What a weekend! Michigan blows out Ohio State to grab the rivalry win AND the division – possibly knocking Ohio State from the playoffs as well. Then on the other side, Nebraska knocks off Iowa to open the door for both Purdue and Illinois. Purdue overcame a slow start against their rival Hoosiers to claim the west. Michigan and Purdue in the title game…just like we all expected!
Team of the Week – Michigan – A+ – This was a no brainer. Michigan used a surprisingly explosive passing game in the first half when their running game couldn’t get going. They went in at half trailing just 20-17…prime positioning for a dominate second half team. As they have done all year, Harbaugh and the staff made some brilliant adjustments and came out dominating the second half. Owning the third and fourth quarter, 28-3, Michigan ultimately blew out the Bucks. Special attention for RB Donovan Edwards. Blake Corum tried to give it a go but his knee was just too weak so Edwards was given top billing, especially in the dominate second half. He ended with a monster day: 22 carries for 216 yards and 2 TDs. I also need to give J.J. McCarthy some love. I honestly didn’t see it for most of the season but when they desperately needed him in the first half he responded. For the game he ended with a very nice stat line: 12/24, 263 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs.
Illinois – A+ – Thanks to the Purdue win, Illinois couldn’t quite make up for their mid-season swoon and get to Indy, but they dominated their in-state rival, got to eight wins, and laid a fantastic foundation for next year. Their 41-3 demolition of Northwestern was never in doubt and they put up a very Bielema-esque day of bruising runs. 156 yards on 36 carries might not be the sexiest stat as a team but the physicality is the point, wearing your opponent down is the point. Safe to say NU got ground down. The defense did what we expect UI’s D to do every game at this point now…be stingy but with an added twist: two defensive touchdowns. Awesome day for the Illini and now off to the bowl season, congrats UI brothers!
Indiana – C- – The Hoosiers never do anything normal. They were up 7-3 at half and lost 30-16. So surely Purdue dominated everything, right? Nope. IU outgained the Boilermakers 421 to 388, had fewer penalties, were way more efficient on third down, and didn’t even have a massive turnover issue, like, say, Northwestern. So how did they lose? Well a 15 play, 48 yard drive ended with a missed field goal. A 13 play, 50 yard drive stalled and ended with a punt. A 9 play, 57 yard drive ended with another missed field goal. A ten play, 73 yard drive ended with a MADE field goal – progress! Another 9 play, 57 yard drive ended with a turnover on downs. Brutal. Just a little more efficiency at capping drives and Indiana wins this game, but these are the Hoosiers. Like I said, they don’t do anything normal.
Iowa – F – Hey only the biggest game of the year and Iowa comes out woefully flat and falls down 24-0 before showing any signs of life. Thanks to Nebraska ineptitude, UI was able to even make it 24-17 with a distant hope of tying the game before time ran out. Wretched playcalling by Brian Ferentz doomed the team again, including zero awareness as NU had multiple free rushers. How is the OL this bad? What is OL coach George Barnett doing – also his boss is Brian. How does the QB not recognize the mismatch? Brian is the QB coach. Pathetic. Glad this team didn’t make the title game. Smug Kirk has been throwing that in our faces all year about why he didn’t need to change the offense because the same unit got to Indy last year. Not this time! Worst offense in the nation! Time for change!
Maryland – A+ – Outside the two turnovers, this was a flawless performance. Maryland picked up their first conference shutout since the famous “Giving him the business” game against NC State fifteen years ago. The Terps put up 513 yards of offense, 379 through the air and defensively held Rutgers to just 7 first downs and 1/13 on third. This beatdown was so one-sided that even the 37-0 final might not do it justice. Maryland looked outstanding.
Michigan State – F – I know 35-16 isn’t normally F material, I mean it’s not like the Maryland game, so what gives? Well the classic 3 giveaway game was gross, the 25 total rushing yards was sickening, allowing over 400 yards was pathetic but most worrisome, no staff changes have been announced. Zero, none. This team went 5-7 and frankly could’ve been even worse. Their three league wins were each one-score games and their losses were mostly lopsided. This wasn’t a good team in the slightest and to not have any changes Mel Tucker’s staff is absurd.
Minnesota – A- – They won the Axe for the second straight year! Yay! Their young freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis shredded the Wisconsin secondary with 319 yards! Double yay! Mohamed Ibrahim ends his regular season career with…70 yards and no touchdown? Boo, put a minus on their grade. I wish the running game had a little more success against Wisconsin to send their amazing back out with a final monster day, but I suppose eight wins and a rivalry victory will have to do.
Nebraska – B+ – The Cornhuskers out Iowa’d, Iowa. They had 4 takeaways with two first half fumbles generating 10 points and then a third quarter muffed punt helping to produce seven more points. Casey Thompson ended his season with a nice day going 20/30 for 278 and 3 TDs. He hasn’t made any decision yet on returning next year so if this was his NU finale, he made it a memorable one as the Huskers win their first Heroes game since 2014.
Northwestern – F – In classic NU fashion, they outgained Illinois and played somewhat competently on defense…but their offense had six giveaways with one fumble and one interception housed by Illinois. Fitz will keep his job – and he probably should – but he needs to take a wrecking ball to this staff. No job should be safe. [editor’s note, the DC, OL, and WR coach have been fired since this grade was given]
Ohio State – F – Ohio State entered the game with one singular goal: stop the run. It is what crushed them a year ago. Unfortunately with such a single-mind, it opened them up to the passing game. UM hit some key passes in the first half to stay in the game. In the second half OSU played a highly risky defense with the safeties crashing down. Once Donovan Edwards got into the open field, there was no safety out there. As a result Michigan had big play after big play. Worse, the coaching staff played scared, with some questionable second half punts. This was not a game to play not to lose, yet Ohio State did just that. It cost them the game.
Penn State – A+ – It sucks being third best in the division and 10-2 is a wonderful season but it comes with that big but…they didn’t win either of their big ones. On the positive though, this team dominated its final month of the season winning their last four games by an average margin of 41.25 to 10. They have also laid a fantastic foundation with lots of younger players getting some run, including their two leading rushers. The freshman duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for 1,771 yards and 19 touchdowns. With a plethora of players moving on from Ohio State, next year could be Penn State’s season to shine…provided they beat Michigan in Happy Valley.
Purdue – A – They get an A because they won and made the Big Ten title game. If it weren’t for that part of the assignment…probably a B or even a C. IU moved the ball all day on Purdue but I guess bending and not breaking is all it took. Offensively QB Aidan O’Connell and WR Charlie Jones were electric but no one else really showed up and the running game was terrible. But guess what, if Purdue is unranked and Michigan is #2 we have classic Spoilermakers scenario. God I love this sport.
Rutgers – F – 135 yards, 1/13 on third, 7 first downs, 0 points, 8/22 passing – this offense is broken. It is more out of sync than Brian Ferentz trying to clap on beat at a concert. Schiano has already fired one offensive coordinator this year, more changes are in order during the offseason.
Wisconsin – F – Out gained, out first-downed (is that a word?), more penalties, more turnovers, and a loss to another rivalry. Disaster. Jimmy Leonhard is still the heir apparent for the job but he looked lost out there far too often. I told some of my Badger buddies that if I was the AD I would make a massive push to Luke Fickell and if he says no, then get the deal done with Jimmy. [Editors note, Luke Fickell was hired at Wisconsin and I want to know who at UW reads my texts.]
Game of the Week – The fourth quarter turned this into a rout but The Game had it all. Gutsy passes in the first half kept it close. Michigan won the third to take a 24-20 lead going into the fourth. Then the fourth. Wowza. It was such a meltdown by Ohio State I couldn’t look away, even when the game became more and more out of hand.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Maryland and Illinois were both up 17-0 at half against inept foes. They both went on to win by 37. Both of these games were not suitable for mass consumption.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois at Northwestern – UI (14.5)
It is a shame I won’t get to bet on this Northwestern team anymore this year. They are easy money. UI easily covered.
- Purdue at Indiana – Points (PU, -10.5)
Not gonna lie, when this was 7-3 at half and Indiana was having no trouble moving the ball, I got very excited about winning the bet (and seeing Illinois steal the division at the 11th hour) but then IU decided to just meltdown whenever they got into scoring position. That’s the pitfall of trusting IU for anything.
- Nebraska at Iowa – Points (UI, -10.5)
This was a simple math problem. If Iowa’s fantastic defense gives up 3 points, Iowa’s awful O would need to score 14. If NU got 7, UI needed 18. If NU got 10, three touchdowns plus were needed. This was so easy to take NU. Not only did they cover, they also put us Iowa fans out of our misery. This team playing for a league title? Give me a break.
- Rutgers at Maryland – UM ( -14.0)
Speaking of teams I’m going to miss betting against…Rutgers. Thanks offensively inept Rutgers, you made even Iowa look competent at times.
- Michigan at Ohio State – OSU (-8.0)
I said I trusted OSU’s quarterback more. That bet looked awesome that first drive, right? Unfortunately there were still 55 minutes left.
- Michigan State at Penn State – PSU (-19.0), Over (53.0)
A push and a loss. What a weird result from this blowout. Doesn’t 35-16 feel like it should have been a larger point total? Doesn’t it feel like a 21 point blowout? Sigh.
- Minnesota at Wisconsin – Under (-36.5)
Thirty nine points were scored. That’s classic Big Ten west football. Sadly, that still went over so I’m left with a losing ticket.
Week Record: 3-4-1
Season Record: 66-49-3
Big Ten and Counting 