Ten B1G Things

1. Wisconsin outscored the entire state of Michigan 89-0 in the first half this year
2. MSU 2012-2015 looks more and more like a fantastic aberration
3. That said, at least MSU isn’t having to cast a last-minute downing of Illinois as a positive for the program
4. Michigan fumbles the ball about 3 times per game, for those keeping track of such things
5. Me, seeing the Purdue injury report before the game: “Sucks to be Purdue this year”
6. Me, seeing the final score of the Purdue-Maryland game.
7. Rutgers’ Johnny Langan registered a 1.2 QBR against Indiana, moving him into the 2nd-place slot on the all-time Rutgers leaderboard
8. With this win the folks at Crimson Quarry have full rein to continue hating Rutgers as though the IU football program is, in a macro sense, somehow materially different than the one in Piscataway
9. The annoying thing about Minnesota being undefeated is that they just keep winning and that they’re nice about it
10. This is deeply injurious to the psyche of B1GW fans, especially the two-Spidermans-pointing-at-each-other that is the Iowa/Nebraska dynamic
11. Come to think of it, it might be possible to combine Iowa and Nebraska into one good team
12. The conjoined fanbase would literally combust like a grain silo of self-loathing
13. “This is a team. You’re going to have to earn it,” Penn State coach James Franklin said about the Hawkeyes.
14. “I think we have a good team,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. Not just a team, dammit. A good team.

The Rundown

MSU at Wisconsin | Wisconsin grinds ‘em down, 38-0

A not unsurprising victory over what is still probably the best team in the state of Michigan. Coan played his best game yet, throwing passes not seen out of a Wisconsin (““Wisconsin”) QB since Russell Wilson. The three stooges—Lewerke, Lombardi, and the MSU offense—remained a top flight comedy troupe, delivering 149 yds of total output.

Beez: New week, same stuff. Fourth shutout of the season for wisconsin. Third crushing victory over a Michigan based team. And it turns out Jack Coan CAN hit open targets when the defense sells out to stop the run. Wisconsin has one more de facto by week before the first of what will hopefully be two games against Ohio State.

Artificial Krabmeatski: Retire, Dantonio. Because we’re far enough in now to see that your defiant final gambit, having your offensive assistants draw new jobs out of a hat, was a complete and total failure, and once we play out the string on this season, we’ll be a complete recruiting cycle away from what could and should have been this program’s new standard. And so the answer to the age old question, what have you done for me lately, is go right around .500 over the last 4 years (counting this one). It’s not good enough, Dantonio has had plenty of time to get back on track, and there’s no evidence whatsoever that he’s going to do so.Retire, Dantonio. Because on the micro level, MSU was as far away from Wisconsin in this game as they were from Alabama in the Playoff. And against a program that’s supposed to be a measuring stick, that’s a sickening feeling. Everything Wisconsin did on offense worked; nothing MSU tried cracked a Wisconsin defense that, seeing them in person, I actually didn’t find all that impressive. This was only 38-0 because that was the score Paul Chryst picked.

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Illinois at Michigan | Michigan loses by winning, 42-25

Michigan saw a 4-TD head start whittled to 3 points, and needed a turnover and a long drive to put one of the worst

teams in the B1G—nay, in all of football—to bed. Harbaugh praised his team’s grit and fortitude but the locker room chatter around both the offense and defense has to be pretty chippy. Shea Patterson remains a journeyman QB, completing exactly 50% of his attempts against a nearly non-existent pass defense.

Thumpasaurus: LOL. That is the limit of my contribution.

Thumpasaurus: Sorry I’m gonna add one more thing. In the first half, reggie Corbin passed Red Grange on the all time Illini rushing yardage list. Early in the third quarter, Grange pulled back ahead. An impossibly perfect summary.

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Maryland at Purdue | Gadzooks...40-14

I love Maryland if for no other reason than they enhance the B1G by playing all their best games in the OOC. Heading into this game sans Sindelar, Rondale Moore, and several other key players you’d have though Purdue would’ve had their pretty white uniforms ground into the mud. Not so. Jack Plummer and friends see your expectations and raise you 420 yards passing. Locksley’s probably so mad he could positively punch an assistant.

Boilerman: Today was what this team needed. I honestly hate to say that because I think of the late adds, Maryland is the value-add in other sports. Jeff Brohm tailored the offensive attack to exploit the Terps weaknesses. Nick Holt had the correct mindset and the defense kept Maryland in check. The youngsters stepped up today. Whether it was David Bell filling in for Rondale Moore, Brycen Hopkins making timely catches, Jack Plummer developing into a B1G QB, or Cory Trice getting a pair of INTs including a nail in the coffin Pick Six. The talent on this squad certainly has a ways to go but their is talent on the roster. If the defense can add some discipline, this team could scare an Iowa or Wisconsin down the stretch.

DJ: Maryland: Your TE passing game fix. They abandon the middle of the field on every passing play and refuse to fix the issue

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Rutgers at Indiana | Crimson downs Scarlet 35-0

I mean, what did you expect? Rutgers is a derelict ship, foundered on the shoals of ineptitude. 35 points does seem a bit low, if we’re honest.

Candystripes: If Indiana could stop having crucial offensive linemen get injured, that would be great. Beyond that, this was a good win, and one that I’m happy to have. For once, the scoreboard really tells the whole story for Indiana.

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Penn State at Iowa | Offense not included, 17-12

“We grinded it out,” Franklin said, seemingly beset by some postgame speaking palsy. PSU converted a late Iowa turnover to go up 17-6, and Nate Stanley behind a Ferentz offense is an unlikely to be the engine of a last minute comeback (to put it nicely). Looks like a 3rd-in-the-West finish for Iowa. Improvement!

Aaron the Anthropomorphic Yorkie-Poo: Penn State has mostly been a finesse offense under James Franklin, depending more on speed and misdirection than brute strength. That was not the case on Saturday night as Sean Clifford did not have the time to sit back in the pocket and let his deep reads develop. Instead, Penn State adapted to the MAN BALL that Kinnick Stadium is used to seeing. The Lions pounded the ball up the middle and used short possession passes to slowly moved the ball down field. They broke through with a 15-play, 85-yard drive in the second quarter that would be the game’s only touchdown until Nate Stanley finally through the costly interception we were all waiting for. That allowed Noah Cain to run into the end zone and give Penn State a little cushion. Even though the Hawkeyes struck back, Cain followed up with a couple of bruising runs to melt the remaining clock. Punter Blake Gillikin landed five punts inside the 20 and defensive tackle Robert Windsor was instrumental in shutting down Iowa’s ground game. The field position being in Penn State’s favor all night helped make up for a controversial overturned touchdown and about 500 holding penalties.

87Townie: Well, we escaped Kinnick at Night with a “W”. I’ll take it. The defense played fast and tough. While they gave up a couple of circus catches over the course of the game, they held Iowa’s offense in check. The offense remains a work in progress. Clifford looked jumpy in the first quarter, missing some easy throws. He took a couple sacks that he shouldn’t have. But he settled down enough to get the job done. He’s going to continue to improve, as he gets more experience. Up Next is Michigan at home for the White Out. Can’t wait.

Pkloa: The matchup of two stout defenses shockingly produced a low scoring game. Iowa played disciplined defense for 60 minutes, they just couldn’t come up with any turnovers. The two turnovers Penn State forced were the difference maker in the game.Noah Cain is making his case as the Lions’ leading LAWNBOY, and DT Robert Windsor wrecked shop all night. Blake Gillikin proved punting is winning, landing 4 punts inside the Iowa 11 yard line, including a 62-yarder. On to the Whiteout against Michigan.

GF3: Sweet suffering Jesus there are a lot of you PSU writers.

Stew: Iowa’s offense outgained PSU’s. PSU played sloppy and undisciplined, committing penalties all over the place. Iowa’s defense played great, mostly stymying PSU’s big play offense. If only Iowa’s offense could score points. But alas, therein lies the rub. The Iowa offense isn’t designed to score points. That’s not it’s goal. The whole point of Iowa’s offense is to keep the defense off the field. Scoring is completely incidental. Iowa made more mistakes, mostly the result of Windsor living the the backfield. And that was the game. The defense can only do so much on short fields.

Creighton: Imagine what Iowa could’ve accomplished over the last 20-ish years if they had even a top-40 offense? Anyway, our line sucks, but Windsor beat us more or less single handedly. Pay the man, NFL

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Nebraska at Minnesota | The Gales of November come B1Gly early, 34-7

Minnesota and Russia have two things in common: bland food and a winter that doesn’t treat invaders kindly. In the second-coldest October game in TCF Bank Stadium history, the Gophers pounded a hobbled Nebraska team relentlessly. With Martinez on the sidelines due to a bum knee, backup Noah Vedral took the punishment of rain, snow, and a Gopher defense that sacked him 4 times. The Huskers’ offensive struggles can be dismissed by the new QB and bad weather, but for the love of God it’s time to admit that Nebraska has no defense to speak of.

WSR: On a miserable night full of snow and wind, Minnesota absolutely dominated Nebraska. I don’t believe that I could have dreamed up such an outstanding performance from the Gophers. We ended up getting more rushing yards (322) than the Huskers had in total (299), paced by Rodney Smith getting 139 and a TD, 99 from Shannon Brooks, and another 84 yards and 3 TDs from Mo Ibrahim. The passing game suffered a bit in the elements with Tanner Morgan only going 8/13 for 128 and a TD, but two more nearly certain TDs were missed by Rashod Bateman and Jake Paulson. We’re now eligible to go to Detroit with half of the season to go, undefeated in the last 8 (for the first time since Michigan was coming off a national title), and have won 4 of the last 7 against Nebraska, including 2 of the last 3 in suffocating fashion.

Two other little things: Most of the (plentiful) Nebraska fans that made the trip were outstanding, and I hope they had a great time. I’m sorry about some of the shit you dealt with over the weekend, and I hope you’ll come back in 2 years. And I absolutely wish Wan’Dale Robinson a quick and full recovery. His injury definitely took the air of the stadium for a bit, and he was quite a bit of fun to watch while he was available and frustrating me.

GF3: Minnesota Nice, I tell ya...

Dead_Read: Nebraska football is difficult to watch (if you are a Husker fan, at least). I did not think Nebby would win this game, but I also did not think they would look this bad. Minnesota owned the trenches tonight, and I cannot think of anything that Nebraska did particularly well, or even...well. This next week is a bye, and the team needs to use it to get better...at anything and everything. Nebraska must win at least one of the next two games against the Indiana schools to have a legit shot at bowl eligibility. After this Mollywhoppin’, the prognosis is not good.

BRT: That was not surprising:” I think this game gets pretty stupid (seems to be our MO this year, as well as the Gophers’) and very well may get pretty ugly for Nebraska.”...but it was pretty disappointing. Nebraska is not a good team, especially on the road. Their routine and utterly complete 3rd quarter collapse in every game this year is predictable, apparently unsolvable, and stymies them from having chances at competitive games. I don’t know if they can fix it. I didn’t see much of this one, and from what I can tell, it’s not worth going out of my way to re-watch. Nebraska could lose every game left on the schedule this year. They only have a real shot against Maryland, and a puncher’s chance against the state of Indiana. So that’s neat.