Ready to Rumble: Big 10 Performances in Week 3

Submitted by Eye of the Tiger on

Hey All,

Given extensive work commitments and a second “career” within the 80s synth music revival scene, I had decided to forego the annual diary series this year. But with multiple diary series AWOL, I figured I what the heck.

This year I’ll be reviewing the week’s best and worst performances in the conference, using boxing as a metaphor.

All contests fall into one of four categories:

  1. KOs, TKOs and Unanimous Decisions (i.e. emphatic wins/upset wins)
  2. Split Decisions (i.e. wobbly wins)
  3. Moral Victories (i.e. losses you can take heart in)
  4. Out Cold (i.e. losses that make pandas sad)

Note: this is a week-by-week thing, not a power ranking type thing. Previous performances only come into play when ranking within these categories. I will, however, comment on the team’s overall performance and outlook in the comments.

[Rankings in parentheses.]

 

KOs, TKOs and Unanimous Decisions

 

1. OSU (3) beats Oklahoma (14) 45-24 on the road.

Whether OSU is really that good or Oklahoma is just worse than expected is a matter of debate; as far as I’m concerned, it’s both. Oklahoma certainly has not looked like a playoff contender so far, and that probably contributed to the way this game played out. That said, this young OSU team actually looks better than they did a year ago this time, when the roster was heavy with NFL-bound upperclassmen. They may still drop an egg at some point, but this was a big test and the Buckeyes passed it with ease. A potentially/hopefully momentum-killing bye week beckons, after which Rutgers offers itself up for ritual sacrifice.

 

2. MSU (12) beats Notre Dame (18) 36-28 on the road.

MSU’s anemic victory over Furman led a lot of people to question whether this Spartan team lived up to the standard set by the last three. But even if this Notre Dame team was overrated going into the game, a road victory over a ranked team is no small feat—especially considering ND’s recent success in the series. Simply put, had MSU played like they did against Furman, they would have lost. Instead, MSU’s offense clicked and the defense got just enough plays out of its experienced linebacking corps to hold off a last ditch comeback attempt. We’ll see whether this was a one-off performance or something more sustainable when they play Wisconsin at Camp Randall.

 

3. Nebraska (NR) beats Oregon (22) 35-32 at home.

Nebraska has a good roster...by Big 10 West standards. They did last year as well, and probably should have won 8-9 games. Unfortunately, they were really, really unlucky, leaving them with a 5-7 record instead. Things seem to be going better in the fortune department now, as evidenced by this close win over a not-quite-what-they-used-to-be-but-still-ranked (barely) Oregon team. 9-3 seems attainable for the Huskers, who get Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue over the next four games. 

 

4. Michigan (4) beats Colorado (NR) 45-28 at home.

By far the wobbliest of the four convincing victories, and a game in which a better-than-expected Colorado spent two quarters looking like they were primed for the upset. Then Colorado’s QB got hurt and Michigan wreaked its horrible vengeance upon the Buffaloes. Fans can either take refuge in the fact that the team has the skill and heart to recover from early adversity, or worry endlessly about the erratic safety, OL and QB play, all of which seemed to confirm preseason anxieties about those positions. Both are legitimate reactions to a victory that never seemed as emphatic as the final score implies. Next up: a mediocre Penn State team with one very scary running back.

 

 

Split Decision Wins

 

5. Maryland (NR) beats UCF 30-24 on the road.

Not a great win by any stretch of the imagination, but UCF is at least okay and Maryland were playing on the road. So that’s something I guess. Next up: a game.

 

6. Penn State (NR) beats Temple 34-27 at home.

Penn State decided to memorialize the man who allegedly kept quiet for decades about a serial child molester by eking out a home win against Temple. Can’t we just trade them to the ACC already?

 

7. Northwestern (NR) beats Duke (NR) 24-13 at home.

Northwestern finally gets a win—over a bad Duke team, sure, but hey—a win is better than another loss, I guess.  

 

10. Wisconsin (9) beats Georgia State (NR) 23-17 at home.

It’s getting hard to remember that Wisconsin beat a top 5 SEC West team just two weeks ago. The Badgers looked downright bad as they barely scraped by winless Georgia State, and the murderers’ row portion of their schedule looms large. Will fans remember the opener if they go 6-6? 

 

9. Rutgers (NR) beats New Mexico (NR) 37-28 at home.

Another week, another bad performance by Rutgers, who may not win another game all year.

 

Moral Victories

 

N/A

 

Out Cold

 

10. Iowa (13) loses to North Dakota (NR) 23-31 at home.

Uninspired and uninspiring performance by the presumptive Big 10 West favorites. Iowa still has plenty of time to recover, but expectations for the season have officially been tempered. Iowa’s next two opponents—Rutgers and Northwestern—offer Kirk Ferentz a great pair of opportunities to right the ship and start earning that $48m extension.

 

11. Illinois (NR) loses to Western Michigan (NR) 34-10 at home.

Granted, WMU is a good MAC team, but they are still a MAC team, and any game in which you get steamrolled—at home—by a MAC team is a bad, bad game. Illinois is bad and should feel bad. 

 

BYES: Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue

Comments

doggdetroit

September 21st, 2016 at 10:56 PM ^

Little Mac - Indiana

Doc Louis - Northwestern

Mario - Jim Delaney



Glass Joe - Rutgers

Von Kaiser - Purdue

Don Flamenco - Illinois

Piston Honda - Maryland

King Hippo - Minnesota

Great Tiger - Penn State

Bald Bull - Iowa

Soda Popinksi - Wisconsin

Super Macho Man - Nebraska

Mr. Sandman - Michigan State

Mr. Dream - Michigan

Mike Tyson - Ohio State



 

WolverineHistorian

September 21st, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

That Nebraska/Oregon game was weird.  Oregon went for 2 on 4 of their 5 touchdowns.  If they kick the extra point after every score, they win 36-35....or Nebraska is forced to go for 2 on their last TD to force overtime. 

I don't know what they were thinking there.