Well we have our first week over and done with in the B1G. There were some real high points (Wisconsin, Northwestern, and TTUN). We also had some real low points (Purdue, Iowa, and Nebraska). So lets get to the point of this post and list these bad boys top to bottom based on this weekends games.
1.) Ohio State- Beat Buffalo 40-20. After opening up a big 1st qtr lead of 23-0 and showing a lot of new wrinkles on offense the team went vanilla for 3 qtrs making sure not to show too much of their playbook. The defense played most of the game with 10 new players and played a ton of 1st time players. They gave up 258 yards and 14 points. Not to bad in my opinion. Certainly I hope we see more like the 1st qtr then the last 3 qtrs for the rest of the year.
2.) Northwestern- Beat Cal 44-30. In what was the marquee matchup for the B1G the Wildcats overcame an early injury to star QB Kain Colter to win a big game on the road over a PAC 12 team.
3.) Wisconsin- Beat UMass 45-0. To me Wisky was the most complete team in the B1G dominating on both offense and defense.
4.) Michigan- Beat Central Michigan 59-9. This team would be higher if not for 3 total INTs thrown by both QBs including 2 bad ones from Devin Gardner. Starting RB Fitz Toussaint had a less then stellar performance 14 carries for 47 yards. Defense was aggressive all game long and looks like a strength once again.
5.) Penn State- Beat Syracuse 23-17. True Freshman Christian Hackenberg looks like the real deal and will be a great QB. They need to stay healthy to stay good though due to limitations on the team players.
6.) Indiana- Beat Indiana St. 73-35. The offense is great. The defense is better. Can they get a signature win to move up higher?
7.) Minnesota- Beat UNLV 51-23. Minnesota looked actually decent in all sections of the game. Jerry Kill has them on the right path.
8.) Nebraska- Beat Wyoming 37-34. Nebraska fans have a lot to be worried about. The defense gave up 600+ yards and 34 points to WYOMING. This is a sign of bad things to come for a team who has no idea how to play defense.
9.) Michigan State- Beat Western Michigan 26-13. MSU has a great defense and will rely on them all year. The secondary is ball hawkish to the max. The offense is anemic at best.
10.) Illinois- Beat Southern Illinois 42-34. A win is a win I guess. They almost lost to a bad team.
11.) Iowa- Lost to Northern Illinois 30-27. Iowa at least played well most of the game and could have beaten a really good BCS bowl team. Alas they ended the game in Ferentz mode and lost a heart breaker.
12.) Purdue- Lost to Cincinnati 42-7. Poor Darrell Hazell has a really bad team and not much luck in landing good recruits to build the program back up. This will be a nightmare for the former OSU Asst. Head Coach.
Thoughts? Who did I get right or wrong? Let me know in the comments.
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