B1G Week 1 Over-analysis Snowflakes

Submitted by gbdub on
So, what'd you guys think about the rest of the league?

Sparty - offense as bad as advertised (maybe worse?)
Indiana - no D, but they can score
Iowa - LOL
Purdue - ROFL
Illinois - yeesh that was close
Nebraska - Martinez is deadly and improving, but that defense is regressing. 600 yards for Wyoming?
Northwestern - Scary offense. Hopefully we do a better job stopping them this year, because they are legit.

And ND - Rees looks okay. The defense was surprisingly porous. Kept the scoring down but ceded a lot of yards to a bad team.

Level of competition makes it hard to read too much in, but tentatively I fell like I like our chances against MSU and NEB better than I did before. Us vs NW for the division?

Beat Notre Dame!

BeileinBuddy

September 1st, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^

Confidence in beating MSU and Nebraska increased

Confidence in beating NW decreased

Confidence in beating OSU remained same

Indiana would be a nice reclamation project story if they win enough and be bowl eligible

LOL Iowa and Illinois

I think Purdue will be better than what they showed in week 1

Meh indifference to Minnesota, PSU, and Wisconsin

ChuckieWoodson

September 1st, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^

NW didn't look that great, IMO.  Although first games are always tough to judge and extrapolate reliable data for the year.  Although in our case I'd be happy with projecting out domination.  That said, MSU and Neb do not appear to be good teams.  I think we have a real shot at a back-to-back meeting with OSU. 

umichjenks

September 1st, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^

I watched the entire game and the only reason I did is because I put $40 for NW to cover.  NW's defense gave up 445 yards to a true freshman QB.  Cal has a new coach, new offense and you barely won.  Don't let the score fool you, this game was close the entire time, sans the last 8 minutes.  

 

Gardner should have a field day throwing against them and if our secondary is playing ok, we will beat them by 14.  

dth

September 1st, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^

They're overranked at 22. 

Still, even though Cal's starting a true freshmen QB, Tedford left Dykes a ton of skill position talent and they won't see a ton of hurry-up spread offense in conference. 

More disturbing to me -- if I were a Wildcat fan -- was their inability to punch through on offense. They could've finished Cal off and didn't. Not a good team. 

DrueDown

September 1st, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^

Perhaps it was that their starting QB, who is also a great rusher & receiver was knocked out of the game on the second play.



Mark also had limited touches, & did not return kicks. They were also missing a few other offensive weapons.



Cal played a NU offensive squad operating at half steam.

bronxblue

September 1st, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^

Nothing about NW's play yesterday changed my feeling that they'll be a tough but beatable team.  Winning a road game is nice, but Cal isn't some juggernaut.

Purdue may be "better" than losing by 28 points, but they still looked turrible.  Nebraska will probably be better than they looked yesterday; that just felt like one of those games where an underdog keeps it close because it is early. 

My confidence about beating OSU remains the same; my desire to beat that duck Meyer increased about a billion times after he went for 2 twice in the first quarter, then had to watch there with that dumb smirk as his team couldn't put away a 4-8 MAC team.

artds

September 1st, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^

Devin will post better overall stats this year than Braxton. Braxton will still be heralded as the top skill position player in the conference.

artds

September 1st, 2013 at 5:11 PM ^

Devin will run for more TDs. Compare Devin's 5 games last year to Braxton's over the same stretch. It isn't close. Braxton will get more yards but Devin will have more overall yards, more TDs both passing and rushing, and a better completion percentage..

A Dude

September 1st, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^

Northwestern played ok last night, but they didn't really impress barely beating a cal team with a true freshmen qb. Added on the fact all the injuries they kept having, really wasn't too inspiring for them.

DrueDown

September 1st, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^

And took himself out of the game on the second play really sold it.



Kudos to Cal for booing!

When someone gets hurt, they should risk further in jury by hobbling off the field as fast as possible just to appease the opposing fan base.... /sarcasm



When a defense is on the field for 100 plays against Dykes offense, that's going to happen a lot. Gonna be a lot of sore throats & whining, instead of winning @ Cal.



'ThaPhukOuttaHere with your fake "injury" BS

RealJabrill

September 1st, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

I like our defense better than all of the above. Ohio might have more playmakers on offense. Northwestern and Nebraska have solid offense but I think we will play the read option better this year.

M_Jason_M

September 1st, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^

Confidence against Sparty: same (I figured they would be crap)

Confidence against Nebraska: increase (about the same on offense as last year, but worse on defense)

Confidence against NW: same (they looked good, not great, against Cal and I still think M should win a good game against them)

I didn't see OSU or ND play

B1G isn't great

NFG

September 1st, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^

Sparty will lose 4-5 games in conference.

Ferentz will be fired in 5 months or less.

Illinois will be crucified against Washington in 2 weeks.

OSU's defense is not at an elite level.

Nebraska will have a melt down against UCLA on defense.

Purdue wouldn't win 5 games in the MAC this year.

NW's skill on both sides of the ball is high. Going to be a tough team to play.

Lou Holtz is a pathological liar. ND looked good against Temple, but not scared.

Michigan is good. Real good.

Mitch Cumstein

September 1st, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^

I think we're going to beat them, and I do not think they're very good, but 4-5 conference losses?  I don't think there is any way that will happen.  Their schedule is trash.  for them to get to 4 losses they would have to lose to either Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois or Minnesota.  Maybe Illinois? but I'm not seeing it.

MidnightBlue

September 1st, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^

its ONE game, and weather crap... .    the MSU game is their super bowl, national championship, and last game on earth....   so beleive that they will play far better.   they would rather lose every game and beat us, than go 11-1 and lose to us... believe it..... 

 

sundaybluedysunday

September 1st, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

OSU was missing Bryant and Roby. They weren't elite in this game, but that doesn't mean they can't be. Just like Michigan was missing Thomas Gordon, that affects the game.



Also, the problem with Ferentz isn't whether he should or shouldn't be fired, because it's obvious that he should. The problem is that they're locked into a long-term deal where they owe him vast piles of money. He can't be fired because they can't afford to.

MidnightBlue

September 1st, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^

Ferentz will be allowed to resign... Iowa has class.. don't forget their AD was I think Bump Elliott or some other Michigan man.... 

And we aren't real good....yet...... we will be when the OL solidifies and these freshmen have another five games of experience.

Sparty will be the same as last season...their defense is too good to be otherwise.

Give Cinci more credit and more to Purdue....      Cinci should be OSU's thorn like MSU is....   we can only hope.

ijohnb

September 1st, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

Is better than you think. Their offense will improve and their defense is a rock. They always look shitty in their opener. They are formidable and will absolutely not lose 5 conference games. Michigan is very good but the um v. Msu game is still a pick em game. Don't believe the anti-hype, they will be solid by conference play.

In reply to by ijohnb

jmblue

September 1st, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^

Are you a Michigan fan?  The lowercase "um" is a classic Spartan thing.

It's hard to be a formidable team with no offense.  I'm not sure how MSU is going to score points.  I just don't see a whole lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball for them.  Dantonio has in the past unearthed a few diamonds in the rough (Cousins, Bell) but it's hard to build a consistent winner on the backs of low-rated recruits all the time.  

I think they'll be a lot like last season, playing a bunch of low-scoring coin flip games, and ending up in a second-tier bowl.

 

kevnblue

September 1st, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^

Having watched the Northwestern game, I am no more impressed with or worried about them than I was 24 hours ago. Two lucky (but still impressive) pick sixes by Ellis were the difference in that one. Their pass D didn't look great, despite this.

Also, I'd like to quickly grumble about how blatant it was that the Wildcats were faking injuries on defense to slow to Cal's offense. Guys were sitting down after the play, getting "attended to," walking off under their own power, and then nobody would look at them on the sideline. Bad look for Fitzgerald's squad.

kevnblue

September 1st, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^

I think it is bad sportsmanship. If a team is able to run a high-tempo offense, they should be able to run it. If you're on D and your guys are winded, take a timeout. If you want to save your timeouts, gameplan your rotations better.

It wouldn't even bother me as much if it was once or twice, but it was so often that it disrupted even watching the game. 

The NFL has said it will punish teams for this, and I can only hope that the NCAA follows suit.

MichiganTeacher

September 1st, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

How is it bad sportsmanship? The spirit of sport is to do everything you can within the letter and spirit of the rules to win. If faking injuries was against the rules, then there would be a punishment for it (at least in theory - I know this is the NCAA we're talking about). Refs can't diagnose injuries on the field? Ok, fine. Plenty of punishments come after the games are reviewed. Put in a big fine, suspend players and coaches, whatever it takes if you want to end it. Until then, I'd be angry if a team didn't do everything it could - within the rules - to win.

kevnblue

September 7th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^

It isn't against the rules to run straight to the tunnel after losing a game instead of shaking the other team's hands. Still, I would classify that as bad sportsmanship.



I think that the spirit of the game asks more of those involved than to do everything to win within the 'letter of the rules.'

Danwillhor

September 1st, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^

and the conference is baaaaaaad outside of roughly 5 teams. Ok, a couple are in the "can beat you on a good day" category if you don't show up but this conference is really bad based on week one. NW is legit and our November... it's just unfair lol. Martinez continues to improve as a passer but their defense is a bit if a mess. osu game was closer than it looked if you didn't watch but they will come to AA undefeated. Cake schedule, Miller, etc. We get by nd and any loss before November is an upset of scary proportions.

Mr. Yost

September 1st, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^

This would be appropriate if we were playing each team next week...but we're not. Just ND. So with that, I hope everyone realizes that no one will look the same by the time we play them.

We probably beat Ohio a couple more times in the past 10 years if we play them week 1 vs. week 14 (or whenever it is)