B1G Week 1 Over-analysis Snowflakes

Not so much defense. Sparty was fine, but by no means dominating. Ohio was all right; Cats and Huskers were awful. Wiscy pitched the shutout, but UMass, right?

MSU: Will be rough for a couple games but I think their defense is the best we'll see this year. If they get the offense/QB position figured out it's going to be a really good game.

Iowa: Time to start looking around for an up and comer to take over.

OSU: Looked very mortal. Braxton Miller seems to  have stepped up his passing game but he still overthrew a couple of wide open guys. The running game will be tough to stop. Defensively looked decent but not great.

Indiana: Turned a corner this year.

Purdue: The worst team in the B1G this year.

Northwestern has a scary offense, but the game was deceptively close last night.  Before the second pick-6 Cal was down 3 with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.  Also worth mentioning that Cal was starting a true freshman.  

Northwestern will give us everything we can handle but they are beatable.

If we win next week, I think Sparty is the only team standing in the way between us being 11-0 heading into The Game.  And my only reservation about that game is that it's in EL.  

I was worried about NW, but I think Colter is going to be seriously banged up before that game.  He's Denard 2.0 when it comes to fragility.  

 

And we can lose them all.

Thoughts:  NW won on the west coast against a junky team wiht a freshman QB but still traditionally Big 10 teams go out west early in the season and lay egs.  Their offense will cause trouble - just by design, smarts, coaching, and talent.   Their defense I expect to wear down - they have the toughest schedule of the "4 contenders" in our division.   

Nebraska - they are who we thought they were.  A fraud defense that lost 7 defenders.  We just didnt get to see it last year due to QB issues.  Michigan will need to score a lot in that game simply because Nebraska has a high octane offense and Michigan's defense is still a year away (youth) from being able to make major inroads against that level of firepower.  

OSU - defense is young, just like ours.  D-line is their best unit and will get better as the year continues, some real studs.  LBs strangely weak for OSU, one stud - lots of questions.  DBs also some questions once you get past Roby.  I am sure the offense will uptick as the year goes by, first game always toughest for offense. 

MSU - their elite defense gave up 500 yards to Nebraska last year, and nearly 400 to OSU at home.  Yes it's a very good back 7 but Dennard Island was blown by, by a freshman twice. Their offense will improve but in general it sucks, and I am surprised how little improvement they show.  They have 2 horrid teams in the next 2 weeks to boost their confidence before ND destroys them. 

ND (not Big 10) - Rees played well and people continue to underestimate this kid who is now in his 4th year of playing meaningful games.  Defensive line will be a terror - a very tough game for us, should be fun. 

Wiscy - I have no idea what they are, UMass horrid.  Not going to know what Wiscy is until the OSU game. 

Indiana - everyone knew they were going to be a run and fun offense, but they play like an arena league team - no defense. I expect a lot of whining when they put up 20+ or whatever againt UM on these message boards but it is what it is, we will win going away. 

PSU - went to a neutral site with a freshman QB without their best offensive player (WR) for the first half and did what they had to do.  Should be a very good game at Beaver Stadium for a young Michigan team.  Everyone else in the Big 10 - who cares, they are awful.

Something needs to change, because Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, MSU, etc. seem to be digressing. I'm so tired of watching Michigan play against these crap teams. And we still can't win this shitty conference. Where is the joy

Indiana -- Heck of an offense, struggled on D.  Exactly what we thought.

Minnesota -- Look the same as last year.  Will do some good things, will do some bad things.

Sparty -- Defense looks awesome.  Every bit as good as last year but adding sacks and turnovers.  A legitimate case for one of the best Defenses in the nation.  The offense is every bit as bad as I expected.  

Illinois -- Offense is much improved.  Played way too conservative in the 4th quarter letting SIU back in it.  

Iowa -- Offense is also improved.  Gave the game away for their 7th straight loss.  I have to imagine their pysche is fragile.

Ohio -- Saw none of the game, but Urban is a giant dick.  Go for 2 twice against a badly overmatched opponent aren't you tough.  Then after the game he says "I think it is disrepectful to our opponent to say we scored too easily.  But we scored too easily."   Fuck you asshole.

PSU -- Was on a commercial every time I tried to flip it over to watch.

Nebraska -- Defense got absolutely shredded.  They got bailed out by a couple questionable holding calls at the end to make it nearly impossible for Wyoming to tie/win at the end.  

Northwestern -- It is tough to go on the West Coast and win.  I don't remember the last time Michigan did it.  Don't care if Cal isn't good.  To win with your best QB out with a concussion and whatever the heck was wrong with Veneric is impressive.

Wisconsin -- saw the long run to make it 17-0 then decided the game was over so I didn't watch the rest.  

Purdue -- Only scored because of a turnover inside the 10 by Cincy.  Might have a worse offense than Sparty without the defense to match.  

 

Very surpised that ND gave up about 4.5 ypc on the ground against Temple.  I didn't watch the game but according to the box score, the longest run was 20 yards so it's not like one blown play skewed the numbers.  Very surprising considering the front seven they have.

Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State played football. The rest of the conference, win or lose, played grab ass out there.

Northwestern. Offensively they have some serious weapons and their backup QB proved last night he's ready to go in should Kolter get hurt. Could be trouble for a lot of teams they go against.

Ohio St. Wasn't impressed with their OL and even how Miller played. Threw for a pick 6 and also fumbled. He's very shaky when he's got the heat on him. I think the buckeyes showed they are a very beatable team no matter what Oscar Meyer says.

MSU. Defense is sound and solid especially against the run. If they can get their QB and RB situations solved by conference play they could be a serious threat. They keep going with Maxwell though and they'll lose 4 or 5 games.

Indiana. Was impressed offensively but this was Indiana St they played too. I was very impressed with their QB and his throwing ability he's got a great arm and they have some speed offensively. But let's see them take on a strong opponent before we jump on their bandwagon for a leaders division win.

Purdue. Man was I wrong this team is horrible offensively and honestly they might be lucky to win 4 games.

Minnesota. Awesome special teams display on Thursday night no doubt about it and their QB Allen has some speed when he breaks free. But they have a weak OL and their offense as a whole isn't good. They'll win maybe 6 games. I don't see 7.

Wisconsin. Looked pretty good for their first game with a new coach. Ran the ball well had some awesome passes but then again it was UMass neither they or Indy have been tested yet.

Illinois. Didn't watch them so I can't make any judgements but I saw they barely beat S Illinois.

Iowa. Sucks. What else is new?

Michigan. Outstanding offense onslaught by Gardner and Fitz and honestly Fitz looked solid running north and south like he should. Receivers with Gallon, Funchess and Dileo looked good too! Defense had some awesome sacks and did a great job of closing the gap causing a few turnovers and special teams on the blocked punt!

Nebraska. Offensively with Martinez this team is deadly, defensively not so much. Wasn't impressed with their secondary against Wyoming last night giving up 602 yards to the cowboys and barely winning by 3 points. I think they have a great weapon with Martinez at QB and Abdullah at RB but if that defense can improve the huskers could lose 3 or 4 games.

It's early but those are just my thoughts. Big test for Michigan is ND next week! If they play like they dominated CMU they might very well put on another blow out show!

It appears as if the Big 10 is clearly behind the SEC in level of play, about equal to the PAC 12, and above the ACC and Big 12. At least our shitty teams took care of business against the easy teams while the ACC, Big 12, and PAC 12 had some very embarrassing losses to FCS and crappy D1 schools. I think the Big 10's worst performance was against Cincy but we all knew that Purdue was going to be one of the worst teams in the Big 10. Minnesota and Indiana had their defenses on the field for most of the game but still did okay. Losing to NIU is not embarrassing as NIU could probably beat a middle of the road team in any other conference. The best win was probably Northwestern last night as they were able to play an away game, without their 2 best players, at night on the west coast and still pull of a clear win.

All in all, the top of the Big 10 is small this year - Ohio and Michigan. I think the conference will very closely resemble the PAC 12 and Big 12 (few very good teams, a wide range of middle of the road teams. a couple super craptastic teams). Looking forward to next week with the only real conference test coming against ND.

Wisconsin - took care of business, no red flags

OSU - looked ragged, D is still error prone and DL is not the force it was last year

NW - did ok, we knew Siemian was accurate, Cal is about like Texas Tech in an average year

Penn St - decent win v. Cuse, no red flags yet

MSU - wretched offense, does not look like a threat as of now

Neb - wretched defense, does not look like a threat as of now

Minn - still looks mediocre, win over UNLV not as good as score looked

Iowa - tough loss to NIU, still looks weakish

Indiana - crushed tomato can, jury still out

Ill - struggled to put I-AA team away

Purdue - that was just ugly

NW looks like the biggest threat in the division, Wisc and OSU in the conference.

The hubris in Columbus is overflowing. I'm hoping that Miller keeps buying into the Heisman hype wholecloth and keeps chucking it downfield a dozen times a game. You might find a nut once in a while against Buffalo. We'll see how that works against a team. 

The rest of the B1G looks so bad that I'm beginning to worry about the long term competitiveness of the league, and adding Rutgers and Maryland does nothing to help this. Even though OSU looked shaky at times, I think both them and us should be solid favorites in every B1G game we play this year.

I didn't watch ND but they may be a tougher test than OSU just given the streng

I never really got the MSU preseason hype.  Yes, they have a good defense but their offense looks worse than last year.  If Michigan wins next week, they will be at least 11-1.

If ND's defense is ANYTHING close to what they showed yesterday, then we might have a better defense. People are quick to assume ND has an amazing defense. They were giving up first downs consistently to a bad team with a QB making his first start. Furthermore, they had trouble containing the QB on read options and scrambles. The problem is, that QB wasn't any more athletic than Shane Morris. Their linebackers were lost for much of the game, taking false steps and having short passes lobbed right over their heads. ND has a nice front with Shembo, Tuitt, Nix, and Day, but I didn't see much skill anywhere else. Jaylon Smith might be a player eventually, but he looks like a cornerback playing linebacker right now. I think Gardner will give them A LOT of trouble.

UM, MSU, and Wisconsin will probably have the best defenses followed closely by OSU and PSU. As has been pointed out, best D =/= B1G title and MSU's receiving and QB problems will probably cancel out their defense for at least one conference loss but probably two or more.

Wisconsin looks like they might be right there with OSU right now. Their schedule is easier and they have a lot of experience. I think it is a tossup right now as only a few B1G teams were tested yesterday.

PSU has a tough schedule but I think they are the 3rd or 4th best team on that side alongside Indiana. Nebraska is like Clemson and while I think they are talented and dangerous, I don't see the consistency. Northwestern just has a very difficult schedule with OSU and Wisconsin plus the November Rumble. I stick with Nebraska and Northwestern right there with UM in the Legend with MSU just an offense behind.

i expect our defensive line to get penetration on every team we play, therefore putting us in control of every game. Last year we hinged so much on the play of the back 7 and holding serve on the DL, i think this is the year that changes for good (or at least the next 5-6 years)...our o-line is better too, and should improve. WR is the position to most worry about, but even that does not worry me much. I think we are the best team in the B1G this year. I said it. Wiconsin and OSU are obvioulsy  right there with us as well.

 

plus our D will inprove when  Ryan returns.