Big Ten Review: Week 3
by Kyle_Martin on Sep 20, 2011 2:00 PM EDT
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PrintOuch. The Big Ten had two big games this week (OSU @ Miami and MSU @ ND) and came out flat in both of them. This couple with Northwestern dropping their game to Army, and Penn State and Minnesota's struggles to beat MAC teams, it wasn't a great week for the Big Ten. They did save some face with Illinois victory over 22nd ranked Arizona State.
Game of the Week: Ohio State Buckeyes 2-1 (0-0) @ Miami Hurricanes 1-1 (0-1)
Final Score: Miami - 24 Ohio State - 6
Miami jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead, and despite Jacory Harris being Jacory Harris (2 INTs), they maintained the lead throughout the game and never let it get close. If you think that Penn State has issues at QB, a quick look at Ohio State's quarterback situation should help you breathe a bit easier. Joe Bauserman and Braxton Miller were a combined 4/18 for 35 yards and 1 INT. This was the first time since the PSU game in 2008 that OSU didn't score a TD.
OSU Player of the Game: Punter Ben Buchanan had 6 punts and averaged 45.6 yards per punt.
All the Rest:
Pittsburgh Panthers 2-1 (0-0) @ Iowa Hawkeyes 2-1 (0-0)
Final Score: Iowa - 31 Pittsburgh - 27
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 24-3 lead with 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter... and then they forgot to play the fourth quarter. James Vandenberg threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth TD over the final 16 minutes of the game to lead Iowa to a four point win. Pittsburgh's Ray Graham was relatively quiet. After scoring 3 TDs in each of the first two games, he was held to 97 yards and 0 TDs against Iowa.
Iowa Player of the Game: James Vandenberg threw for 399 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT while leading Iowa's furious comeback. Keenan Davis and Marvin McNutt each had over 100 yards receiving though.
Eastern Michigan Eagles 2-1 (0-0) @ Michigan Wolverines 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Michigan - 31 EMU - 3
Penn State's week four opponent took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, then surrendered the next 31 points in the game en route to a blow out loss. Denard Robinson continues to be a mediocre passer, but an electrifying runner. He threw for 2 TDs, but only 95 yards and added an INT. He paced the Wolverines on the ground though, running for 198 yards, though Vincent Smith chipped in 118 yards of his own.
Michigan Players of the Game: Robinson and Smith combined for nearly 400 yards of offense between the two of them.
SE Missouri State Redhawks 0-2 (0-0) @ Purdue Boilermakers
Final Score: Purdue - 59 SEMS - 0
Purdue notched it's first shutout in 7 years against their FCS opponent. Three different running backs each ran for two scores as Purdue rushed for 393 yards. Even Robert Marve got some playing time in this one.
Purdue Players of the Game: The three headed attack of Akeem Shavers, Ralph Bolden and Akeem Hunt. The three accounted for 189 yards rushing and 6 TDs on 28 carries.
Northwestern Wildcats 2-1 (0-0) @ Army Black Knights 1-2
Final Score: Army - 21 NW - 14
Northwestern's magic without Dan Persa finally ran out. Kain Colter completed 12 passes for 89 yards, and ran for 57 more, but was replaced by freshman Trevor Siemian in the third quarter. Siemian tied the game up with an 62 yard TD pass to Jeremy Ebert in the fourth, but Northwestern couldn't stop Army's triple option attack and surrendered the winning TD with 2:49 remaining.
Northwestern Player of the Game: Jeremy Ebert had 6 receptions for 108 yards and 1 TD.
South Carolina State Bulldogs 1-2 (1-0) @ Indiana Hoosiers 1-2 (0-0)
Final Score: Indiana - 38 SC St. - 21
Indiana finally got their first win of the season against their FCS opponent. They jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Indiana Player of the Game: Edward Wright-Baker passed for 273 yards and 2 TDs.
Miami (OH) Redhawks 0-2 (0-0) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers 1-2 (0-0)
Final Score: Minnesota - 29 Miami - 23
Minnesota assured that the Big 10 wouldn't go 0-2 against Miami teams this weekend. The balanced attack from Marqueis Gray kept the Redhawks off balance and Minnesota's offense moving. However, Minnesota still let Miami mount a late drive deep into Gopher territory before finally stopping them and preserving Jerry Kill's first win as head coach.
Minnesota Player of the Game: Marqueis Gray threw for 163 yards and a TD and ran for another 173 yards.
Washington Huskies 2-1 (0-0) @ Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Nebraska - 51 Washington - 28
Hey all, this is Mike filling in on the rest of these game recaps for Kyle, who's out trying to get a real job today. Good luck, bro! Anyway, Nebraska and Washington were locked in a tight 20-17 game at halftime, but the Husk-IES decided the Husk-ERS should get 14 gift-wrapped points to blow the game open, on 20 yards in penalties one drive, then bumbling the kickoff to give it right back to NU on the UW one.
Nebraska Player of the Game: Rex Burkhead scored two touchdowns and rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries.
Wisconsin Badgers 3-0 (0-0) @ Northern Illinois Huskies 1-1 (0-0)
Final Score: Wisconsin - 49 NIU - 7
Wisconsin won yet another laugher of a non-conference game. Yes, Northern Illinois isn't terrible, but this is the way a Big Ten team with a pulse should beat any MAC team. Not much of interest, as the offense did its usual thing, and the defense had little trouble stuffing the run game that NIU abandoned as expected once they were down big.
Wisconsin Player of the Game: Russell OMG Wilson completed 23 of 32 passes for 347 yards, 3 touchdowns (1 INT), while rushing for 37 yards on five carries.
Michigan State Spartans 2-1 (0-0) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1-2
Final Score: ND - 31 MSU - 13
Sparty NO! Michigan State did it again, failing to live up to its expectations. Though this one wasn't really a surprise, as Notre Dame lost two stupid games before this win, Michigan State played like it didn't want to win the game. Twelve penalties for almost a football field worth of lost yards, and several turnovers doomed Sparty. The overall player of the game was the Notre Dame rushing defense, which limited MSU to a pathetic 29 yards on the ground.
Michigan State Player of the Game: B.J. Cunningham caught 12 passes for 158 yards.
Arizona State Sun Devils 2-1 (0-0) @ Illinois Fighting Illini 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Illinois - 17 ASU - 14
Arizona State went into Champaign and left with a vic--wait, what? Illinois beat a ranked non-conference opponent from a BCS conference? Lordy, the time has come! The Fightin' Illini used stifling defense and just enough offense to smother an Arizona State team that was getting a lot of attention this season. Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase went 11-of-15 for 135 yards with a pick and a touchdown, but ended up being the leading rusher with 67 yards.
Illinois Player of the Game: Jonathan Brown finished with 7 tackles, 3.5 TFL, an interception, a pass break up, and 1.5 sacks.
My Record for the Week: 7-5
My Record Overall: 26-10
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Can we just call Nebraska the anti-Penn State?
The offense looks legitimately solid, but the defense looks close to awful in spite of some really talented dudes.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
2 weeks until Nebraska-Wisconsin
I might recommend taking the OVER on any O/U below 80
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
I gotta get something off my chest....
scheduling 1-AA teams pisses me off. A lot.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
Scheduling them in and of itself doesn't piss me off
allowing them to count toward bowl eligibility does. I understand that you gotta do what you gotta do to finance non-revenue sports and remain within Title IX compliance, but there’s no reason to let it count toward bowl eligibility.
Then again, Sagarin’s computer said the MVC (from whence Indiana State hails) was the #4 1AA league last year, but better than the Sun Belt. As if to prove it, Indiana State kicked the sh** out of Western Kentucky this past weekend. The same WKU who almost beat Kentucky (much closer game than the 14-3 final made it look).
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
Scheduling an exhibition
as a legit game is annoying, but forcing an un-sellable ticket on season ticket holders is down right lousy.
Here’s hoping the Superconferences do away with the battle for everyone to schedule their way to an undefeated season and thus a shot at the MNC.
Please don't follow me on twitter.
Next step after SUPERCONFERENCE
Expanding regular season to 13 or 14 games.
Just wait. It’ll happen.
by Chris Grovich on Sep 20, 2011 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Conference playoffs!
/seriously
"I wouldn’t trust Craig James to report on sixth-grade volleyball." Stewart Mandel on Craig James, who allegedly killed five hookers while at SMU.
More Football?
I’m on board with that!!
"It's never a bad thing thing to vote for the suckiness of tOSU." -RWReese
Follow @Paige2PSU
Blame the money.
1-A teams started charging so much for these early games that 1-AA opponents were able to undercut them on price. So instead of paying $800,000 for Arkansas State, we spend $450,000 for Indiana State. And allowing these games to count for bowl eligibility just enables the bargain basement shopping..
by Chris Grovich on Sep 20, 2011 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Why do we have to be so crappy at the same time as tosu
They are probably going to beat us in one of the ugliest games of the series, that just is how it seems to go.
We'll see.
Every game is a toss-up in the craptastic Big Ten this year. No team is complete.
by Illegal Formation on Sep 20, 2011 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions
I feel bad just for mentioning them, but this insanity must stop
ATO actually has a pretty decent conference comparison. Right now, the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten are all virtually equal; all slightly above the Pac-12 and below the Big East.
The Big Ten is much closer to surpassing the Big East and being the #2 league than it is to falling below the MWC and being the #7 league. In fact, if Iowa hadn’t blown it against Iowa State and Purdue doesn’t get a game winning FG blocked, the Big Ten is the #2 league, and significantly closer to #1. A Temple win over Maryland this weekend in tandem with an undefeated week for the B1G (every B1G team is at least a 7 point favorite), will move the B1G to at least #3.
The Big 12 is by far the best, and while I have an extremely difficult time thinking that a league whose 4th best team is a Mizzou team that barely beat Miami of Ohio and lost to Arizona State is the best league, it’s tough to argue with the record: the league has only lost 2 OOC games, one in OT, on the road, against a BCS team.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
This is why I can't get 100% behind sagarin ratings, sabermetrics, etc.
Your numbers say one thing…I say the overall quality of the Big Ten is down this year.
You’re touting a possible Temple win against Maryland as being good for the conference? This is the same Maryland team that beat MIami…who pantsed one of our traditional powers last weekend. I don’t care how many players OSU had suspended…Miami has their problems too. Ohio State looked terrible.
“If Iowa hadn’t blown it against Iowa State….” if, if, if….what if Pitt didn’t shit the bed in the forurth quarter last weekend? We can play this game all day.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
I'll take these individually
—This is the same Maryland team that beat Miami, but the Miami team that lost to Maryland was not the same one that beat Ohio State. 3 of Miami’s starting front 7 and the starting QB were suspended for the Maryland game and were back for the OSU game. Even then, Miami was winning with 2 min to go in that game. On the road.
—if if if…you’re exactly right. That’s the point. The Big Ten is a fluke play here and there from being anywhere from the #2 league to the #6 league right now, which demonstrates quite well that there’s little-to-nothing separating the BCS leagues.
Feel free to say the Big Ten stinks; I’d be the first to admit there are definitely some teams, even traditionally good ones, with issues (Nebraska’s defense, Penn State’s offense, OSU’s QBs), but the suggestion that the Big Ten is significantly worse than any BCS league (save the Big 12, I guess) defies the results of the games thus far.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
I'm with hbeach
rankings and the transitive property aren’t that important when you’re talking about conferences. I’m looking at each team in this conference and saying that none is great. A few may be good. Most are mediocre. A couple are bad. This is based on my gut, and my years of football watching experience. The Big Ten is worse than usual (and I don’t think that “the usual” is so great either).
by Illegal Formation on Sep 20, 2011 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
I think where you get that these conferences are close is with the middle and bottom teams...
all those teams can beat each other on a given day. It’s the top tier teams that are more glaring. We have one….pac-12, SEC, Big-12 all have 2+. Trust me, it pains me to say that.
Take out Wisky and I think there are 8 or more teams that can run our conference…not compete for the conference champ, but RUN IT (okie, okie state, TAM, boise, LSU, Bama, oregon, stanford and maybe Arkansas/flo state)
I would rank:
SEC
Big-12
B1G / pac-12 tie
ACC
big east
I guess
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
I laugh at Boise, Oregon, and Arkansas running it
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
I laugh/cry at the big ten performance thru 3 weeks.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
by hbeach08 on Sep 20, 2011 6:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
ck, two serious questions for you....
Have you seen Boise state play this year….and what big ten teams do you think could beat them this coming Saturday.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
by hbeach08 on Sep 20, 2011 6:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I watched them play Georgia and Toledo
Don’t let the score (40-15) of the Toledo game fool you. BSU scored a garbage time TD, and Toledo twice got to the BSU 8 yard line only to turn it over, missed a 30ish yd FG, and missed a PAT. Toledo left 18 points on the field in what should have been an 18 point game.
Judging by that, I’d say BSU is about as good as Ohio State, who is anywhere from the 2nd to 4th best team in the Big Ten leaders division right now. So I’ll say Wisconsin definitely could, and OSU, PSU, and Illinois might be able to, and that’s just from the Leaders.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
Penn State beat Temple
who beat Maryland (maybe) who beat Miami who beat OSU who will beat Penn State (maybe).
Everyone is the same.
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
Which ends up with...
Penn State beating Penn State.
Sometimes circularity reveals truth.
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world" -- Ludwig Wittgenstein
by SubLime on Sep 20, 2011 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I would take our defense to outscore our offense any day.
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
That's not the point!
The point is that the Big Ten’s teams are all weak by comparison to past Big Ten teams.
Hire Eastern Michigan's coach - whoever that is!
by ReadingRambler on Sep 20, 2011 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Really?
When’s the last time Illinois started 3-0? Or Wisconsin dominated their OOC schedule? Or Michigan held a 1A team to under 7 points? Or that 4 teams entered week 4 (and almost certainly week 5) undefeated?
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
last time four teams went 3-0 to start the season?
I don’t know …enlighten me. I’m on my mobile or else I’d look it up.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
by hbeach08 on Sep 20, 2011 6:28 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
nevermind. I looked it up.
Last year.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
by hbeach08 on Sep 20, 2011 6:37 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Well that answers that one
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
The two of those I've found the answers to
The last time Michigan held a 1A team to under 7 points was November 2008, against Minnesota.
The last time Illinois was 3-0 was 2001. If they go 4-0, it will be the first time since 1951. Illinois would finish #3/4 in the polls that year. To give you a feel for just how long ago that was, Princeton would finish #6 and Holy Cross was a consensus top 20 team.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
Can Minnesota really be considered a 1A team at this point?
Oh wait I mean Minnesota is the greatest!
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
The last time Wisconsin beat all OOC opponents by at least 10 was 1998
And that included a 26-14 win over a 7-5 San Diego State team.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
Dude, I'm not reposting the same freaking thing I posted yesterday.
I’ve already gone through all of the teams, I’m not doing it again. The second best team in this conference is…who exactly? Nebraska, who is completely one-dimensional? Iowa, who is really, really young and prone to bouts of stupid? Michigan State, who is very vulnerable? Ohio State, who sucks? Michigan, who has a middling defense and an offense that still relies too much on Denard (26 carries against Eastern Michigan…What the flip?)?
The fact that the other conferences aren’t very good does not change the fact that the Big Ten isn’t as good as it was in 2009 or 2010.
Hire Eastern Michigan's coach - whoever that is!
by ReadingRambler on Sep 20, 2011 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions
If Edward Wright-Baker can be half as good at football as Mark Linn-Baker is at acting, brighter days are ahead for Indiana!
Opinions are like f---holes. Everyone has at least two.
I knew that... I even typed Wisc @ NIU
fingers must be working aside from my brain.
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
But, yeah, Ohio State is totally better than Penn State.
Hire Eastern Michigan's coach - whoever that is!
I'm witcha homie...
lots of winnable games left. As you know, lots of potential L’s too if we don’t get our act together.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
The only thing OSU has going for it
is the fact that they’re missing a good lineman, their top WR and RB. So they could drastically improve on offense in a few weeks.
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
Not sure about the RB part
Herron is a lot of things, consistent is not one of them. He’s shown moments of brilliance (2nd half against PSU last year), but a lot of bad games too. He’s like PSU’s Stephon Green: the senior leader I guess, but not so sure he’s even one of their top 2 backs.
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
He's supposedly their starter this year though right?
Until the suspension
Formerly known as kmart93
@kmart93
Black Shoe Diaries
Not necessarily
Probably would have been the frontrunner due to experience, but OSU has a stable of 4/5* backs waiting to take the spot of an inconsistent runner
"I play for Penn State, we don't celebrate after TDs." - Penn State's Derek Moye, on being asked to act like he's celebrating a TD during a BTN shoot.
With those quarterbacks?
Their quarterbacks are worse than ours. Ours suck, but at least they have meaningful playing time.
Hire Eastern Michigan's coach - whoever that is!
by ReadingRambler on Sep 20, 2011 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions
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