The B1G bounced back reasonably well after the week 3 debacle. Most of the conference teams performed at or above expectations in the final tune up weekend to the B1G season.
Good surprise:
I am going to go with the entire Minnesota Gopher team. They welcomed an SJSU team fresh off an 11 win season last year. The Spartans also played Stanford reasonably tough in the season opener. I expected Minnesota to struggle to score over 21, and for SJSU to edge them out. Minnesota instead rushed for 353 yards (sacks included) and the untested defense forced 3 turnovers and held the Spartans to 10 points. The Gophers are looking like a sure fire bowl team this year, and are improving each year under Coach Kill. Now they need to figure out their passing attack, because if Nelson or Leidner can be a threat through the air this team will be difficult to beat. Michigan will have its hands full in week 6.
Purdue was coming off of a surprising game against Notre Dame and Wisconsin from a disappointing loss in the desert. It seemed plausible that the Badgers would come out a little sluggish from the outcome against Arizona State. Instead, Wisconsin looked like a legitimate contender in the Leaders Division, while the Boilers cemented their fate as the worst conference team. Wisconsin still has worrisome weaknesses that Ohio State will look to expose this weekend, but every team in the B1G looks flawed right now. The Badgers rushed for 388 yards at 8 ypc, and Purdue's strength is supposed to be their defense. Wisconsin shredded the Boilers for 41 points while Notre Dame struggled to score 20.
Iowa finally showed some signs of life against Western Michigan, and gave the Broncos their worst B1G loss of the season. Yes, the Hawkeyes scored 28 points from special teams and defense, but they also rushed for 258 yards which was more than MSU could manage against WMU. I still don't think Iowa is very good, but it was nice that they showed some ability last weekend.
Bad surprise:
I thought Indiana actually had a chance against Missouri last weekend, but the Hoosiers paper thin defense reared its ugly head again. The Tigers do have an above average offense, but surrendering 623 yards is just unacceptable. On top of that, Indiana threw 3 interceptions which didnt help matters. Before the season I penciled in the Hoosiers as a bowl team, but now they will need to find 4 wins in conference play which seems like a tall task for a team that resembles 2010 Michigan.
Michigan State Spartans fought hard against Notre Dame according to the box score, but they surely did not pass the look test. The offensive game plan seemed incoherent and changed too easily, and the defensive secondary gave up 70 yards of penalties (Notre Dame only finished with 220 total yards), and if it was the NFL rules that number would likely be doubled. I know Coach Narduzzi likes playing tight man to man coverage all game, but he was too stubborn to change his game plan even after it became obvious Notre Dame was just trying to throw the ball downfield to get a lucky completion or a PI call. Out of the Irish's 34 passes, at least 15 of them were 15 yards or more. This is pretty remarkable considering that of the 51 passes attempted against Michigan less than 5 were thrown this far down field.
Week 3 conference rankings:
1. Ohio State (no change)
2. Northwestern (no change)
3. Wisconsin (up 1)
4. Michigan (down 1)
5. Michigan State (no change)
6. Nebraska (up 1)
7. Penn State (down 1)
8. Minnesota (up 2)
9. Illinois (no change)
10. Indiana (down 2)
11. Iowa (no change)
12. Purdue (no change)
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