College Football: Big games in the Big-Ten
Thus far the Big Ten has come up with mixed reviews. There are high spots and low ones and considering that Big Ten BCS representatives (ahhemmm, the Buckeyes and Illini) showed so poorly during bowl season, lukewarm feelings about the conference in the media and amongst college football fans have remained. (Especially those of us from SEC and ACC country)
After Ohio State’s whooping in the coliseum even more heads turned. That came hours after Michigan dropped a game to a Notre Dame team which is shaky at best. A few hours later, though, the Badgers went came up big out of conference. There were mixed reviews before then, but even more after the fact. The real question is, who will rise to the top from this conference?
When the teams play amongst themselves, like last week, you see high powered squads that look like they can run with the SEC or Pac-10. Penn State and Illinois showed up in Happy Valley to beat up on each other and went blow for blow showing off some high powered offense and big play capabilities in the second half. This week will certainly provide some quality matchups inside the conference. Either the cream of the Big Ten will rise to the top, or they will keep battling amongst themselves keeping fans wondering who will be scheduled to play after New Year’s in the BCS.
The first one you have to see has the Badger faithful gearing up the grills and gamefaces trying to get a big win over the Buckeyes who travel to UW tomorrow. Coming off a total collapse in the Big House, Madison has to be feeling the heat. People around the country think that the Bucks could easily lock this up…especially now that the Wisconsin band is suspended from serenading Camp Randall on pending hazing charges.(You blew it, band. You jerks.) They have high expectations for this team at UW, and it lies outside of how many appearances the horn section makes, but if after week five they have two losses to a beatable Michigan team and Ohio State they would have to run the table to be a top team in the conference. That seems a tough hill with Penn State and Illinois still on the schedule.
The key for the Badgers will be the running game. They must keep Pryor and Wells off the field. Beanie is out at 8 yards per carry and is certainly going to find his rhythm after that brief break in week 2. Pryor is averaging 6.2 per carry and has found the end zone 3 times with his feet. Not only that, Pryor has tossed the ball for 5 TDs. If the Badgers can keep those two off the field with their running game, the defense will stay fresh and will be able to contain that high powered offense. You know that Ohio State will score but the question is how much?
The Badgers proved they could score against Akron and Marshall but only posted 13 against Fresno State but had trouble finding the end zone against Michigan settling for 4 field goals on many short field opportunities and fumbling the ball on the Wolverines 5. The running game has to be able to produce first downs, and although PJ Hill has not been that dominant, they are 12-0 when PJ touches the ball 25 or more times. The backfield is deep, too, John Clay and Zach Brown have made the most of their touches providing an offense that can have a lot of different looks, but relies on the run as their bread and butter. The Ohio State defense will certainly put up more of a fight than Akron or Marshall and if Badgers can’t control the line and stay on the field, their defense might not be able to stay fresh enough to chase down Beanie and Terelle. If points start flying a shootout favors the Buckeyes with an offense that can go deep with weapons.
To me it reeks of the Washington-Dallas matchup, if Evridge can play Jason Campbell, manage the game and avoid any INTs, while the defense steps up to shut down Marion, I mean Beanie, the Badgers could pop up in the polls on Monday.
The second matchup that deserves serious attention is Illinois-Michigan, both teams sit at 2-2 heading into the Bighouse. It’s a do or die game for both squads. Both need the win to compete for that second tier spot. Both teams are serious threats in the Big Ten to upset any season but each one doesn’t want to suffer a loss they want to hand them out. Michigan comes off a big win against Wisco and stays comfy at home where the 12th man helped mount a comeback against the Badgers. Defense stepped up big in the second half for the Wolverines, scoring 6 points and fending off a late Wisconsin charge by snatching an Evridge fumble forced by a Brandon Graham sack.
Illinois proved their offense could hang with anyone, they ran the ball extremely well going yard for yard with Penn State posting 189 yards as a team. Quarterback Juice Williams posted a rating of 147 and can move his offense at will and has backed up the threat through the air with 9 TDs on the year. He has thrown 6 interceptions, though, and you better believe the Michigan secondary knows that.
If the Illini want to score, they will have to do it against a defense that is coming into its own. Michigan’s defense seems to finding a rhythm and commented that Wisconsin’s offense in the second half had “no pushâ€. They are fierce at home creating 5 turnovers this year but the offense gives the ball up more easily. Almost 3 times more easily, Rich Rodriguez’s squad has coughed it up 14 times this year. If they want to keep Juice off the field they better keep the ball under their own center.
The results of these games will give us signs of who really might come out of the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. Ask me, I like the “underdogs†I say the real football weather and home-field advantage get wins for the Badgers and Wolverines in games where defense wins.
(Oh, and flip over to the Iowa-Michigan State game, I say Ringer breaks a couple big ones and keeps the Hawkeyes on the ropes.)
Tags: Big Ten, Illinois, Michigan Wolverines, ohio state buckeyes, Wisconsin Badgers
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