Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 6 Big Ten game.
Wisconsin 48, Kent State 0
It’s easy to blow off a game like this since Wisconsin was supposed to win in a walk, but give credit to the coaching staff and team for being ultra-focused and as sharp as possible. There wasn’t any blip, there wasn’t any drama, and there wasn’t even a hint of any concern. Get in, win in an easy blowout, and move on.
520 yards of total offense, a shut out, three penalties – and two of them VERY questionable – and one meaningless turnover. Throw in the time of possession domination – holding the ball for well over 40 minutes – and this is about as perfect a performance as the Badgers could’ve had going into the Michigan State showdown. And most importantly …
Jack Coan got in some good work. He wasn’t touched, and there wasn’t any throw he had to make under any true pressure, but he hit 12-of-15 throws for 134 yards and two scores. He bounced back from the bad performance against Northwestern. It helped to have that Jonathan Taylor guy …
19 carries, 186 yards, four touchdowns, close to ten yards per carry, three catches, 29 yards, a touchdown. Taylor is pretty good, but he might not have been the player of the game. Zack Baun destroyed the Kent State offense with three sacks.
Penn State 35, Purdue 7
The Nittany Lions put this away right away, and then took it nice and easy the rest of the way. There was no letdown after the Maryland win – it was as if the team liked the way it played and wanted to keep up the intensity. Is started with another brilliant game from Sean Clifford, completing 20-of-29 passes for 264 yards and three scores and a pick, and he ran for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Purdue was down QB Elijah Sindelar and WR Rondale Moore, and Penn State showed no mercy taking advantage of the wounded animal. The pass rush was devastating from the start and finished with ten sacks. The Boilermakers ended up with -19 rushing yards and just 123 yards through the air. Jack Plummer was able to throw a touchdown pass, but he was never able to breathe.
It’s just a win over a mediocre Purdue team, but it was another statement by Penn State. It has a real test with Iowa coming up, but the Nittany Lions couldn’t be more tuned up or playing better than they are right now. For Purdue, the 1-4 start gets a whole lot easier with home dates against Maryland, Illinois and Nebraska coming up, but without their offensive stars, they’re flailing.
NEXT: Michigan 10, Iowa 3; Maryland 48, Rutgers 7
Michigan 10, Iowa 3
This is the type of win Jim Harbaugh never gets credit for. He gets dogged for losing the biggest of games, and obviously there’s a problem against the elite of the elite, but he wins a whole lot of the good games, too. This was a terrific – but ugly – win over an undefeated and rock-solid Iowa team, and it’s going to just get thrown on the pike.
Michigan’s offense is just too painfully off. There’s no rhythm, there’s no ability to go to the ground game to take the pressure off, and it always looks as if it’s about to turn the ball over. The Wolverines ran for 120 yards and got a Zach Charbonnet touchdown, and Shea Patterson completed just 14-of-26 passes for 147 yards and a score. The O just never got into a groove, but ….
The defense did its part with eight sacks, a monster all-around day rom Khaleke Hudson, and stop after stop. The Hawkeyes ended with just one net rushing yard, and Nate Stanley completed just 23-of-42 passes for 260 yards and three picks.
Iowa turned it over four times and ruined a strong defensive effort with no offensive consistency – Stanley was off, but Michigan had something to do with it. The hits just keep on coming – Penn State is up next for the Hawkeyes. The Wolverines get to go to Illinois before facing the Nittany Lions.
Maryland 48, Rutgers 7
It might have only been a win over a reeling Rutgers program, but Maryland really, really, really needed it. Josh Jackson was able to settle in and hit a few passes again, the ground game came up with several big home runs, and it was just the type of easy blowout the team had to have coming off the total dud against Penn State. At least the offense looked like it works again – now do it against Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota over the next three weeks.
Rutgers was at least able to field a team. The quarterback situation is a mess, the coaching change in the middle of the season is a mess, and the lack of any offensive scoring punch is a mess, too. Down to Johnny Langan under center, the O got on the board in the first half, but couldn’t keep the chains moving. He finished with 163 yards hitting 13-of-25 passes with two picks, and he ran for 59 yards and a score. A trip to Indiana is up next.
Maryland took its foot off the gas. It could’ve been a whole lot worse, but up 48-7 in the third quarter, it took it easy. Even so, it outgained the Scarlet Knights by almost 200 yards and didn’t turn the ball over.
NEXT: Minnesota 40, Illinois 17; Nebraska 13, Northwestern 10; Ohio State 34, Michigan State 10
Minnesota 40, Illinois 17
So is that the Minnesota way now? Keep grinding, keep grinding, keep grinding, and eventually, wear teams down to take over late? The running game was okay early on, but the great group of backs kept blasting away, with Rodney Smith running for 211 yards and a score, and Shannon Brooks averaging seven yards per pop with 111 yards and his first touchdown since getting hurt. In all, the Gophers ran for 332 yards as they blew the game open.
Illinois just doesn’t have an offense. RB Reggie Corbin wasn’t bad in stretches, but the passing game had to try throwing to keep up, and couldn’t do it. The pass rush that’s been so good for most of the year didn’t emerge, and there weren’t any answers once the avalanche came in the second half. The Illini needed this – up next is Michigan, and then Wisconsin. Uh oh.
Considering Nebraska doesn’t have any mojo, Rutgers is Rutgers, and Nebraska and Maryland aren’t all that great, the Gophers can legitimately dream about going 8-0 before dealing with Penn State in Minneapolis. It’s just Illinois, and this is hardly a perfect Minnesota team, but they keep on taking care of the easy games on the slate to set themselves up for the bigger ones coming up. 5-0 is 5-0 – there’s no need to apologize for it, even if the schedule has been light and fluffy.
Nebraska 13, Northwestern 10
It really, really, really wasn’t pretty, it really really, really could’ve been blocked, but Lane McCallum hit the field goal to put away a bad Northwestern team and give Nebraska something positive. That it came down to the kick to win the game is a problem.
Adrian Martinez threw for 145 yards and ran for 26 more before leaving the game hurt. Early indications are that he’ll be okay, but the offense simply isn’t moving and isn’t producing like it’s supposed to. Struggling against Ohio State is one thing, and Northwestern’s defense is okay, but the O went nowhere. There still isn’t a reliable ground game, but Wan’Dale Robinson saved the day with a game-high 44 yards and a score, and with a game-high seven catches for 123 yards.
Oh Northwestern … ugh. Aidan Smith got the call at quarterback in place of Hunter Johnson, and the offense still couldn’t find a spark. The passing game only generated 136 yards and a pick, Smith led the team with 64 rushing yards with a third quarter score, and despite having several chances to take the game over, it couldn’t. And next up in two weeks is … Ohio State. Yippee.
NEXT: Ohio State 34, Michigan State 10
Ohio State 34, Michigan State 10
Michigan State had to be perfect to pull this off, and it really, really wasn’t. There were plenty of opportunities to be right in it, but QB Brian Lewerke missed a few key makable throws, the three turnovers were disastrous, the inability to convert on third downs didn’t help, trying to tackle the ball instead of the man on JK Dobbins’ backbreaking touchdown run wasn’t right … it wasn’t Michigan State football. This wasn’t the team that was supposed to come to Columbus with one of the nastiest defenses in college football.
Ohio State got flagged ten times, Justin Fields threw a pick, and there just just seven points in the second half, and it was still an easy win. The defense took over and dominated the MSU running game, Chase Young and company registered four sacks as they swarmed all over Lewerke, and the offensive line was outstanding. How good was the OSU offensive front five? 323 rushing yards and two scores on this fantastic MSU D.
Justin Fields finally faced a big-time defense and a little adversity, and it didn’t matter. The moment just isn’t too big for him. There was the one interception, but he ran for 61 yards and a score, threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns, and got help from his vast array of incredible NFL weapons around him. Ohio State continues to play like the best and most complete team in college football, and now it gets two weeks off to rest up and decide how much it wants to beat Northwestern by.
