Big Ten Recap: Week 5

Welcome to another edition of the Big Ten Recap. Despite some lackluster games, and an unfortunate computer crash, we were able to get through the games and answer some questions this week. But much like Lost, the more questions that were answered, the more other questions came up.

Let’s see what we’ve got.

Blaming a computer crash for being late? How uncouth.

Yeah. The worst part was, I was SOOOO clever this weekend. I was at an establishment that let me watch 3 games at a time, while also getting tweets on the Iowa game. I had my laptop out, was making notes on the games, and had probably 3 pages of stuff ready to go… and then computer fail. So, we’ll go shorter, as I’m trying to remember notes based on the box scores of the earlier games.

Whatever. Michigan State over Michigan. Go.

The Spartans needed a win. Tate Forcier needed to show he was human. This will probably be the biggest win the Spartans have this year, and might push them back into minor bowl contention. The thing is, none of the Spartans really stood out offensively. QB Kirk Cousins was merely ok and had two interceptions. Glenn Winston and Larry Caper didn’t wow anyone running the ball. Blair White had 6 catches, but didn’t do anything to break open the offense. Cousins was actually the leading rusher with 75 yards, including a 41 yard run. The defense didn’t wow anyone either, as Forcier really pulled the Wolverines out of the blahs and into the ballgame. And while Tate the Great couldn’t pull the win out, more was added to the future legend, even though he came up short.

Tate the Great? Call him that again, I will punch you in the face. Purdue and Northwestern.

Oh… I had blocked this game from my memory. This was the last game I had written about in the previous incarnation, and forgot what I wrote. The gist was, Purdue really, really killed themselves with turnovers, and Northwestern was lucky they were playing Purdue. The Wildcats had the advantage of 6 Boilermaker turnovers to help them get back into a game they should have lost. Northwestern had opportunities, but couldn’t convert to touchdowns; a 20 play, 78 yard drive for a FG, a 20 play, 72 yard drive that led to 0 points on 4th and goal fail, THEN 3 consecutive Purdue turnovers for 13 points. This last set had to be seen to believed, Purdue’s plays went: Joey Elliott INT on first play of drive, Fumbled KO return, Fumbled KO return. A 21-3 lead was down to 21-16, but Purdue had to feel a tiny bit of confidence in holding the Wildcats to only 16 points. Purdue fumbled again at the end of the 3rd quarter on their first real drive of the 2nd half. They fumbled again on another impressive drive into Northwestern territory in the 4th quarter (Which lead to the Wildcat’s go ahead TD)… and they STILL had a chance to win, falling short on a 4th and Goal pass, Elliott to Aaron Valentine to win the game. Northwestern got the win, should get credit for creating some of the turnovers, but Purdue lost this game because they’re Purdue and not very good. Sadly, this might be the closest the Boilermakers come to winning a game, but I still think they scare one of the Big Ten “Powers” still left on the schedule.

Man up and pick that win.

11/7 at Michigan, as the Fighting Forciers look ahead to games against Wisconsin and Ohio State.

If you say so. Arkansas State and Iowa? I thought you were going to skip this game?

Well.. I mostly did. Except the tweets kept coming as Arkansas State made a game of it. I will say this, Iowa isn’t as good as they looked against Penn State, and Ricky Stanzi is going to lose them a game. They have three real tough games coming up, home against Michigan, then at Wisconsin and at Michigan State… I think they go 1-2 in those games.

Well, now you’re just letting it all hang out. Penn State over Illinois and Ohio State over Indiana. Go!

Both top teams did what they needed. Penn State ran all over the Illini, and Ohio State toyed with Indiana while getting some good work from Terrelle Pryor and Brandon Saine (subbing for the injured Daniel Herron). Penn State has another cupcake (Eastern Illinois), but the Buckeyes will host Wisconsin this weekend, in Big Game #1 for the Big Ten.

Big Game #1? Explain yourself.

The Big Ten will try their damnedest to get two teams into the BCS. OSU should win out (including wins over Wisconsin, Penn State and Iowa) to clinch one spot… well, they’ll be favored for every game except, maybe, the Penn State game. After that, it gets tricky. Iowa beating PSU really opened up the potential for something weird, as there’s no real round robin left (Wisconsin and PSU don’t play). If Wisconsin wins out after the OSU game, they’re 11-1 with wins over Iowa (at Madison 10/17), Michigan (at Madison, 11/14), and Northwestern (in Evanston, 11/21). Big Game #2 is Penn State vs. Ohio State, Big Game #3 is Iowa vs. Ohio State, and Big Game #4 is Iowa vs. Wisconsin. A one loss Big Ten team certainly goes to the Fiesta Bowl… a two loss team might make it interesting as well if there are a plethora of two loss potential BCS teams. The Fiesta Bowl will certainly look at Wisconsin and Iowa should either of those teams finish second to OSU.

Homer.

I have not yet begun my homerism.

Fine. Wisconsin over Minnesota. I can’t believe you waited this long to bring it up.

I know. Setting aside my homer bias, it was a really impressive win by the Badgers for one reason: Their offensive line had their way with the Gophers front seven in the second half. When the time came, John Clay ran all over the Gophers, and they had no answer for him. The biggest play was something I can’t quite explain… the Gophers returned a Zach Brown fumble 88 yards for a score that brought them to within 3… But it was the meat of two impressive Badger drives of over 3 game minutes, which followed a 6 minute TD drive at the end of the third/beginning of the fourth quarters. The Badger offense had the Gophers defense on the field for 13 minutes to just 1:47 for the Gophers. Eric Decker is a great, great player… but he can’t do damage if he’s not on the field. And that might have been the difference for the Badgers.

I really thought you’d go on more. This is less wordy than your Purdue recap.

The Badgers had some issues… they turned the ball over, their pass offense was good but not great, their play calling at the end of the game was ABYSMAL when they needed to run the clock down. Some of their defensive schemes and calls were… questionable. They’ll struggle against Ohio State, I would imagine, but again, their schedule is quite favorable after the Buckeyes.

I’m sure you’re quite happy about that. Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week?

John Clay made the difference for the Badgers. 32 carries, 184 yards, 3 touchdowns; and he just PUNISHED the Gophers in the second half. This might have been the easiest weekly award I’ll give out this year.

Yeah yeah yeah, voted for the Badger for the 2nd week in a row. Go figure. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week?

The Big Ten Network gave it to O’Brien Scholfield of the Badgers… I liked the pick, and he harassed Adam Weber in the second half. He was my second choice… watching the end of the Spartans win, there was no bigger defensive play than Chris Rucker’s INT of Tate Forcier in the end zone in OT. It wasn’t much, but enough to get this prestigious award.

So, you’re not being a homer by giving it to a different guy than who won all the other Big Ten awards… ok then. Big Picture time.

The Big Ten hits the halfway point this weekend, and we’ll have a pair of games that will go a LONG way to deciding the conference standings. Iowa gets Michigan at home and Ohio State hosts Wisconsin. We’ll see how Tate Forcier responds to his first collegiate loss, how will the Badgers attack and contain Terrelle Pryor, will Purdue put a scare into Minnesota in their gorgeous new stadium, and Michigan State tries to keep momentum going at Illinois. Northwestern and Penn State host non-conference games against teams they should beat, and Indiana travels to Virginia in search of an upset. And next week… I hope to lay out some early (EARLY) bowl predictions.

Tags: BCS, Better late than never, Big Ten, Big Ten + 1, college football, Computer crashed. Really, Eric Decker, football, Illinois doesn't have a team, Indiana Hoosiers, Iowa Hawkeyes, John Clay, Just typed out all big 10 teams, Michigan STate Spartans, Michigan Wolverines, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Minnesota still sucks, NCAA, Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio State Buckeyes, Paul Bunyan's Axe, Penn State, Purdue Boilermakers, Rob in WI, Tate the Great, Terrelle Pryor, Wisconsin Badgers
Categories: Domestics, Munchies

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Domestics, Munchies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.