B1G Week 3 Recap

Well the B1G did it again.  Just when I thought this year was trending in a better direction, the conference goes out and lays a massive egg in week 3.  Now the only chance of redemption will be during bowl season, where most teams will be underdogs. At least we have basketball, right?

Good surprise:
The Michigan State offense came out of hiding on Saturday to dismember a pretty good FCS team (Youngstown State).  The Spartans went with Conner Cook to start the game, and in surprising fashion Coach Dantonio said he would get ample time to prove himself.  So instead of looking over his shoulder after each dropped pass, Cook had the confidence from his coaches to go out and succeed. Most people thought Cook was the fourth best quarterback option on the MSU roster, but at least after week 3 Sparty has a starter. We will see how week 4 goes against Notre Dame.

Indiana again finds themselves in the good surprise category.  After a disappointing loss to Navy, the Hoosiers bounced back against the MAC favorite (Bowling Green).  The offense hung 42 points on the Falcons, but the more surprising part is the defense pitched a shutout in the 2^nd half and only surrendered 10 points.  If Indiana can hold teams under 30 points they can be a dangerous team in the Leaders Division.

Purdue actually challenging Notre Dame.  I figured the Irish would come off of a disappointing loss in week 2 angry and take out their frustrations on a terrible Boilermaker team. Instead, Purdue pushed Notre Dame into the 4^th quarter until a series of bad breaks slammed the door shut on the improbable win.  I still think this is clearly the worst team in the conference.  However, the coaching staff definitely learned some weaknesses from ND’s first two games and they actually exploited them.  Also, it looks like Purdue’s defensive line might be the most disruptive in the B1G.

Bad surprise:
I am going to start again with the Nebraska defense.  A week after showing signs of dominance against lifeless Southern Miss, the Huskers went back to losing battles with the tackling dummy.  As good as the Nebraska offense can be the defense is equally as bad (or worse).  Brett Hundley was able to shred the Cornhusker defense to the tune of 350 total yards. On top of another terrible defensive performance, Nebraska didn’t score in the last 23 minutes of the game.  They came out of halftime and looked absolutely lifeless.  Coach Pelini’s days in Lincoln appear to be numbered, and the Huskers do not look even close to a B1G contender right now.

It looks like the scholarship limits are going to catch up to Penn State this year. The depth on the defensive side of the ball is clearly lacking. I figured they would struggle against teams like Wisconsin or Michigan, but the balanced attack from Central Florida was enough to keep the Nittany Lions defense on skates all game. Blake Bortles had a near flawless day and Storm Johnson went over the century mark on the ground.  While Hackenberg is going to put up big numbers for Penn State, their defense will be the limiting factor.

There has been a lot of discussion about the Wisconsin defense, and how they didn’t give up a single point in the first two weeks. The Badgers new 3-4 scheme struggled Saturday night in the desert. Arizona State gashed Wisconsin for 468 total yards; most of the damage came through the air as the Badgers are trying to break in an inexperienced secondary. It looks like the ground and pound offense is still thriving with the new coach, but the defensive switch is going to take more time.  This is bad news for Wisconsin as they have to play Ohio State to open October.

Week 3 conference rankings:
1. Ohio State (up 1)
2. Northwestern (up 1)
3. Michigan (down 2)
4. Wisconsin (no change)
5. Michigan State (up 2)
6. Penn State (no change)
7. Nebraska (down 2)
8. Indiana (no change)
9. Illinois (no change)
10. Minnesota (no change)
11. Iowa (no change)
12. Purdue (no change)