An exciting week to kick off 2018 as we had an upset, a ranked rivalry tussle, a league opener for a pair of 2017 bowl winners, and even a canceled game. So you know what time it is…time to give out some grades.
Team of the Week – Maryland – A+ – Maryland’s touching tribute to Jordan McNair was heartwarming, elegant, and joined by a fantastic display in sportsmanship by Texas. For those that missed it, the UM captains took McNair’s jersey out with them and then on UM’s first offensive play left a gap on the line at McNair’s position and took a delay of game with just 10 men on the field. Texas declined the penalty. All of that was amazing stuff so it feels small to summarize the game, so I won’t. I’ll just leave it at this: UM’s offense was outstanding and 3 big takeaways by the UM D paved the way for the Terps to pull off the upset victory.
Illinois – D+ – As A.J. Bush grows as a passer you will have to take the good with the bad I guess. The good was Bush’s legs provided 139 yards on 21 carries. The bad is he was just 13/23 for 190 yards. The Illini did put up 469 total yards and a respectable 31 points but it was still a shaky effort as Kent State was up 17-3 at half and a 21 point explosion for UI in the third quarter was needed to change the completion of the game. Worse, the Golden Flashes were universally picked to finish last in their division of the MAC. Shaky start indeed for Illinois.
Indiana – B+ – The final margin was just 10 but that really doesn’t indicate how much the Hoosiers were in control of this game. They were up 28-14 at half and outgained FIU 465 yards to 327 and was +2 in turnover margin. So why was the game so close? Well, Butch Davis had his team play better in the second half, a half they “won” 14-10 to cut the lead down some. IU also struggled on third a bit (7/15) and was the more penalized teams in flags (8 to 7) and yards (90 to 70). It wasn’t a flawless start to year two for Tom Allen but it was a nice win.
Iowa – A- – Yeah, yeah, yeah, the offense had just 3 points in the first half. 30 points in the second half offsets the struggles in the first thirty minutes a little bit. The big thing is how good the defense looked. They had 2 takeaways, held Northern Illinois to just 211 yards, 3/12 on third, and made the rushing attack work for every inch on just a 2.8 yards per average. Offensively it is still a work in progress but 209 rushing yards as a team was a bit of a good sign for a team that was worried about how to replace Akrum Wadley.
Michigan – D – Tempting to give an F but a little grade inflation is needed since the Wolverines did have to play on the road at a ranked opponent. Still, the offense was anemic. The rushing attack was toothless with just 58 yards on 33 carries (a 1.8 average). Even the mighty D struggled for stretches of this game and really only looked good when the Irish decided to go conservative after getting up by 14 in the second half. It isn’t a conference game and only losing by 7 isn’t the end of the world for even the “playoffs” but for a team with a lot of hype and expectations, this was a borderline face plant.
Michigan State – D+ – After not having their fill of close games a year ago, MSU decided to open 2018 with a narrow victory over Utah State. Yes the Aggies are an experienced team, and I thought it would be closer than Vegas predicted, but this was too close. The problems for Sparty were seen on both sides of the ball as the running game needed a whopping 42 carries just to get 165 yards and Lj Scott averaged under 4 yards a carry with just 84 yards on 23 carries. If it wasn’t for Connor Heyward’s 5 carry, 42 yard, 2 TD day, the running game would have earned an F. The passing attack was better, but a pick was thrown. The defense gave up 319 passing yards, keeping Utah State in it, and the team was sloppy with 9 penalties. There’s a lot to fix between now and the real meat of the Big Ten and Utah State could contend with Boise to win their conference but for an experienced team optimistic about winning another league title, this wasn’t the dominate performance most people in East Lansing were expecting.
Minnesota – A – What a debut for walk-on freshman quarterback Zack Annextad as he racked up 220 yards and connected on 53 percent of his passes – a percentage that would have been even better if some of his wide outs hadn’t suffered some early season rust with several drops. More importantly the young gunslinger tossed two TDs while being clean in the interception column. UM’s defense and running game should be good enough to keep the Gophers in games, so what they need Annexstad to do is get some yards and limit the big mistake so week one was a very encouraging sign, even if New Mexico State is a very soft opponent. Other things to like: huge day rushing the ball by several Gophers, including stud Rodney Smith, and welcome back Antoine Winfield Jr. The outstanding defensive player showed some offense as he housed a kick return. Very fun opener for the folks up north.
Nebraska – Incomplete – The Huskers and Zips got canceled due to weather.
Northwestern – B- – Not exactly the ideal way to open a season but a big win nevertheless. What do I mean by not ideal? Well, how about 31 points in the first half and a big old ZERO for the second half. Purdue made some great adjustments defensively, cut down on turnovers, and nearly came all the way back. Pitch count limits on Clayton Thorson seemed to upset the offensive flow at times, although T.J. Green did play well. My feeling is if Thorson is healthy enough for 26 pass attempts, why isn’t he healthy enough for the other 11 that went to Green? Jeremy Larkin was outstanding with 143 yards and 2 scores and the defense was opportunistic with 3 INTs but this felt more like survive and advance than a statement for NU to be ready to take the division from Wisconsin.
Ohio State – A- – Offense was in midseason form already. Dwayne Haskins was awesome in his first start with over 300 yards and 5 TDs. Mike Weber racked up 186 yards and 3 TDs. I mean good lord, the Buckeyes scored 77 points and had 721 total yards! The reason I didn’t give an A was I’m not sure why the defense was so disinterested at times. Oregon State put up almost 400 yards and scored 31 points. Most of those points came in a 17 point third quarter after the half time lead ballooned to 42-14 so maybe they were just on auto-pilot but it was enough for me to bump the Bucks from an A to an A minus.
Penn State – D+ – Oh hey, you know, just the first career start for App State quarterback Zac Thomas. How’d he do? Oh, 270 yards, 2 TDs, helped lead them to a 28 point fourth quarter and took a 38-31 lead late in the game. Yes, the PSU offense rallied and yes Trace McSorley brought his brand of obnoxious hero ball but the Lion D has a long, long way to go before this team even thinks about Indianapolis. The record says 1-0 but that opener provided way more questions than answers for this club.
Purdue – C+ – Have to give the Boilers a lot of credit for the heart they showed. Nothing went right in that first half that saw them down 31-17 and a big old minus three in turnover margin. Elijah Sindelar was off with three picks so the staff turned to David Blough. Although he couldn’t get them all the way back, Blough being clean in the turnover sheet did allow Purdue to mount a bit of a comeback and put themselves in a position to win with a few more plays in that second half. Defense also played much better, shutting out the Cats in the second half. Still a lot to work on, but considering all that went wrong in the first half to only lose by four is a credit to the determination this club played with.
Rutgers – B+ – Just remember Texas State is one of the worst teams in FBS, but I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water so let’s look at the good. RU’s defense held the Bobcats to just 176 total yards, was awesome on third down as Texas State went just 1 for 13 on the key down, and had 2 takeaways in the 35-7 win. On offense Artur Sitkowski didn’t have as good a debut as Zack Annextad but he did show some potential. He has to cut down on the picks though. Sitkowski tossed 3 INTs and one was returned for a touchdown.
Wisconsin – A – Was the Badger attack a little slow? Yes. Were they still up 24-0 at half? Yes. Did they still score 34 points? Yes. There will be some rust, folks. OSU didn’t have any offensively but gave up 31 points. Wisconsin’s offense wasn’t 100% on the same page just yet, it happens. Hornibrook was clean with 257 yards, 2 TDs, 0 picks, and a 58.6% completion rate. Jonathan Taylor was his usual self with a buck 45 and 2 scores on just 18 carries but he did have a fumble. The defense did a little bit of bending (305 yards allowed), but held Western Kentucky to just 3 points and had two takeaways.
Game of the Week – Not only was Maryland the best team of the week, they also had the best game of the week. From the way they honored Jordan McNair to fighting back after losing the lead in the third quarter and even navigating a rain delay before ultimately winning was very exciting.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – With the Buckeyes up 42-14 at the half, there was really no point in continuing watching OSU v OSU. So I didn’t.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Kent State, points (UI -16.5)
Of course expecting Illinois to beat even a MAC basement dweller by 17 was a stretch so if you played it safe like me and took the points, you started out the season 1-0.
- Indiana at FIU, IU (-10.5)
If you watch Scott Van Pelt’s Bad Beats segment, you know this game was featured. Just take the loss.
- Iowa vs NIU, UI (-10.0)
Of course I wasn’t worried when my Hawks were only up 3-0 at the half. Also, I have a bridge to sell you in New York if you believed that last statement.
- Maryland vs Texas, Points (UT -13.5)
By far the pick I feel best about after reflecting on the weekend. I’m not aboard the Herman Hype Express and Maryland has some really good athletes. Great pick up.
- Michigan at Notre Dame, Points (ND -1.0), Under (46.5)
Hey hey, a split. Yeah the Wolverines didn’t get the win but with their clueless offense, only 41 points were generated!
- Michigan State vs Utah State, Points (MSU -23.5)
Utah State is a really experienced ball club. They are also a hungry team after just missing out on a bowl last year. Honestly, I would be surprised if they lose any game this year by 24 points.
- Minnesota vs New Mexico State, UM (-23.0)
Thank you Aggies for getting demolished in week zero by Wyoming. That was the single biggest reason I picked the Gophers to cover a three touchdown (plus) spread in their opener.
- Nebraska vs Akron, NU (-26.0)
So all the years I have done this, ties are very rare. I’ll get maybe one or two over the course of a season and it usually the point spread being a push. This is the first cancelled game I’ve had to deal with but since we get our bet back, no more, no less, it qualifies as a week one tie.
- Northwestern at Purdue, Points (PU -1.0)
Essentially this was a pick ’em and I picked who I thought the better team was. Thanks to a big first half, the bet was a winner…barely.
- Ohio State vs Oregon State, OSU (-38.5)
Note to self…BET THE OVER! Not only did the Buckeyes cover the big spread they put up 77 points! They single-handedly cleared the over by 13 points. Bah.
- Penn State vs Appalachian State, PSU (-24.0)
See, if I had taken the OSU over, this loss wouldn’t have mattered as much. Awesome day for the Mountaineers to rally back, sad they lost in overtime because if you are going to lose Appy, lose big and help me out.
- Rutgers vs Texas State, RU (-16.5)
Can I keep betting Texas State games? I’m not sure they will cover all season. They’re as Charles Barkley would say, “turrible.”
- Wisconsin vs Western Kentucky, Over (52.5)
Well, I was right that the spread was too big. So instead of taking the points, I decided to be cute and hedge a little that if UW did cover, it would probably clear the over. Nope, didn’t happen, and this was a big ‘ol L at the sports book.
Week Record: 9-4-1
Season Record: 9-4-1
Big Ten and Counting 