#1 and #2 in the polls, wow. Is the Big Ten top heavy? Maybe…but NU is 3-0, Iowa is 3-0, Indiana is 3-0 while Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin still look formidable at 2-1. Penn State has also rallied from the Temple game to a 2-1 mark. I think the depth of this league is coming into form, even if the meat of this league is less sexy than say a Cal who can put points in a hurry.
Team of the Week: Northwestern – B+ – Both Iowa and NU had big wins over tough power-5 league clubs but NU gets the nod for taking their game on the road. As underdogs in Vegas, NU battled off a slow start (trailed 7-0 after one) to win the game 19-3 after that first quarter. The defense was stout again and while the offense wasn’t great, the special teams made up the difference with a score of their own. Gritty road victory.
Illinois – F – …and the real Illini finally stood up. The silver lining is, despite the lopsided 48-14 loss at UNC, the offense wasn’t a complete wash. They had 399 yards, 9/20 on third, won time of possession with nearly 36 minutes of it. The defense was a disaster and the Illini didn’t play clean with a turnover and 8 penalties. They aren’t good enough to squander possessions or yardage like that.
Indiana – B – Down 28-17 at halftime it felt like ‘here we go again’ with the Hoosiers but yet again this young season IU makes great half time adjustments, dominated the third quarter 21-0 and wrangled control of the game. Jordan Howard is the real deal at running back. Go to Wake next week so they should be 4-0 and in great positioning for a bowl game.
Iowa – B+ – Defense held Pitt to just 17 points and 55 rushing yards. Offense wasn’t flawless but moved the ball well enough. Huge special team’s day with the 57 yard kick to win the game…of course could have been a huge special team’s day for the opposite reason as a blocked punt resulted in Pitt scoop and score. Good win over a tough as nails opponent.
Maryland – C – They seemed to right the ship with a 35-17 win over USF but this ignores two things. First, it was USF – they have not been a good team for years now. Second, UM had 12 penalties for 120 yards, 3 turnovers and gave up 240 rushing yards. They played well enough to beat USF…but not anyone else.
Michigan – A – Another strong defensive effort yielding just 7 points (in the fourth quarter) to UNLV. Offensively the passing game was okay but the rushing attack – wow! Ty Isaac led the way with 114 yards on 8 carries but as a team they had 254 yards on 39 carries, good for a 6.5 yard per average. Might not be flashy but rushing and defense can carry Michigan to some wins this season…how many, well that will come down how one-dimensional they become.
Michigan State – B+ – I know a 14 point win doesn’t look like much but it was 28-7 at half and never in doubt. Throw in the fact that Air Force is always well coached and have a difficult option attack, and the win becomes even more impressive to me, of course I’m a huge MSU/Dantonio backer so not surprising I am in their corner all the way.
Minnesota – D+ – Defense gets an A, no doubt…but 10 points, really? 3 turnovers? This was an ugly 10-7 win over Kent State, a team that could easily finish dead last in the MAC. Maybe the Gophers were looking past them to………Ohio? The up and down Mitch Leidner strikes again.
Nebraska – C+ – Offensively, another nice day. Sure it took a while, but the 23 point fourth quarter comeback was outstanding. Another solid day by Tommy Armstrong Jr. 3 turnovers is too many and the overtime interception was brutal to see live. Defensively, a mess. They cleaned up some things in the second half but the key word is some. 511 yards and shredded through the air. Back to basics for this poorly performing unit.
Ohio State – C- – I don’t care if you are the ’72 Dolphins or an 8-man football team in rural Iowa, 5 turnovers will make any game a nail biter and that is exactly what the Buckeyes had. Preventing a D is the fact that OSU won and that the defense held Northern Illinois to just 190 yards. Big week of practice coming up as we need to see some improvement from the offense.
Penn State – B+ – Defense held RU to just 43 rushing yards on 32 carries (1.3 avg) and the offense racked up a ton of rushing yards – 330/41 carries/8.0 avg. Hackenberg was sacked zero times. PSU looks like the team I think they can be finally. Will it last? That’s the million dollar question.
Purdue – F – Down just 24-17 at the half, Virginia Tech was the team with all the adjustments as they crushed the Boilers 27-7 in the second half to pull away in a dominating win. Defense was a joke and offense not much better, as well as giving the ball away three times.
Rutgers – F – Down 28-0 at half and held off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter sums up the day offensively…and, well, also sums up the day defensively. Outclassed in every way for the beleaguered program.
Wisconsin – B – Certainly not a bad performance but a little stale as they beat Troy just 28-7. Defense was strong and offense balanced but they seemed to be on cruise control. Not a bad thing to be on against Troy or Hawai’i next week but always dangerous to wait and ‘flip the switch’ when another good team comes around.
Game of the Week – Iowa vs Pitt – This had so many swings and a nice last minute drive with a long bomb kick to win it at Kinnick. Went all Walt Whitman on you there.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Kent State and Minnesota had – drum roll – 142 and 288 yards respectively. Unwatchable crap from TCF last Saturday.
Gambling Report Card
- Illinois at UNC, Points (UNC-9), Under (63.5)
Amazingly we break even for this game! UNC crushed the Illini 48-14 but that only adds up to 62. I think we all learned the proper way to bet on Illinois now.
- Indiana vs Western Kentucky, IU (-2), Over (71.5)
A fourth quarter touchdown by WKU brought the game to a 73 point total but also maintained a 3 point edge for Hoosiers. Double that up, sir!
- Iowa vs Pitt, UI (-5.5)
Glad I stayed away from the O/U as I had no clue what the final would be. Iowa’s last second field goal resulted in a win, but by just three. Gambler’s were pulling for overtime no doubt.
- Maryland vs USF, Points (UM -7.5), Over (51)
In what was shaping up to be a rough week as I watched games, UM-USF provides another tight split as the two combined for 52 but UM covered.
- Michigan vs UNLV, Points (UM -34), Under (49)
Really proud of myself in this one as I predicted UM would cruise but that the huge spread was too much and that UNLV’s low output would result in a low score. Sure enough UM’s 35-7 win was dominating but played out like I figured. Let’s ignore the fact that UNLV’s TD came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand and just take our winnings.
- Michigan State vs Air Force, Points (MSU -25), Under (55)
Kind of a tough beat as Air Force’s second half scores prevented a cover but also got us to 56 total points. Dang.
- Minnesota vs Kent State, UM (-24.5), Over (46)
I assumed this would look a lot like the Illinois-Kent State game that the Big Ten school won easily, 52-3. It most certainly did not play out anything similar to that opener. Big time swing and miss.
- Nebraska at Miami, Over (58)
I said avoid the spread since we didn’t know what we were getting and boy was that spot on as Vegas had UM favored by 3 and that was the final outcome exactly. The overtime thriller yielded 69 points so we pick up a check with this one.
- Northwestern at Duke, Points (DU -3.5), Under (48)
The teams combined for 13 points allowed all season coming into it so picking the under was smart, even if the payout wasn’t great. NU did more than cover, they won this game by nine for another double-win for us.
- Ohio State vs Northern Illinois, Points (OSU -34.5), Under (67)
I got this right for all the wrong reasons. I was expecting a game similar to the Hawai’i game where OSU would score a healthy chunk but NIU would contribute very little. The 20-13 finish was not on my radar at all. I’ll take my winning stubs though and enjoy the money.
- Penn State vs Rutgers, PSU (-9), Under (46)
I said this would be in the neighborhood or 27-10. Final was 28-3. Either way, we doubled up from this game.
- Purdue vs Virginia Tech, VT (-7), Under (48.5)
I said take the under when Bud Foster was involved…what I forgot was Purdue’s defense was also involved. Tech tallied 51 points alone in the blow out win. At least we split bets here.
- Wisconsin vs Troy, UW (-34.5), Over (58)
I factored in NC State’s 49-21 win over this same Troy team into my betting idea. Sound logic, I just didn’t think Wisconsin would play so flat en route to a 28-3 win.
Week Record: 15-9-0
Season Record: 37-25-0
Big Ten and Counting 