Well this was supposed to be tune-up week before the Big Ten and some teams took full advantage of that. Northwestern had by far their best game, Penn State rolled, Ohio State got some mojo back, Wisconsin had their most polished outing, and Purdue threw down the gauntlet. Then there were some oddities like Michigan’s uneven performance and Iowa battling themselves, the refs, and a surprisingly frisky North Texas club. Then there were some major hiccups that created some uneasy fans in Campaign and Lincoln. Rutgers also got into the win column thanks to dominating Morgan State in a FCS match-up.
Team of the Week – Purdue – A+ – This was Purdue’s best win since, well, it is tough to remember and it wasn’t just because it came at a SEC team, it was how they did it. Let’s start with the smothering defense. Mizzou had just 200 yards of offense, just 16:17 in possession, 3 turnovers, 10 first downs, 2 of 11 on third, and were held to just three points in their own backyard.
Then you look at what the Boilermakers did offensively and you see the sheer magnitude of this good old fashioned beat-down. Purdue had 26 first downs, 50% conversion rate on third or fourth down, nearly 500 yards of offense with both ground and air attacks generating over 200 yards, and most importantly David Blough had his second straight efficient game. 22 of 28 for 187 yards and a TD won’t set any records but he had zero interceptions and that has been his bugaboo. This is two straight games without an interception for him. Last year he had just one INT-free day and since becoming the starter three games into 2015 this marks just the second time all career he has had back-to-back INT-free games. Awesome work by this team, especially their signal caller.
Illinois – F – South Florida is a good team and if they were in the Big Ten, they could probably give Wisconsin a push, be competitive against Penn State, and win their fair share of games this year. With that mindset, how can you give Illinois anything other than an F for a game that was 37-9 entering the final quarter? You normally don’t see conference games get that out of hand. The Illini don’t have much margin for error and having 3 giveaways (-2 in turnover margin), 15 penalties for 138 yards, and a 6/15 day on third down is a recipe for disaster. Worse, with Chayce Crouch’s struggles Jeff George Jr played a lot. Now this team has a quarterback controversy heading into league play. Disastrous.
Indiana – Idle (game cancelled)
Iowa – B- – The fact of the matter is teams have great days, good days, and bad days. Championship caliber teams are great at least 8 times a season. They are good the other four with maybe one bad game all season. Good teams might only be great once or twice and have a few bad game with the rest good. We don’t know where this Iowa team will end up but they survived a bad game. They did so by being smart in the second half and pounding North Texas. Some extremely long drives built up the time of possession as the Hawks took the air out of the game. Additional reasons I didn’t go lower than a B- are another clean day for Stanley – he’s up to 10 TDs to just 1 pick and the refs were horrendous for both teams. The game had zero flow and Iowa lost at least 7 points because of a questionable call. Hopefully this crew won’t be doing too many college games and can go back to officiating a level of play more their speed: a cross-country meet.
Maryland – Idle
Michigan – C- – This was a 13-19 game heading into the 4th and Air Force wasn’t even playing that well. Michigan looked uninspired from the start and the best diagnosis I have for this club through three games is this: they are a collection of incredible talent but they aren’t a team yet. I don’t know what will cause them to gel, or if they even will, but as of now they are individually better than the sum of their parts.
Michigan State – Idle
Minnesota – A – Gophers grinded Middle Tennessee into a pulp with Kobe McCrary and Rodeney Smith each rushing for 107 yards. Kobe got the highlights though with 3 TDs. The defense also bottled up the Raiders all day, holding them to just three measly points. I didn’t give an A+ though because the third down rate was poor and overall the offense had under 400 yards. A complete game and a nice win, just not an A+.
Nebraska – F – You thought Michigan was uninspired, how about Nebraska?! They hit the snooze on their alarm about 80 times and were down 14-0 after the first quarter because of two pick sixes. The worst thing to do in an upset situation is to give the other team confidence and that is just what the Huskers did. They won the second half 17-7 but the damage was done when NIU scored late to re-claim the lead and then Tanner Lee tossed his third pick. He now has 5 TDs to 7 INTs this year and is at an even 28-28 split on TDs to picks. Yeesh.
Northwestern – A – If there was ever a team in need of a pick-me-up it was Northwestern after getting drubbed by Duke. They got just what the doctor ordered: a terrible Bowling Green team. Even if they were facing such a weak opponent it was still good to see NU rack up almost 700 yards of offense, Thorson and Jackson went off, and the defense did some bending but very little breaking as they allowed just 7 points.
Ohio State – A – Army is a pretty good football team and they play a funky style that isn’t the easiest to prepare for in a week yet Ohio State looked just fine bouncing back from the Oklahoma game with a dominating 38-7 win. J.K. Dobbins was brilliant running the ball and the passing game looked much, much better. The question now is: can OSU repeat this against a top-ten team?
Penn State – A – 56-0 is damn impressive, even if it is against a reeling Georgia State team. Amazingly Penn State was scoring so quickly that GSU ended up with 17 more minutes in time of possession. Not that Penn State needed it because of the talent gap but winning the turnover margin 5 to zero removed even the smallest bit of hope the Panthers had to pull the monumental upset. Complete domination.
Rutgers – A – After two rough losses to start the year the Knights enter the win column with a triumph over FCS Morgan State. I’m not entirely sure what RU would have learned from their 65-0 win but they should have gained some confidence and Raheem Blackshear had a really nice day. After doing next to nothing in the first two weeks the back went over a hundred yards. Seeing him get in the mix with Gus Edwards and Robert Martin will add some very nice depth to this running back group.
Wisconsin – A – In week one the defense shined. In week two the rushing game was rolling. In week three everything finally clicked. The much maligned passing game rounded into form as Alex Hornibrook completed all but one of his 19 pass attempts for over 250 yards, 4 TDs, and zero interceptions. The rushing brilliance we’ve come to expect from the Badgers was on full display again and the defense held BYU to just 6 points and under 200 total yards. Granted the usual BYU starting QB was hurt but you still have to wrap up, you still have to dominate the OL, and you still have to make plays and the Badger D did all those things.
Game of the Week – Not a whole lot to pick from here but seeing if Nebraska could wake up against Northern Illinois and then watching to see if the MAC outfit could hang on in Lincoln was at least compelling TV.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Rutgers was facing a FCS team so I watched exactly zero seconds of the game.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois at South Florida, points (USF, -17)
I thought the Illini defense was good enough to keep them in this game a little closer than expected and allow Illinois to cover. I don’t think I was that far off, I just didn’t factor in the Illinois offense being beyond dreadful as the Bulls pulled away to win 47-23.
- Iowa vs North Texas, UI (-21.5), Over (53.5)
You know what would have been nice? Iowa’s first touchdown not getting taken off the board on a questionable fumble. Iowa also scoring late to cover instead of doing the victory formation from inside the five would have also been nice. Thanks for the 0-2 for this game, Hawks!
- Michigan vs Air Force, Over (48.5)
A conservative bet since I’m weary of Michigan’s blowout potential and I still got it wrong as the two combined for just 42 points.
- Minnesota vs Middle Tennessee, UM (-10), Over (51)
Get a split as the Gopher’s did their part in covering but the Blue Raiders were held to just 3 points resulting in a point total of just 37. Yikes, this week has been a brutal one.
- Nebraska vs Northern Illinois, NU (-13), Over (56)
I mean, what can you say? Nebraska was outworked and embarrassed by Northern Illinois in a low scoring game. Hats off to you if you ignored my advice this week.
- Northwestern vs Bowling Green, Points (NU, -22), Under (57)
A Sweep! Thank the lord I got a sweep. NU easily covered, winning 49-7 and unless my math is as bad as my picks this year, that only adds up to 56 points!
- Ohio State vs Army, OSU (-30.5)
…and that sound you just heard was a massive exhale. Ohio State won 38-7 giving me one of the tightest wins in all the years I’ve run this blog. Every little bit helps.
- Penn State vs Georgia State, PSU (-37), Over (55)
While it would have been nice to see the Panthers get a score early in the game to help reach the over, it ended up not mattering as Penn State’s fourth quarter touchdown resulted in a 56-0 victory and a critically important double-up for me!
- Purdue at Missouri, Points (UM, -7.5)
While I am kicking myself a bit for saying the over felt too high and staying away, this is still a critical win even if not a double-up. Not only did Purdue cover but they blew out the Tigers, 35-3.
- Wisconsin at BYU, UW (-16), Over (40.5)
Ended with a big double up as the Badgers’ 40-6 win helps me get above .500 for the week. As brutal as I was for most of this week, I’ll take a moral victory in getting all my money back from the book plus a little extra pocket change.
Week Record: 9-7-0
Season Record: 30-35-0
Big Ten and Counting 