18 B1G Things
- Down goes Indiana
- And down goes Julian Sayin
- I've never wanted a bye more in my life
- Jesus tap dancing Christ Nebraska. Seriously?
- Apparently UCLA knows what to do with an easy schedule though.
The Rundown
Washington shows signs of life against Purdue, 38-26
Boilers were feeling good coming off back-to-back wins, but the party ended early. Don't worry Boiler friends, you have one more guaranteed win coming!
glass: I had to stop listening after the Huskies went up 38-26 when my wife demanded I give the tv show we were watching 100% of my attention. She then returned to doom scrolling Instagram. ANYWHO the old saying "if you turn the ball over 3 times, you ought to lose, and if you turn it over 4 times, you will" obviously does not apply to Washington turning it over 5 times. Thankfully, this should end any misguided hope the Boilerbots were holding onto that Purdue would finish 6-6. Only 15 days until basketball season.
HoustonBoiler: After two weeks of Purdue playing well, we're back to Purdue playing poorly even though Washington tried, via five turnovers, to hand the game to Purdue. I had just started to believe, but Washington was clearly the better team. The offense was bad, in most cases unable to take advantage of great field position to score points. Ryan Browne had his worst game of the season. The defense was bad, unable to stop a Washing rushing attack that was last in the B1G. The only bright spots were true freshman kicker, Jacobo Echeverria Lozano, who was 2-2 on FGs including one from 48 yards, and punter Dylan Drennan, who averaged 43 yards per punt on three punts with two inside the 20-yardline. While a bowl game was never really in the realm of possibilities for this Purdue team, I am hopeful that they can pull out one more win.
As a bonus, we also have a nice little circle of trash: Purdue > Minnesota > Washington > Purdue.
glass: I think you mean "future Notre Dame kicker Jacobo Echeverria Lozano"
BoilerUp89: Purdue was bullied in the trenches. After the two game winning streak my fear was that Kevin Kanes defense was only good because he was going up under two HCs he had worked under (Kane was a position coach at Illinois just a few years ago and was at Minnesota last year). If the Washington game is anything to go on there might be some validity to that concern. Find out more next game I suppose
Ohio State takes down Indiana, but loses Julian Sayin, 19-15
For just a moment, it looked like the Buckeyes were going to run away with it, but Indiana clawed back, Sayin went down, and Ohio State relied on the defense to finish the job.
BuffKomodo: Missed opportunities. You can’t win championships or beat top 5 teams missing opportunities. Indiana missed far too many to win today. The Hoosiers showed they belong in the CFP, but now there are no mulligans to go to Indianapolis for a rematch. You’ll also need some luck.
Also, the offense sucks.
IUinVA: It is disappointing when the win is right there and they just can't take it. Oh well, can't win ‘em all (apparently). The defense looks great. Hoover airmailed way too many receivers. Maybe they can lock in and play a four quarter game now that the streak is over. Congrats to the Buckeyes.
Narrator: It's karma rebalancing after the Penn State miracle.
Transient Buckeye: Well...that may have been the Platonic ideal of "win the battle, lose the war." Ohio State snapped Indiana's conference winning streak. Unfortunately, Indiana also snapped Julian Sayin's throwing shoulder. Is it possible to have a top five matchup where both teams lose? If so, this might've been that.
MaximumSam: It's the rare when you beat a top five team on the road and conclude we are cooked, but here we are.
Michigan State did exactly what I said they'd do, lose to Northwestern 24-21
No revenge spot for Fitzy!
MNWildcat: Northwestern got when they spent the better part of two decades meting out to at least one unsuspecting opponent a year: the Pat Fitzgerald Treatment.
No, stop, not the one with Shrek masks. The on-field one.
The Fitzgerald-coached Spartans dragged Northwestern into the mud and let the Wildcats empty the whole clip into their own feet: a blocked field goal, a 41-yard punt return, a frustrating commitment to Establishing the Run when it just wasn't there...all you needed was Joel Stave throwing into the end zone when Melvin Gordon was in the backfield, and you'd have this game in a nutshell. The Northwestern offensive line was consistently blown backward, and it was only that one late spark of a drive, capped off by a Chiles rushing TD, that the 'Cats finally put the Spartans on skates long enough to look like they had a pulse.
On defense, the struggles to generate a pass rush and the reliance on "bend, don't break" caught up to Northwestern. Pietro Sillygooseovich, that living quasi-homage to the Free State of Fiume (shut up I know it was Croatian), did just enough throwing the ball for the Spartans, whose speedster Basil McCray returned the punt and then got behind one of the Wildcats' backup cornerbacks to put Sparty up 21-13.
While the 'Cats would tie it up on the subsequent drive, they were stuck trying to punch their way out of a hole all day. And, to once again confuse the metaphor that is a Pat Fitzgerald football game, the Northwestern playing legend was all too happy to toss them a shovel, an ACME-branded stick of dynamite, and a couple middle fingers as a bonus.
And what a stick of dynamite it was: facing 4th and medium at their own 30ish, with 4:30 left and two timeouts, Northwestern tried...a fake punt?
Whatever David Braun explains the thought process was, it was dumb. In the game thread, I called it "a Scott Frost onside kick of a call." It cost Northwestern a chance to pin the Spartans deep, force a punt, and get one last shot at a Jackson Kleather field goal. Instead, we got that slapdash sprint to the finish.
Because this is Michigan State, though, remember that shovel?
Sparty picked it up and stabbed themselves right in the leg. I mean, just...dear God.
Northwestern blocked the Michigan State field goal to go up 3 with a minute left, then marched 70 yards to set up a game-winning Kleather field goal. Aidan Chiles was phenomenal yet again with his legs and his arm, Griffin Wilde made a goddamn man's catch on the sidelines (CC Vikings: draft him, please), and Caleb Komolafe nearly broke a touchdown run before putting it close enough that the 'Cats could bleed the clock dry for the winning three points.
From here? Northwestern could be fine. There's Rutgers at home next week, in a game Northwestern should expect to win; the last two of at Minnesota and Illinois at home should feature two coin flips as well. Bare minimum this is a bowl team, and Northwestern should be thinking about somewhere even warmer than the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Nonetheless: let's cool it on Northwestern. Anyone who asked "Why not Northwestern to the Playoff?" is a fool who should not be taken seriously. For those of us grounded in reality, the stretch of OSU-Oregon-Iowa is rough, but who knows: what would be more on-brand for Northwestern than to get back to its roots and drag some poor, unsuspecting, full-of-themselves puds into the mud?
I know I'd enjoy that.
Ardichoke: Welp, with this game relegated to Peacock, and me refusing to add yet another subscription, I had to settle for listening to the radio broadcast. Some of it at least, until I had finished my drive. They haven't given up (yet), which is something, but the "Sparty, No!" is undefeated this season. It's almost like someone has some bad karma from something. Hmm, wonder what that could be... I look forward to Fitz being relegated to a footnote in program history.
LinconlParkWildcat: PHEW! I'll take the win. Fitzy certainly had his Spartans ready to play.
In fact, this game was giving me big ten west flashbacks to the way Fitz dragged teams into a rock fight or a mud fight.
Most concerning to me was the way the Spartan d-line bullied our o-line. I figured all the cool stuff with the wing T that Chip Kelly has been doing would be eventually game planned for, and Joe Rossi did not disappoint in that regard.
This game was a frigging shitshow from my perspective. I thought we’d lose the game after that botched fake punt but we ended up rallying and escaping East Lansing with a late field goal and a kick on the ground. I think a bit of adversity was good for the Wildcats, and hats off to the Spartans for a hard fought game.
Next week we welcome Rutgers to the Library.
Rutgers wins the track meet, 37-30
How does Mike Locksley still have job?!
RUReady4Brazil: That Rutgers win felt like a loss with how they were an upheld out of bounds in the endzone from defeat. The two worst teams in the Big Ten did their best to give the game away, but somebody had to win. Getting Locksley canned is probably bad for Rutgers ironically. This doesn’t change how the RU coaching staff should be viewed but the Schiano grifters are back.
Michigan entire offense consisted of Penn State turnovers
Not that Penn State was doing much on offense themselves, but spotting the opponent 21 points on turnovers, two of which in your own territory, usually leads to this result. Koby Howard is expected to be back after the bye. Maybe they'll salvage what's left of the season when they have a more consistent weapon (though in fairness, Chase Sowell has stepped up in Howard's absence).
Also I know Matt Campbell has said he doesn't want the offense to turn into a drop back offense, but bro, the running game isn't there. Adjust!
Brian Gillis: It may be a rather trite cliche, but Saturday’s “clash” between Michigan and Penn State was truly a tale of two halves. Neither team was able to get much going in the first half, but Michigan won the battle of ineptitude, totaling just over 60 yards of total offense and never threatening to score. Credit Michigan’s defense for keeping the Wolverines in the game, as after taking a quick 3-0 lead on an opening drive field goal, the Nittany Lion offense was held in check the rest of the half.
Michigan might have only trailed 3-0 at the half, but the way Wolverines looked offensively, it seemed a pretty insurmountable lead. For Michigan, a bad season seemed to be getting worse.
That would change, however, and change quickly, as the Wolverines turned to Tommy Carr at quarterback to start the second half. It was a change for which the fan base had been clamoring weeks and provided a much-needed spark for the home team – on the field and in the stands, where the crowd was suddenly alive.
Carr didn’t exactly set the world on hire, completing five of seven passes for 47 yards while adding 36 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but the Wolverine offense looked very different with the true freshman under center.
Credit Carr for breathing live into the Wolverine offense, but it was the Michigan defense that carried the day. Penn State was able to get it going a little in the second half, but the three turnovers forced by the Wolverine defense proved too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome.
For Penn State a miserable season gets even more miserable. For Michigan, all of their problems aren’t solved, in fact, far from it, but a change in quarterback gives the team – and fan base – a little hope going into the second half of the season.
UCLA defeats Wisconsin 17 to 7
Huh, that's weird, so you can score 17 on Wisconsin and still win. Huh.
Kind of...: Wisconsin's front seven was fantastic on defense, shutting down UCLA's vaunted rushing attack cold. But it didn't matter. UCLA was able to put together scoring drives of 84, 89, and 91 yards because the Badger secondary is atrocious. Wisconsin played soft zone most of the night and watched a backup QB carve them up. And the Wisconsin offense just couldn't keep up because celebrated portal addition Colton Joseph has no vision. (6-16-66 yards) And, all this occurred despite Wisconsin having a bye week last week. Getting to 4-1 because a rather bad PSU team blew coverage and gave away that game IS Wisconsin's ceiling. Realize that Wisconsins two conference wins came against two of the three winless teams in conference play. After USC and at Iowa, the Badgers will be 4-4/2-3.
Nebraska couldn't beat this Oregon after all, loses 14-17
Maybe it'll be in year 5!
IUinVA: If there are any Nebraska fans in your life, please give them a hug. Holy shit, man.
BigRedTwice: I didn't make it past the third quarter, but I see it ended in the only way it could have.
Biff: I've had a few small beers.
WhiteSpeedReceiver: I didn't watch the Gophers lose. It was nice.
