Phil Harrison brings you five things we learned from each week of B1G football. Believe it or not, we are almost half-way through the season already. Let’s take some time to look at what we observed after week six.
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5. Penn State has B1G life
James Franklin has taken some shots over the last few weeks with his team’s inability to beat anyone of any consequence.
I’m not ready to jump on the Penn State train after beating unproven commodities in both Maryland and Minnesota, but there does seem to be some improvement starting to emerge from the shadows.
The offensive line is starting to open holes for running back Saquon Barkley, Trace McSorley is improving each week, and the much-maligned defensive line was able to finally stop a rushing attack, one that was the strength of a Terrapin team coming in.
Let’s not get too excited because the Nittany Lions still have to play Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, but there is a faint pulse coming from the base of Mount Nittany.
4. B1G Ditto for Iowa
This must be resurrection week in the Big Ten, because Iowa too found a way to lift itself from the grave. There’s still issues on the offensive side of the ball, but the Hawkeyes were able to grind through a win against a Minnesota team that will typically make you wrestle through attrition for a victory.
Check.
But just who or what is this Iowa team? It looked fantastic against arch-rival Iowa State, but not much else has been in the same zip code as last year’s team. But remember this; the Hawkeyes have just one loss in the West division, and they control their own destiny despite some ugly moments.
If the team can conjure up some mojo from last year, there’s still a chance to reach some of those lofty dreams drawn up prior to the season.
3. Maryland was a B1G paper tiger
http://gty.im/458810982
New head coach D.J. Durkin and his fighting turtles had turned some heads early in the season with an unblemished record and gobs of points flowing like milk and honey on the scoreboard.
There wasn’t high-end talent, but enough there to think that things have begun to turn already in College Park. And then Saturday happened.
The Terrapins got absolutely run off the field against Penn State, and it didn’t look like much had changed from last year. Despite going against one of the worst rushing defenses in the country, the Terrapins couldn’t get anything cooking on the ground.
And that was the strength of the team coming in with an average of around 300 yards per contest. The defense didn’t fare much better.
There is still a long way to go at Under Armour university.
2. Ohio State’s B1G expectations not quite met
To date, the Buckeyes looked like a bunch of well-oiled machines simply performing the way they were programmed to do against any and all competitors lining up against them. There frankly haven’t been too many instances of adversity for this team to work its way through.
But that changed a bit Saturday.
Indiana came in with a much-improved defense, and that side of the ball in combination with windy conditions, somewhat stymied the Ohio State passing game.
The defense was still great, but the final score of 38-17 didn’t tell the full story of the hard-fought battle the Buckeyes faced against the Hoosiers. Every team experiences a flat game now and again, and hopefully Ohio State got it out of the way before next week (at Wisconsin) and beyond.
1. Michigan can do some very B1G things
https://twitter.com/FrankGogola/status/784951202211475456
I’m looking at you Ohio State. I know it’s just one game, but what Michigan did to Rutgers might be illegal in the majority of the U.S. States and territories.
Yeah Rutgers is down a couple of key players because of injury, but boy did the Wolverines come into High Point Solutions Stadium with bad intentions, beating up on the Scarlet Knights 78-0.
Jabrill Peppers was the feature in his home state, and if the Maize and Blue continue to get him involved to this level, and if the defense continues to do its thing, we might just be looking at a potential Big Ten champion in Ann Arbor.
Michigan is that good folks, and it’ll get a bye week to stroke the cat and finalize its plans for galactic domination.
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Phil Harrison is a frequent contributor to The Student Section. He is also a featured contributor to collegefootballews.com, and talking10.com. You can follow him on twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB or email him at pharrison28@gmail.com. If that doesn’t work, you can find him in the doghouse at home.
