Wisconsin QB Tanner Mordecai Out With Broken Hand
Wisconsin QB Tanner Mordecai is out indefinitely with a broken throwing hand. He reportedly had surgery and had a pin placed.
Pretty big loss for Wisconsin and puts a big dent in their Big Ten West hopes. Big break for Iowa and OSU as the Big Ten West is now wide open, and OSU gets a much easier road game to follow this week vs PSU. The Wisconsin road game looked like a bit of a trap game for OSU, but the loss of Mordecai makes that less likely.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
I can't believe Iowa is going to win that division. Just abject failure across the board in that division including their own offense.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^
that just shows how bad the B10 West currently is.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^
I'm going to miss the Big 10 West so, so much.
It created an ecosystem of unwatchable defensive football that you can't find anywhere else in the country right now. It completely screws up the fancystats, (Iowa is absolutely not the #1 defense in America, SP+), and it puts its extremely average winner one fluke win away from a hilarious P5 conference title, year in, year out.
The Big 10 west has existed for 9 years by my count. It has been won by Northwestern or Purdue a full third of those years, the rest by Iowa or Wisconsin, and has exactly zero overall Big 10 titles. The introduction of the west coast teams is going to provide some comedy, (I'm imagining USC losing in Minneapolis in November), but games like Saturday's horrific Iowa-Wisconsin matchup are no longer likely to have any implications for the Big 10 title race.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
You can say the same thing for any team that wins that division.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
Yes and no. Iowa's offense is statistically one of the worst offenses in the country. Not just P5, the whole thing. They're also not in year 0 like Purdue or dealing with huge program issues like NW. They have that defense and ST and all they have to do is drag an offense from complete shit to not terrible and people would be ok with it. Watching that offense, under that coaching staff, at the program is just... it's offensive (ha) to our sensibilities. You shouldn't win a division when you're that incompetent and choose to be that way.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
It's going to be funny when Brian Ferentz's contract expires when they fall short of 325 points this season but he is still re-signed to a new contract anyway
October 16th, 2023 at 1:46 PM ^
It's an auto-renew if he hits a point total, OR if they get 7 wins. They'll get 7 wins, so you might as well start laughing... You can laugh harder when they take the field against Michigan in the B1G CG.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:08 PM ^
Nope - It is not an either/or - its a BOTH. They have to win 7 games AND average 25 pts/game. Considering their current records and the state of the Big Ten West, seems like they have the wins piece wrapped up.
October 16th, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^
Nebraska will. Remaining games...
NW
Purdue
@MSU
Maryland
@Wisc
Iowa
I can see them going 5-1 with that.
October 17th, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^
I mean, maybe. I could also easily see them losing 2 or 3 of those. Iowa is 3-1 in conference and Nebraska 1-2. Iowa's schedule is just as easy except the Nebraska game is in Lincoln.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
I wonder if Luke Fickell will finally realize that going Full Air Raid might best be saved for next year?
Sucks for Tanner - he was doing pretty well this season.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:18 AM ^
I was of the opinion he wasn't going to go full RichRod and jettison the only redeeming parts of that offense in favor of going 1000mph with his offensive approach. He hasn't necessarily done that, but he leaned into it way too hard.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:31 AM ^
Wiscy tossing 50 passes is a bit more than leaning into it. That is full RR running around with a square peg.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:35 AM ^
I'm going to respectfully make the argument that there were very few redeeming parts of the leftovers (one returning starter ... for starters) on the offensive side of the ball in 2008. RichRod's greater sins were on the defensive side, where Michigan returned several good players.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:49 AM ^
Running off Mallett, Manningham and Arrington on the offensive side of the ball, guaranteed that a defense which should have been pretty good, would turn out to be pretty bad. You just can't spend 3/4 of a game on the field. Oh well, "It's good to be a Michigan Wolverine"! (At least these days!)
October 16th, 2023 at 12:02 PM ^
Manningham was gone no matter what.
Wasn't Arrington a senior in 07?
October 16th, 2023 at 12:08 PM ^
"It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine"!
FIFY
October 16th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
"Running off Mallett, Manningham and Arrington ..."
Links or it didn't happen. I'm serious.
Manningham had a great season in '07 and was a Top 100 pick (third round) in the '08 draft. Why would he stay on for '08? He was not "run off."
Arrington: Same with less favorable draft position.
As for Mallett (rest his soul), it was pretty well known that he had (at least from the coach perspective) "attitude" problems. There's no evidence that he was "run off." He made a good decision to go home to Arkansas.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^
Why people insist on defending a guy who 1) is pretty much universally regarded as an asshole and 2) was fired for sexual harrassment at his next stop is beyond me.
I don't give RichRod the benefit of the doubt. Sorry, John U. Bacon.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:54 PM ^
Can't RichRod be an asshole and also Mario Manningham was going to the NFL no matter what?
October 16th, 2023 at 1:20 PM ^
Yes. Separating the issues here doesn't seem difficult.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
This is the world I want to live in.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Pretty sure that Mallett announced he was leaving followed by Manningham who still had eligibility and I thought that Arrington did as well. This is me trying to recall something that happened 15 years ago. At the time it felt like they left because they knew that there was no one to throw to them without Mallett and that 2007 was going to be their high water marks.
Happy to wrong and don't really even care enough to look it up. I'm just appreciating where we are today.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
I appreciate where we are today, too. I can't recall the sequence of the 2007 departures, either, and I wouldn't be surprised if they went as you described. I complained earlier because the idea of them being "run off" was never -- to my knowledge -- substantiated.
October 16th, 2023 at 1:04 PM ^
So suddenly forcing the defense into a 3-3-5 with a DC who doesn't know how to coach 3-3-5 wasn't the reason for the defense taking a step back? It was still the best defense under RichRod since it was Carr's players.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
Yeah the defense still had Warren, Trent (meh), Harrison, and Graham.
Offensively they still took a team that was built like old Michigan teams (with less talent) and made the OL run so much in camp they threw up and lost 15 pounds. Ran a read option offense with Steven freaking Threet, and decided to keep doing it even after going 3 and out to open almost every game and play from behind.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
Iowa can still make the playoffs
October 16th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Nah - if they win out, that 300-0 loss to PSU will keep them out. I'd see a 1 loss UM, OSU, or PSU who DIDNT play them in the B10 title game possibly in over them. I get that would be odd, but...
Lets say UM wins out but loses to Iowa in the title game - I dont see how the committee takes Iowa of UM despite that, but maybe, but how could they take them over a 1 loss PSU team who only lost to UM or OSU?
October 16th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
There is precedent - OSU made the playoff without winning the league in 2016.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:10 PM ^
They also made it last year without even winning their division but don’t remind them of that because it’s Ohio vs The World. Nothing can ever change that for them even if they get almost everything go their way.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^
Iowa better enjoy their last decent season. When the P12 joins up, their fluky history of getting to play the dregs of the B10 exclusively will be over.
Checked schedules - they luck out next year but 2025:
@USC
@Wisky
Penn State
Oregon
October 16th, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
It isn't fluky: the entire B1G West is trash.
But you make a REALLY good point: if Iowa is going to change, THIS offseason is the time to do so. They have a season and a half before offense becomes important, and a Year 0 next year is far more preferable than a Year 0 in 2025.
USC and Oregon have that same amount of time to learn to play defense, but a fully weaponized Wisconsin, and a Drew-Allar-Learned-How-to-QB Penn State, are daunting foes.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:28 AM ^
Iowa kept Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska as permanent rivals; the only Big Ten school to have 3 fixed opponents every year. Can't hide in the Big Ten West anymore, but that will give them a slight advantage to undeservedly slip into the Big Ten Championship Game in the future.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:22 AM ^
Rigby inconsolable.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:22 AM ^
God: GIVE THE BALL TO BRAELON ALLEN
October 16th, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^
No. Darius Taylor and Braelon Allen transfer portal to Michigan.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
And then Braelon Allen promptly fumbled it.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Even when Iowa and Wisconsin still had their starting QBs, they had trash offences.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
after he got hurt that game featured two of the worst QBs i've ever seen going head to head
October 16th, 2023 at 11:44 AM ^
Allen should have transferred to Michigan! On second thought, he likely would have been behind Mullins on the RB roster so it's probably better for him to enjoy being coached by discount Adam Sandler.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:46 AM ^
Brock Bowers out for a while. Undergoing tight rope surgery on his ankle.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:46 AM ^
Other injury news: Brock Bowers is having surgery on his ankle, unclear how long he's out, but definitely missing the Florida game. Georgia's play so far has been mediocre on offense until they remember they have him on the team, so kind of a big deal.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:46 AM ^
Even if he was healthy, I don’t think OSU would struggle in Madison as much as I did before the season started. If they beat Penn State Saturday, and I think they will, they’re coming to the big house undefeated which…ugh.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
Iowa is going to win that division two of the last three years.....justice truly does not exist in this life. And now, its likely going to embolden Kirk even more that what he has is working. So Brian is not going anywhere.
I can't imagine the feelings of helplessness and despair that many Iowa fans must feel. You're stuck with a guy who puts his son over the entire football program, and years of extremely good to elite defensive play are wasted on an offense that honestly could probably be challenged by some of the country's better high school programs.
Thank god we are doing away with divisions next year. At least the divisions as they currently stand. Its been an absolute insult that the West gets to send some rag-tag 8-4 to 9-3 team to Indy every year when the top three teams in the East, sometimes top 4, would put a whooping on the Western division winner nine Saturdays out of ten.
October 16th, 2023 at 11:52 AM ^
If Iowa finishes 11-1 and somehow wins the Big Ten title game, do they have a sniff at the playoff? Consider that the QB who would have all those late wins including a Big Ten Championship game is not the QB who got murdered by Penn State.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
A sniff? Absolutely they would have at least a sniff. They would knock off a top-5 at least, probably top-2 Michigan/OSU/PSU team. It might be the best win anyone has all year, depending on what happens to Georgia the rest of the way.
Now the question of whether or not they'd actually get in is different altogether, but they'd have to at least be considered. I think they'd probably need some help.
October 16th, 2023 at 2:05 PM ^
A lot would have to break right in order for them to even sniff the playoffs. Lets say they win out and beat an undefeated UM in the Big Ten Championship game. Their resume would still be pretty mediocre and with an offense that is one of the worst in all of college football. What would their second best win be? Rutgers? Even in this scenario, I don't see them ranked above any other 1-loss team
October 16th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
It's next man up.
Iowa won the game on Saturday with backup QB Deacon Hill, 6 of 14 for 37 yards 0 TD, 0 INT!!!!
Ironic, since Hill was at Wisconsin in 2022.
The interesting thing is, with very few exceptions, Big Ten QBs have been getting banged up, lost for the year OR a huge disappointment in performance this year almost across the board.
Saturday's Ohio State vs. Penn State game will likely reveal this once more to a national TV audience, and in very stark terms. McCord and Allar are both comparatively speaking huge steps down from Michigan's JJ McCarthy.
If McCarthy gets injured, just like Iowa, Wisconsin, or MSU and Indiana with their QB changes, there will be a big step down in offensive output and efficacy. Tuttle is a good QB, but a Big10 title/national title would be in jeopardy.
A drawback of the transfer rules. Your backup QB situation will likely always be precarious because you can't reliably nor consistently stack talent there.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
Also, I cannot remember a year where I have seen more injuries reported by teams:
https://www.covers.com/sport/football/ncaaf/injuries
Maybe this is a new protocol in the Big Ten, but a lot of players on the injured list among Big Ten teams.
If Iowa does go 11-1 somehow (I doubt it bc of Nebraska in Lincoln) or Ohio State goes 12-0, then that's a tribute to them.
No one is 100%. Not even Michigan.
October 16th, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
Big Ten teams are required to provide an "availability report" no later than two hours before each game, detailing who is out and who is questionable.