B1G Week 11 Preview

For the 3 of you that still manage to sit through B1G games every week I give you my Week 11 conference preview.

Penn State @ Minnesota 12:00pm

The Nittany Lions are coming off of a home game where they should have lost to Illinois. The depth issues at Penn State are not going away, and will continue to get worse the rest of the season.  Minnesota is looking to win 4 straight conference games for the first time in my lifetime. Both teams are extremely flawed, which is par for the course in this conference. Penn State will look to Bill Belton to take away some pressure from Hackenberg, but I think the Gophers will do a good job of containing the running game. This will leave Hageman against the undersized and under talented Nittany Lion offensive line.  Hackenberg should be pressured most of the day, but has a very good bailout option in Allen Robinson.  Even though the entire TCF Bank Stadium knows where the pass is going, there hasn’t been a team this season that can completely shut it down.  On the other side, Philip Nelson continues to gain confidence at quarterback and Minnesota is showing signs of life. Running back Cobb has been one of the B1G’s best stories this season, and he will look to continue his 100 yard games.  Penn State should be able to move the ball in big chunks, but will likely struggle with consistency.  This should allow Minnesota to control the clock on the ground with both Nelson and Cobb.  Look for Nelson to hook up with Engel for a score, and the running attack to just be too much for the Nittany Lions to win on the road.

Iowa @ Purdue 12:00pm

The Boilermakers are just looking to score any points in this one. They are a 4^th quarter Hail Mary away from being shut out in 3 straight games. Purdue is looking like one of the worst B1G teams ever. While Iowa is far from great, they should roll into Ross Ade Stadium and continue Purdue’s embarrassment. I don’t think the Boilermakers will be shut out in this one, but I would be surprised if they scored twice.

Illinois @ Indiana 3:30pm

Let the battle to 100 begin.  Illinois and Indiana have the worst two defenses in the conference, and it isn’t even close. The Hoosiers have been able to put up points on every team they have faced this season, and they have yet to face a defense like the Illini.  Expect Indiana to top 50 points.  This puts a lot of pressure on Nathan Scheelhasse, and the Illinois offense. The orange and blue should be able to hang with Indiana for a while, but will likely have a few costly turnovers that lets Indiana win by multiple scores.

BYU @ Wisconsin 3:30pm

We get into November football and the marquee game of the week is a nonconference game. At least the basketball season starts tonight. BYU will provide a very stiff test for the Badgers who have this one final quality opponent to impress BCS voters. Both teams are better than their record, and both coaching staffs have a lot of experience with each other. Wisconsin is a little beat up which should allow the Cougars to hang around.  It looks unlikely that Abbrederis or Borland play in this one.  If that is the case, Stave will need to find another go to receiver which doesn’t happen overnight.  BYU is led by do-everything quarterback Taysom Hill, and look to control the clock with 2 100 ypg rushers. The loss of Borland will hurt Wisconsin’s defense, and will make it harder for them to get off the field on 3^rd and shorts.  However, Wisconsin has two potent rushers of their own and BYU has not seem running backs with this combination of speed and size. I think the Badgers will find a way to scrape out a win at home, but will be disappointed that their hopes of a BCS at-large are most likely gone without an impressive dominating win. Their rooting interest then will be anyway Ohio State can get into the top 2, and the Rose Bowl will want a B1G-Pac 12 matchup in this anniversary year.