A hybrid week comes to the Big Ten as all fourteen teams are in action but there are five league games and four non-conference games on the slate. Despite this eclectic mix, there are some fantastic games this weekend including a massive, massive top-ten showdown in South Bend. All times are central.
Game of the Week:
- Ohio State at Notre Dame
The Buckeyes hit the road for the second time. Their first trip – Indiana – was also the season debut and they were a tad clunky on offense. Against Youngstown State…also a tad clunky on offense. But against Western Kentucky? Well, they dropped 63 on ’em. Have the figured it out offensively? Taking on the Irish will certainly answer that lingering question. The Irish have one extra game and sit at 4-0 thanks to a week zero win over Navy in Ireland. Their toughest test of the season, NC State, was a way too close for comfort win. So which of these teams are real contenders? This game will help answer that. Both teams have really high ceilings, we just haven’t seen them necessarily hit that level yet. I hope they do this weekend.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, NBC
Sleeper GOTW:
- Iowa at Penn State
Okay, admittedly, Iowa’s offense could turn this into a stinker blowout…BUT…their defense is really good and Kirk Ferentz loves to go against PSU as a Pennsylvania guy who always got overlooked by that program. PSU’s offense was humming along nicely until Illinois threw a few things at them and held them to just 30 points and under 400 yards of offense. I say just held them to that because Illinois had five turnovers to PSU’s none. Usually when there is that big a turnover margin you would see a game turn into a blowout, not be a 17 point game. Iowa should be more of a challenge than Illinois so the logic goes, if Iowa can avoid a million turnovers, maybe they can hang with the Nittany Lions.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, CBS
Don’t Forget:
- Rutgers at Michigan
Well just like the Iowa game this could very well turn ugly…BUT…Rutgers has played three good games! They shut Northwestern down (24-7), locked down Temple (36-7), and ran circles around Virginia Tech (35-16). Michigan has been awesome on defense – just 16 points allowed through three games – but their offense has seemed a little herky jerky thus far, hitting just 32 points per game against ECU, UNLV, and Bowling Green. Rutgers has essentially played as well as Michigan but against two power-league teams. Maybe UM is overrated? Maybe RU is a solid bowl game? Maybe both…or maybe neither…but based on the eye test though three games for each club, I’m exciting for this game to learn way more about the Knights and Wolverines.
- Saturday, 11:00 AM, BTN
Snoozer:
- Maryland at Michigan State
This dud is all on Sparty and reflects nothing about Maryland’s 3-0 start because MSU is currently…unwatchable! Their defense is pathetic and their offense ain’t much better. Unless Maryland is looking ahead to…checks notes…the Hoosiers, they should roll. Taulia Tagovailoa is a stud of a QB. Let’s say he is 75% as good as Michael Penis Jr – just as a thought experiment – that means he’ll put up 75% of the stats Penix did against MSU. That would be…355 yards and 3 TDS. Gulp.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, NBC – Look, I’m only human – Colorado is at Oregon during this same timeslot, don’t you want to see Prime and the Buffs in Autzen?
Upset Watch:
- Wisconsin at Purdue
Ohio State is favored – but it is a top 10 showdown on the road…that’s not an upset. Iowa is an underdog but is nationally ranked…it would obviously be an upset but not necessarily a stop the presses upset. Purdue beating Wisconsin though? Well, that would be a pretty big deal around here for me at least. First of all, Purdue has lost about 715 in a row to Wisconsin. Second of all, UW is a six point favorite on the road despite their only road game being a loss out at Washington State – are we sure they are that much better than the Boilermakers? Seeing UW fall to 2-2 and snap the streak this Friday would be an eye-opening moment for me because of where I think these two programs are in year one of new coaching regimes.
- Friday, 6:00 PM, FS1
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Akron at Indiana – Hoosiers showed some toughness in their near comeback against Louisville. They should enjoy evening their record at 2-2 by taking on a struggling Zips squad out of the MAC.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, BTN
Florida Atlantic at Illinois – Unfortunately, QB Casey Thompson of FAU is out for the rest of the season, taking a lot of the bite out of the Owl offense. That injury also derails most of the intrigue from this one as I think Illinois figured some stuff out against Penn State (well, not ball control) to build upon. Without Thompson, UI should win this game relatively easily.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, BTN
Louisiana Tech at Nebraska – With win number one under, the rebuilding Huskers look for two in a row against one of the more baffling teams in America. The 2-2 Bulldogs have a narrow win over FIU, followed by a complete no-show loss against SMU, followed by a 30 point win over an FCS team, followed by a 3-point loss to North Texas, where the Mean Green hit a field goal at the horn. I guess the most clear pattern is Louisiana Tech can’t beat teams from Texas, other than that, they’ve been all over the map consistency-wise for both sides of the ball. NU’s D has looked pretty solid all year, I look for that unit to key the Huskers to victory.
- Saturday, 2:30 PM, BTN
Minnesota at Northwestern – As expected the Gophers didn’t quite have enough O in the tank to make a go of things against UNC but what was not expected was over 400 yards passing for the Heels. We knew they had a solid offense but I thought the Gophers would hold up a little bit better than that. NU was waxed by Duke last week, yielding 268 rushing yards on 40 caries en route to a 24 point loss. If Minnesota’s D can play closer to weeks one and two AND they can run with even some of the effectiveness Duke did, this should be a romp for UM.
- Saturday, 6:30 PM, BTN
Bye Week:
No One
Random Musing:
Nineteen years ago Iowa traveled to Penn State and boy, howdy, was it a memorable game. Iowa was coming in ranked 25th in the nation. They had opened 19th in the nation and started 2-0 before Arizona State kicked them in the mouth, 44-7. Michigan didn’t lay off the Hawks either, 30-17. But Iowa dominated Michigan State (38-16) and Ohio State (33-7) to get back into the polls. In fact, OSU was 25th before that game so the Hawks and Bucks basically flipped spots. Penn State meanwhile was mired in a weird stretch of Joe Pa’s career where the Nittany Lions really struggled. In 2003 they went 3-9 and were just 2-4 before the Iowa game. Now despite the record, we should say that PSU’s defense was humming under DC Tom Bradley. In their six games they have given up just 16 points per game with the season high being 21 points scored by Boston College. PSU’s issues were on offense, where they were averaging just 19.16 per game – and that’s even with 48 points against Akron and 37 points against UCF. In power-league match ups, that average plunged to just 7.5 points per game.
So we have a defensively sound team in Penn State and a classic Ferentzian Iowa team focused on complementary football – aka – they’re okay on offense but pretty good on defense. This was going to be a low-scoring affair no matter what…but then mother nature got going. In an absolute wet and miserable day, Iowa and Penn State slogged it out to a 6-4 final. But there is more than just the score. Iowa put up just 168 yards and just 6/20 on third. They hit two first half field goals and were then shutout in the second half. Penn State was somehow even worse with the ball, gaining just147 total yards and went 4/16 on third down. Collectively there was just 93 rushing yards. Combined there were seven turnovers and five alone were from PSU.
Finally, there is the safety. You know the safety I’m talking about. Up 6-2 with eight minutes left, Iowa was facing a 4th and 18 from their own goal line. Rather than set up a short field or risk a block, Iowa took a safety. This seemed crazy, they made the game 6-4 with plenty of time left and still had to kick to Penn State. The gambit worked out. The free kick flipped the field and PSU started their next drive at their own 34. First play…interception! Iowa ate up nearly five minutes before punting it away. First down, a sack. Second down, a fumble! Iowa recovers and runs out the final 90 seconds to hold on.
As for the rest of the 2004 season, Iowa would win out. A blowout victory in the finale against Wisconsin (9th in the nation) got Iowa to Michigan’s 7-1 league mark. Despite the head-to-head loss, the league only looked at overall league records so Iowa claimed a share of the title. In the bowl against LSU, Iowa won on a desperation heave as the final seconds ticked away, ending Nick Saban’s LSU career with a loss, Iowa ended up 10-2 and 8th in the final poll. Penn State’s remaining games were less fun. They won just two more games and ended up going 4-7 (2-6). Despite the 7-16 stretch over 2003-2004, PSU exploded in 2005 going 11-1, being league co-champs, and winning the Orange Bowl.
2004 is one of the craziest games in the sneaky-fun Iowa/PSU series. It won’t win any beauty contests but between the level of defensive play and, quite frankly, a comedy of errors on offense, it is always a fun game to revisit. It’s safe to say though that both Franklin and Ferentz hope to put up more points this year. Perhaps they double it up, and Iowa prevails 12-8.
Big Ten and Counting 