October snow? Check. 40 mph wind gusts in Iowa City? Check. Terrible wind in Bloominton, too? Check. Lightning delay at Spartan Stadium? Of course. Second ranked team in the nation going down? Obviously. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to October in the Big Ten.
Team of the Week – Purdue – A+ – It is one thing to upset a top 5 team but it is something completely different to annihilate them in prime time. Purdue outclassed Ohio State in every conceivable way en route to that 49-20 blowout victory. First was the speed. Normally, OSU is the big play machine but between D.J. Knox and freshman sensation Rondale Moore, Purdue was the faster team. Next was the back-breaker. Normally we see an upset bid collapse from a back-breaking play but Markus Bailey’s pick-six snuffed whatever minimal chance OSU had at coming back out. Finally there is the balance. Normally Ohio State crushes your spirits by hitting long plays in both facets of offense but against Purdue, the Buckeye running attack was so bottled up that they ended up attempting a mind-boggling 73 passes. Amazing stuff by the Boilers, and I didn’t even get to them ripping off four straight to hit 4-3 on the year and jump right into the divisional race at 3-1.
Illinois – D- – Let’s start with the positive: 210 rushing yards and kept it kind of close for a while. The problem is the defense still hasn’t reached the level we would expect with a coach like Lovie Smith yet and the passing game is non-existent. Tough to pull off upsets in Madison without reliable passing or defensive outcomes.
Indiana – B- – In most ways Indiana outplayed Penn State and could have – maybe even should have – been able to win that game. The thing is though, while Indiana’s talent is vastly improved than it used to be it is still a developing program that isn’t deep enough to absorb costly mistakes. As a result 3 giveaways and losing the turnover margin -1 is glaring. More penalties and penalty yards also hurts. The Hoosiers are so much better than the were a decade ago. The program is trending up. The facilities are really coming along. The level of coach they have is also improved. I mean Bill Lynch was a nice guy, but the head coach of a Big Ten school versus Kevin Wilson or Tom Allen? So the pieces are there, the next step is limiting the costly small stuff within the game to start turning these narrow losses into wins.
Iowa – A – In difficult wind conditions Iowa managed to rush for over 200 yards, pass just enough (and get a passing TD), go perfect in kicking (3/3 FGs, 2/2 PATs), score a defensive touchdown, and pitch a shutout for a very impressive 23-0 victory. Not only did they keep UM off the scoreboard, they held the Terps to just 115 total yards as the Iowa rush defense had an absolute gem.
Maryland – F – How does Ty Johnson only have 4 carries for the game and none in the first half? It was that kind of day for Maryland. Whatever the game plan was, it didn’t work because Johnson wasn’t given any love. Weather made passing miserable yet the best running back for Maryland couldn’t buy a touch. Yup, I made the same point three times. Clearly I’m confused by the fact that, for the fourth time, TY JOHNSON DIDN’T GET THE ROCK!!!
Michigan – A+ – If you just see the final, 21-7 against a now 4-3 Spartan team doesn’t look that impressive but trust me, it was. Michigan held their rivals to just 94 total yards while putting up a near perfect 50/50 split of 212 passing yards and 183 rushing yards. UM possessed the ball for 41 minutes. UM forced Sparty into a brutal 0/12 day on third down. Sure there were some penalties and they were -1 in the turnover margin, but, with Shea Patterson, Karim Higdon, and that deadly defense playing great, how can you not give the Wolverines an A+?
Michigan State – F – Well as you can see from Michigan’s grade that it was a very long day for the Green and White trying to move the ball. This Spartan team has a nice defense but with so much inconstant play on offense (as well as some injuries on that side of the ball) you can’t rely on them too do a whole lot. As a result, MSU will most likely lose to elite defensive teams (a la Michigan) and struggle with good defense teams (i.e. Northwestern) but have enough on the defensive side of the ball to win the games they should (e.g. CMU and Indiana) as well as nab a massive upset or two (see: Penn State). When all it gets added up, MSU will probably nestle into an okay, but unspectacular 7-5 type season because of the erratic offensive performances.
Minnesota – F – The Gophers aren’t good enough offensively to deal with bad games by their defense. UM’s defense wasn’t just bad against Nebraska, it was pathetic. The Huskers racked up 659 yards and generated 53 points. Down 28-8 at the half, UM can’t even point to positives like Illinois of kinda, sorta, hanging around.
Nebraska – A – Dang it feels good to get that first victory! The O is humming and the normal bugaboo for the young Cornhuskers, turnovers and penalties, were drastically reduced in the blowout win. I didn’t go up to an A+ because NU somehow gave up 349 passing yards and 214 of them going to Tanner Morgan off the bench. Need to correct that if NU wants to start ripping off the Ws.
Northwestern – D – I mean…they won. That’s the positive. Lot to unpack from the 18-15 victory over Rutgers. NU’s continued rushing struggles, a lack of pop on offense against a bad defensive team, -1 in turnovers, and some penalties. I’m inclined to give a pass though. It was a long trip for a noon kick in an empty stadium against a lousy team. Plus it is hard to get up for 12 games even before you factor in the RU nap. If NU looks this sluggish at home against Wisconsin, then I think you have to worry some as a Wildcat fan, but until it is a trend, I’ll consider it a one-off sleepy week.
Ohio State – F – The lack of confidence (and performance) in the running game was really exposed by Purdue as were the defensive issues. OSU has been giving up big plays all year because of, what looks like to me, 11-man hero ball. The OSU players are SO good and were such MASSIVE stars on their high school team that they play as individuals and haven’t gelled as unit. Rather than staying home, playing contain, and letting a teammate make the tackle, OSU players are over-committing, getting washed out by blocks, or straight up missing tackles as they go for a hit stick style hit. Essentially, the OSU defense is a rare case of being worse than the sum of their parts. Much of this sloppy play was fine for these kids in high school where they were bigger, stronger, and faster than most of the competition but against a fellow college team, well, you get what happened last weekend in West Lafayette.
Penn State – B+ – It was far from flawless and after the onside kick downright scary but the Lions survived a tricky trip to windy Memorial Stadium in Indiana and they did so with some clutch offensive play by stud qb Trace McSorley. He was the leading rusher with 107 yards, chipped in 220 yards through the air and helped manufacture 33 points. Mired in a two game skid, Penn State’s confidence and season momentum were at an all time low, but they avoided the upset bid and now get to spoil Iowa’s season as the Lions try to get their third straight 11 win season, which isn’t a horrible consolation prize for those upperclassmen.
Rutgers – D- – Well on the plus side, no turnovers. On the down side, just 188 yards and 81 through the air as RU’s offense continues to be by far the worst in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin – A – I’m sure a few diehards are hollering about 2 turnovers, allowing 20 points, and over 200 rushing yards but this was vintage Wisconsin. 545 total yards, 357 on the ground, and Jonathan Taylor with 150+. Oh, the defense also had five takeaways so it wasn’t all bad.
Game of the Week – Through three quarters the Ohio State-Purdue game felt like a defensive struggle and that gut feeling of, okay…when are the Bucks turning it on, was nagging. Then an absolutely bonkers fourth quarter came calling and the Purdue victory turned into not just an upset but a blowout.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Sometimes 18-15 games can be fun defensive struggles and sometimes they feature Rutgers.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois at Wisconsin, UW (-26.5)
Spoiler folks, another dreadful week by me. Fortunately, Wisconsin limits some of the damage with their 29 point win.
- Indiana vs Penn State, PSU (-14.0)
At least picking Penn State would have worked straight up! Oh, that’s not how the point spread works? Oops.
- Iowa vs Maryland, UI (-9.0)
Bad week overall, but this one felt good. Not just the winning bet but as an Iowa fan I was worried that Maryland’s nasty jet-sweep game would get going and rough up the young linebacking group.
- Michigan at Michigan State, Over (39.5)
Obviously this was a stinker, but if given an over/under sub 40 points, I’m going to take the over like 99.99% of the time.
- Minnesota at Nebraska, Points (NU, -5.0)
I trusted the Gopher defense and they no-showed. Will I trust the Gopher D again this year? Umm…probably not.
- Northwestern at Rutgers, NU (-20.5)
Picking against Rutgers had been money in the bank. I’m not letting a one-off game with Northwestern derail the surest thing in the league.
- Ohio State at Purdue, OSU (-13.5), Over (67.0)
A split! Sure OSU didn’t come anywhere close to covering since they got blow’d out but it went over!
Week Record: 3-5-0
Season Record: 41-46-1
Big Ten and Counting 