Did Bret Bielema kick Curt Cignetti’s dog or something?
That has to be one of the reasons behind Indiana’s throttling of Illinois 63-10 last Saturday. I really thought that one would be more of a game than it turned out to be and for a while it looked like it was going to be. It was only a 14-7 game at the end of the first quarter but the score doesn’t quite tell the entire story. Even in those first fifteen minutes it was obvious the Illini were fighting an uphill battle as the Hoosiers quickly wrested
away control. Before we knew it, Indiana had destroyed a top ten team and made a statement that last year was no fluke. I feel sorry for their next opponent.
*Looks at the schedule*
Oh dear.
Yeah, so Indiana’s performance last weekend didn’t do much for my confidence heading into Iowa’s homecoming game Saturday at 2:30 on Peacock (ugh!). That’s not to say it’s impossible but damn, that was an impressive display from the Hoosiers and anyone guessing they’d go meekly back to the Big Ten’s basement were put on notice. This will be my first trip back to Kinnick Stadium since 2017 and I’d be very grateful to see Iowa’s first win over a ranked opponent in four years.
Let’s check out what else is on deck in week five! Schedule graphics courtesy of Projection Sports.
Thursday, September 25 and Friday, September 26
As in week one, we’re blessed with a fantastic slate of games with some heavy hitters sprinkled throughout. Of course there’s #11 Indiana @ Iowa, but even starting Friday night there are some great matches. #24 TCU @ Arizona State and even Houston @ Oregon State should give us some entertainment ahead of the full Saturday schedule.
Saturday, September 27 – Broadcast
Saturday, September 27 – Streaming
Illinois will try to bounce back from their embarrassment in Bloomington when they host #21 USC. The Illini will no doubt want to wash that horrible taste from their mouths and getting the Trojans on a cross country trip and early kickoff may help them do just that.
Rutgers @ Minnesota will square off in the Battle for Athan Kaliakmanis. Both teams are coming off losses but the Gophers have been stewing in theirs for an additional week, losing to Cal 27-10 back in week 2. It’ll be interesting to see who bounces back and who continues to slide, and what it means for their season.
At 2:30, #1 Ohio State visits Washington. Both offenses have been prolific, totaling a combined 288 points between them so far this year. In fact, both the Buckeyes and Huskies have reached the 70 point mark in their week 2 games on September 6. Hard to imagine them getting close to that number this week as they’re not playing either Grambling or UC Davis.
You’ll have to pop back and forth between that game and #4 LSU @ #13 Ole Miss on ABC. The Bayou Bengals have steadily risen to fourth in the country aided in large part to their 17-10 victory over Clemson in week 1, a victory whose shine is a bit dulled given the rut those other Tigers are now in. Ole Miss brings in a splendid offense of their own that’ll be going up against LSU’s #9 scoring defense.
One game I was not expecting to be interested in is Baylor @ Oklahoma State. But that was before we learned on Tuesday that OSU was firing longtime coach and now over 40-year-old man Mike Gundy. Gundy was the FBS’s second longest-tenured head coach after Kirk Ferentz and he had only two losing seasons at Cowboys coach.
Prime time in week 5 delivers with two heavyweight fights. #6 Oregon will travel to #3 Penn State for the Nittany Lions’ annual Whiteout game, this time on NBC and #17 Alabama visits #5 Georgia on ABC. Both games begin at 6:30 so you’ll be giving your recall button a workout. Hopefully both games are close and live up to the billing and we don’t have any unexpected blowouts on either side.
Finish your week 5 off with #25 BYU @ Colorado – sadly no game on the Hawaiian islands this week – and then enjoy your NFL Sunday.
