After a fascinating week last Saturday, this week feels a bit like the calm before a big battle breaks out. There are zero games with each team ranked, Michigan State has a non-conference tango, and Wisconsin is joined by Nebraska and Northwestern as the clubs taking the week off. Still, there are some intriguing games, including the famous Iowa-Minnesota rivalry.
Game of the Week:
Maryland at Penn State
One of the things that makes Maryland, Rutgers, and Nebraska feel so alien to us Big Ten lifers is that they don’t have any league rivals yet. Penn State didn’t either when they joined in 1993 but over the last two decades Penn State has created them. Their fans love to compete with Michigan and Ohio State. Additionally, PSU vs Iowa has had some very memorable games. Now it feels like Penn State has been in the league since its founding. One way for Maryland to get that same feeling is through this annual match up.
Penn State loved to play Maryland as a showcase for recruiting the Baltimore area and because, unfortunately for Terps fans, this was a good tune up for the independent Nittany Lions. The first meeting was 1917. From 1937 to 1944 they also routinely played. But the majority of the series was started in 1960 and played until 1993. The two programs played almost every year with PSU winning all but one. When Penn State joined the Big Ten the “rivalry” ended with the Lions leading it 35-1-2.
Things have been a little different since Maryland joined the Big Ten. The two schools are 1-1 with each game decided by exactly one point. With the Terps sitting at 4-0 and Penn State battered and bruised at 3-2 this is a statement opportunity for both teams. For Maryland winning in State College for their second time in three years would add a little muster to this rivalry. Of course getting to 5-0 (2-0) would also do wonders for their bowl hopes as they still have to face the Michigan schools, Ohio State, and Nebraska.
On the flip side, Penn State was humiliated two weeks ago against Michigan. Last week they rallied to force and then win in OT against Minnesota but their coach is on the hot seat and any loss to what fans perceive as a beatable team will make the noise around Franklin even louder.
That was a lot of background on this game. In terms of the Xs and Os, UM’s rushing attack is up to 6th in the nation with Ty Johnson, Lorenzo Harrison, Trey Edmunds, and a few others all showing big play potential. The passing game is a lot more reliable this season as Perry Hills has tossed just one interception all year. This was a major code red issue for UM a year ago as they led the league in thrown INTs.
For Penn State they have a quarterback forced to do a ton in Trace McSorley and he has responded well. He averages over 250 yards passing per game and is second on the team in rushing. The bigger concern is PSU’s rush defense. Sitting at 105th nationally with 216.6 yards allowed per game is not a good sign coming into this game against red hot Maryland.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Sleeper:
A glass half full guy could say each team has one league loss so whoever wins still has a shot for Indy…and for Gopher fans, since their schedule is really easy, that has some truth to it but this one is really about pride. This is a rivalry that has been played 109 times, dating back to 1891. For Iowa it could be a moment of excitement in a season that has quickly turned sour. For Minnesota, it will help their new coach show he has it, as he sits at just 1-5 in league games. With the Gophers’ running game looking good and a pass rush that has been scary at times, UM coaches and fans have to love seeing both Iowa’s lines imploding this year.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPN2
Don’t Forget:
We all know about Michigan State’s loss to Wisconsin and then the OT heartbreaker against Indiana so I won’t dwell on that because I’m sure some people have zero clue what is going on in Provo. Well the Cougars are one of the strangest 2-3 teams I can remember. They opened with an upset against Arizona, 18-16. Then lost to arch rival Utah, 20-19, when they went for a last second two point conversion for the win. Next they hosted a really talented UCLA team and scrapped and clawed in a losing effort, 17-14. Then they played a “neutral” site game against West Virginia that was actually in Maryland so not very neutral at all and were tough again, dropping it 35-32. Then they played an absolute track meet with Toledo, in which their running back Jamaal Williams set a school record with 286 rushing yards. BYU came out on top of that thriller against the Rockets, 55-53.
So to recap, six games, all within three points. Is this the best two win team in the nation? Maybe. Are they the unluckiest team in the nation? Maybe. But one thing is clear, after some awful offensive line play to cost their offense dearly they got that unit looking better against Toledo. On the flip side, their secondary was solid, even against UCLA’s Josh Rosen, until it was lit up against Toledo. BYU is a strange team to figure out.
- Saturday,2:30pm, ABC / ESPN2*
* Note, on espn.com this game is not listed with a TV but the MSU Spartan home page provides this listing. It could be a regional broadcast or just an oversight with ESPN. I’m thinking it is an oversight because MSU has been so good for so long and BYU has a national audience so I’d assume you’ll be able to find it!
Snoozer:
After a grueling win against Wisconsin, Michigan looks to correct some offensive sloppiness against a Rutgers team that is struggling mightily at the moment.
- Saturday, 6pm, ESPN2…You know what is also at 6pm on Saturday? Alabama at Arkansas, or you know, you could take advantage of the slow Big Ten schedule and take the significant other out for a nice dinner. After all, can’t have White Castle every day.
Upset Watch:
Sadly now that we’re in league play there is no real easy way to make the distinction between being on the right end or wrong end of an upset. That’s always a fun feature of the non-conference but now that we’re in league any upset is potentially season crippling or season defining.
Right and Wrong end:
The Indiana Hoosiers travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State and while the odds don’t seem great for IU (they are trailing the series 71-12-5 and haven’t won since 1988), they have given the Buckeyes some game the last two years losing by 15 in 2014 and 7 last year. IU also got a boost of confidence last week when they knocked off Michigan State. Ohio State meanwhile has a pinch of a trap to this one. They go to Wisconsin next and have been crushing people every week so maybe some complacency combined with peeking ahead could result in something funky. I don’t think an upset will be seen (I’d say 5% chance for Indiana) but of all the games this week, this is the only one to throw the Big Ten (and national title) race into total disarray if something insane happens.
- Indiana at Ohio State, Saturday, 2:30pm, ESPN
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Illinois vs Purdue – Illinois’s 1-3 start looks pretty bad but you need to consider the brutal schedule. North Carolina – ranked, just beat FSU. Western Michigan – ranked, also beat Northwestern. Nebraska – ranked, on the road. UI also looked much better against Nebraska, meaning they put that early bye week to good use. Purdue meanwhile is coming off a loss in which they were outclassed in every conceivable way by Maryland. No disrespect to D.J. Durkin’s club but when we think of teams that are capable of beating a fellow league opponent by 43, most would think of Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Clemson, and Louisville this year…not Maryland. Sadly, I think that says a lot about the state of Purdue.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, BTN
Western Michigan vs Northern Illinois – Ah yes, our honorary Broncos. They host a struggling Northern Illinois team who is sitting at just 1-4. The usually reliable Huskies have had defensive issues all year long with the 110th ranked scoring defense and haven’t even played a power five league. Their offense has also been rocky after starting QB Jordan Hare went down with another season, and possibly career ending, injury. NIU did figure some stuff out last Saturday though as they knocked off Ball State for their first win. Still, WMU looks to feast on that subpar defense.
- Saturday, 5:30pm, CBSSN
Random Musing
I didn’t do a very good job talking about the Illinois-Purdue rivalry a couple paragraphs ago so I will touch on it more here. When you think of trophy games in the Big Ten I think two major ones and two funny ones. The major ones are Floyd of Rosedale and Paul Bunyan’s axe. Obviously growing up in Iowa City and going to Wisconsin has influenced that but these are also programs that are generally really good and the trophies date way back (sorry stupid Heartland / Heroes games – blah). The funny ones are the Old Oaken Bucket and the Illibuck. Obviously Illinois and Ohio State playing for a turtle is comical and with Indiana and Purdue fighting over a goofy bucket seems like the type of shenanigans you only see in college football.
Then when I really think, I remember the Little Brown Jug. And that’s about it. The Megaphone? MSU and somebody…looking…Notre Dame. Land Grant Trophy? MSU again, I think…yes, MSU and Penn State. The list goes on and on of silly, silly trophies (looking at you Governor’s Victory Bell between Minnesota and Penn State). In fact, 15 league games have trophies and 5 non conference games also feature trophies.
It’s easy to say we disband a lot of these silly trophies but if we’re going to keep some, I think the Purdue Cannon should be on the list of keepers. The history is fascinating! In 1905 some Purdue fans took a cannon to Illinois to fire it in celebration. However, Illinois won the game and the cannon was found in a hiding place, maybe even discarded. Guess it isn’t fun to take that all the way back after losing? Who knows, so anyway one of the Illinois fans who found it, just kept it until the 1940s when the rivalry was looking to celebrate the series after an 11 year absence and felt like a trophy would be a good way to kick the series off. So the cannon was donated and used.
What makes this game even more interesting is how tight it has been over its 91 matches. Illinois leads the series 44-41-6. Outside UI going 14-1-2 from 1900-1919, this series seldom sees long streaks. In fact, since that run a hundred years ago, the longest streak is just six wins for Illinois in the late 80s and early 90s in the dark days of Purdue before Joe Tiller came. So when these teams meet in Champaign this week, it isn’t just some random league game between two rebuilding programs, it is the 92nd installment of one of the best kept secret trophy games this league has to offer.
Big Ten and Counting 