Well Indianapolis is set with Wisconsin squaring off against Penn State. Ohio State enters as a team with a great shot at making the tournament without winning their division. Take that for what it is worth. Iowa improved their bowl seeding. Northwestern, Indiana, and Maryland all got to 6-6 and Rutgers becomes the first team with an 0-9 Big Ten mark since the 1984 Hoosiers.
Team of the Week – Iowa – A+ – Iowa entered this game as one of the more resurgent teams – along with Pitt – making a late charge in a season with no title on the line and exit the regular season at peak performance. I added that bit about no title because USC, the other red hot team to wrap up the year, wasn’t mathematically eliminated in their Pac 12 race. Anywho, Iowa got a complete performance. The defense held Nebraska to just 90 rushing yards, 217 overall, and yielded just 10 points. The Iowa offense put up 408 yards, 264 on the ground, Daniels with 158 alone, and 40 points. The special teams also chipped in with some solid returns.
Illinois – F – I realize the passing day for Wes Lunt with 377 yards and 2 TDs looks nice, but you need to understand WHY he passed 54 times. The UI defense completely no showed. They were down 21-0 in the second quarter. Rallied to make it a one score game, then gave up 21 again in the second half. Another major issue, turnovers. Four on the day. This team seemed to get worse each week, bitterly disappointing start to the Lovie Smith era.
Indiana – C- – I’ll give Purdue the benefit of the doubt that they were playing with some fire in their rivalry game and that is why this game was so tight but it doesn’t fully explain why the Hoosiers were so sloppy with four turnovers and nine penalty yards. IU survived to get to a bowl game thanks to a defense forcing three takeaways, and making Purdue’s rushing day an awful one with just 42 yards on 34 carries.
Maryland – A – The Terps got back to their identity with 45 carries for 318 yards and three scores. Ty Johnson keyed the attack, again, with 168 yards on 11 carries – good for an absurd 15.3 yards per average. UM wasn’t the pretties team this year but getting their sixth win for a bowl seems deserving. They fought hard, had some injuries, and showed a lot of grit to make the post season. Hats off to this new coaching staff.
Michigan – F – This F isn’t on the players. It is on the coaching. Why are you passing from your own end zone? Why are you passing so much (36 times) in a game where your defense was DOMINATING. Run the ball, run the clock, win the game. Idiotic by Harbaugh.
Michigan State – F – I realize this wasn’t a rivalry game and I get that PSU had everything to play for but still, what a no show. Awful pass defense, terrible day rushing the ball, and a 33 point smacking. Perhaps the Spartans hit the wall after such a close call last week against OSU but what a sour way to end this season.
Minnesota – D – They played a brilliant first half so I can’t give them a F but the second frame, yikes! Four interceptions for Mitch Leidner were back-breakers but receivers struggled to get open and the pass blocking wasn’t hot. Still, you would expect a seniors decision making to be sharper than that.
Nebraska – F – Nebraska still had a shot to play for Indianapolis yet looked disinterested, horribly out of place defensively, and out of sync offensively. They improved greatly from 5-7 to 9-3 this year, but this is a bitter taste for the Riley rebuild. A bowl bounce back feels kind of important to quiet some of the natives going into next year.
Northwestern – A – While Illinois couldn’t get out of their own way, NU had a field day on the ground. 278 rushing yards on 49 carries – a 5.7 average. Justin Jackson had 173 on 21 carries with 3 scores and John Morten IV added 128 on 14 carries with two more scores. For a team that is still pretty young, getting to a bowl for those extra reps has to be a good thing.
Ohio State – C+ – Offense wasn’t great, defense wasn’t great, special teams, wasn’t great…but they won and when you factor in the quality of the opponent, hats off to the Bucks. This one came down to Urban Meyer simply being a smarter coach that Jim Harubaugh.
Penn State – A – The Barkley injury, and the day rushing overall, probably caused a few hearts to skip a beat but what a day for McSorley and the passing game. The defense was also on fire, especially clamping down Lj Scott and what can be a good running game. They are coming into Indianapolis RED hot.
Purdue – D+ – They battled hard and the defense played one of its best games of the year but without more of a running game under their next staff David Blough is going to susceptible to a lot of hits and a lot of miles on his arm.
Rutgers – C- – Rutgers actually didn’t play too poorly, they just couldn’t finish drives. For the good, 7/18 on third and 22 first downs. 350 yards, and a decent day rushing the ball. But the bad: 1/3 on fourth down and a missed field goal. Their lone turnover came after a nice 70 yard drive and the special teams also gave up a punt return for six. Even with a better game, the fact is Ash has cashed in all his new hire house money. If progress isn’t shown next year, his third season will be extremely uncomfortable.
Western Michigan – A+ – Yes Toledo had some yards and 35 points but they are a great offense and the second best team in the MAC. Look at Western’s day though, 55 points, 10/15 on third, 445 yards, 249 on the ground, +3 on the turnover margin, and held the ball for almost 19 more minutes. Oh, and 21 of Toledo’s 35 points came in the fourth quarter. What was the score of the game entering the final fifteen minutes? 45-14, Western. They had it in hand.
Wisconsin – A – Good things come to those who wait…or in Wisconsin’s case just make some solid adjustments at the half and let the most up-and-down QB in the league to throw four awful interceptions. It wasn’t the cleanest affair but the axe stays in Madison for the 13th straight season.
Game of the Week: This one is pretty simple, the first overtime game in the history of the Ohio State vs Michigan series. Factor in they were top five opponents and the dramatic was it a first down finish and you have an instant classic.
Why Did I Watch This? Award: Once Penn State got rolling it was impressive so despite that being a blowout, it was still watchable. The seven turnover slop fest Indiana and Purdue gave us was an eyesore despite the two point margin. Oh, why was it two? Indiana took an intentional safety on the last play.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois at Northwestern, NU (-17), Over (46)
I felt like Illinois had packed things in and, well, they played like it. 42 points and about a million rushing yards later, Northwestern makes a bowl and more importantly gives me a double up from this game.
- Indiana vs Purdue, IU (-21), Over (64)
Well with seven turnovers between them, the score was much lower with just 50 total points scored. Beyond that, well, I was kind of an idiot. Taking a blowout in rivalry games should be a no-no. Oh for in this one.
- Iowa vs Nebraska, UI (-3)
Despite having more (on paper) to play for, I just didn’t trust some of the injuries Nebraska had coming into this one. Plus I’m kind of a romantic, I always expect the home team to be up for senior day.
- Maryland vs Rutgers, UM (-14), Under (52)
I wasn’t too far off when I thought the score would be 28-10 or so. I just had the feeling that UM’s ground game would get back on track against the reeling Rutgers and that the struggling RU offense wouldn’t contribute much towards the other. I sort of like being right!
- Michigan at Ohio State, OSU (-6), Over (45)
Well the overtime helped me get the over but I settle for a split as Ohio State only won by 3. Still, I’m having a good week overall thus far so I don’t mind the split.
- Michigan State at Penn State, PSU (-11)
Still surprised this spread was under two touchdowns. Oh well, worked out for me as the Nittany Lions dominated en route to a 45-12 romp.
- Minnesota at Wisconsin, UW (-14)
A push! Just the second one on the year. For people unfamiliar with gambling, this means I go, turn in my ticket, and get my bet back. So it feels like a win to get your cash back.
- Western Michigan vs Toledo, WMU (-7)
This was another confusing spread to me. Toledo is a nice team and all, but I just think people don’t realize how complete the Broncos are.
Week Record: 8-3-1
Season Record: 80-80-2
Big Ten and Counting 