Look at news, analysis, an insight from around the Big Ten Conference.
This is Big Ten Paradigm, part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast
network, and here's your host, Mark Roger. Welcome back to this week's
edition of Big Ten Paradigm. Right here on the College Gridiron Coast to Coast
Network. We invite you to check out the various offerings covering the landscape of
college football right here on College Gridiron Coast to Coast. But here in the
Big Ten we look back to Week two, we look ahead to an interesting
Week three, and I say interesting in that the Big Ten in the ACC
take a page from the basketball textbook of competition with the Big Ten ACC challenge
of sorts. Nobody's called at this, but did you notice there are six
Big Ten ACC matchups in Week three? I have never in all my years
of why watching and covering college football, have I seen six matchups in one
college football weekend between two conferences. We will preview and also, folks,
and number of quarterbacks storylines to keep you updated on and how they project for
a number of teams this season in the Big Ten. The quarterback is,
of course, the most important position in sports. I used to think that
that was Major League Baseball starting pitcher, but they don't pitch seven eight nine
innings anymore. So it is the quarterback in both the NFL in college football,
the most important position and the most difficult position to play in all major
sports and in the Big Ten. Before we get to the quarterback positions specifically,
let's look back at Week two and the major storylines they sent her around.
The two time defending Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines. J. J.
McCarthy, speaking of quarterbacks, has the number one QBR all of college football.
He is emerging as an elite passer. Last season he was a really
good quarterback, an excellent dynamic athlete. But this season, albeit against inferior
competitions, so we will see against the likes of Penn State, Ohio State,
and others, most notably just those two teams in Michigan's week schedule.
But the number one QBR rating through two weeks of the season, and J.
J. McCarthy looks rather sharp in the defense at this point, the
best in the Big Ten. Iowa Penn State will have something to say about
that, but they've given up ten points in two ball games. Michigan is
rolling. Iowa wins back the Syhawk Trophy from Iowa State after falling in Kennock
Stadium last year's ten to seven. This time another slugfest. Is Iowa let
its seventeen to three and held on for a twenty to thirteen win in typical
Hawkeye fashion, although the Hawkeyes may have found another offensive weapon this one in
the run game. Jazz Patterson looked really good in combining with Caleb Johnson to
keep the football away from the Cyclones and keep that Iowa offense churning toward twenty
points. Brian Ferrence, if you're keeping track at home, in his quest
to average twenty five points per game, including the defense, which had a
pick six in this game. So it's not the Iowa offense delivering the twenty
five points per game goal, it's the entire Iowa team twenty points meaning twenty
four against Utah State. That's forty four total points. So Brian Ferrence,
the offensive coordinator at Iowa, is minus six on his incentive clause. The
Minnesota defense, phenomenal last year, phenomenal on this Saturday against Eastern Michigan,
winning twenty five to six, and Minnesota's get a matchup that has me intrigued.
One of the great matchups in the Big Ten. Coming up this weekend,
we will preview Northwestern. Maybe they're not as bad as we thought they
would be. Northwestern was actually a slight, very slim underdog against UTEP,
but the Wildcats won this one going away thirty eight to seven. The defense
poured it on with four sacks and nine tackles for loss, and the offense
was highlighted by Ryan Helenski's eighty five ye touchdown pass to Joseph Hyman. And
so Northwestern gets off the schneide and we were not positive that they would win
a game this season. They do so in Week two over UTEP easily thirty
eight to seven. Those are all on the plus side for the Big Ten.
On the down side, Ohio States lackluster offense. We did not expect
to say that at any point this season, even with some questions along the
offensive line and a new starting quarterback. Ohio State against young stout State never
really put them away in a fashion that you would expect. Ohio State,
as a million point favorite, would and typically does to those kind of teams.
That's an FCS team. Ohio State destroys teams in the Big Ten.
But maybe this is a different year in Columbus. Ohio State lackluster on an
offense for a second consecutive week, this time against Youngstown State Notre Dames in
two weeks. Then we've got Nebraska blasted by Colorado. Big thumbs down for
the Big Ten. Right there? The defense, Hey, how much can
you blame them? They held down Shooter Sanders and company into the third quarter,
but their backs were going to break at some point because the Nebraska offense
was desmal atrocious. Jeff Simms maybe working on the worst two game stretch of
quarterback play in college football and Illinois where that top five defense from twenty twenty
two go. We know that it largely went to the NFL as Illinois flooded
the draft on that side of the football, but also had a number of
returnees, especially in the front seven, to forge an impressive defense on paper.
But they just flat out on defense. We're too slow and we're outflanked
and out of place against Kansas, giving up five hundred twenty three yards of
total offense trailing thirty four to seven before putting on a mini comeback. They
had a thread of hope in the fourth quarter, but not really. Illinois
loses in a like seated game between the Big Ten and the Big Twelve.
I like to measure conferences based on like seated games. This is one that
did not look good for the Big Ten. Illinois goes down in this one
thirty four twenty three, and then the ultimate downer for the Big Ten and
the reputation of the conference, the reputation of Michigan State, the reputation most
notably and specifically of head coach Mel Tucker, charged with sexual harassment. We
dove deep on this topic during a live stream on Sunday at the Voice of
College Football. Check it out on YouTube, and then I delivered my response
my reaction to melt Tucker's statement on Tuesday. Check it out on YouTube at
the Voice of College Football. But we turn our attention to the quarterback position,
and there are four teams we'd like to focus on. First and foremost.
Columbus Ohio Ryan Day on Tuesday announced that yes, indeed, Kyle McCord
will be the starter going forward. McCord's completed sixty four percent of his passes,
three touchdowns, one bad interception, one bad decision against Indiana he is
a quarterback rating a one fifty seven a QBR of eighty four. Steve Hellwagon,
Tony Gerdiman, and Kevin Noon joined me each and every Wednesday at eleven
am Eastern Time for Buckeyes Live on the Voice of College Football. Please join
us then, Steve, Kevin, Tony and I discuss Kyle McCord as the
Buckeye starter. Yeah. I think this was an important move. You can't
be dragging this on into the bulk of your season. This is your final
quote unquote tune up game prior to Notre Dame. Thank You really need to
have somebody getting the first team reps. And like all of the first team
reps, things mechanically maybe a little bit different. Where we know that it's
going. It's not going to be a case of trying to get Devin Brown
in the fourth series or the fifth series. I mean, certainly the plan
is when when the game permits to bring Devin Brown in, But Ohio State
is going to have to be more effective on offense for that to be a
case. Ohio State has not covered in either game, and while I would
say neither game got particularly uncomfortable, Ohio States certainly didn't run away with either
of these games. But and I think we saw coming out of the Youngstown
State game that Kyl McCord was the guy that that Ryan Day wanted to have
out there. I mean most of the you know, they've been able to
move the ball somewhat with him. I think that in the times that we've
seen Devin Brown, we've seen kind of a muted offense to certain extents and
things of that nature. I think I think it is a it's it's it's
a big move for the Buckeyes to have their their starting quarterback, and I
think it's one less distraction, one less thing to be talked talked about around
the teams as they're trying to advan answer to the month of September. And
Day even said as much when he said, now the team knows for sure
who their quarterback is and can move on and follow Kim Accord's lead and with
McCord. I wrote about it today this morning at bucket huddle dot Com,
just the inefficiencies of the offense and how that is perhaps related to the quarterback
competition, guys not getting enough reps in practice. I'm not getting all the
first team reps to practice, but more so like during the games where you're
pulling guys in and out, and how that can stall some momentum or it
keeps momentum from from actually happening. Because right now, how SAD is dead
last in the Big Ten in red zone efficiency in terms of scoring touchdowns in
the red zone. They scored touchdowns on three of their six trips to the
red zone a year ago in September four games on September, they failed just
twice to score touchdowns the red zone there eighteen of twenty. They've already failed
more times in two games against two questionable opponents than they did all of September
last year in terms of when they're in the red zone they'd scored touchdowns.
And so now going with one quarterback and not worrying about anything else, you'd
expect, you would hope that that stuff starts to improve, the third downs
start to improve. The more of the common Chords sees these situations, the
better he'll be able to handle them. So, for as many reasons as
everybody has already said and will continue to say, this was the right move.
For one, it was the right guy based on what we've seen.
I think everybody if you left that Youngstown State is saying, I still I
think Devin Brown is the guy. Nothing was going to change your mind,
and nothing that you have seen on the field was ever going to change your
mind because your decision was made off the field by something somebody told you.
I think the time was right to get this done and get it out of
the way. I think that commic Chord came out in the first half last
week, albeit against Youngstown State, and showed great comedy to the offense.
He was very accurate, got the ball out to his receivers, let them
create as a special bond it seems with Marvin Harrison. But I don't think
it's the point where he's going to force the ball into Marvin, you know,
to prove a point or anything. So I don't look at it that
as a negative thing at all that they played together in high school. But
I do think that this was the time to whittle down the reps and make
sure that McCord is getting most of them and get through this game, gets
Western Kentucky, which in some regards could be a shootout, and then get
into the Notre Dame game, which in some regards could also be a shootout.
So I think that the passing offense is going to need to come to
play these two weeks, and I think it's time to give hccord the best
shot. Iola fans have been excited all off season about the acquisition of kay
McNamara. Not that he is a dynamic player, not that he is going
to lead a prolific offense, it just doesn't work that way at Iowa,
but that he would be the perfect perfect quarterback for this system, the perfect
compliment for a defense and special teams that are near elite in college football.
Well, Cave McNamara is playing about as well as you would expect at this
point, completing fifty six percent of his passes, two touchdowns, one pick,
a QBR of forty three. That's a bit low. He needs to
play better one fifteen of a quarterback rating. But most importantly is Kave McNamara's
health. He's been dealing with a quad issue going all the way back to
summer camp, and that's been an issue through the first two games. Now
Here in Week three, Iowa's got a manageable game. You would think against
Western Michigan they're a decided favorite. The defense, the special teams should be
able to take care of business. Should Deacon Hill get the call against a
MAC team while Kave McNamara rests up for Penn State in the Big Ten schedule,
I was going to win this game. It would give the backup quarterback
Deacon Hill. Allah what we've seen at other locals I e. And Arbor
with JJ McCarthy getting valuable playing experience two years ago. With Kave McNamara as
the starter, and you rest Kad McNamara, you get the win, valuable
time for the backup. I think it's the way to go. We discussed
with Corey Brata and Elliott Cluff on our IOWA show Hawkeyes Live every Tuesday at
five thirty Eastern Time at the Voice of College Football. Should Kave McNamara sit
against Western Michigan. What he said today is that he feels the best he's
felt in a month. I think the Iowa I mean, the offensive line
has done a pretty good job of keeping him up right. If it was
last year's offensive line, I think we might be talking about it a little
more seriously. Not that we're not taking it seriously at this point as the
media, but I think it's it's gotten better and I think a lot of
that is because he's not he's not on his back on a on a consistent
basis, and you don't have to worry about I mean, I think he
was hit maybe once in the backfield against I always say I don't know that
he was. I don't know, I don't I don't know exactly what was
happening. He might it might not have been the backfield. He might have
been trying to get away. Either way. There was only one time,
I think in these last two games where I went and he just got up
and jogged off. And I think there's gonna be a general soreness, just
like there is for anybody else after a football game. But by what he
has said, which taking a face value if you want, by the sounds
of it, it's it's getting better progressively, not not you know, a
drastic amount. It's not like they're loading him up with drugs in the in
the locker room or anything. But at this point in time, I think
it's just a progressive thing. That's that's gradually getting better, or not that
it's ever going to be or not that it'll get to one hundred percent this
season, but I think it's it's progressively getting better. By what he's saying.
Not to go with a conspiracy here, but I'll throw a conspiracy out
there again. Is it possible that they're kids? If I heard the same
thing you heard, I wasn't there like you were. But is it possible
that the decision was made by the coaches to have Cade talk about how how
far he's come along that way, The idea or the notion by the media
and by the outside world that maybe I wis should shut him down for this
week didn't get thrown out there because that was a conversation that got brought up
the postgame show with Coach Patterson. And he's I mean again, he's not
there every day. I'm not there every day. How injured he is he?
Actually I thought he looked pretty dinged up on Saturday. I thought they
ran him a lot more out of the show, excuse me, out of
the shotgun than they did against Utah State, which made me think, Hey,
they're trying to limit any type of movement and that bending that you have
to do when you're under center, and I just I almost thought that today.
I'm like, you know, that seems odd that all of a sudden
he's just happy go lucky. Maybe they're just trying to avoid that line of
questioning. I don't know, that's maybe totally just conspiracy, But I mean
my feeling on the situation, if he's if he is as healthy as he
made himself out to be today, and then fine, play him well.
I mean, you'll build a lead in the first half, take him out
at halftime, and Getty on up. But if he's not, then you
know, I agree with coach Patterson, there's no reason why I shouldn't be
able to go in that game with Joe Labis and still route Western Michigan.
Western Michigan is terrible. I mean, they're awful. They are absolutely awful.
They went on the road at Syracusan got their pants pulled down by forty
one. So, you know, if we're talking, if we're talking the
future and going into Penn State week, get Kaid healthy. So now I
don't think that's Kirk's mindset necessarily, but if they were going to do that,
it would have made sense for them to come Monday, you know,
he's listened on the depth chart and then come Tuesday speak very cautiously about him,
saying, well, he was really sore after Saturday and we're gonna gonna
make it a game time decision. People don't have to know if he's practicing
or not, but you wouldn't practice him during if you're shutting him down,
you're not going to practice him during the week. Because there's somebody on the
show after on Sunday said, well, why don't you just why don't they
just make it a game time decision. Well, the problem with that is
that means he practiced during the week, So you don't make him a game
time decision. You shut him down. And my guess is that just isn't
what I Will wanted to do. And maybe he is as healthy as he
says he is. I'm still nervous about that. But you know, he
says he's working he's working out in for game week for the first time in
like a year, isn't that what he said? Elliott? Yeah, so
that's good news. I guess I hope it shows because at some point he's
gonna have to move, He's gonna have to run. I mean, go
back to when Jake Rudock was here, or certainly CJ was more mobile,
but I think Jake Rudok is probably the more feasible comparison, there were times
where Jake had to get up and go, and so far we haven't seen
Kate do that because well, A, he hasn't really had to, but
B he can't or he hasn't been able to. So I just want you
know if you if you're an Iowa fan, there's three and no heading independ
state. They need every little edge they can get. And if he's hampered
because you played him against Western Michigan, then I would say that's a problem.
Much like Kyle McCord at Ohio State, Drew Aller entered this season with
little experience, although he has played meaningful stabs against good opponents in limited time
this past season in twenty twenty two in relief of Sean Clifford. However,
he's the man now as a former five star. He was spectacular in Week
one against West Virginia Penn State square thirty eight points, drew Aller through for
three fifteen and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. In
total after a demolition of Delaware and sixty three points on the scoreboard last week,
Aller has completed seventy eight percent of his passes four touchdowns. He has
yet to throw and interception. His QBR is eighty three. His Quarterback Rating
is one eighty three. Marty Leap of Rivals joined us on our Big Ten
Live show that we present it for you each and every Monday at six pm
Eastern Time to talk Penn State and Drew Aller. You know, if you're
a Penn State fan, I think for the first two games, I mean,
as you said, you kind of got to think some of this are
the Grand Assault, because, like you said, they played Delaware and a
bad West Virginia team. But what you wanted to see most was to see
Drew come out and just control this offense, and that's been the case.
I think what is most encouraging to me with him is especially against Delaware.
And again it was Delaware, but delawrein's a three three five, which you
don't see a lot of that can be confusing to decipher. And his pre
snap reads and checks were so good. That was the one thing Sean Clifford
always excelled at. Now, once the ball was snapped, you never knew
what you were going to get from Clifford, but pre snap he was phenomenal,
and you can tell Drew definitely learned a lot from him last year,
So that's what's most encouraging to me. And then just I mean you anyone's
watched in this year. You can see the arm strength that touchdown throw against
West Virginia in the first drive of a game, The way he stepped up
in the pocket and just with East flicked that ball forty yards down to field
to Kianary Lambert Smith. It's special. There's a lot of special talent there
with Drew and you're starting to scratch the surface of it. And you know,
big test this weekend, first career roads start against and against the Big
ten team too. But yeah, if you're anybody so Smith, pendencedy,
you've got to be tickled pretty with what you've seen from Drew Laar so far.
Matt Rule is only two games into his Nebraska career and there's a bit
of a limited crisis on hand. He needs a quarterback he apparently does not
have one. Jeff Simms has been a starting quarterback in the Power five going
back to the first game of twenty twenty at Georgia Tech, and aside from
injury, he has started every game. This would be as fourth year as
the starting quarterback in the Power five, moving from the acc to the Big
Ten, causing Nebraska to jettison in a sense, Casey Thompson to Florida Atlantic,
a quarterback who led the Big Twelve in touchdown passes in twenty twenty one,
who led Nebraska this past season in twenty twenty two as the starting quarterback,
and Jeff Simms won the job over Casey Thompson. But he has been
incredibly awful in two games against Minnesota and Colorado. His three interceptions led to
multiple scores by Minnesota, and he could not hang on to a touchdown leave
with two minutes left and Nebraska lost to Minnesota at the gun, and then
it all just came off the rails against Colorado twice in the first half,
Jeff Simms did not catch the snap. Now, if you watch college football
quarterbacks, you see them repeatedly catch bad snaps, whether they feel them like
a shortstop or able to pluck them out of the air with one hand.
Jeff Simms had two that were aimed right at his belt buckle that he just
flat out dropped. He also had a missed exchange with the center that resulted
in a fumble because the snap hit off the hip of the man in motion.
Then, with the game still in doubt, with Nebraska's defense holding that
Colorado offense in check, keeping that team in the game, Jeff Simms inexplicably
rolled right, had a guy covered, stared him down, threw the ball
late, stared down the receiver, through it behind the receiver, and it
was turned into a pick six. I don't know what's going on with Jeff
Simms right now, but he does not have his head in the game,
and it does not look good. Fifty eight percent one touchdown, four picks,
ninety nine is the quarterback rating. Thirty six is the QBR, but
you would have to see it to believe it. Do you let the entire
team come crashing down? That's playing great defense by Nebraska, by recent Nebraska
standards, great defense, and it's difficult to get a read on the rest
of the offense because the quarterback is imploding at this point. Greg Peterson,
Justin Adams, and myself get together every Tuesday four Huskers Live on our Nebraska
channel. That's every Tuesday at seven o'clock Eastern time. We discussed the pla
have won, Jeff Sims, and whether the Huskers even have an option to
go to one of their backup quarterbacks. Yeah, well, I thought the
thing that was interesting yesterday is that Matt Rule said, you know, Jeff's
our starter, and you know, if he wasn't hurt, it wouldn't be
an issue, and the whole teams behind him. But yeah, obviously can't.
He can't put the ball in the ground like he was. I mean,
you know, he a guy that basically leads the nation in turnovers single
handedly. Obviously, Nebraska leads the nation and turnovers, and on the flip
side, they're tied for the lead in sacks, so it's kind of strange
you're sitting there too. Oh and two, but yeah, I was kind
of wondering. Two. Nobody even asked anybody today if Jeff was practicing today,
so we don't know the status of them. I don't know if anybody
will have the courage to ask coordinators tomorrow about it either, so he might
have to wait until Thursday to find out from from coach Rule. I mean,
because you know standing orders, nobody talks about injuries except for the head
coach. So usually you can catch a player on it. They're just you
know, with a casual question. Oh sorry, I lost my camera.
That's cool logo. I don't know why that popped in there. I don't
know, but uh, just it just sped for some reason. I apologize,
But you know, this guy's had a pattern of this coming from Georgia
Tech. And at a certain point, I know everybody just clamoring at the
bit to try to get him out of there. But you know, I
mean the coaches all stand behind him, and the players all stand behind him,
and you know by all all signs that you know he he doesn't seem
bothered by it. But yeah, I mean, you just cannot turn the
ball over like that, and those horrible situations, you know, you give
the game away. Basically you're only down thirteen to seven or six minutes left
of the third quarter. Yeah, disaster just always seems to strike. And
I'm sure that's what Nebraska fans just hate to see. I mean, we
all do. But he's still he's still a guy that there's there's a weapon
obviously running the ball. But if you can't hold on to the ball,
you know, what good are you? And that's what they've preached about.
You know, you can't fumble the ball. You're not gonna play if you
don't. If you fumble the ball, so I don't know everybody's behind hiding
a Carberg as well. And Truble, I guess has been a little banged
up, but he seems to be good to go, and you know,
they're confident with both of those guys that they have to play. Rule did
say that, you know, when talking about that stuff yesterday, he did
say that he feels like he didn't prepare them well enough for the silent accounts
for the road game. He was kind of open about that, so that
may have been something to do with some of the issue, but also the
fact that he wasn't really jumping on the balls. Matt Rule said, that
was my issue with that first one. He tried to pick it up.
Yeah, and he said, he said, you're at your position to get
a field goal. He tried to pick it up and make a play out
of it instead of just dropping on it. Yeah. And Matt Rules said
the field goal, Matt, Yeah, I mean obviously, you know,
Ron Brown had chimed in with Matt Rule and and said that we don't practice
that, coach, you know, in practice, and you know Matt Rule
kind of it's like, oh wow, I never thought about that. Yeah,
And he loaded to Cam Newton to the same thing, but like you
know, to me right because Matt Rules said he was he was upset with
him during the game and then until he talked to him about that after he
was then made to understand that, you know, we don't have him jumping
on the ball in practice, so how can we expect him to do it
a game. However, I don't know if part of that was due to
a little bit of him just protecting Sims. I feel like some of that
could be protecting Sims because I think I think that's an instinctible thing that people
do. Honestly. I just think that. I mean, if you dropped
the ball, if you're responsible for it, what do you do? You
jump on it? Exactly. I mean, let's coach think you throughout throughout.
And that's why the one that's things with me is the one where he
tried to pick it up. Yeah, and there was too many other hands
right around there for him to get it. That's roe number one. Never
never tried to pick that one and just cradled it up and you got the
ball and you kicked lived to play another down. That's gotta be right now.
Yeah, But apparently you know, in practice they tell him to get
away from it when it gets dropped on the ground, which was kind of
alarming to me that it happens a lot in practice. He said it was
you know, he had mentioned the broken hand. I can't remember who it
was that. Yeah, maybe to reduce injury risk because he Kerry Collins,
Yeah, because he did. He did mention that injury. So it could
be one of those things they have built in to reduce injury risk. But
to your point, like it needs to be done in practice for it to
be instinctual in a habit. I think this is one of those things where
he went and got Jeff Sims. So I think he might feel the need
to maybe stick with him and keep coaching him, maybe because I thought,
I think he brought in Sims as kind of a guy he wants to develop
anyways, and so I think that may be part of it where he's just
trying to stick with this guy and develop him. Because you know, Harberg,
for he's been in the at the University of while and he still has
things that he needs to polish up as well. But I just think that
he still feels the most confident in Jeff Sim's ability. I think he has.
He believes Sims has the highest upside just on the way he's talked about
him as being, you know, he thinks he can potentially grow to be
a pro quarterback. So I think he has a lot of faith in him,
and I think that's just what he sees is just the upside and Sims,
and I think that's part of his plan to get back. It's just
we have to hope that what he saw in him was a good evaluation,
because you know, it's seemingly the only thing that he kind of you know,
may have misstepped is maybe thinking Sims was going to be more ready than
he has been. So that's my take on why I think he's just been
so reluctant on changing the quarterbacks. And it's week two again. I think
Rules, I don't think Rule is as panicky as we are, because again,
he's being collected in the press conferences, So I don't think he's feeling
that heat that we are based off of motion and we're like switch it now
because we want to start winning. The entire coaching staff is really calm and
cool. Yeah, I mean, no, nobody's worrying about you know,
about them falling apart or anything like that. And I think you know Jeff
Simms too. I think Rules sees that. I mean you can see it
too when when you watch all the guys together. I mean he is a
specimen. I mean he has got the most athletic ability out of any of
those quarterbacks and is the most dynamic guy that they have, especially in the
run game. So I mean that's that. I think that has a lot
to do with his coach rules hesitancy to put Hindrich Carver in there. This
week in the Big Ten, Penn State in Illinois jump in the conference play
in Champagne. The Ninny Lyons are a north of two touchdown a favor it
against the ALIGNI. Penn State is rolling on both sides of the ball.
Athletic NFL defense Drew Aller. We already discussed he's fit the role. The
double combination in the backfield of Nick Singleton and Catron Allen. Penn State is
loaded. Illinois looked pretty mundane in its opening game at home against Toledo and
pulled it out on a last second field goal. And we talked about the
debacle in Lawrence, Kansas, Illinois and Penn State, but This could be
a difficult spot for Penn State emotionally, as they will ramp it back up
for a whiteout against Iowa the next week. So Penn State in Illinois is
the key conference matchup coming up this week. But let's look at these six
matchups against the ACC. The Big Ten really not with many matchups at this
point against the Power five, winning three and losing three, and this is
going to decide how the Big Ten fair primarily in the regular season against the
other four major conferences. On Friday night, we've got a Virginia Maryland game
in College Park where the Terps are a fourteen and a half point favorite to
Leatunka. Voloa is completing sixty eight percent of his passes. He's also thrown
a couple of dutchdown passes to West Virginia transfer Caden Prather. He has been
intercepted twice and this team only led Charlotte fourteen to nine in the third quarter
before pulling away Roman hemby At six point nine years per carry, Jay Shawn
Barham has two sacks on defense. It's Virginia Owen two at Maryland on Friday.
Lucas Oil Stadium is the site as Indiana and Louisville get together. The
Cardinals are a ten point favorite. Tom Allen has an ounced Tavin Jackson will
be the starting quarterback for Indiana, completing nineteen of twenty six passes the first
two outings for the Hoosiers against Ohio State and also in their victory last week.
Jalen Lucas is the guy that is one of the most exciting players in
the Big Ten. He's accounted for one hundred and fifty two yards. The
Hoosiers need to get him involved even more in creating explosive plays. And Aaron
Casey one of the best defenders in the Big Ten for Indiana football. Then
we've gotten Northwestern and Duke, and these two schools might as well just play
in the same conference. They have played now seven times since twenty fifteen.
Duke leads the series four to two. Evan Hull fumbled in the end zone
going in for what would have been possibly the tying touchdown last season, and
that just being a microcosm of Northwestern football the past couple seasons. Duke played
a remarkable game did you see it? On Monday night of opening weekend against
Clemson as a thirteen point dog, winning twenty eight to seven. In that
game, Duke is loaded. They bring back all their offense. Get this,
I've never seen this before. All their rushing yards, every single one,
every pass reception from last season off a nine and four team that brings
back eighteen total starters ten on offense. Mike Elko is doing a remarkable job
at Duke because they had lost seventeen of eighteen ACC games going into last season.
Nobody beat them by more than one score, and Duke is rolling.
So tough assignment for Northwestern, to say the least. As they take on
Duke, Virginia Tech and rud Curs playing in Piscataway, This game is a
toss up. Red Curs right now is eighth in the nation through two games
in points against defense and yards per play defense. The veteran running back Kyle
Monn and Guy scored a couple of touchdowns and ran for one hundred and sixty
five yards in a thirty six to seven route of Temple as rudd Curs looks
to go to three and oh taking on a Virginia Tech team that is playing
the ten back to back. Of course, they lost to the Boilers last
week at home in Blacksburg, twenty four seventeen. Speaking of boiler up,
Purdue at home against Syracuse at one and one. This Syracuse defense, it's
only two games and not good opponents, but they're number one in the nation
in total defense right now. They blasted Western Michigan forty eight to seven last
week. Hudson Card's gonna have to be on his game and gonna have to
bring his legs to this one. And of course, these two teams played
one of the most entertaining games of twenty twenty two, as Purdue had this
one in hand with just seconds to play before Syracuse pulled it out on the
final play of the game at the Carrier Dome. This time at West Lafayette.
It's Purdue in Syracuse, the Boilers a two and a half point underdog,
and finally the game that I really want to see, Minnesota travels to
North Carolina. The Golden Gophers playing defense once again this year the best in
the nation, giving up just sixteen points to Nebraska and Eastern Michigan just one
hundred and fifty two yards in last week twenty five to six win over Eastern
Michigan. Darius Taylor thirty three carries for one hundred and ninety three yards.
That's going to have to be much of what the Gophers try to accomplish this
weekend against North Carolina. Keep that ball away from one of the best quarterbacks
in the country, the dynamic Drake May. It's Minnesota, North Carolina.
The Heels are an eight point favorite, and we thank you so much for
joining us on the Big ten paradigm. Enjoy the football this weekend and check
out all the podcasts that we provide right here on College Gridiron coast to coast.
We'll see you next week.