Ten Fourteen Eighteen B1G Things
- You know, it almost went like last year! Then Washington decided they’d seen enough.
- Wisconsin, look at what you’ve done. You’ve let Iowa score 37 points. Against a West team. In regulation.
- Somehow Penn State is going to let them score even more a week from now.
- Speaking of, I’ll choose to thank him for the title and the 6 double-digit win seasons, alongside a CFP semifinal.
- Nebraska can win games close now.
- Turns out, Oregon wasn’t that good all along.
- It’s Death Star vs Death Star Jr for the title game.
- Yeah maybe the signs did help what do we think?
The Rundown
Washington runs away in the second half, 38-19
Rutgers was up 13-10 at the half, and playing the kind of game Greg Schiano likes to play. Then, the second half looked like the kind of game he’s been forced to play this season, as the defense fell apart once more.
UCLA doesn’t suck now, beats Michigan State 38-13
Turns out, DeShaun foster really was holding UCLA back, and Nico Iamaleava actually could elevate the Bruins. Either that or the dead cat is still bouncing.
Some things never change…: Ohio State 34, Illinois 16
Illinois did everything it could to stay within striking distance, but three turnovers against the number 1 team in the country tends
to send things sideways.
HWAHSQB: Illinois outgained osu on the day, but you can’t have 3 turnovers to zero and beat #1. Thrown in a -14 yard punt that was very non B1G west and not getting the 50/50 calls from the officials and it just wasn’t going to happen. That’s ok. We still looked like we were playing the same sport at least. We were semi competitive with the best team in America and that’s pretty great in my book.
MaximumSam: The Illinois-Ohio State game was one of the least entertaining football contests in recent memory. Both teams engaged in a series of yakety sax like mistakes, but luckily the Illini ones were much more impactful. The game was never actually close, and was effectively over at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the teams still had to come out and play some version of zombie football. Imagine if one of the late season terrible episodes of The Walking Dead were turned into a football game.
Death Star Jr. continues its death toll: Indiana 30, Oregon 20
Indiana continues to show that they’re this year’s Indiana, but, more importantly, they may just be Indiana.
Meanwhile, Oregon got a dose of reality: You struggled against a team that turned out to not be that good, then struggled again against a team that was definitely not good, and, finally, you faced a team that was good. The Ducks might not lose again the rest of the way, or they may drop two more along the way. But one thing is certain, this is not the best team in the country, as so many folks had insisted upon just a few weeks ago.
BuffKomodo: For the second year in a row, the Indiana Hoosiers are bowl eligible before Halloween. This time though, the Hoosiers are favorites to go to the college football playoff. At that, Indiana now is a favorite to play for a B1G title.
My how this program has changed. Despite that horrendous pick 6 for Mendoza, the dude has come back time and time again. Indiana will likely be a top 5 team tomorrow and will be a favorite to go to Indy.
The defense and special teams deserve the credit in this one though. 13 defensive points allowed. 6 sacks, 8 TFL. At no other time in #iufb history has a defense proven so much for the Hoosiers.
The offense wasn’t bad. Despite some odd moments and a pick 6, the Hoosiers dominated this game. Roman Hemby with 70 yards and 2 TD, Sarratt with 121 and a TD, and 1 sack and 4 TFL for the O line and
The Hoosiers dominated this game.
I am so happy. I am so drunk. I promise I’ll write something real this week.
Narrator: At least we can enjoy Indiana fans’ happiness, even if our own will have to wait.
Nebraska 34, Maryland 31: One streak broken, one remains
Maryland continues to lose games in October, while Nebraska may have learned the art of winning a close game, having now done it twice in as many weeks. It wasn’t a one-score win last week, but it was a three-point game with less than 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. That counts.
BigRed_Twice: Huskers won! I listened to the first half and then quit on them in the second and watched the Happy Valley hilarity instead. For the second time this season, the Huskers WON a one-score game. Bonkers. Raiola had a not-great day with three picks, all of which the Huskers paid for. But October Maryland was stronger, and for that, I am thankful.
Narrator: They get a pass for laughing at our misery. We’ve laughed at theirs for 20 years now.
Larry31: For the second straight week Maryland had the lead with 2:00 to go and lost. Maryland is saying to 2024 USC and 2023 Nebraska, “hold my beer.” Ugh. On the bright side, Maryland was supposed to be bad this year because the team was so young and had so few returning contributors from last year. They have hung with Washington and Nebraska, who are better than average in the B1G. That’s not bad for a team whose three best players are true freshmen. The trip out to UCLA looks much more daunting than it did three weeks ago. Side note: I think Oregon broke Penn State.
…and some change in and instant: Northwestern 22, Penn State 21
Never in a million years would I have guess that this is how James Franklin’s tenure would end. He may not be gone today, or even tomorrow, but we all know this is it. The team that was a play away from a national title game appearance has collapsed beyond recognition, and we’re all sitting here —well, at least those of us who aren’t pointing and laughing, wondering how it all went this wrong.
I will say this, 12 and a half years ago, I braced for the worst. “They” said Penn State would not compete for years to come, a decade minimum. A Big Ten championship, a Cotton Bowl win, A Fiesta Bowl win, a Rose Bowl win, and two other New Year’s Six appearances later, coupled with a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is more than I could have imagined possible when James Franklin came to town. He may not have been Kirby Smart, but I’m certainly grateful he was Mark Richt. Because it could have been a lot worse.
LincolnParkWildcat: CATS WIN!!! holy fuck what the fuck just happened?!!!!! I thought Penn state would beat us like a drum after their bad loss to UCLA. Has this team quit on Franklin?!
The Cats beat Penn Stare for the first time in ten years behind a solid defensive effort, and a solid running between Himon and Komolafe. Preston Stone had some nice passing to Griffin Wilde.
I don’t know what the hell is going on in Happy Valley, but i think that James Franklin’s tenure might be drawing to a close. His team didn’t seem motivated.
BuffKomodo: For real. What the fuck just happened.
LincolnParkWildcat: Right now I would not want to get between a bottle of Malört and @mnw in a celebratory mood.
Narrator: Six laughing emoji reactions.
MinnesotaWildcat: What’s stunned me about Northwestern’s turnaround is how much more…Northwestern…the defense has looked. Today it was hard hits…
[Narrator: So hard one of them ended Drew Allar’s career.]
…swarming to the ball, tackling well, everything that I appreciated under Mike Hankwitz. There were a couple delayed blitzes through the A-gap that I really enjoyed, the secondary is doing enough to win, and I won’t make jokes about Robert Fitzgerald transferring to Notre Dame in the off-season because my little heart just couldn’t take it.
I owe an apology to Preston Stone, who looks much more like a Ben Bryant-esque QB with each game. I am withholding an apology to Zach Lujan, but the 39 runs versus the 26 passes is a much better ratio–even when the runs were for short yardage. Seeing Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II getting into the passing game is great, too.
The ‘Cats caught both UCLA and Penn State at about ideal times, but this win felt different to UCLA. NU was content in that one to let the Bruins unload the clip into their foot and played as if they were waiting for it. Tonight they imposed a damn identity, and that…well, it’s been years. It was pleasant to see.
It was the signs: UCS 31, Michigan 13
They still get to keep the title though. So probably worth it all things considered.
Brian Gillis: What is there to say about this one? It’s not surprising that USC won. It is surprising the manner in which they did. USC was the better team in every facet against Michigan. After the game, Sherrone Moore told reporters that Michigan has a lot to fix. He’s not kidding.
RockymtnBlue: I didn’t expect to win this game, but I did think it would be competitive. It was not. It’s not surprising USC moved the ball on Michigan. They have the SP+ #1 offense and they’re well-built to attack Michigan’s weaknesses. I did expect more from our offense, though. Michigan had 9 possessions (excluding 1 play before halftime). In 6 of those 9, Michigan ran 5 plays or less. 5 of those 6 were in the 2nd half. I said a couple weeks ago this is not a bad team. But it’s not a good one either. This observation is holding up. On the bright side, at least we’re not Penn State.
I didn’t watch it special: Minnesota 27, Purdue 20
BoilerUp89: Purdue’s getting better as the season goes on. The line play is better on both sides of the ball. The secondary even made some plays in this one. They are still prone to shooting a full clip into their foot, reloading and repeating. Purdue won the yardage battle by a lot. They won time of possession and held Minnesota to very few rushing yards. But costly mistakes at the worst possible times resulted in another loss. Bowl hopes are eliminated. Purdue has two remaining chances to get win number three and make the season a success.
HoustonBoiler: This was really frustrating as Purdue was the better team for 3 quarters. Purdue did some good things. They moved the ball well and ran the ball very well for most of the game. The defense held Minnesota to 30 yards rushing, pressured the QB, and had good coverage for the most part. I will echo BU89 regarding the huge disparity in total yards, rushing yards, and time of possession. Unfortunately, a game lasts 4 quarters and Minnesota got it done when it counted. As I said in this week’s Boiling Points, Purdue needed to play a clean game, i.e., win the turnover battle, minimize the penalties, play better, not beat themselves. Well, Ryan Browne threw 2 interceptions, including a pick-6, and Devin Mockobee threw 1 for a total of 3. The defense did notch their first interception of the year – Smiley Bradford tipped a pass and Myles Slusher picked it off – that stopped a Minnesota drive at about 5 minute mark in the 3rd quarter. There were a bunch of dropped passes. Plus, plenty of penalties, including a couple of backbreaking face mask penalties that kept Minnesota’s offense on the field, several holding calls that hurt the offense, and a block in the back that negated a nice punt return. Coach Odom has been preaching discipline and sadly he still has plenty of work to do.
WhiteSpeedReceiver: Minnesota decided to spend the first half not blocking and not tackling and letting Purdue competent. But amazingly, we were only down 17-13 at halftime. And then they did fuck all in the 2nd half and we just did enough to win. Hopefully Peej has a wonderful time hollierin about the coachable opportunities that this game provided, because if not we’ll start losing to the Purdues and Nebraskas and wisconsins of this schedule, and that just doesn’t make any sense.
One of my good friends called it a smash & grab, and I told him I was just disappointed that we didn’t have Roy Hodgson or Steve McClaren on hand to enjoy it.
