Big Ten Observations Through Three Weeks
Congrats to our main rival Rutgers on their first 3-0 start since 2012. Schiano might have something cooking over there.
Either Oklahoma is that mediocre this year or Nebraska won't be a complete walkover for us on the road.
The jury is still out on Wisconsin, we should know more about them after they play Notre Dame next week.
Lol Northwestern.
How about Sparty? They seem to have found their guy in Mel Tucker and could easily be 7-0 by the time we play.
Indiana looks respectable.
At Penn State is probably the hardest game on the schedule at this point. Penn State at Iowa in a few weeks has the potential to be a classic.
Maryland doesn't look terrible this year.
This is the worst OSU team since 2017, they could go 9-3. I never expected us to even be competitive with OSU this year but at this point it feels like we have to beat them.
September 19th, 2021 at 7:49 AM ^
I am not sure playing Norte Dame tells us much at this point either. Coming off a COVID year, we still really don’t know much about these teams. I don’t think I have ever felt this way, to his extent after three weeks.
OSU has to much talent, they will pull this together. Seems typical for them to struggle like this for the first half a season or so.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:25 AM ^
Agreed on OSU. I posted this in another thread. Reloading (what OSU, Alabama, and Clemson have the privilege of doing) is sometimes tricky early in the season, but the last twenty years of history (especially the last few) suggest that OSU will be ready to kick Michigan's ass, again, in November.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:34 AM ^
I too won't be lulled into a false sense of security nor drink the Maize and Blue kool aid this early in the season. The Buckeyes could come into Michigan Stadium with 3 losses in late November but they always bring their A game. The odds on an Ohio State blow out become much lower.
No doubt, we'll know how these are playing after 11 weeks. Thus far, a great start to the season for Michigan and very shaky for the Buckeyes.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
Definitely don't drink the maize Kool-Aid.
September 19th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^
I wish we could catch OSU in late September/early October for a maize out night game.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
Assessing Michigan's chances against Ohio State based on September OOC games is always fool's gold.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
This is not a typical OSU team. Young at a lot of important positions. I don't know about 3 losses because I'm not sure of anybody out there. I'm not sold on PSU, because they still make some weird play calling decisions.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
I agree they are young at key positions, but I also don’t think Ryan Day is the wunderkind everyone thought he was. They miss Justin Fields and I think the post-Urban Meyer era of coaching is showing the effects. Things could get ugly if they don’t show massive improvement.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:56 AM ^
I’m not sure people ever thought that about Day. He just seems like a generic coach to me. He’s almost certainly a downgrade from Meyer. The question is whether they have enough talent to mask this.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:39 AM ^
Judging by recruiting rankings, they certainly do
This is either a down year or a year where they have to gel by just playing more. Time will tell.
Nevertheless, Michigan has to show they can beat them this year.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
Well, I think they can mask it to a degree. They'll always at least be very good, but I wonder if the Meyer trend of having elite offenses and defenses at the same time is coming to an end. Day is an offense guy and his defensive staff isn't all that great. In particular, he made an awful DC hire.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:21 AM ^
Good points!
My problem here is that they have been so superior to anything we threw at them in the last 6 years--can Michigan overcome that gap?
September 19th, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
I don't understand this take on Day-what exactly has he done to make anyone not think he is a top notch coach? And also, it's already clear he is as good a recruiter as Meyer.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
There's huge belief he's a total football savant and the best guy in the world they could have hired.
September 19th, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
I don’t think even OSU fans think that. They thought they’d win a national title with Fields.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
Practically every coach is a downgrade from Meyer. Day was just riding his coattails.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
+1 about Penn State. Who punts on 3rd down?
September 19th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
Under appreciated comment.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:28 AM ^
Notre Dame is high up on the "Are They Good?" list of teams. Barely beat what appears to be a BAD Florida State team, and needed a literal last minute TD to beat Toledo. Eeking by Purdue 27-13 doesn't tell us a whole lot either.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
I hope Wiscy crushes them.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
Exactly. I think we can broadly characterize teams into three groups: probably terrible, probably not terrible, and unknown. Too much guesswork throughout to start defining teams any more accurately than that.
I think you could probably say that MSU and Penn State (and us) are probably not terrible, but whether that means 6-6 or special season is still TBD.
September 19th, 2021 at 7:55 AM ^
I'll say this for Michigan... I'm not celebrating yet. They have had a pretty easy road so far. Granted, they have taken care of business against weak competition, but the bar is higher than that. Get through Rutgers and Wisconsin with wins, then I'll be celebrating and have some real optimism for the rest of the schedule.
They've done a great job so far, but they still have much to prove.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:30 AM ^
Agree. We have seen this numerous times. Michigan looks good in September, osu struggle some by November Michigan looks terrible and has 3-4 losses and OSU wins by 3-5 touchdowns. I fully expect the same results this season
September 19th, 2021 at 8:49 AM ^
I have to disagree with your analysis. Ohio looks especially bad thus far and I don’t see them beating Michigan by 3+ touchdowns again.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:21 AM ^
I agree
the Bobcats are horrible
but then again we don’t play Ohio.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
I love that I'm getting negged for this ??? OSU will score 50 plus on Michigan
September 19th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
Unless they go 3 OT, not happening. M will run the ball and eat the clock. You are just saying that because of negative points.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
I agree with you. No way they blast us this year; no way they have more than 30.
Can we score 31?
September 19th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
I am amazed by your ability to see two months into the future. I’m sure you called the Purdue hamblasting of OSU in August as well.
Non-snark version: relax and enjoy the fucking games as they happen. If they suck, turn them off and go do something else.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:26 AM ^
We’ve made our road look easy with three straight blowouts, but WMU looks like a solid team (they upset Pitt yesterday) and Washington got off the mat with a 52-3 win over Ark State. I wouldn’t write UW off just yet - their defense seems legit.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
We are the only team in football with three straight 300 yard rushing games. It's not like there are no other teams with easy opponents. Yet we're the only one.
So, while we have much to prove, it's not like we have not shown something so far.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
I sat back yesterday and thought about that--not just 300++++ yards, but, I think-very good YPC and YAC. The offensive line is mowing people down and getting a push where the running backs are trying to decide which massive hole to run through and not getting touched until they are well beyond the LOS.
This does not appear to be a mirage--and I am as skeptical as anybody.
September 19th, 2021 at 7:57 AM ^
The one common thread I've noticed in several games this year is the shitty officiating. Last night's Penn State - Auburn game was egregious. And the scoop-and-score that had multiple officiating errors on the same play in the Memphis-Miss St game.
I don't know if the officiating has ever been this bad across the board.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:57 AM ^
As quizzical as Brian Harsin's attempt to Pete Carroll his way into the end zone in the 4th quarter was, the officiating was just terrible all around. Among the notable incidents - the intentional grounding call on what was just a blown route and the botching of a call where the receiver was down for what seemed years before the ball came out, a call which was fortunately reversed by the replay booth otherwise PSU would have had a TD on the play. I almost felt bad for BOTH teams in that game in that respect. Almost.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:24 AM ^
That crew last night at the PSU game was the worst bunch of idiots I’ve ever seen in stripes. Somehow managed to be worse than the three blind mice in 2013, UM vs Louisville.
They should not even be allowed back into a game ever again. Not even to watch.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:49 AM ^
They took a down away from Penn state after the terrible intentional grounding call, missed intentional grounding by Auburn, and gave Penn State a horrible spot on their fake punt.
On top of these huge mistakes, they just did not seem to know what they were doing.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
Don’t forget early in the game they messed up by only giving PSU 3 downs on one possession. For that to be the marquee game of the night, the striped shirts were awful.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:10 AM ^
Then they tried to make it up with the most obvious BS call I think I've ever seen. football was a fucking yard short of the first down and they just tried to quietly move the chains right after frankllin spent 5 minutes chewing ass.
It was bizarre.
September 19th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
SEC crew
September 19th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
Totally agree about the PSU game last night. I don't know how scheduling negotiations work, but it sure seemed like Auburn got to hand pick their SEC officials as part of the deal for them to play @PSU.
Felt like PSU was playing against 18 opponents at all time - 11 players, 7 refs.
OTOH, i think officiating has always been this bad - HDTV, replays from 7 angles and ultra close-ups make all errors known and highlighted. Super slo-mo also makes things appear more definitive than they are in real time.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:00 AM ^
On the topic of the op and the broader landscape, it's been an interesting start.
PSU has two strong wins already. Wisconsin and Auburn aren't necessarily elite, but they are solid teams. I didn't expect PSU to emerge 3-0 at this point.
Iowa is interesting. They have good wins over Indiana and Iowa State, but they seem rated too high for a team coached by Kirk Ferentz. They'll find a way to lose a couple games they shouldn't.
OSU seems to be unraveling with a lot of stuff off the field. They have a talented team, so I still expect them to turn things around, but playing a close game against Tulsa is concerning for them.
MSU is looking like that will be a tough game. Good win for them over Miami.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
MSU has taken care of business but I think Miami was massively overrated in the preseason. Thus far the Canes have been blown out twice and needed a last-minute win over App State.
I don’t know how impressive Iowa’s two wins are going to turn out to be either.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:33 AM ^
Iowa's offense is pretty terrible too -- even by Iowa standards. 118th in the country at 298 yards per game.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:08 AM ^
Iowa has a problem at QB which will limit their very good team’s upside.
MSU is playing hard but their CBs play soft. Miami is talented but poorly coached. MSU put a lot on tape offensively to win this game. Thorne is solid and could cause problems if you give him time and can also move the chains with his feet.
Michigan is better than MSU but the game in EL is shaping up to be a blood sport.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:22 AM ^
Mich v MSU is usually a bloodsport of a game. If Michigan can come out of EL with zero injuries that would be a massive win in itself.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:52 AM ^
And hopefully it's not played in a trash tornado or monsoon this year.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:08 AM ^
B10 looks very strong and balanced this year, top to almost bottom (sorry Illinois and NW). We are one of the 6 or 7 teams that looks like it will have a fighting chance at playing in Indy. Going to be tough for anyone to emerge from this season with 0, or even 1, conference losses
September 19th, 2021 at 8:18 AM ^
Big jumps for Michigan and MSU. PSU is very good, while OSU may have come back to the pack. The other 3 East teams are not terrible. The East is a gauntlet, and add in Wisconsin or Iowa crossovers, and there’s going to be some absolute wars in the B1G this fall. Can’t wait.
September 19th, 2021 at 8:23 AM ^
I'm not sure that PSU is the strong, top ten team they're rated at right now. They are pretty good, very solid, but I think they're getting too much credit for inadvertently winning at Wisconsin. UW was successful in giving away that game, something they worked hard for the entire game. It's not like PSU carried the play - they got LUCKY that UW mistook butter for Stick'em.
Iowa is having one of those Iowa years where they win 11 games. This seems to happen every 5-6 years, so its due. Glad we don't have them this year, but I would like to see them in Indy...
Wisconsin is its normal self. But with Iowa having it's 'Iowa Year', they'll lose in a close game and Iowa will win the West.
I don't think OK will be the OK of yesteryear, this year. But they should have beat the ever living shit out of Nebraska. No way Frost gets them ready to play another game like that...
For the East, the road into Indianapolis goes directly through Columbus. It has since that infernal BCG started, and it will continue to for the next several years. I expect them to start destroying the B1G field again in the next couple of weeks, as they sort out the issues.