Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

I was at the game. Coverage was good, which is a problem. JTB was late on a couple balls. Most importantly, he missed 3 very open long balls on drives that were punts. On the first or second drive Samuel beat his guy by 10 yards. It was late and way underthrown.

Wilson's D has consistently made it hard for OSU to pass while giving up lots of rushing yards. Same story yesterday. They're happy forcing OSU to run basic offense. Last year they had Elliot, who broke 3 long runs. Yesterday, the only explosive series they had was with Samuel at TB. Weber had a good game and is going to be really good, but he's not explosive at the moment.

IU's offense is not that good. They had one really nice drive where they converted 5 third downs - only had 6 all day, so they maximized those! And then Ward got beat deep and Wilson caught them blitzing with a WR screen.

OSU's perfromance against IU has way more predictive value than last week's scrimmage. OSU fans know JTB can be off. It's not the norm, but it's not rare as to not be a real possibility.

Wisky will be another test. Night game in Madison against a real defense.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Urban's 5 games agaisnt IU. This has not been an easy win for us recently

2012: 52-49
2013: 42-14
2014: 42-27
2015: 34-27
2016: 38-17

[Pasadena Blue]

Shit, almost forgot, not that anyone cares...

Sparty (-5) vs. BYU. I'll take the points. I trust Sparty's offense not one lick.

Maryland (-3) at Penn State. Line opened at +3. 6 point move. I'll go with Penn State this weekend getting the points.

Iowa (+2) at Minnesota. Uggh. I think Iowa wins, so I'll take the 2.

Indiana (+28 ) at Ohio State. Line has dropped 4 points. Smart. OSU is overvalued. I'll take Hoosiers.

Purdue (+10) at Illinois. Kill me. Autofade Boilers. First principles.

Michigan (-30') at Rutgers. Rutgers is AWFUL. M covers by 15.

talent did awesome ... impressive

[THE_WIZARD_]

Do not feed The Talent. Ever.

[Hannibal]

So much for Maryland being a good team. Penn State kicked the shit out of them. That was the best that Penn State's offense has looked in a B1G game since before the Hackenberg era.

[THE_WIZARD_]

B 10 RANKINGS

1. Ohio St
2. Michigan
3. Wisconsin
4. Nebraska
5. Indiana
6. MSU/Iowa/Northwestern/Penn St/Minnesota
11. Maryland
12. Purdue
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers

[Cody_Russell]

Maryland lost starting QB Perry Hills before halftime.
I don't think that cost them the game, but similar to Colorado vs Michigan. The game probably would have been closer.
Maryland's backup Pigrome is a true freshman... not quite ready.

[iam416]

I continued my hot-cold performance with a hot week last week. I'm up to 21-16-1. That, of course, means the following is fade material.

Iowa (-11) at Purdue. This line opened at 13 and is dropping. Behold the Boiler steam! That's about the best I can say for this shitfest. Well, and it's not Illinois-Rutgers. So, umm, the Boilers, much like yours truly, seem to be hot and cold. Last week they scored an unlikely conference win. The week before the fearsome Turtle hung half a hundo on them. So that suggests an Iowa cover. Iowa's calling card, meanwhile, is the lukewarm genius of Ferentz. This year the Hawkeyes have won both their road games by the score of 14-7. I dunno....I've thought about this game way too much already, so I'll say the shitastic Boiler defense outshits the milquetoast Iowa offense and ride with the Boiler up and down trend over the Hawkeye lukewarm trend...and back Iowa. And, most critically, not watch one single second of this abortion.

Minnesota (+6') at Maryland. Welp, I actually looked up a Perry Hills injury report. I mean, I actually did research on this game. Incidentally, kudos to Delaney -- Maryland has transitioned seamlessly into the potential slate of B10 Noon Muck. So, eh -- I think the Goofers are physical enough to make this ugly. I think the Turtle is average enough to make this ugly. So, I'll take the Goofers and the points.

Illinois (-6) at Rutgers. I will not consider this game. Those who do are risking their eternal souls. Those who watch should be detained in Guantanamo as confirmed terrorists/serial murderers. I'll go with Lovies giving the points in a prudent Jersey Autofade.

Northwestern (+6') at Michigan State. If you survive the Noon Trifecta of Death, then this little gem awaits. It's goddamn Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fuck. So, MSU's offense seems abhorrent. It may be better than NW's offense, though. Or close. And NW has dispatched Iowa and Duke -- two teams that are probably better than Sparty, and narrowly lost to the second best team in Western Ontario -- taking PJ Fleck to the wire. So, I'll take the points. Go Evanston High!

Nebraska (-3) at Indiana. The line opened at 8 and is in free fall. I had to double check to make sure TommIE Armstrong hadn't been replaced by "Wild" Hoss. I sure didn't like this game at 8, but I do like the Huskerz at 3. I'm not sold on IU in any way. I don't think they have a particularly good offense. The defense is improved, but nothing to write home about. UNL dominated NW in dour Evanston playing in weeds. On a faster track, I feel comfortable that they're good for a TD+ victory. Corn People!

Ohio State (-10') at Wisconsin. I've seen too many OSU night games in Madison to pick this game objectively. 2003 and 2010. But beyond those losses, OSU hasn't won in Madison by more than a score since 2000 -- an upset fueled by the legendary Derek Coombs and Coop's last team. Eddie George's offensive juggernaut could only score 27 their in 1995. TP's 2010 offensive juggernaut could only score 18. UFM's 2012 team only managed 7 offensive points and 200 yards in regulation...somehow pulling a 21-14 OT win out of their ass. So, yeah...I don't OSU scores much. I'm not sure who wins, but I'm pretty sure OSU won't be covering double digits. So, Badger me on this one. Hate those fucks.

Bye week: M and PSU.

Other games of note:

Western Michigan (-12) at Akron. MAC CG Preview? Sneaky line. Sharps like Zips. I'm part of the public, though, so I'd back Kalamazoo.

Kansas State (+14) at Oklahoma. I gotta think the Sooners find a way to keep this game within two scores. I don't think they're capable of blowing out semi-decent teams.

Alabama (-12) at Tennessee. Opened at 9. An affront to The Nick. Vals won't be able to rally against this team, so better show up in the first half. At the risk of angering The Nick, I'd take the points. Backdoor!

Ole Miss (-7') at Arkansas. Definitely take the points here.

Stanford (+3) at Notre Dame. Opened as a PK. LOL at both teams.

[Hannibal]

The Illinois/Rutgers game is about one notch above that infamous 0-10 vs. 1-10 Wasington/Wasingon State matchup from 2008.

[iam416]

The all-time worst power conference matchup is 1987 Kansas-KSU. KSU entered the game 0-8 with a loss to Austin Peay to its credit. Kansas entered the game 1-7 with a 1 point win over Southern Illinois as the sole win between the two. They then played to a 17-17 tie. KSU finished 0-10-1 and Kansas finished 1-9-1.

Then, in 1988 they were both 0-8 when they played with Kansas getting the win to finish 1-10 with KSU finishing 0-11. That one is close, but I like the ineptitude of the tie. So, for 1987-88 Kansas was 1-19 against "non-KSU" teams beating only Southern Illinois. KSU was 0-20 against "non-KU" teams. A combined 1-39 when not playing each other. Thank you, Salukis.

The 2008 Apple Cup is 3rd, IMO.

[Hannibal]

Rutgers has been outscored 136-0 in their past two games. They were outgained over those two games 1,269 to 155. I would love to know whether an 1100-yard gap over two games is a B1G record. They might be the conference's worst team of the 85 scholarship eara. Welcome to the Big Ten, assholes.

[AlabamAlum]

Good call on the Bama-UT game. Honestly, the Vols winning outright wouldn't surprise me.

[Hannibal]

3rd quarter against Illinois and Rutgers still hasn't scored. That's 10
Quarters without a point for the Scarlet Knights

[Hannibal]

Wheeeee Rutgers just scored a TD!

[Hannibal]

Next weekend should be another massive beatdown. Illinois has the worst rushing defense in the conference and they are about even with Rutgers in yardage.