If you are looking to see who is performing above specs, and who may be performing above or below expectations in college football, this is your place to be this week, as I take a look at each of the FBS conference to examine what each school is doing to improve, and what teams are falling back in the pack. Here is my look at the Big 10:
Surprise Teams
I am going on overkill at Ohio State right now, but with all they have been dealing with, nobody would have been surprised to see a slip at this point. We have not seen that, and even with a late pull away win against TCU, the Buckeyes have been fairly dominant, especially on offense, where they are averaging 56.3 points per game, while allowing 20.7 per game on defense. Urban Meyer is back on the sidelines this week, and as the rest of the league is largely under performing, the Buckeyes could make quick work out of the conference.
Indiana is a surprising 3-0 at this point, but they have wins against FIU, Virginia, and Ball State. Now comes the time when the Hoosiers normally would begin to fade, and if they can avoid that, we would be truly overly surprised.
Penn State looked so bad in the opening win against Appalachian State, that some began to wonder if they would go into full meltdown mode without Saquon Barkley, Joe Moorhead, and others. They bounced back by crushing Pitt and Kent State, and our Nttany Lions are back to where we though they could be, and they are second only to Ohio State in total scoring in the Big 10.
You never really know what to expect from Iowa in any given year, but the Hawkeyes have been brilliant defensively once again, and are now 3-0. Iowa is allowing just 8 points per game, and while the offense is still uneven, it would not be shocking to see the Hawkeyes push for the Division title.
Minnesota has not exactly played the best of the best, but they are 3-0, and PJ Fleck is starting to show results. The Gophers now get into the gauntlet in Big 10 play, and stll could pull the Indiana fade, but things are looking up with the Gophers so far.
Disappointing Teams
Michigan State is a flat mess right now. They should be 0-2 after a flat win against Utah State, and an embarrassing loss to Arizona State, who went on to lose to a 1-1 San Diego State. I don't know what is going on with Mark Dantonio, but whatever it is, it's not good.
Northwestern is equally befuddling at this point, as they are off to a 1-2 start after consecutive losses to Duke and Akron last weekend. The Akron loss was especially troubling, as the Wildcats allowed 39 points to a team that barely could average 20 last season. This team is reeling right now.
Wisconsin had a lot of people on their train entering the season, but they are now 0-3 ATS, and are coming off a loss to BYU where they just looked lost. Depth has completely caved in at WR, and there is too much pressure on Jonathon Taylor now. Something has got to give, but this does not look like a team that can push Ohio State for a league title.
Nebraska is off to an 0-2 start under Scott Frost, and it's not that I expected much from the Huskers this soon, but I certainly did not expect a home loss to Troy. This is the second straight season that Nebraska has lost to a G5 team in Lincoln, and that is not acceptable on any level at all. This is an indictment on what an abysmal job Mike Riley had done as head coach, and I would love to see where those people were who defended him against me last year. Mike Riley was awful and he recruited in a pitiful manner. Any defense of that now?
Purdue was a team that many of us felt could really be a dark horse in the Big 10 West, but all they have been is awful. Purdue is 0-3, and have lost those games by a total of 10 points, but it's not how they lost, it is, in one case, who they lost to. You simply cannot lose to Eastern Michigan at home, and Purdue has not even seen the road yet. Boston College is coming in next, and they could be 0-4 before getting out of September.
No comments:
Post a Comment