Is Iowa back? Okay, hold on Joey T. This is a small sample size versus Purdue and Northwestern. But as an Iowa fan, it is fun to, ya know, score! Still a long way to go for the Ferentz brain trust to prove us doubters wrong though.
Team of the Week – Iowa – A+ – The boogeyman has been slayed! After losing what felt like 38 in a row to Purdue, Iowa finally took down their nemesis. Iowa mixed it up defensively (finally) and threw some serious man-to-man at Purdue. Incredibly, PU’s coaches decided to keep chucking it like it was NCAA 14 and ignoring a) the wind b) the Iowa defense and c) their quarterback being out of sync. All three factors led to Purdue putting up just 3 measly points. Iowa on the other hand was incredibly balanced with 192 through the air (and two scores!!!!) along with 184 on the ground, including Kaleb Johnson’s back-braking 75 yard touchdown run to start the third quarter. Like all things Iowa the mystery now is: where was this versus South Dakota State and Iowa State and Illinois? I know Iowa was banged up in the skills position set to start the year, but the OL couldn’t block a thing and Petras had no rhythm to his game. Now the line is producing running lanes and Petras found himself…at least for now. Obviously Wisconsin next is a different animal from awful Northwestern and defensively uninclined Purdue but still, it was damn fun to see Petras smiling on the sideline. Feel good for that kid.
Indiana – F – Without Connor Bazelak, Penn State didn’t have to worry about the pass and could make IU one-dimensional, so they did. IU generated just 65 rushing yards on a 1.9 average. Add to it 3 giveaways and just 4/15 on third down you have a miserable day offensively. IU’s defense did their best with forcing 3 punts and an interception before the damn burst in the 17 point second quarter. I still like what Tom Allen did at the start of his career with IU but if they go 3-9 this year, that will push his mark to 5-19 over the last two seasons. This, combined with his mismanagement of Michael Penix Jr would make it justifiable to move on – unless the massive buyout is prohibitive. I just don’t get why IU can’t ever build on bowls or successes. Taking out the crazy COVID season, they were still trending up going 8-5 in 2019. But just no sustained success.
Illinois – F – Every now and then coaches get way, way too cute for their own good. They think they are the smartest dude in the room and will dazzle people with a brand new scheme but then refuse to backdown when it isn’t working. They will also trust their team to “get the job done” instead of committing to steady successes that, although not sexy, will actually win the game. Bert had one of those days where he was too cute and too smart and he screwed his team over. So, the too cute / smart scheming: 37 passes. Really? When you have two backs averaging over 4.5 yards per carry on the day? Why? But he refused to back down, calling pass after pass after pass. How about getting too cute and chasing points: 1/6 on fourth down. Three of those turnover on downs cost them points with drives ending at the: MSU 2, MSU 29 (on 4th and 19 attempt), MSU 20 (down eight with over eight minutes left). Is Caleb Griffin still hurt? He attempted the PAT just fine. If he is, backup Fabrizio Pinton is 7/7 of FGs this year. If they had taken points on each of those drives, that’s 9 points and enough to win. If they had taken points on just two of them, that means on UI’s last desperation drive that that ended at the MSU 27 could have just needed a field goal. Bielema has done an incredible job this season but on Saturday he failed his team.
Maryland – F – Was the weather bad? Yes. Did both teams have to play in it? Yes. Did Maryland have a bye week to decide how to move the ball with or without favorable conditions? Yes. Did they play like ass all game? Yes. Maryland knew Wisconsin wanted to run the ball and with the forecast getting worse as the week went on should have been double prepared, yet UW racked up 278 rushing yards as Maryland was ground into a pulp. Sorry game plan and worse adjusting by the coaches.
Michigan – A- – Well nothing like a 28 point third quarter to blow a game open and turn it into a blowout. In reality, Rutgers was more than game in the first half. UM just made some great adjustments and wore RU’s front down with a punishing running game and defensively they posted a second half shutout. Toss in three takeaways that generated 21 points (two short fields, one pick six) and you have yourself a performance worthy of praise. Went to a minus purely for the sleepy start and trailing at the half.
Michigan State – C – They won, which feels awesome, but boy did they need some help thanks to Illinois stupidity. The stats indicate a thumping: UI had 441 yards to MSU’s 294. UI also had fewer penalties, more TOP, and racked up over 150 rushing yards in their bruising attack…yet…MSU won. Credit the defense for holding on fourth down several times and preventing Illinois from scoring but this was much more a Illinois loss rather than a MSU win.
Minnesota – C – I mean…they won. Yay…I guess. But this win left more questions than answers. Who is the UM quarterback going forward? Was Tanner Morgan’s injury a real injury or was it the coaching staff shielding him after a poor first half. Thank god for Mohamad Ibrahim and playing the struggling Cornhuskers but this performance was not a winning formula against more experienced staffs (Iowa) and healthier teams (Wisconsin) which is hey, two of UM’s list three opponents. Uh-oh.
Nebraska – D- – The only reason this isn’t an F is Anthony Grant had himself a ball game. Everything else about this game stunk. The coaching staff couldn’t figure out who their quarterback was. They blew an early 10-0 lead. They were shutout in quarters 2,3, and 4. They looked totally over their head. I get it, Mickey Joseph is an interim, he deserves some slack. But his OC Mark Whipple shouldn’t be this unprepared. DC Erik Chinander is in year five as DC and year 20 as a coach. He can’t be more prepped? This program is rotting from within and dumping Frost was only part of the problem.
Northwestern – F+ – Credit to them for playing as well as they did. The reason I can’t give them a passing grade is when it was tied 7-7, NU went for a fourth down on their side of the 50. It gave Ohio State a short field and they took advantage of it, going up 14-7. Based on the weather and how well NU was playing, go for the field position in that scenario.
Ohio State – D – Evidently the only thing that can slow OSU down is playing in a monsoon. Here’s the thing though, Northwestern had to play in the same crap and they played much better. MU just couldn’t cap any of their long drives with points. The fact is the OSU front got pushed by Northwestern and Evan Hull had himself a game. OSU needs to be more physical at the point of attack against Michigan otherwise they are going to get gashed by run after run. This was not a weak point we expected to be exposed in a ugly weather game against Northwestern…but it was.
Penn State – A – Not a whole lot to learn from PSU’s dismantling of the hapless Hoosiers but seeing Drew Allar go 9/12 for 75 yards and 2 TDs in mop up duty was nice. I have no clue if he will win the starting job next year but he has shown some nice flashes, especially with accuracy, against Ohio and Indiana when he racked up 20 of his 43 attempts. If he is the heir apparent, getting him reps could help mightily for the transition to a post-Clifford world.
Purdue – F – When you have a .500 coach, you are going to get some .500 day games. This game was a joke. Let’s pass it 43 times in wind gusting up to 20 mph, but let’s also pass to the same guy every play. Gee, I wonder if Iowa will catch on? Let’s ignore Devin Mockobee (4.6 average and giving me a mini heart attack every time he ran) for vast stretches. Last but not least, let’s play the whole third and fourth quarter like we are up 21 and bleed the clock. Awful.
Rutgers – D+ – I don’t mean to sound condescending but they had a halftime lead. That’s a big deal. They also stuck with Gavin Wimsatt all game. He looked like a freshman a lot but he also showed some flashes. For RU to have any hope of making a bowl this year (extremely faint) but more realistically getting ready for a bowl run next year, they need the quarterback position sorted out. Giving Wimsatt time this year to take some freshman lumps is the right call.
Wisconsin – A – Read everything I put for Maryland, than do the opposite for Wisconsin. They adjusted to the conditions, they put their kids in a position to win, they rand the rock with a fury. I know Braelon Allen gets the lion’s share of credit but we need to applaud senior Isaac Guerendo for having a career best 114 yards on just 12 carries. What a day to remember for him. Awesome job by him and the OL.
Game of the Week – Let’s be honest, the LSU win over Alabama has a chance to be the game of the year. Nothing in the Big Ten competed with that this week.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Up 24-7 at the half, there wasn’t too much reason to stick around the Penn State beat down of Indiana, was there?
Gambling Report Card:
- Michigan State at Illinois – UI (-16.0)
This game was interesting in the fact that Michigan State won it and Illinois showed zero interest. They do know they haven’t clinched the west yet, right?
- Penn State at Indiana – PSU (-13.5)
This was basically free money as Penn State was clearly two touchdowns better than the Hoosiers even before it was announced Connor Bazelak wouldn’t go. With him sidelined this was all PSU as they won by 31.
- Iowa at Purdue – PU (-3.5)
Iowa is costing me money but I don’t care because they’ve won two in a row and the season – while still kind of a mess, is no longer a dumpster fire, yay!
- Maryland at Wisconsin – Points (UW, -5.0)
Uh, no. The return of the poorly coached Locksley game.
- Michigan at Rutgers – UM (-26.0), Over (45.0)
That first half wasn’t pretty but Michigan ate some Wheaties at halftime and cruised in the second half to a 52-17 victory, giving us a much needed double up.
- Minnesota at Nebraska – Over (44.5)
These bums couldn’t even get to 35! Their 33 point total was pathetic. Which of these two teams is costing me more money at this point? I’m assuming Nebraska.
- Ohio State at Northwestern – OSU (-38.5), Over (55.5)
In my defense, I live in Chicago. The weather in my northside neighborhood was a little more windy than normal and we had about 30 minutes of rain. I don’t know why 20 minutes away in Evanston it was like a biblical get-out-the-ark type rainstorm. Dreadful 0-2 bet from this one.
Week Record: 3-6-0
Season Record: 50-42-2
Big Ten and Counting 