Remember last week when four out of five road teams won? The script was flipped this week as four teams in five games enjoyed home cooking to pick up wins. Rutgers, Nebraska and Illinois all hit new lows – but have they reached rock bottom yet? This was a tough week to stomach for a lot of fans, possibly none more than the Minnesota faithful who saw their beloved Jerry Kill retire and then watched their squad miss out on an upset bid in the final seconds.
Team of the Week: Penn State – A+ – Remember when I picked the Lions to go 10-2 with losses to OSU and MSU? Man for a while there I looked like a fool. Temple roughed ’em up, uninspired wins against Buffalo, SDSU, Army and Maryland as well as being thoroughly outclassed by Ohio State had me going as far as to question Franklin’s job security if the wheels fell off in the second half of the season. Well the Illinois game seems to show those wheels are firmly in place. A 39-0 thrashing of the Illini was just what the doctor ordered. The defense held UI to 167 total yards, 3.0 through the air and 1.4 on the ground. Offensively PSU put up 400 yards, led by Christian Hackenberg’s 21/29, 266, 2 TD, 0 INT day. With that defense and an improved offense like we just saw, 10-2 is certainly back in play. Both Michigan schools need to be mindful of this club getting into gear.
Illinois – F – Iowa, Wisconsin and now Penn State have all knocked down Illinois. The common theme from these losses is the UI offense is not up to the task against some of the elite defenses in the league. Fortunately they have Purdue next to get a fifth win. From there they need to just upset Ohio State, Minnesota or Northwestern in order to get to a bowl. I think if you had told Illini fans they would be sitting at 4-4 eight games in and the Beckman headache had already been removed they would take it. Let’s see if they can regain some of that swagger from a 4-1 start down the home stretch.
Indiana – Idle
Iowa – B+ – The first half was outstanding, building a 21-0 lead. The second half the coaches decided to not tip their hand on any plays they have in their back pocket or get someone hurt and played extremely conservative. The 31-15 final does not do this game justice as Iowa’s defense dominated with just 241 yards of offense, 74 through the air, 1/10 on third and four takeaways – including a magnificent pick six by Desmond King. One takeaway was given back after the intercepting Hawkeye coughed it up on a goofy play. Solid game and despite the final two-score margin, it never ever felt in doubt.
Maryland – D- – Will Likely is a special player and his outstanding kick return made the game appear much closer than it ever was. Perry Hills is a nice runner but the team is so one-dimensional that even when he has a good day running the ball, it makes winning extremely difficult. The good news is Edsall is already gone, Locksley said he would not compete for the job (he was never going to get it anyway) so Terps fans know the nightmare is gone and a good coach can turn this ship around. It is too bad that Likely’s talents seem to be wasted on this team. Is there a trade deadline in college football?
Michigan – D+ – Very strange game that, honestly, Michigan did not deserve to win. Grossly outgained, -2 on the turnover margin, and a poor day rushing the rock. The fact is that their strength is defense and that unit redeemed themselves with a bad day at the office on a last second goal line stance. I’m not sure what is wrong with Michigan as this is two games in a row that their pass d has been shredded but it doesn’t bode well with Indiana, Penn State and Ohio State coming down the stretch. What was so jarring was how they came out looking awful after the bye…very confusing game in the Twin Cities. Maybe the emotion of Kill’s retirement had the Gopher’s exceeding all expectations. Guess we will find out how the Wolverines look over the final weeks.
Michigan State – Idle
Minnesota – B+ – It is always jarring when a team plays this well and loses. Based on stats alone the Gopher’s should have won this game with ease. What a shame. Mitch Leidner played outstanding and the defense reintroduced themselves after getting embarrassed by Nebraska. They have a tough schedule to make a bowl but if they reproduce this performance with consistency, they can certainly make one. As for the final play…I like it. I have no argument going against the win there. The problem was the time management leading up to it. They missed opportunities to get more plays off in the goal line situation. What a punch to the gut for Gopher nation.
Nebraska – F – Here’s an idea, let’s start our back up quarterback and throw it 48 times and see how that works. Well 4 INTs later and a -5 turnover margin for the game later, the Huskers lost a game to the worst team in the league. Big time uh-oh for Mike Riley. As for that famous ‘blackshirt’ defense, how does 55 points and 457 yards taste? Pathetic.
Northwestern – Idle
Ohio State – Idle
Purdue – B- – When the defense wasn’t getting takeaways, they were getting shredded to the tune of 484 yards and 45 points. Let’s not put lipstick on a pig and call it prom queen, this was still an ugly game for Purdue and it improves their coach to 2-18 in league games. Long, long way to go before we can say Purdue’s turned anything around.
Rutgers – F – One of the most confusing things from this game is how they scored 10 points. Honestly. They were held to 165 yards, 6/20 passing, 2.2 yards per rush, 2/15 on third and still scored twice? Strange. This team is terrible in all phases even with Leonte Carroo so with him sidelined with injury, they stood no chance in Madison.
Wisconsin – A – Outside two turnovers, there is literally nothing to pick apart from their blowout victory over the hapless Scarlet Knights. Corey Clement had a nice return to duty game with 115 yards on just 11 carries. Oh yeah, he found the end zone 3 times, too. What a difference maker he will be as the Badgers should win out to go 10-2 and put a lot of pressure on Iowa in the west.
Game of the Week – Why in the world would anyone turn off the Little Brown Jug game in Minneapolis? This one had it all as well as a finale that divides football fans between the age old question of do I… ‘play for overtime?’ or ‘go for the win?’ Fun game.
Why did I watch this? Award – The Illinois/Penn State and Rutgers/Wisconsin games were a combined total of 88-10 football and neither the Illini nor the Knights could get 200 yards. Both games were wrapped up quickly by Bucky the Badger and Leroy the Lion. Why isn’t that his name? Most schools have alliteration but PSU calls their mascot Nittany Lion. Boring. At least Joe the Lion is something.
Gambling Report Card
- Illinois at Penn State, Points (PSU -5.0)
Yikes, not good. I read way too much into PSU struggling with Maryland and Army as well as Illinois competing hard with Iowa and Wisconsin. The real PSU stood up and the real Illinois sat down.
- Iowa vs Maryland, UI (-17.5), over (53.5)
“Watch me regret this bet big time on Monday but I’ll take the Hawks to cover and the over.” Yup. Iowa won by 16 and they combined for 45 points. Whelp, can’t win ’em all.
- Michigan at Minnesota, Mich (-13), Over (38)
A split! The 29-26 Michigan win clearly covers the over but obviously the Wolverines did not put it on the Gophers like I had expected. At least I’m on the board…finally.
- Nebraska at Purdue, NU (-7.5), Under (53.5)
This is what you get for trusting Nebraska’s defense. I figured that with a back up starting, NU would run the ball a ton and trust their defense to not look like swiss cheese. The brutal week continues.
- Rutgers at Wisconsin, UW (-19), Under (51.5)
I was sort of expecting this game to be 42-3 or 49-0 or something like that. Unfortunately, Rutgers somehow scored 10 points, causing the over to be cleared. A split to end an awful week at the sports book.
Week Record: 2-7-0
Season Record: 76-64-0
Big Ten and Counting 