Well league play began…sorta. A few teams were out of conference, Northwestern was napping during a much-needed off week, and most of the league match-ups turned out to be lopsided affairs sans one. Oh well, who cares, time for grades.
Team of the Week – Purdue – A+ – With undefeated and nationally ranked Boston College coming to town, Purdue was staring 0-4 right in the face. Instead they put in a defensive gem holding the Eagles to just 229 yards and 85 rushing as A.J. Dillon could never get going. Four takeaways also played a key role. Sure Purdue had 2 giveaways but +2 in turnover margin was huge as turnovers had been backbreaking for this club in their previous games. With much easier road trips next (at Nebraska and at Illinois) the Boilers have a great shot at evening up their record at 3-3 before the real grind of league play hits. Considering how bad Purdue looked at times in the opening month, I don’t think it is a stretch to say the performance they had against Boston College potentially saved the season.
Illinois – C- – Ya know, it was 28-24 after three quarters. The improvements at Illinois are still coming but they are at least somewhat visible now. Sure the fourth quarter got away from them with Penn State owning those 15 minutes 35-0 but Illinois did some really good things, especially that awesome trick play from Tenard Davis to Ricky Smalling to take the lead 24-21 in the second half. The Nittany Lions are just really, really good.
Indiana – C- – What a missed opportunity. Four takeaways, made MSU one dimensional, and making Sparty awful on third down still wasn’t enough because the Hoosiers dug themselves a huge hole. It also didn’t help that IU’s rush attack was totally neutralized and held to just 29 yards for the game. Comeback showed some grit, but it wouldn’t have been needed if Indiana had just been ready at kickoff.
Iowa – F – The better team lost because the better coached team stole the victory. Iowa’s special teams was garbage with two turnovers, one on a simple peter drill that set Wisconsin up inside the red zone. Iowa squandered long drives with three trips to the red zone yielding just 10 measly points. Iowa again sat on multiple timeouts at the end of the first half, content with just being in the game and showing zero attack. You don’t need to chuck it deep but Iowa had an 18 yard run. Incomplete pass. 8 yard run, let the clock die. You were pounding the rock. Call a time out, convert the third down. See what happens. Pa-flipping-thetic.
Maryland – A+ – Holy smokes if Temple was a wake-up call, all the Terps did last week is pound coffee and five hour energy drinks because they ran all over the Gophers. 315 total rushing yards on a bonkers 8.7 yards per carry as Ty Johnson and Anthony McFarland each eclipsed the century mark on just 11 and six carries respectfully. Getting past Michigan in a week looks tricky but after the bye Maryland hosts Rutgers, heads to Iowa, and is home against Illinois to round out October. Decent chance they hit that six win mark before the calendar even turns to November. Great win over Minnesota.
Michigan – A – Almost 500 yards put up on the hapless Huskers as Michigan’s offense is finally rolling. Defense continues to be stout as they allowed just 132 total yards. Can’t go too crazy though because this is how bad Nebraska has become. Whipping them by 46 points at home should be expected in Harbaugh’s fourth season so this dominate performance doesn’t even earn Michigan an A+ or team of the week honors.
Michigan State – B – Well they won and that’s the key thing. Sure wasn’t pretty as IU racked up 21 points, passed it well, and MSU couldn’t hold onto the ball for dear life with 4 giveaways. One more tune up (Central Michigan) before league play hits in earnest with Northwestern then Penn State so some time to get this house straightened out but at no point this year has MSU looked like the team that has aspirations for Indianapolis.
Minnesota – F – Well the 3-0 start was nice but there was some concern how this club would look against league teams as well as how they would respond if their young quarterback started throwing picks, something he didn’t do in the hot start. The outcome was pretty jarring: a 42-13 final that didn’t even feel that competitive. With the previous injury to Rodney Smith and now Antoine Winfield Jr. going down, Minnesota may be turning into 2017’s Maryland team before our eyes. Hope that isn’t the case because we saw how good this team could be with that win over Fresno State but sometimes injury plagued seasons derail everything.
Nebraska – F – Last year’s defense was historically awful. Through three games the 2017 team gave up 33 points per game and 357 yards per game. Through three games in 2018 those numbers have jumped to 37.67 points per and 379.67 yards per. That’s um, not good.
Northwestern – Bye
Ohio State – A – It was 42-6 at half time and Dwayne Haskins threw for over 300 yards and 5 TDs (zero INTs). What else do you need to know about the Buckeye tune-up against Tulane?
Penn State – B – Not the prettiest of games through three quarters but unlike the Appalachian State opener, Penn State dominated the final frame. Perhaps they were looking past the Illini to the Ohio State showdown but 400+ yards and 245 of it on the ground allowed is brutal. That defense needs to shore a lot up quickly otherwise Ohio State will run them out of their own building.
Rutgers – F – Hilarious stat of the week: Buffalo lost the turnover battle by two. They still won by 29. UB dominated the worthless Knights in every conceivable metric on the football field. The Bulls were simply the more athletic team. Normally when a Big Ten team loses to a MAC school it is because of coaching or turnovers or the MAC team has one or two killer play-makers that go off for a monster day. That didn’t happen to Rutgers. RU could have had Woody Hayes on the sideline and they would still have been decimated. Buffalo was better at every position group and that is terrifying for RU fan(s).
Wisconsin – C – Thanks to winning in Iowa City, Wisconsin will most likely make it to Indianapolis. The problem is…this isn’t a good team right now. Sure the could get there but let’s not kid ourselves, coaching and turnover luck stole the win in Iowa. That D was gashed for over 400 yards. Taylor was mostly bottled up and was kept out of the end zone. This team is nowhere near as dangerous as they were a season ago and even the 2017 Badgers weren’t enough to bring down Ohio State.
Game of the Week – Well I was in the crowd at Iowa so I pretty much had to watch it. It was gut wrenching but it was still a fun game that went down to the wire. A shame Iowa can’t execute or be prepared when for 20 years that’s all the coaching staff has said Iowa needs to do to be successful but I digress.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Rutgers vs Buffalo was unwatchable. Not because of Buffalo, no. They’re an awesome team and I hope they win the MAC. Rutgers is unwatchable against literally everyone. They’re so damn boring. On top of that they were down 35-6 at halftime so it wasn’t even a competitive boring game.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Penn State, Under (61.0)
Thanks to 24 points, Illinois threw this out of whack but still, it was only 28-24 heading into the fourth, that’s only 52 points. Penn State could just bleed the cock, score an insurance score, right? Wrong. PSU put up 35 points in the final quarter!
- Indiana vs Michigan State, Points (MSU -5.0)
I thought the Hoosiers would win at home. They didn’t. It happens. I think the game would have been a lot different if IU had realized that it started at kickoff instead of getting into a 14 point hole after one and trailing at half 21-7.
- Iowa vs Wisconsin, Under (42.5)
Fans of Scott Van Pelt’s Bad Beats segment knows this was already featured for how the game went over. We’ll just leave it at that.
- Maryland vs Minnesota, Points (Maryland -2.5)
I thought the Gopher defense would stand tough and steal a victory. I didn’t realize that Minnesota had never seen nor practiced against something called the “jet sweep.” This is a crazy new play. I think some other teams might run it.
- Michigan vs Nebraska, UM (-18.0), Over (51.0)
Desperately needed double up as Michigan sliced and diced Nebraska’s awful defense for 56 points and won the game by a staggering 46.
- Ohio State vs Tulane, OSU (-37.5)
Buckeyes O hummed right along en route to a 43 point victory giving us a much needed win in what is shaping up to be an awful week at the sports book.
- Purdue vs Boston College, BC (-6.5), Over (64.0)
Never in my wildest imagination did I see Purdue holding the Eagles to just 13 points. Huge sweep in what very well could by my worst week ever running this blog.
- Rutgers vs Buffalo, UB (-6.5)
Like taking candy from a baby. Just always assume RU is getting blown out. It’s that simple.
Week Record: 4-6-0
Season Record: 27-27-1
Big Ten and Counting 