Survive and advance was the theme of week five as Ohio State and Penn State faced softer opponents and Wisconsin got a bit of a test from Northwestern. Elsewhere, Iowa struggled with Michigan State, Maryland stunned Minnesota, and Nebraska smoked Illinois. All in all, this week felt like the calm before the storm as several Big Ten teams continue to fine tune things before a division title push in the second half of the season.
Team of the Week – Michigan State – A- – Coming off a brutal loss where they no-showed against rival Notre Dame, Michigan State rallied to punish Iowa all game last Saturday. The defense dominated the line of scrimmage holding Iowa to just 19 rushing yards, picking up 3 sacks, and having 9TFLs. Offensively MSU wasn’t great, but didn’t turn the ball over and had some time eating drives in the second half to make Iowa’s odds of coming back that much shorter.
Illinois – F – What does this team do well? Early it was the defense, but they have come crashing back down to earth against competent teams. It isn’t the rushing game, they had 93 yards on 37 carries against a not-so-good Nebraska defense. It isn’t the passing game, they switched quarterbacks again after Chayce Crouch struggled against NU. When you can’t identify what the team does well then it is pretty clear, the team isn’t any good.
Indiana – F – This defense a year ago was quietly solid and with Tom Allen getting promoted and several key pieces back, it was supposed to be a strength. You wouldn’t know it from last Saturday. Penn State put up 28 points in the first quarter and ended the game right there. Offensively the Hoosiers have been hit or miss but when down 28-0 after 15 minutes, it doesn’t really matter.
Iowa – F – Your defense has a bad first quarter, fine, it happens. 14 points allowed in the opening frame but the rest of the way: 3 points. That’s it, and in the second half, a shut out. 17 points is not a lot of offense and yet, Iowa was held to just 10 because neither the passing game nor the running game can get going. It is different issues with each aspect, too. Stanley’s timing still isn’t great, bad case of the drops by wide outs, and lack of a deep threat is ruining the passing game. In the ground attack there is simply not good enough blocking right now. Defenses are reading the play and loading the box and instead of calling an audible, Iowa runs with six blockers right into two extra defenders. Dumb.
Maryland – A+ – Was very tempted to give this team the game of the week trophy but I did that earlier in the year and wanted to award MSU for their gritty defensive performance. Anyway, that shouldn’t take away anything about the Terps’ awesome day. Starting their third string QB, Maryland got a solid effort from Max Bortenschlager (best part was ZERO picks) to go along with a fantastic rushing attack to steal a road win at Minnesota. Helping in the effort was a great day in the rush defense as they held the Gophers to just 80 yards on 31 carries.
Michigan – Idle
Minnesota – B+ – Gophers stayed right in this game despite a whole lot going wrong and that points to a quality ball club. They were one-dimensional, they lost the turnover margin 2 to 0, they were bad on third down offensively and terrible at getting off the field defensively and yet, 31-24 final. It is cliche but if Minnesota gets back to basics and starts running the ball better, they will start winning again because that is really the only thing that cost them against Maryland.
Nebraska – A – This is the best the Huskers have looked all year thanks to ball security. Tanner Lee went 17/24 for 246 yards, 3 TDs, and most importantly, zero picks. The running game also produced as Devine Ozigbo and Mikale Wilbon combined for 33 carries, 166 yards, and 1 score with Ozigbo doing the lion’s share of that work. Defensively, well, Illinois switched starting quarterbacks after the game so it is pretty clear that the Husker D did their part in the road victory as well.
Northwestern – B+ – Much like Minnesota, the Wildcats played pretty darn well in a losing effort. Up in Madison they forced 3 turnovers, made Wisconsin’s offense look far from worthy of a top ten team, and outside a rough third quarter, was right in this game. The reason NU couldn’t pull the upset is they gave the ball back twice, couldn’t get Justin Jackson going at all, and were even worse than the Badgers on third down.
Ohio State – A – A nearly identical game as last year’s! Look at the Rutgers grade for more details on how last year’s blowout is basically the same as this year’s. With the sluggish start and playing Rutgers it might be a situation of “too little, too late” for him to get any Heisman buzz but J.T. Barrett was doing his best NBA Jam “in the zone” impression throwing for 275 yards, 3 scores, and adding 89 rushing yards. Monster day.
Penn State – A – In case you missed it, Saquon Barkley housed the opening kick off, threw for a touchdown, and had 221 all purpose yards. About the only thing he didn’t do is what we expect from him and that is put up 100+ rushing yards and score rushing TDs. It was oddly satisfying to see him have such a big day without his usual rushing numbers. It’s almost like when a really talented musician tries a completely different genre. In terms of talent it is still impressive but it is kind of funky too, to see them out of their usual element.
Purdue – Idle
Rutgers – F – I understand Rutgers is rebuilding but they lost this exact same game a year ago 58-0. Improving by all of two points is not good enough. They improved their passing yardage from 33 yards in 2016 to 92 which is not good enough. They improved their rushing yardage from 83 in 2016 to 117 which is not good enough. They went from allowing 669 in 2016 yards to 628 which is not good enough. Lastly they were down 30-0 at the half last year. This year it was even worse, 35-0 and that is not good enough.
Wisconsin – B- – If this was Wisconsin’s toughest test of the season so far, they didn’t exactly inspire much confidence. A sloppy 3 turnover day and overall a wretched offensive day nearly cost Bucky but thankfully that defense was locked in early when the struggles of the offense could have created a hole way too big to crawl out of. Wisconsin heads to Nebraska next and if they continue to put the ball on the turf, they might not come back to Madison undefeated.
Game of the Week – The battle of the UMs not named Michigan was a fun one. Maryland and Minnesota exchanged body blow after body blow. Maryland’s running game and timely passing effort managed to get by a Minnesota team that was playing well, but not quite good enough to overcome Maryland’s spirited performance.
Why Did I Watch This? Award -Okay, be honest, who watched even a minute of the Ohio State at Rutgers game that is not in some way, shape, or form affiliated with either university?
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Nebraska, NU (-5.5)
I knew Nebraska would win by at least a touchdown! Winning by 22 was just gravy on top of an opening victory.
- Indiana at Penn State, PSU (-19.0)
I knew Penn State would win by at least three touchdowns! Winning by 31 was just gravy on top of a second straight victory.
- Iowa at Michigan State, points (MSU, -4.0), Under (43.5)
As an Iowa fan I got excited when they cut the lead down to 17-10 and as a gambler thought I might snag a cover if they pulled it off. Settle for a split thanks to the combined 27 points in the defensive affair.
- Maryland at Minnesota, Minnesota (-12.5), Over (43)
Get a split as Maryland pulled off the road victory but the shootout produced 55 points. Still can’t believe Maryland got that win, congrats, Terps.
- Northwestern at Wisconsin, UW (-16.5), Over (48.5)
A third straight split as Wisconsin’s unimpressive nine point win as a two touchdown home favorite clearly didn’t cover but the pesky Wildcats putting up 24 points gave us an easy over.
- Ohio State at Rutgers, Points (OSU -30.0)
Huge swing and a miss. The Rutgers D had actually played kinda alright this year so I was thinking a 35-6 type game. Clearly didn’t happen as OSU had 35 by halftime.
Week Record: 5-4-0…not the prettiest of weeks but it’s over .500 and gets me one game closer to evening up the season mark.
Season Record: 45-49-0
Big Ten and Counting 