at halftime. Well done.
Nebraska – A – Finally a team that -gasp! – played up to expectations!!! They dropped the hammer early with a 27-5 halftime lead that they pushed to 48-12 before the final mark of 55-19. 562 yards of offense and an impressive 6.7 yards per carry to get to 280 rushing yards. Tommy Armstrong III didn’t have the greatest completion percentage but he does enough with his arm to help give that fantastic running game some open lanes. The defense gave up nearly 400 yards but it sure wasn’t efficient for Fresno State. 4.1 yards per pass and 3.8 yards per rush. Solid game.
Northwestern – Idle
Penn State – B+ – It is easy to pick apart PSU’s offensive day (373 total yards, 64 rushing yards on 33 rushes and just 13 points) but my oh my was that defense humming. 5 takeaways, 294 yards allowed and pitched the shutout in the second half. I was impressed with how hostile the Rutgers stadium was. They were loud, they had towels going the players were feeding off that energy but PSU calmly and quietly mounted the comeback and proved their worth.
Purdue – D- – Outside of covering the spread, I’m not sure what Purdue has to feel good about. The rush defense did play well, holding Notre Dame to a pedestrian 3.7 yards per carry. I’m struggling to find a silver lining here people, sorry.
Rutgers – C+ – They were this close (I’m holding up my fingers to represent an inch) away from a statement win but faltered. Obviously the offensive issues that were documented in the off-season came to a head. Gary Turnova (that’s so mean but works) was picked five times. Not all of this is on him, but it does reflect the lack of competency the whole unit shows. Kudos to the defense for making Penn State’s night mostly miserable, especially the running game.
Wisconsin – Idle
Game of the Week – Maryland-West Virginia – I’m a little surprised in myself. I love defensive football so I assumed it would be PSU-Rutgers but there was something so enjoyable about the helter-skelter action the Terps and Mountaineers had. There was a special teams TD, there was offense galore and the fact that Maryland almost stormed back from a 28-6 hole made this thing bonkers. There were also two scores of over 75 yards in it. Last but no least the red-headed step child of football scoring made an appearance as WVU picked up a safety to go up 30-27.
Why Did I Watch This Award – Pretty safe to say the OSU game was clicked off relatively early. If you made it to halftime (45-0), give yourself a hand.
Gambling Report Card
Illinois/Washington – Wash (-13.5) / Over (65) – Huskies had no trouble covering (they won by 25) but sadly the over was just missed (63). I blame UW for not pouring it on in the second half. We will have to live with the split.
Indiana/BGSU – Indiana (-8) – Ah the perils of betting on Indiana football.
Iowa/Iowa State – Points (-11), Under (49) – Well at least my team’s horrid performance earned me some money as Iowa State not only covered but won and the two sorry clubs combined for just 37 points, well under what Vegas had.
Maryland/WVU – Over (60.5) – This was obliterated by 16.5 points as the insane game yielded 77 total points.
Michigan/Miami (OH) – Michigan (-32.5) / Over (51.5) – Ah crap guys, my bad. I expected Michigan to pounce all over this terrible club. Instead they came out a little tentative after last week’s “performance.”
Minnesota/TCU – Points (-15) / Under (49) – Well we at least got the split thanks to them combining for just 37 points. Unfortunately 80% of those went TCU’s way.
Nebraska/Fresno – Nebraska (-10.5) / Over (62) – Back on track thanks to Nebraska’s dominating win. Shoutout to Fresno’s 19 points for helping us clear the over.
Ohio State/Kent State – OSU (-32) – I was worried about the over thinking that OSU would win something like 49-0, 42-7 so missed a chance to double-down but I’m not passing on the money.
Penn State/Rutgers – PSU (-3) / Under (degenerate tip) – Well the casual gambler who only bet Penn State earned a push but the degenerates got a little money as the defensive battle was no where close to hitting 51.5 points.
Purdue/Notre Dame – ND (-27.5) / Under (57) – Bah, not even close as Notre Dame only won by 16. We did hit the under however to pick up a split.
Week Record: 10-6-1
Season Record: 14-16-1
Dunce of the Week
Even more reason for Texas to join the Big Ten…After UCLA won the coin toss and deferred to the second half Texas experienced a case of premature kickucation and elected to kick. When the second half rolled around UCLA decided they didn’t mind having the ball a second time. As a result Texas kicked to open the game and open the second half. That’s conservative, even by Kirk Ferentz’s standards.
Big Ten and Counting 