Wisconsin, Iowa, and Northwestern all lost to power five clubs. Not a banner day for the B1G West. This is how you make teachers angry, I hope I can still be a fair grader.
Team of the Week – Illinois – B+ – Being the TOTW doesn’t always mean having the best game. Case in point, Illinois. 4 turnovers and 10 penalties is some gross slop, BUT, they dominated Virginia in a 24-3 win. They held the Cavaliers to 0/15 on third down and put up almost 400 yards of offense. They also had 3 takeaways to make up for the giveaways. Lastly, Chase Brown did Chase Brown things going off for 146 yards on 20 carries (7.3 average). All in all, a nice day for the Illini as they take another step closer to their bowl aspirations.
Indiana – C+ – The Hoosiers played one amazing quarter of football and one okay quarter. This was enough to make up for a wretched first half of football. Some of this stuff could be excused but it came against a weak opponent, FCS Idaho. If I’m looking for one thing to immediately clean up: turnovers. IU was -2 in the turnover margin. If you count turnover on downs, then IU was -3. A better team than Idaho can and will take advantage of you if you are that careless with the ball.
Iowa – F – The Cyclones were dying to give this game away with 3 turnovers and 2 blocked punts but Iowa was just as willing to give it back with 3 turnovers of their own and some truly wretched offense. 14 points through two games is clearly not sustainable and averaging about a yard per play is so bad it becomes tragically funny. The worry for Iowa fans is that it is systemic rot. Kirk Ferentz wants to run a conservative offense so he handcuffs his son and OC Brian Ferentz. Brian is given little to work with but has no feel on how to develop a game plan, he appears to just make calls at random. This makes life for QB Spencer Petras harder than it should be…BUT…Brian is also the QB Coach and Spencer is not an accurate quarterback. This is what I call a systemic rot. This offense has rotted both Inside and out.
Maryland – A – Charlotte is a woeful team and beating them was never in doubt but Maryland still looked good doing it. Up 35-14 at half, the Terps kept right on rolling in the second half, too. Taulia Tagovailoa had himself a day going 27/31 for 391 yards and 4 TDs. Great tune up after a few struggles against Buffalo in week one.
Michigan – A – Nothing was learned from this game as Hawai’i is one of the worst teams in the nation. UM was up 42-0 at the half and won 56-10. As for the QB competition, J.J. McCarthy looked better this week than Cade McNamara did in week one. I have the sneaking suspicion that McCarthy won the job in camp BUT after all Cade did last year, the coaching staff wanted to give him a curtain call opening week against Colorado State. I have zero proof of this other than Jim Harbaugh has coached football a long time and never done anything like this. His track record is to pick a starter in camp and start them.
Michigan State – A – Akron is probably the worst team in the MAC so crushing them 52-0 doesn’t tell us all that much about Michigan State. They were supposed to win this big and they did. Despite the shutout, the passing defense did still give up over 200 yards. I’m getting increasingly concerned that MSU’s biggest issue last year hasn’t been addressed well enough.
Minnesota – A – Just like the Maryland, Michigan, and MSU games, the Gophers were supposed to crush their opponent (Western Illinois) and did, 62-10. Tanner Morgan was sharp, connecting on 14 of 18 passes for 287 yards. The running game continues to shine as Mo Ibrahim is fully healthy. Fun team to watch.
Nebraska – F – It is all over folks, Scott Frost has been fired. The nightmare for Husker nation is finally over and it ended in epic fashion. Facing Clay Helton in just his second game as head coach with Georgia Southern, Nebraska gave up over 600 yards of offense and 400 passing yards alone in a 45-42 shootout. Despite a new coach and a massive rebuild, GSU sliced through the “blackshirt” defense like a hot knife through butter. Pathetic job by the NU defense and it cost Frost his job.
Northwestern – D- – Northwestern started horribly, trailing 14-0 after one quarter and 21-10 at half. They managed to get it down to 28-23 with six minutes left in the game but were unable to finish the comeback. Duke got a late field goal to go up eight, the final margin of the game. The scrappy comeback keeps this from being a F but there were red flags all over this one. NU’s best offensive weapon is Evan Hull but he only got 17 carries thanks to trailing all game. Having Ryan Hilinski attempt 60 passes (completed 36) is not how Northwestern is built to win games. Another uh-oh comes from the rush defense – Northwestern didn’t have one. Duke racked up 221 yards on 35 carries, a dominating 6.3 yards per carry. Lastly, NU is not good enough to have three giveaways and lose the turnover margin -2. Performances like this will cause many more losses as the season goes on.
Ohio State – A – Joining the several clubs I already wrote about is OSU with an easy A thanks to taking care of business. Routing Arkansas State 45-12 didn’t teach us anything about the Bucks….except…Marvin Harrison Jr. is clearly Stroud’s favorite target and is on pace for a truly special sophomore season if he can keep up these numbers in Big Ten play.
Penn State – A – Here we go again, a dominate victory by a team that was supposed to get a dominate victory. PSU thrashed Ohio 46-10 so we learned nothing. For a team that has struggled to run the ball, Nicholas Singleton’s 179 yard and 2 touchdown day has to help morale inside the OL and RB rooms.
Purdue – A- The theme of “expected blowout, learn nothing” continues with Purdue and their 56-0 win over Indiana State. For Purdue fans, hopefully the shutout means the defense learned some things and gained some confidence after struggling with Penn State. If PU wants a shot at getting to Indianapolis, they need that side of the ball to improve, perhaps shutting down the Sycamores is a part of that process.
Rutgers – A – You guessed it, expected blowout! RU dominated Wagner 66-7 and we learned…nothing! In the opposite of Purdue, RU’s struggling offense wasn’t exactly lights out against Boston College week one. Perhaps they figured a few things out against Wagner and putting up 585 yards of offense and picking up 33 first downs is a part of a process that will make RU’s offense more potent.
Wisconsin – D- – I’m sure Wisconsin fans want to give this an F but there were some good things from this loss that allow Wisconsin to at least be hopeful about winning the West. First, Mertz wasn’t the issue! The oft-struggling quarterback went 18/31 for 227 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Second, the defense had 3 takeaways and held Washington State to just 253 yards, 10 first downs, and 2/11 on third. Yes, Bucky lost to the Cougars but it wasn’t a full-blown meltdown. So, what needs to be cleaned up? 3 giveaways, 11 penalties (106 yards), and terrible second half adjustments – UW lost the second half 10-0.
Game of the Week – In a week of blowouts, bitter losses, and whatever the hell El Assico was, Georgia Southern and Nebraska put up an old fashioned shootout. The fact that NU collapsed late (yet again) and immediately rumors of Frost’s demise were circling gave this game some Shakespearean overtones.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – I was mildly curious what Rutger’s QB rotation would be after their unique rotation against Boston College so I flipped over to it a few times. After the first quarter it was 28-0. I no longer needed to flip back to the game.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Virginia – Stay Away
With Brennan Armstrong being such a good quarterback but his OL being so bad, I had zero feel for what Virginia would bring to this game against a good Illinois defense. As a result I said stay away. I had no clue Illinois would win by 21 points and hold Virginia to just a field goal. If you won money off this game, good on ya.
- Indiana vs Idaho – IU (-24.5)
Big miss here. The Vandals were more game than expected and the Hoosiers kind of slept walked through the game en route to a 13 point victory.
- Iowa vs Iowa State – Points (UI -3.5)
Not only did the Cyclones cover, they won outright. The thing I’m kicking myself about was not taking the under. Will not make that mistake again with this Iowa team. Hitting that under next week against Nevada for sure.
- Maryland vs Charlotte – UM (-28.0), Degenerate tip: Over (64.5)
I knew Maryland would have a big day but I wasn’t fully committed to the over. I should have had more trust as the 56-21 UM win easily covered and easily went over. The important thing is we won though.
- Michigan vs Hawai’i – UM (-52.0)
I normally hate spreads this big because all it takes is a fourth quarter touchdown to screw you. I trusted Michigan to win big – and they did – but 46 wasn’t quite big enough. Thanks for the fourth quarter touchdown Hawai’i, I thought we were friends!
- Michigan State vs Akron – MSU (-34.5)
I said I had no worries MSU would win by 5 touchdowns and they didn’t disappoint, winning this one 52-0.
- Minnesota vs Western Illinois – Under (58)
In my mind I was picturing a 52-0 shutout like what Sparty did to Akron. I didn’t count on the 62 point explosion by the Gophers, let alone WIU putting up 10 points against such a good defense. As a result that over was demolished and we are left with a losing ticket.
- Nebraska vs Georgia Southern – Points (NU -23.5)
Sort of a no-brainer, right? Nebraska lost to Northwestern and struggled with North Dakota. Why would they blowout a competently coached team led by Clay Helton? Easy one.
- Northwestern vs Duke – Points (NU -10.0)
In the preview I thought NU would eke out a victory but Duke would cover. Based on how Duke has moved the ball at will against Temple and Northwestern and the way their D has made some timely plays, I think we need to re-evaluate Duke’s ceiling. They might scratch out 6-6 and a bowl. Nice victory for them and us.
- Ohio State vs Arkansas State – Under (68.5)
I thought ASU might be able to move the ball some and eat up the clock a little. They did just that holding the ball for 22 minutes. It also helped that Ohio State pulled everyone and didn’t score any the fourth quarter. However it happened, the 45-12 blowout was lopsided, but that adds up to just 57 my friends.
- Penn State vs Ohio – Over (55.0)
I don’t know why I questioned if PSU would win this by four touchdowns so I didn’t bet the spread but we still got a win from this game…barely. PSU’s 46-10 win clears the over with literally nothing to spare.
- Purdue vs Indiana State – PU (-37.0)
No stress at all in this one as Purdue was up 35-0 at halftime and cruised to a 56-0 win.
- Rutgers vs Wagner – Under (55.0)
I knew Wagner wouldn’t contribute much to the over but I didn’t factor in Rutgers going wild and scoring 66 freaking points. Wowza.
- Wisconsin vs Washington State – UW (-17.0)
Nope. Not even close. Wazzu didn’t just cover, they pulled off the road upset.
Week Record: 8-5-0
Season Record: 13-10-1
Big Ten and Counting 