Snowflakes: B1G
Who exactly is good in the Big Ten this year? While Ohio State lost to Oregon they have looked better. Iowa looked terrible against Penn State until Clifford went out; then Penn State lost with Clifford to Illinois (and gave up 350 rushing yards in the process). Purdue beat Iowa and then got killed by Wisconsin, who has been on the receiving end of some lopsided losses.
Who would you say is a good non-Michigan team?
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:41 PM ^
You're about to find out...everyone plays everyone in the last month.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:47 PM ^
Sure but what’s the fun in saying wait and see when we can speculate today?
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:41 PM ^
Unfortunately, ohio state and Michigan state are good
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
Nebraska is the best 3-5 team in the country.
October 23rd, 2021 at 8:52 PM ^
Hardest Hitting®️ team as well.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:45 PM ^
Ohio State and MSU seem good. PSU might be good when Clifford is healthy. He didn't look full strength today, but I only caught the end of the game.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:56 PM ^
He is most definitely still injured. Many psu fans are pissed he played at all. He tried to fight but looked limited. He clearly did not want to run and get hit. His passes weren't great. Overall, a major dent to their offense. They have that TE, Theo Johnson, who were tried to recruit a few years ago. Incredible athlete but only got 1 target today. Noah Cain at RB looks "meh". Credit Illinois but this was a bad loss.
October 23rd, 2021 at 9:52 PM ^
Yeah, Clifford not wanting contact was what I noticed immediately. Considering their backup quarterback was terrible at Iowa, and if Clifford is still better injured, they are in trouble. If Clifford is healed by our game it could be a close game. Of course I'm assuming their run defense shows up to the game . They seemed to have taken the day off today. Maybe losing PJ Mustipher was more important than I realized. If that's the case then I may have to remove them from my "good" teams list even if Clifford is healthy.
October 23rd, 2021 at 11:27 PM ^
I don't think we can sleep on Illinois with Bielema there.
He's managed to install a pseudo-Wisky offensive line and running game there.
He also managed to get his team to play up to the occasion and grind out the win on the road in a tough environment.
Illinois is no longer an automatic W. The small upside is that they can create a lot of chaos in the B1G West.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:52 PM ^
Michigan is going to run all over Maryland. That'll be a clinic. Maryland could not stop Minnesota at all. That's a W. And will be a de-facto home game for Michigan as the DC alumni base will come strong. Kinda insane to think some posters on here had Maryland as a "toss up" pre-season.
Penn State looks wounded and without good QB play they become very one dimensional. Easy to see that being a tighter game but Penn state is not a juggernaut. Lots of injuries and their defense is good but can be run on.
You've got next week and then the Buckeyes. That's the measuring stick for U-M. Not taking anything for granted just enjoy this ride. Let's go 1-0.
Big ten west looks like a Minnesota vs Wisconsin battle. Going to be interesting. Lots of mediocrity this season.
October 23rd, 2021 at 6:54 PM ^
PSU really missed Mustipher defensively today. They had been a great run defense and then Illinois put up 335.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
Yep. They've been snake bitten by injuries. Just the reality. We've had our share.
Let's keep the good vibes going. Love what this Michigan team is doing. The team the team the team.
October 23rd, 2021 at 9:15 PM ^
PSU lucked into a win against a bad Wisconsin team. They should have 3 losses and next week they will get slaughtered. Overrated.
October 24th, 2021 at 6:59 AM ^
^This.
watched that whole game, Wisconsin definitely should’ve beaten them.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
Yea, I think the B1G is being a little bit exposed, at least in terms of having half of the top 10 teams. Just a couple weeks ago, Iowa & PSU compete in a top-5 matchup. And then they go on to lose to Purdue/Illinois. And MSU is likely to be exposed next week.
...or we could go full-on SEC mode and declare "we're so good that even our middling teams can beat the top teams. We're eating ourselves alive!"
Would you have imagined before the season that UM/MSU would determine the last remaining undefeated B1G team?
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:05 PM ^
It's crazy. And stepping out even further, that Clemson would be 4-3? With two losses in acc? Nobody was calling that. They've been snake bitten by injuries as well.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:59 PM ^
I say we go SEC.
October 24th, 2021 at 12:03 AM ^
Ahhh Chuck, way to appeal to the home town. What exactly makes you think MSU will be exposed any more than UM being exposed ?
Taking off my Sparty blinders , I have no clue how next weekend will turn out. Both teams have looked great at times and both have shown bad vulnerabilities.
Its a toss up at best and QB play + home field would favor MSU if anything.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:12 PM ^
There just aren't many great teams in CFB this year - that's what makes this season so much fun.
OSU is the only B1G team that IMO appears to have potential for greatness - and they got beat, so they're clearly capable of sub-par football too.
Everyone else has holes. Michigan's passing game isn't great. MSU looked mediocre against WKU, Nebraska and Indiana. Iowa has a plodding offense and got swamped by Purdue. PSU - hahaha, Illinois.
That said, look elsewhere. Ga looks great. 'bama is bama despite getting upset. That's about it.
Oklahoma escapes every week. Okie St just got beat. Clemson stinks. ND looks mediocre. Oregon is up and down. Cinci damn near lost to Navy.
Find me another great team outside OSU/Ga/'bama - Ole Miss maybe?
So, in a weird year with few great teams, darn good B1G teams (like Michigan) - compare well.
There's still lots of potential for a magical season for our boys.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
I think Ole Miss is better than people think. There were some questionable coaching decisions by Kiffin in their first half vs Bama, but they looked decent otherwise.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:41 PM ^
...And his questionable decision to write a check his ass couldn't couldn't cash just before the game with the "Get yer popcorn" mic drop thing.
October 23rd, 2021 at 7:26 PM ^
Clemson has been fun to watch fall apart too, I can’t imagine the snowflakes if we had their usual success and experienced the year they’re having
October 23rd, 2021 at 9:36 PM ^
If it can happen to them it could happen to OSU… right?
October 24th, 2021 at 11:56 AM ^
If they ever miss on a QB or have any injuries, then yes
October 23rd, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
One starts to wonder if a 1 loss Michigan team that doesn't make the big ten title game might have a shot at the playoff?
October 23rd, 2021 at 10:41 PM ^
This same question can be askedabout every conference. It's college football, take it for what it is and quit being an idiot.