Welcome to Big Ten play. No more cupcakes, no more easy wins, no more coasting through the 4th quarter. Interesting developments have been few and far between in the non-conference slate, with the exception of the fake-FG and subsequent heart attack. Speaking of which, Coach Dantonio will be in the press box this week!
The pick to win the Big Ten before the season started was Ohio State (SURPRISE!!!) and little has changed with that. However, the middle of the conference has gotten a little more dicey. I'll be putting up short blurbs about each team this week - 3 today, 4 tomorrow, and 4 Saturday. We'll start with these 3!
Ohio State Buckeyes
Always stuffed full of talent, the Bucks have been scoring a lot of points and not allowing many. You might be thinking "HEY! That's how you win games!" and you'd be correct. They've already been kind of tested against Miami (FL) and did quite well. However, they'll be going up against comparable and better opponents in the next 9 weeks.
Pryor had his coming of age tale in last year's Rose Bowl and he hasn't slowed down. OSU has the 3rd most rushing yards in the country. He's already passed for close to 1,000 yards and ran for another 240. 10 passing TD's and 2 interceptions. That's solid for any QB, let alone one that leads their team in rushing as well.
Biggest Concern - Are they for real???
Remember that "kind of tested" against Miami? That's their only claim to fame, really. Their other opponents have been terrible, so it's easy to put up those kind of numbers. Against a Big Ten schedule, they could look more human soon.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Coach Kirk Ferentz does one hell of a job considering he has to convince players to come (or even stay) in Iowa. Iowa is one of the few remaining teams in the league that runs an in-your-face, smashmouth brand of football, but this year that might not work so well. Injuries to their 1st and 2nd string RB's leave them a little thin.
Clayborn could have gone pro last year and was co-Defensive Player of the Year with Greg Jones (who?). He's a monster defensive linemen who demands a double-team on almost every play. Can't say there's any clear weakness in his game.
Biggest Concern - Offensive Line
Iowa's revamped OLine has not looked like their corn-fed, mammoth predecessors. Their pass-blocking has been suspect, as evidenced by the beatdown they got from Arizona's Defensive Line, especially in the 4th quarter. They may be decent at run-blocking, but we won't know because there's a very inexperienced Freshman running the ball for them.
Indiana Hoosiers
IU hasn't had much success recently outside of their 7-5 year in 2007. However, things might be looking up this year. Indiana is 3-0 and has a dangerous passing game - they're 11th in the country in that area. They haven't come close to having a BCS opponent, so we'll find out very quickly if they are for real. The Hoosiers also have the hardest, by far, Big Ten schedule in the conference - Michigan, @ OSU, Iowa, @Wisconsin, Penn State.
Best Player - Ben ChappellAfter taking over for the now-dismissed Kellen Lewis in 2007(?) Chappell has developed into a solid QB. They run a pass-oriented offense and Chappell has the mechanics and level-headed-ness to lead his team. If his OLine can give him time, Indiana's offense will succeed.
Biggest Concern - Defense....in general
Indiana's defense hasn't exactly been stellar against some lowly teams. They're about to face some fantastic QB's in the next couple weeks - Denard Robinson, Terelle Pryor, Ricky Stanzi, Scott Tolzien, and Dan Persa. The way they've looked on defense, those dual-threat guys might tear them apart.
Part 2 comes tomorrow: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, and Minnesota. Part 3 will be early Saturday: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
