Football is here! Football is here! Minnesota hosts Nebraska tonight to kick things off in 2023. As you would expect there will probably be a few duds this week with some soft non-conference games but there are also some really intriguing match ups. Like all my previews, I’m a central time zone kinda guy.
Game of the Week:
- Fresno State at Purdue
Well Vegas certainly thinks this game will be close – it has the tightest line in the league this week with Purdue giving just 3.5 over to the Bulldogs. Both squads are breaking in new quarterbacks (Mikey Keene for Fresno and Hudson Card for Purdue) but their coaching differences are jarring. Fresno still has Jeff Tedford (over 200 career games as head coach) drawing up crazy offensive plays while Purdue has Ryan Walters (first game as head coach) hoping to rebuild Purdue’s defense.
- Saturday, 11:00 AM, BTN
Sleeper:
- Nebraska at Minnesota
Of the three in-league match-ups, this one is clearly the best. Gophers have a stacked receiver room and one of the league’s best tight ends in Brevyn Spann-Ford. This isn’t an easy task for Matt Rhule’s Nebraska debut, but the Huskers aren’t a barren husk, either. Minnesota will need to stay sharp to avoid the upset.
- Thursday, 7:00 PM, Fox
Don’t Forget:
- West Virginia at Penn State
In October of 1955, WVU had just won their third straight against Penn State to narrow PSU’s lead in the series to just seven games at 14-7-1. Since that date PSU has gone 34-2-1. So no, this isn’t a great rivalry renewed but it will be the 60th time these two formerly independent foes will square off and even though PSU is a twenty point favorite, it is a power-five match-up in week one.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, NBC
Snoozer:
- Towson at Maryland
Sorry Maryland, you are the only Big Ten team playing an FCS foe this week…those are the rules.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, BTN…Would it be too sterotypical if I told Maryland fans to skip this one and go get some crab cakes?
Upset Alert:
- Toledo at Illinois
Obviously Purdue is the most on upset watch but it is boring to use a game twice…so here we come to the Illini. With a reliable QB and dynamic RB – among others – graduating / going pro / moving on, Illinois is a little bit of a mystery team. Toledo is no such mystery. They are the favorites in the MAC and have a fantastic quarterback in Dequan Finn returning and overall the Rockets have 16 starters back from last year’s MAC champion squad. Illinois’s stalwart defense will be busy this weekend.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, BTN
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Buffalo at Wisconsin – Despite winning a bowl last year, the Bulls face a pretty big up-hill battle in this one. Badgers should use it as a tune-up.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, FS1
Central Michigan at Michigan State – Both the Spartans and Chips had a losing record last year so they will want to start this year much stronger; unfortunately for the boys from Mount Pleasant, MSU has a solid offensive line so at the very least, they’ll run the ball all day and overwhelm their MAC opponent.
- Friday, 6:00 PM, BTN
East Carolina at Michigan – ECU is coming off a bowl victory and 8 wins in 2022 but they are facing long odds this week visiting the Mazie and Blue in the Big House. With Jim Harbaugh suspended, DC Jesse Minter will wear the big hat for this week…does that mean anything for the Pirates? Probably not.
- Saturday, 11:00 AM, Peacock
Northwestern at Rutgers – A fairly interesting game as NU looks to make a statement after a nightmare offseason that saw their head coach fired and a hazing scandal hang over the university. Rutgers looks to make a statement on offense after a nightmare 2022 that saw them struggle to generate points. Both face tough roads to a bowl so a win is critical.
- Sunday, 11:00 AM, CBS
Ohio State at Indiana – OSU leads the series 78-12-5 with 27 straight wins over their long time conference foe. While OSU is debuting a new quarterback, the rest of their team looks more than strong enough to rough up the Hoosiers in Bloomington.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, CBS
Utah State at Iowa – Despite a few question marks of will-he or won’t-he with Cade McNamara’s first Hawkeye start, Iowa has plenty of talent to take down the Aggies regardless of their brand new QB’s status for week one.
- Saturday, 11:00 AM, FS1
Bye Week:
No One
Random Musing:
This will be Utah State’s third time playing Iowa – the first match up in 1957 was a 70-14 laugher against Iowa’s legendary coach Forest Evashevski. Ev Faunce, the Utah State coach, would go overall just 15-24-1 with the Aggies before his coaching career ended. In 2002 Iowa smoked USU 48-7. Mick Dennehy would end up just 19-37 with the program and also be done with coaching. Iowa was co-champs of the Big Ten in 2002 and the 1957 team would narrowly miss out on a Big Ten title but settle for a top-10 finish in the polls, but would win a national title the following year. If this trend holds, Iowa will demolish Utah State, Blake Anderson will be out of coaching soon, and Iowa will be awesome either this year or next…or both!
Big Ten and Counting 