It’s happening folks! We are another week closer to Northwestern claiming their first Big Ten west title. When the new East-West divisions were made a lot of people pegged Wisconsin to be the dominant force with Iowa and Nebraska as secondary forces. It has kind of played out that way with Iowa and Wisconsin appearing in the title game and Nebraska…not. But Northwestern was seen as an x-factor that could get into the fray and make some title games. Well some title games is getting closer and closer to their first and that is very exciting news.
Team of the Week – Northwestern – A+ – So not only did they beat a ranked Wisconsin team by 14 last Saturday but they also moved to 5-1 in the Big Ten. They still have a trip to Iowa City but they are sitting in fantastic shape to win the division as they now boast a key tiebreaker over the Badgers. That is the reason for the A+ because in reality, Northwestern would admit they were far from perfect with three giveaways and a poor day passing the ball. So how did they win? Well, they had three takeaways and made Wisconsin pretty one-dimensional as Jonathan Taylor had a long day and the passing game wasn’t very sharp, even without banged up (and struggling) Hornibrook.
Illinois – F – Impossible to spin this game as Maryland racked up 712 yards, 63 points, 431 rushing yards, and won by 30. Lovie Smith is supposed to be a defensive coach yet games like this keep happening in his third season. Yikes.
Indiana – F – How do you get down 31-9? How do you score 22 points the fourth quarter to tie the game? How do you then choke and give up a 67 yard touchdown pass? I guess that is just Indiana football. The Hoosiers got a solid day from Patrick Ramsey but he had two picks so even IU’s best player made key mistakes last week and that is pretty much a microcosm for Indiana. Get some solid play but too many mistakes along the way to taste victory in close games.
Iowa – F – Hey look, a team with no offensive points didn’t win a game. That’s right, Iowa’s big O put up a big 0. Two safeties (both special teams), two field goals (both special teams), and two touchdowns (one special teams and one defensive) were all that the Hawks could muster in a six point loss.
Maryland – A – So this game was awesome (see Illinois) but this whole week finally provided some answers. Sure they nearly kept DJ Durkin, a coach with a 10-15 (5-13) record, a disgusting football environment, and such a poor manager that a child died on his hands but thankfully UM reversed course. I’m not going to say they did the right thing because you do the right thing right away, not after everyone calls you out on being awful. So today Maryland is down one pathetic human off the staff and just a tad less awful than they were a few days ago.
Michigan – Bye
Michigan State – A – The much maligned Spartan O did a few things! 426 yards and 26 total points is improvement. The big story was the defense holding dangerous Purdue to just 13 points and getting three takeaways. Rocky Lombardi also played alright in his first career start. I’m not sure it was enough to dethrone Lewerke against, say, Ohio State in two weeks but it was a promising first impression.
Minnesota – B+ – Things were going pretty dang well for the Gophers until, well, it wasn’t but they held on to get back to .500 ball at 4-4 and keep a bowl in play. A huge day from Tanner Morgan (17/24, 302 yards, 12.6 avg, 3 TD, 1 INT) and Shannon Brooks (22 carries, 154 yards, 7.0 avg, 1 TD) allowed the Gophers to build a huge lead and ultimately win in the face of the fourth quarter rally by IU.
Nebraska – A – O looked really, really good again but keep in mind due to the scheduling goofiness by needing to make up a game since week one was rained out. So while there were style points, they came against a FCS club. It is simple to say but Nebraska just did what they do best (more the ball quickly) and took advantage of an inferior opponent to keep a long-shot bowl kind of in play.
Ohio State – Bye
Penn State – C- – I mean…they won. Lot’s of sloppiness with allowing a team to score 24 points and not one of them came from the offense getting into the end zone. Tough to see how this club can compete in a week after this ugly performance.
Purdue – D+ – Purdue played a poor game all day yet entered the fourth only down 16-13. This team nearly gutted out a win on their worst game in weeks, fairly impressive. Another nice passing day by David Blough was spoiled by three picks and the rushing game just never got going (62 total yards) so the Boilers were way to one-dimensional to pull off the victory.
Rutgers – Bye
Wisconsin – F – Not having your starting quarterback is hard, agreed, but…three giveaways, lots of penalties and yardage, 33 passing attempts for very little production. This my friends was an all round failure by the staff and star players.
Game of the Week – Indiana’s near comeback against Minnesota and Iowa’s near comeback against Penn State both made for some great theater…even if both ultimately failed.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Nebraska. Sorry, I’m just not going to watch a FCS game in the middle of the season.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois at Maryland, UM (-17.0)
Wowza, wish I had taken the over (54.5) as well as these two teams combined for 96 points and the Terps covered with ease, winning by 30.
- Indiana at Minnesota, IU -2.5, Over 54.5
A split as the IU comeback got us 69 combined points but of course their comeback failed and lost by seven. I still feel right about not trusting the Gopher defense, though. So there is that, I guess.
- Iowa at Penn State, Under (54.5)
Quite possibly the weirdest gambling win of the season as Iowa scored zero points from their offense but a combination of special teams safeties, a TD, field goals, and a pick six kept them in the game but in the end they lost 30-24, giving us a half point victory.
- Michigan State vs Purdue, Points (MSU -1.0)
What a day by the Spartan defenders. They locked Purdue down en route to the 23-13 win which of course gives us a loss at the book.
- Nebraska vs Bethune-Cookman
No line
- Northwestern vs Wisconsin, UW -5.5
Yeah, that didn’t happen. Northwestern smoked the Badgers in one of the worst games Wisconsin has ever played under coach Paul Chryst.
Week Record: 3-3-0
Season Record: 44-51-1
Big Ten and Counting 