Well that was a bit of a week in the Big Ten, wasn’t it? Two one-point wins that came via fourth quarter comebacks, a triple overtime game, a shootout in Maryland, and a historic rivalry trophy game all went down in a topsy-turvy Saturday that had division, league, and national title implications.
Team of the Week – Ohio State – A- – Holy comeback, Batman! Trailing 35-20 entering the fourth, OSU roared back to win an epic thriller and take control of the Big Ten east and their “playoff” hopes. Despite needing a comeback, Ohio State played well throughout. After all they out-gained Penn State by almost 250 yards, had ten more first downs, and made Saquon Barkley’s day pretty miserable outside the opening kick off. Credit Penn State for manufacturing points and using their +2 on turnovers to get that lead but without that, the Buckeyes would have won this thing going away.
Illinois – D+ – Defense did some nice things as they held Wisconsin to just 300 yards and 24 points, not to mention holding freshman phenom Jordan Taylor under 100 yards in his injury shortened day. The problem with this team is the offense. Just 10 points and 3 more giveaways. The running attack even had some success but passing game remains, um, well I guess a work in progress is the nicest way to put it.
Indiana – F – It is really hard to lose a game when you have 483 yards of offense and out-gain your opponent by 140 yards. It is pretty difficult to lose a game when you have 35 first downs to just 18 for your opponent. It is unusual to lose a game when you dominate time of possession by 12 minutes. It is bizarre to see a team be gifted 133 yards in 12 penalties by their opponent still be the team that loses. Yet, Indiana did all of the above. They dominated those stats AND were helped by Maryland penalties and still they lost 42-39. The reason was sloppy special teams and a disastrous turnover. An 82 yard kick return set up a short field and resulted in a 35-33 lead for Maryland. Before that with Indiana dominating and up 16-7, a punt block resulted in a UM touchdown. Prior to that, Indiana jumped out to a 14-0 lead but an interception set up a very short field and allowed Maryland to get back in the game. Hoosiers played well enough to win but these sloppy plays and some other mistakes prevented them from getting a league victory and puts their bowl hopes in doubt with loss number five and Wisconsin due up next.
Iowa – B- – Defense played very well, holding the Gophers scoreless through three quarters and allowing just 281 yards that were ineffectively produced. The offense continues to spiral down the drain. After an opening possession score, Iowa had five punts and two turnovers in the first half. The second saw several more punts but at least they scratched out 10 points after the bands did some marching to eek out a 17-10 win but with the offense as hot and cold as Iowa’s, it is tough to see them hanging in against their next two opponents: Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Maryland – C+ – As you can tell from the Indiana grade, the Terps didn’t play their best game but they had timely plays and took advantage of all the opportunities given to them through special teams and that turnover. The running game for UM did have a nice outing and that has to be mentioned. 174 yards as a team with 150 of it from Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison III. When Johnson can contribute, this Maryland team still has some bite even with all their injuries.
Michigan – A+ – Does…does Michigan have a quarterback finally? After weeks of the Wilton Speight and John O’Korn experience, Brandon Peters finally got his crack and responded with a stat line like this: 10/14, 124, 1 TD, 0 INT. The ground game was also deadly with 334 yards and 4 scores. Finally the defense was its usual solid outfit as they held Rutgers under 200 yards and gave up just 14 points.
Michigan State – A- – It was a shame either team had to lose that triple overtime gem in Evanston but MSU was on the wrong end of the upset. I gave an A- because it was a tale of two games. In regulation the defenses were fantastic as each team surrendered just 17 points. In overtime 36 combined points were generated. A big part of MSU getting to overtime and getting to three frames was QB Brian Lewerke who racked up 445 yards and four scores, both of which were season highs.
Minnesota – F – It was right there for the taking. The Gopher defense stymied Iowa’s erratic offense forcing 9 punts and two turnovers yet the pathetic passing offense doomed Minnesota. Young gun Demry Croft struggled against Iowa’s defense going just 9/29 for 139 yards, 0 TDs and a pick. With a little more bite to their offense, Minnesota could have won that beautiful bronze hog.
Nebraska – B – A gritty comeback for the Huskers evened up their season at 4-4. What was most impressive was to see Tanner Lee, a quarterback I have been pretty hard on, have himself a gem. He had 431 yards, 2 scores, and zero picks. I don’t love the idea of NU finishing strong and/or Riley saving his job but at least they played with some pride and stole a game at Purdue to stay in the bowl picture for another week.
Northwestern – A – If MSU got an A- you know the team that survived the overtime tango would be at a slightly better A. Just like the Spartans, NU didn’t get much outside the passing game. The main difference was how those teams got their passing yards. While the Wildcats were gashed by Spartan standouts Cody White, Darrell Stewart Jr, and Felton Davis III, Northwestern’s passing game got 30 or more receiving yards from six players, allowing Clayton Thorson to finish with 356 yards and two scores. The real shame is that the game had to end at all. Don’t you wish every game could have three overtimes?
Penn State – B+ – I know it was a blown lead so it is tempting to blast Penn State and say they choked but they deserve a lot of credit for manufacturing a lot of good to even get that lead. They used special teams, takeaways, and some timely offense to produce that lead. After all, in my OSU grade I pointed out just how much the Buckeyes dominated the game statistically. I mean how do you account for J.T. Barrett having over 400 yards and tossing 4 TDs? Like Vince Young in the Rose Bowl over USC, when a kid has such an incredible day all you can do is tip your cap.
Purdue – B – I’m sure by this point in the season the Boilermakers were hoping to move on from moral victories, especially those against .500 teams like Nebraska but don’t forget where this program was last year. Purdue battled really hard in the one point loss and has a lot to like about their game. One thing that caught my eye was the run blocking as they racked up 199 yards on 38 carries with Richie Worship doing most of the damage. One thing about the Brohm Bros at Western Kentucky that got overlooked was how critical the running game was in their scheme. It is nice to see that being implemented with some success in year one of the new regime.
Rutgers – D- – Baby steps folks. RU lost this game 78-0 a year ago. 35-14 might not look great but in the context of how much better Chris Ash has this program competing, you have to respect it. The defense is clearly improved so the next step is getting some consistent offense. In this game playmaker Janarion Grant had 5 carries for 71 yards. Looks great, until you realize he had 65 of it on a touchdown run. Still too much feast or famine on that side of the ball.
Wisconsin – C- – Road games in the Big Ten are never easy and blah, blah, blah it was Illinois. Illinois is dreadful and the Badgers won just 24-10. Their outstanding defense didn’t give up much in points but we saw some cracks in the formation with 134 rushing yards allowed (sacks cost the Illini 28 yards so it was actually even worse) and Hornibrook remains as ineffective as ever. With this team’s strength of schedule, surviving and advancing probably isn’t enough to get them to the “playoffs” so some style points are in desperate order but if UW can’t get that against Illinois, who can they get it against?
Game of the Week – The on field talent was absolutely nuts but the 15 point lead evaporating in the fourth quarter the way it did made for an outstanding game. You knew this one had to have a lot of fireworks to jump that incredible MSU-Northwestern tilt and the Buckeye win did. From the opening kick that Barkley took back until the final whistle, this game had countless emotional swings as the two slugged it out to keep their “playoff” hopes alive.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Rutgers may have played better this year against Michigan than last year but it was by far the most lopsided game of the day and between the Buckeye and Cornhusker comebacks and the triple overtime thriller in Ryan Field, as well as the Iowa-Minnesota rivalry game, and the Hoosier-Terp shootout, Michigan’s romp just kind of got lost in the shuffle.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Wisconsin, UW (-26)
So a week after winning by 25 against somewhat competent Maryland, Wisconsin can’t even score 25 points against the league’s worst defense. Gotcha. Nice hot 0-1 start to this week.
- Indiana at Maryland, IU (-4.5)
At some point the Hoosiers will win a league game, right? Has there ever been a team this good on paper to ever start league play this poorly? Either way it is another loss for us this week.
- Iowa vs Minnesota, Points (UI -8), Under (43)
YES! That’s more like it. Iowa’s narrow 17-10 win gets us a huge double up to even up this week at the book,
- Michigan vs Rutgers, Points (UM -24)
Thanks, Rutgers! RU’s 21 point loss may not have impressed the fans too much but it got us a little spending cash via the cover.
- Michigan State at Northwestern, MSU (-2.5)
Well at least we didn’t bet the under because that would have been toast thanks to the three overtime tug-of-war Northwestern ended up winning.
- Nebraska at Purdue, Points (PU -5.5)
Hopefully you were as surprised as I was to see rebuilding Purdue favored by so much at home. Not only did the Huskers cover, but they won outright like I thought they would. Of course it was much, much more dramatic than I ever thought it would be but a wins a win.
- Ohio State vs Penn State, OSU (-7), Over (70)
End with a split as I tend to believe good offense can beat good defense so I was expecting a game in the 30s and got just that to clear the over but Ohio State’s comeback win had everything BUT them covering.
Week Record: 5-4-0
Season Record: 67-62-1
Big Ten and Counting 