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A few B1G Things…
- Manny Diaz, in the words of Gus Johnson, is the right man for the job
- ...provided that job is giving up 418 yards rushing to an offense that couldn’t crack 175 against Indiana
- Being the #5 run defense doesn’t mean much when the best offense you’ve faced averages only 148 yards rushing per game
- Sean Clifford is not the QB Penn State needs...unfortunately, neither is Drew Allar
The Rundown
Penn State at Michigan | Wolverines deliver a drubbing, 41-17
Brian: If this was Michigan’s first test of the year, it’s safe to say the Wolverines passed it. Michigan dominated the Nittany Lions in 41-17 game that wasn’t as close as the final score would suggest. Critics will point out that Michigan has yet show a downfield passing game, but as quarterback JJ McCarthy said after the game, “With our offensive line doing what they were doing, I’ll hand off to these guys (Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards) all day.”
RMB: Well that was unexpected. Michigan racked up over 400 yards rushing against Penn State, the team that was the #5 rushing defense in the country. The was surprisingly stout and the special teams were excellent. I’m not sure what this means for the rest of the season, but it’s pretty sweet for the moment. The one big, unanswered question - I think everyone can agree - is how spectacularly bad is Auburn?!?
misdreavus79: Well, that wasn’t fun. Michigan dominated the game from start to finish, but two big plays kept the Nittany Lions in it in the first half. The Lions would go on to take a lead in the third quarter, but two big plays by Michigan’s run game effectively put the game out of reach fairly quickly.With Minnesota coming to town in a week, the Lions will need figure something out quickly, as the Gophers can also put the game out of reach rather quickly if they can’t stop the run. Luckily enough, Minnesota’s offensive line is not as dominant as Michigan’s, and the game is at home.They can lick their wounds today and move on to the next one. (edited)
87townie: Punching in. This turned ugly. I watched the first half at the hotel bar in New Orleans. I want thrilled with the defense, but luck was on our side. PSU was down 17-14 when I got in the Uber. By the time I got checked in, the rout was on. I’m still holding out for 9-3 or maybe 10-2. But this post be week performance left me flat.
Illinois at Minnesota I Bert still has the Gophers’ number, 26-14
Thumpasaurus: Minnesota had two busted plays by Illinois (long Ibrahim run & second half kick return) and two questionable calls in their favor (push off on brevynne-spann-fordd and what I understand was a pretty unconvincing TD by Ibrahim) that led to two touchdowns, Illinois beat Minnesota in a way for which I can’t even think of a metaphor that doesn’t reflect terribly on humanity. The yardage comparison was like Clemson playing Howard or something like that. Minnesota got some chunks and stalled. Illinois just ripped through the gophers methodically, steadily and with confidence. It was like Minnesota was a 9 year old kid playing basketball 1-on-1 against his dad, and his dad is prime Kevin Garnett. I am absolutely fucking flabbergasted to see such a dominant performance, let alone have it cap off three weeks of crushing the dreams of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota fans. I can’t believe it. It’s happening. Big Time Tommy is a motherfucking superhero.
He was a high school QB: Illinois had a third straight strong performance against a team that was supposed to better than Illinois. We are not a team without flaws (red zone offense struggles, kick off struggles) but we do look like the most complete team in the West. Illinois has had good seasons in the last 25 years, but they’ve been fleetingso I’m going to enjoy this one while it is here. So, with that being said, SUCKIT GOPHERS!! Hey Peejus, why don’t you take that big fat L merrily merrily merrily down the stream back to Minisoda!!! I’ve got an acronym for you, PJ. LOSER!! (edited)
L Loud
O Obnoxious
S Salesman
E Egomaniac
R Runner-Up cuz you ain’t won shit!
Maryland at Indiana | Maryland wins a basketball prelude, 38-33
Larry31: NFL prospect LT Jaelyn Duncan did not play and it showed. Who’s to say his absence was a direct result of Taulia’s knee injury, which caused him to missed the fourth quarter. Fortunately, WF transfer Billy Edwards Jr. is a more than capable back up who led the Terps to 2 straight TD drives to take the lead, then seal the game. Billy edwards is more of a running option WB and Indiana seemed to have a hard time adjusting to the different style of offense.
Penalties, once again, was a major problem: 9 penalties for 94 yards, some of which were very poorly timed. On an Indiana punt, Maryland got called for defensive holding BEFORE the punter kicked the ball, which resulted in a 15 yard penalty and Indiana getting the ball back to extend the drive which resulted in an Indiana touchdown. Seriously, WTF!?! That’s a really really bad penalty. I don’t want to whine too much about Maryland committing lots of dumb fucking penalties week after week because Indiana’s three turnovers were doozies. And Maryland committed zero turnovers.
In my preseason final argument article, I mentioned a lot of folks were concerned Maryland’s backfield was unproven. I wasn’t concerned because the RB room was deep and talented, as long as they could hold onto the ball. Once again, the RBs stepped up and played a major role in the win.
BuffKomodo: I…I literally have no words. Again, Indiana snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. I just don’t understand man. Indiana allows a backup QB to run for 39 yards and allows a go ahead score. Fumbles driving to retake the lead with 5 minutes left. Forces a 3rd down and allows a 40 yard run. And that’s the 4th quarter. There are structural problems beyond the O-Line in the Hoosier football program. They begin and end with Tom Allen. Might as well stick a fork in this season.
I really hate being the “basketball season starts in 3 weeks” guy, but for goodness sake Indiana is getting to look like the Bill Lynch Hoosiers. I did not enjoy that era. I have not enjoyed 4 out of the 6 years of Tom Allen.
Wisconsin at Michigan St | Sparty skewers wounded Bagders, 34-28
Apfelstrudel Kartoffelski: I returned home from a disappointing DCFC match in time to catch most of the 4th quarter of Wisconsin @ MSU, and the teams were kind enough to shove an entire dumb game’s worth of dumb antics into the part I managed to watch. It really, truly does not seem like I missed a whole lot before that point; MSU’s defense, returning S Xavier Henderson, at least wasn’t misaligned on every single play, and Wisconsin obligingly ignored the Minnesota game tape and went with their normal “feed tailback like we’re trying to get foie gras out of him” offensive gameplan.
Because MSU ultimately pulled this out in 2OT, I think this will probably be forgotten by most people quickly, but I need to linger on their end-of-game clock management for a beat here. Wisconsin tied the game at 21 with about 2 minutes left. MSU’s first couple of plays didn’t get much yardage, and the broadcast starts talking about trying to play for overtime? And I started smelling toast? MSU then got a chunk play such that they got to the Wisconsin 46 with 1:55 left and two timeouts.
From there, MSU’s playcalling...confused me. They get themselves another first down, but use their timeouts on the way there. Then, on 3rd and 2, now with no timeouts and about 30 seconds, they call a swing pass to the slot which is immediately tackled for a loss. So now the clock is ticking, they have no timeouts, it’s 4th down so they can’t spike, and they are playing their backup long snapper and backup kicker due to injuries, and the entire time, Tim Brando’s call of the game is gaslighting me into thinking Michigan State is doing this correctly??? And then of course they dorf the FGA, the holder heaves it up for an INT as time expires, and only the fact that Wisconsin doesn’t have a single athlete capable of stopping either Jayden Reed or Keon Coleman gets Mel Tucker off the hook for this whole thing.I know this is protesting a bit much for a team that had flatlined, looked utterly hopeless for a month, and now gets off the mat a bit to regroup with the bye and then throw their best punch at Michigan. But man, that clock management had me feeling like I was taking crazy pills.
Beez: I very much enjoyed Book of Mormon. I assume the Wisconsin game went well
Kind of...(Chris): Think back to the 2016 B1G Championship game. Wisconsin has some success running the ball, and takes an early lead that really should be bigger than it is. Then, in the second half, the opponent realizes that simply lobbing the ball up to their talented and tall WRs is really all that is needed to erase Wisconsin’s lead.
Now, make it 95% stupider and you have UW’s loss to MSU yesterday. Graham Mertz threw one awful interception that led to a 12 yard TD “drive” for MSU’s only first half points, but it probably should have been three INTs, including one in the first OT that would have ended it a few minutes earlier. Instead, MSU dropped an easy pick so now Braelon Allen, who lost a fumble in OT #2, gets to share in the blame. Sparty’s sense of charity even extended to running a befuddling play at the end of regulation, one the left the clock running as the FG team rushed on the field with no timeouts left. Would it surprise you to know that in their haste, MSU had a bad snap and didn’t even get a kick off? Probably not if you’ve watched MSU much this year. Would it surprise you to know that, despite Sparty dropping two INTs and butchering the end of regulation, Wisconsin still couldn’t find a way to win? Not if you’ve watched ANY UW football this year. And so a secondary that got thoroughly embarrassed today gets Purdue and Maryland in the next two games. Should be...interesting. Good luck Coach Leonhard!
MC ClapYoHandz: Series I savings bonds offer inflation-protected savings through TreasuryDirect and earn an interest rate of 9.62% over the next six months if purchased between now and October 28th. Worth taking a look if you’re in the market for stronger guaranteed returns on savings you don’t need to touch in the next year plus. Oh, football? That wasn’t as interesting.
Nebraska at Purdue | Boilers capitalize on maize malaise, 43-37
BoilerUp89: Well Purdue (and my heart) survived. Good run game, great job by AOC, terrible job by the secondary covering Palmer. Purdue entered October needing to go at least 3-1 in the month to stay in the running for the West. They’ve gotten the minimum 3 wins which is good, because next week is an automatic loss.
BRT: A one-score loss that was the result of inadequate defense and a few poorly timed offensive mistakes. Novel. Unexpected.I will say this nice thing about Nebraska- it did feel like the team expected to win. A lot of teams couldn’t be arsed to come back from 17 down. This could easily have been a 40-point loss. I liked the aggressiveness before the half, and there were some really beautiful plays and drives. There was Trey Palmer! It was kind of impressive that they had a chance almost to the very end. The problem is that we’ve seen that exact result a lot the past two years— when will we turn the corner?I’ll also add, aside from the ending, the game was pretty fun to watch. If we’re going to be bad, I’m glad we’re at least fun to watch while being bad. (edited)
deadread: I liked the way the team competed. Nebraska needs to find something resembling a run defense before Illinois comes to town in two weeks.
Jesse Collins: I generally didn’t hate how Nebraska played tonight. This team isn’t really that great, and that means playing sloppy - even a little - is the difference between winning and losing. But, honestly, they had a chance to win. It was fun all things considered. Trey Palmer is really good at football. That’s a bolt-on but like, I dunno, I enjoyed much of that game.
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