On behalf of all Iowa fans everywhere, WHERE THE HELL WAS THIS TEAM ALL YEAR?!?! Let’s dish out some grades. Dish…week of Thanksgiving…damn I’m good.
Team of the Week – Iowa – A+ – Well the Hawks gave Illinois their worst loss in program history so I guess that is something, right? The Iowa offense looked great, the defense was dominate and added a touchdown of their own, and the special teams added a punt return score and a punt block to the mix. Complete total team victory and Iowa used their tight ends to maximum effectiveness. Knowing how this team learns from mistakes versus successes, prepare yourself for neither tight end to play next Friday.
Illinois – F – It is Lovie Smith’s third year and they just lost 63-0. Tell me again about how this expensive rebuild is going…
Indiana – B – Another year and another moral victory for the Hoosiers against Michigan. It has to be getting old for IU fans but at least the program is now consistently competitive but can’t get over the hump. I’m doing my best to find a silver lining in yet another Charlie Brown moment for the Hoosiers so I’ll look at freshman Stevie Scott. He had a dandy even with a fumble because he racked up 139 yards on 30 carries with a score against one of the nation’s best defenses.
Maryland – B – The Turtle offense was incredible in this game. 535 total yards, 51 points, and freshman Anthony McFarland went off with 298 yards and 2 scores. The two point conversion call also worked – the pass was there – but Maryland just isn’t a good enough passing team yet to reliably pay off on plays like that. Defensively it was a long day. 52 points put up on them, 688 total yards allowed, and an incredible 9/15 on third down for the Bucks.
Michigan – B+ – Nothing flashy but a taking care of business type win. The Wolverines ground IU down with 50 rushing plays adding up to 257 total yards. The staff would never admit it, but a part of me does think UM was keeping things close to the vest with that monster date this week at Ohio State.
Michigan State – F – Spartans finally have a slightly competent day offensively and what did it get them? Six lousy points. I mean they even went 9/20 on third down, not bad on a snowy day, and they still couldn’t produce touchdowns. This offense looks like something straight out of the 1930s. What a dog of an offense this year.
Minnesota – D- – A disappointing day as the Gophers had almost as many yards as Northwestern, were better on third down, and had more first downs but had three turnovers to none and ended up losing by 10. Like most young teams Minnesota is just woefully inconsistent. The good news is the loss dropped them to 5-6 meaning they just need to upset an equally inconsistent Wisconsin team to make a bowl.
Nebraska – D+ – It took until the fourth quarter to finally get some offense but the Huskers got just enough as Barret Pickering drilled three field goals, two of them setting career long marks to push the Huskers over the top in their 9-6, um, thriller.
Northwestern – B – Vintage Wildcats as they did just enough offensively but put together a defensive gem that included three takeaways. They say defenses win championships. If NU wins this title game you can put a picture of the 2018 Northwestern Wildcats next to the “defense wins championships” entry in the cliche dictionary.
Ohio State – B+ – Just like the Terps, awesome day offensively but nothing defensively. The reason the Bucks got a B+ is due to winning the game. Dwayne Haskins also tossed three scores and rushed for three more. That is worthy of the little plus sign, too.
Penn State – B – The ho-hummiest of the ho-hum victories this season as Penn State was completely unspectacular but because they were playing Rutgers, they won by two touchdowns. The defense played a nice game though and that is why this is a B and not a C because the offense was paying a perfectly average game.
Purdue – B – David Blough had an amazing day as did Rondale Moore but the defense gave up the lead in the fourth quarter and played poorly in the overtime. Another close but no cigar game for this team and now they are at the brink with six losses.
Rutgers – F – Hey look, RU’s offense was awful again – especially passing the ball. As a team the Knights went 5/16 for 46 yards and 2 picks. For the season they have a delightfully weedy 4 TDs to 20 INTs.
Wisconsin – B+ – Well Jonathan Taylor keeps balling out and Jack Coan looked at least a tad better as a starter. Defense also did enough in the second half for the Badgers to come from behind and pull off the victory in overtime. Still a disappointing season but winning out to go 8-4 then win a bowl to get a ninth victory would take at least some of the sting out of the year.
Game of the Week – Impossible to split hairs between the two overtime thrillers we had. Ohio State’s escape of Maryland and Wisconsin’s fourth quarter comeback and OT win were absolute delights to watch.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Nebraska and Michigan State had a boring game but at least the fourth quarter was interesting. Penn State’s win over Rutgers had zero positive aspect.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Iowa, Iowa (-15.0)
Hawks had this thing well in hand up 35-0 at half and cruised to a 63-0 victory, easily covering the two touchdown spread.
- Indiana at Michigan, Points (UM, -28.0)
Off to a hot start this week as Michigan did indeed win but it was no where near that 28 point margin Vegas was throwing out there.
- Maryland vs Ohio State, Over (61.5)
I thought this game would go into the 70s but thanks to both defenses having long afternoons and going to overtime, 103 total points were put up.
- Michigan State at Nebraska, NU (-1.0), Under (48.0)
A nice sweep as the Huskers got just enough against MSU’s pathetic offense to win and the game had a grand total of…15 points. Yuck.
- Minnesota vs Northwestern, Points (UM, -3.0), Under (49.0)
Another nice sweep as the Wildcats won on the road like I expected and the NU defense helped keep this thing very low scoring with just 38 combined points.
- Penn State at Rutgers, PSU (-28.0)
Swing and a miss as RU now just lulls teams to sleep. Yes Penn State won but they did it in such a sleepy style that there was no hope for the four touchdown blowout I bet on.
- Purdue vs Wisconsin, Over (56.0)
Felt like a repeat of the Iowa-Purdue game was in store with a high scoring affair and these two teams didn’t disappoint…thanks to overtime. It was 27-27 after four but the 37 combined points in the extra time did wonders to get another victory in a huge week late in the year.
Week Record: 8-1-0
Season Record: 64-58-1
Big Ten and Counting 