We are fully stocked and loaded with all fourteen teams in action across seven league tilts. With this much at stake it feels a little bit like a moving day in golf. Not totally since it is still early but a little, no? Ah hell, maybe I’m crazy. Like usual, these times are central.
Game of the Week:
Ohio State at Penn State
The last time we saw PSU against a top end team they were blown out of the building 49-10 by Michigan. Since that game, PSU has ripped off two wins and had a bye week to get a little healthier and watch plenty of tape on the Buckeyes. The other difference between this one and the Michigan game is location. Playing under the lights in State College is a lot different than heading to Ann Arbor. For Ohio State this one is simple: stop Trace McSorley. Penn State’s offense is so dominated by their duel threat quarterback that if he gets locked down, the Lions will really struggle to score.
- Saturday, 7pm, ABC
Sleeper:
Wisconsin at Iowa
Like the folks in Pennsylvania, Iowa has also played a lot better with road wins at Minnesota and Purdue. Of course getting a game back in Kinnick helps but Wisconsin is by far the best defense Iowa will have to game plan for. They are averaging 30.9 ppg which is only 61st in the nation and while the line has looked better, the front seven for the Badgers is, you guessed it, the best Iowa will face all year (or at least best thus far, Michigan has a damn good one, too). For the Badgers they need to keep up the crisp exicution they showed offensively against OSU with some nice jet sweeps and useful passing attack to keep their bread and butter of power running viable by preventing Iowa from loading the box.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPN
Don’t Forget:
Indiana at Northwestern
Wildcats have turned their season around by finding some offense. Indiana has turned their program around by finding some defense. The winner’s bowl hopes will take a huge leap forward as both clubs are 3-3 but have some of their toughest games remaining. IU still has to face Penn State and travel to Ann Arbor. NU goes to Columbus and then hosts Wisconsin in back to back weeks. This one will come down to turnovers and how Indiana does well inside the 30. In their loss to Nebraska, Hoosiers settled for three too often and in other losses, most notably the game against Wake, turnovers tanked Indiana. As for Northwestern the offense has shown great strides but IU’s defense is healthy and hungry so I’m not sold things will come as easily.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Snoozer:
Illinois at Michigan
Last time we saw UM they were looking like Georgia Tech versus Cumberland in a 78-0 win. Illinois hasn’t been that bad this year but they don’t look ready for a team of this magnitude yet.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, BTN…Yeah the 2:30 games in the Big Ten this week are lousy. Go watch a different league or go to the Accountant. Good movie.
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 Penn State and Ohio State is a classic upset scenario. The Buckeyes have everything to play for: league and national title implications. Yet PSU has been recruiting well and has to break through eventually……right? If PSU fails here they will drop to 0-8 against Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State in Franklin’s tenure. Unfortunately for him, beating MSU this year won’t mean as much so this is his last shot on the year to get that marquee win and prove that his program is back on track.
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Maryland vs Michigan State – Without Perry Hills Maryland just can’t move the ball very well. If you can’t move the ball, you can’t score. If you can’t score, well, you can’t win. Pretty simple. MSU has nothing to play for now but pride. Guess what, they are a prideful coach and senior class. They find a way to rally on the road.
- Saturday, 6:30pm, BTN
Minnesota vs Rutgers – The Gopher win over Maryland was huge a week ago as it got them to 4-2. With three winnable games in a row starting here with Rutgers, UM can really turn the season around. Probably too big a hole with two league losses to make Indy, but they could certainly play spoiler for Wisconsin or Nebraska and end up with a really nice win total but they can’t sleepwalk against a RU team that did a lot right last week in a losing effort to Illinois.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPNU
Nebraska vs Purdue – After surviving the trap game last week in Bloomington, Huskers host the other Indiana school. We saw Maryland play well in the first game after firing Randy Edsall last year and this could be a game NU looks by with road trips to Wisconsin and OSU coming up next so maybe the Boilers make it interesting? I don’t see it, that feels like a reach.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ABC / ESPN2
Western Michigan vs Eastern Michigan – EMU is a bit of a surprise with a 5-2 mark for the usually awful program. Their wins over Ohio (road) and Wyoming are to be applauded for showing improvement but WMU has taken down two Big Ten teams, obliterated Central Michigan – the second best team in the MAC – and just dropped a pretty solid Akron team 41-0. Broncos are in a totally different class than the Eagles.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ESPN3
Random Musing
It is really hard to do this column when traveling for the Badgers versus Hawkeyes game. Yup, that was a little humble brag. See y’all in Kinnick!
Big Ten and Counting 