Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Week one is in the books and the Big Ten saw 12 of 14 members start 1-0. Rutgers was always a long shot to upset Washington and Northwestern suffered an upset to a very, very talented Western Michigan team. While there was no shame in the upset, it wasn’t without controversy. More about that below.
Team of the Week – Wisconsin – A+ – Normally I grade the offense and the defense to find an average and then factor in special teams but when you have defense, DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE!!!!!! like Wisconsin got, you ignore what you normally do. I always thought their tilt with LSU would be competitive but to get over the hump Wisconsin’s defense was marvelous. They held the Tigers to just 257 yards, one offensive score, kept Heisman hopeful Leonard Fournette out of the end zone, 2/14 on third, and forced three turnovers. The special teams was also on point as Rafael Gaglianone hit all of his field goals, including a 48 yarder for the win in a ten point afternoon.
As for that offense, well, it was alright against a stout LSU defense. The turnovers were a bit high, three of them, and the pick six was less than ideal but for the most part, the Badgers moved the ball pretty well. Bart Houston looked better than expected, the running attack had some flashes and 134 yards on 42 carries against the strength of LSU allowed the Badgers to hold the ball for 37 minutes. TE Tony Fumagalli was nothing short of brilliant.
Illinois – A – Taking on a middling FCS team in Murray State allowed the Illini to have an impressive win in week one. Interestingly, UI kicker Chase McLaughlin also had ten points on the day but he got his thanks to seven extra points. Wes Lunt was solid throwing the ball and the running game was explosive, especially thanks to Kendrick Foster’s 118 yards on four carries. Cupcake, yes, but still an encouraging start.
Indiana – B – This was a strange game as the Hoosiers defense produced a pick six and a safety in the first half to result in an unusual 12-10 score. Going into the fourth it was 13-12, FIU, but Indiana won the final frame 22-0 to pull away. The defense was vastly improved and the 13 points and three interceptions reflect that. The offense was a little herky jerky but once new starter Richard Lagow settled down things started clicking. Devine Redding was predictably solid despite not scoring. The late announcement of Simmie Cobbs Jr’s one game suspension might have factored into some of the jitters.
Iowa – B – An unusual targeting penalty (the Miami player was stumbling and his head was lower than it normally would be) took Iowa’s best linebacker off the field after just one possession. As a result Iowa just kept in a simple base and was content with Miami dinking and dunking. As a result the RedHawks racked up some yards and put up 21 but considering Iowa was up 21-0 before Miami figured out what to do, the game was never in doubt. Offensively, Iowa was very sharp, especially the running game. Starters LeShun Daniels and Akrum Wadley combined for 224 yards on 22 carries and each found pay dirt twice.
Maryland – A – Tough to know how much improved Maryland is from a week one blowout over a bad FCS team in Howard but my biggest takeaway were the lake of takeaways the Bison had. Last year Maryland racked up a ton of turnovers, especially throwing INTs. UM had zero turnovers in their opener. It’s a start.
Michigan – A – Hawai’i is awful so we were never going to learn much but UM looked crisp, especially Wilton Speight connecting on 10 of 13 passes.
Michigan State – C – It wasn’t like MSU was ever in danger of Furman upsetting them but it was a pretty uninspired effort. Two turnovers, 10 penalties for 120 yards, and 4 of 10 on third are fine against the Paladins but would be tough to overcome against Big Ten teams. But hey, this is why teams like to schedule soft openers.
Minnesota – C – The defense forced some turnovers, and stopped the run, but gave up a lot of passing yards and struggled on third down. The offense was out of sorts through the air but made up for it on the ground. Not a spectacular game but they ground out a victory and have some things to build on as well as spotting some aspects that need to be fixed.
Nebraska – A – First of all, hats off to a fantastic way to remember the late great Sam Foltz, the NU punter who tragically lost his life in the off season. As for the product on the field, the defense looked a lot better and the ground attack was a machine. The downside is the competition was a putrid Fresno State team. Solid victory, just tough to see how this projects going forward due to the level of competition (or lack thereof) the Bulldogs gave.
Northwestern – C- – Where to start with Northwestern? Let’s go with the good. Clayton Thorson and the passing game looked a lot more lively than I thought they would. Justin Jackson was also his usual great self with a 3 TD day. The bad though was the defense giving up over 400 yards and allowing Western Michigan to have the ball for 39 minutes. If it weren’t for some good work in the red zone and forcing field goals, the Broncos would have won this walking away. Now the strange. What happened on the controversial fumble call? No clue why the WMU kid tried to toss a fumble going out the end zone for a touchback back into the field of play. I’ve watched the replay a dozen times and I think, THINK, the touchback call was still right but what an insane turn of events.
Ohio State – A – When you drop 77 points in a 67 point victory over a decent MAC club you will raise a few eyebrows. On a day with a ton of great performances, I’ll give a shout out to Curtis Samuel. The junior back had 84 rushing yards and a score on 13 carries as well as catching nine passes for 177 yards and two scores. Pretty useful, I’d say.
Penn State – C+ – This was a 16-13 game at halftime. Now PSU shutout Kent State in the second half, but much like the MSU game, it was just a lackluster performance. Unlike the MSU game, I will give the Nittany Lions a touch of credit for scoring 33 points. KSU may have been awful offensively last year, but their defense is among the MAC’s best. Thus the C+ compared to the Spartan’s C.
Purdue – B- – It took the Boilers a little while to put away a pesky FCS Eastern Kentucky team but they pulled away with a 17-6 fourth quarter. The offense was extremely effective (45 points, 500+ yards) and balanced (251 pass, 261 rush) but the defense gave up 400 yards. Without the 4 turnovers and +3 net on the day, Purdue could have found themselves in even more of a battle.
Rutgers – F – Just how bad was the RU performance in Seattle? Well for one it was 24-0 after a quarter. Washington was up 34-3 at the half and going into the third it was 48-3. Even 10 cosmetic points didn’t pretty this thing up at all. RU was held to just 300 yards of offense, had 3 giveaways, and gave up a kick and punt return for touchdowns to the Huskies. Woof.
Game of the Week – Uhh, Wisconsin. Duh.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – As soon as Michigan got up 56-0 it felt safe to go do something else.
Gambling Report Card:
- Indiana at FIU, Indiana (-10.5), Under (62.5)
A quick double up as Indiana won 34-13. As I figured, IU’s offense would take a little bit of time to get going with a new quarterback. Look to start going with Overs soon though for Indiana.
- Iowa vs Miami (OH), Iowa (-27.5), Over (51.5)
Settle for a split here as Miami did just enough to cover, losing by 24, but the teams did put up 66.
- Michigan vs Hawai’i, Points (UM, -41.5), Under (54.5)
Major swing and a miss. I sort of assumed that once UM got a big lead they would just turn off the gas. Sort of like what OSU did a year ago against this team. Unfortunately that was not the case as they won by 60 in a 63-3 humiliation of the boys from the Sandwich Islands.
- Minnesota vs Oregon State, UM (-13), Under (56)
Take the split as the two combined for 53 but due to the Beaver’s offense performing way better than I thought it would, they managed to cover in the 30-23 final.
- Nebraska vs Fresno State, NU (-28), Over (62)
My predicted score of 56-21 didn’t quite come up. In fact, it was nowhere close. Nebraska won easily, 43-10, but it results in another split.
- Northwestern vs Western Michigan, Points (NU, -5), Under (52)
Snagged a double up thanks to the Bronco win and two ball control teams keeping the clock rolling en route to just 43 points being scored.
- Penn State vs Kent State, PSU (-22), Under (45)
A double bad beat. PSU won by just 20 and the total points were…46! Dang, back to .500.
- Ohio State vs Bowling Green, OSU (-28.5), Under (64)
As I expected BG wouldn’t contribute much to clear the over scoring just 10 points. What I didn’t factor in were the Bucks going off and scoring 77(!) to settle for a split.
- Rutgers at Washington, Points (UW -26.5), Under (54.5)
In my mind I was thinking about UW’s grind it out approach last year and expecting something like 28-3. Long story short, a sweep as Washington almost cleared the over themselves in the 48-13 shelling.
- Wisconsin vs LSU, Points (LSU -10.5), Under (44.5)
I said that was a dumb over and it turned out to be the case as the defensive struggle resulted in just 30 total points. Wisconsin’s win gives us a double up to salvage an even week.
Week Record: 10-10-0
Season Record: 10-10-0
Big Ten and Counting 