Looking back at the non-conference schedules

With most teams wrapping up their non-conference play this past weekend, we thought it'd be a good time to stop and take a look at how things went for everyone. Overall, the Big11Ten teams beat who they should have but they also lost when people thought they would, and in the case of Iowa, lost when no one expected them to. It's unfortunate since it probably means we'll have another season (or at least until bowl season) of talk about how average the conference is. If OSU and Purdue beat those Pac-10 teams, it's a different story.

And on to the reviews:

Ohio State: 3-1
How they’ve fared:
Seeing Ohio State go 3-1 isn’t all that surprising- a lot of people figured they’d lose to USC before the season even began. But this has to be the least impressive 3-1 start in the history of college football. After a 43-0 shellacking of Youngstown State, the Buckeyes beat cream puffs Ohio and Troy by only 12 and 18 points respectively. Granted, they didn’t have Beanie Wells for either of those contests, but shouldn’t a consensus top-3 team be able to overcome that a little better against low-level teams?

Looking Ahead:
It’s obvious that the injury to Wells hurt this team, but it’s even more obvious that this was a flawed team to begin with, as Wells would’ve been virtually no help against USC. There are tons of questions marks around the Buckeyes now, as they’ve dropped from #2 in the preseason to #14 currently, good for only third in the conference. Of course, they could still p*ss everyone off by running the table in the Big11Ten and getting back to a BCS bowl. Things start off easy with a home game against Minnesota, but the drama ratchets up quickly as the Bucks head to Camp Randall the week after for a showdown with Wisconsin.


Northwestern: 4-0
How they’ve fared:
If Ohio State’s non-conference performance is the least impressive 3-1 start, this one has to be the least impressive 4-0 start. Northwestern opened the season with a 20-point victory over a Syracuse team that would be relegated at the end of the year if this was European soccer. The Wildcats then barely squeaked by Duke, 24-20. After a 33-7 win over football powerhouse Southern Illinois, they downed that pesky Ohio squad, 16-8, behind four picks from QB C.J. Bacher.

Looking Ahead:
As ugly as these victories were, we can’t criticize too much, because a win is a win after all. Usually Northwestern loses 2 or more of those games, so Wildcat fans (all 20 of them) have to be pleased. But the Big11Ten schedule is much tougher, and Northwestern’s first two games against Iowa and Michigan State will go a long way in showing what kind of team they’ll be in the conference this year. They better start strong, because they close with a trio against Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois.


Indiana: 2-1
How they’ve fared:
Quarterback Kellen Lewis was a beast in the opener, a 31-13 win over Western Kentucky. Lewis had 185 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing, and another 2 touchdowns passing. And after Indiana crushed Murray State 45-3, all was right in Hoosier country. But then Ball State paid a visit to Bloomington this past weekend and just smoked Indiana, hanging a 42-spot on the home team. All we can say is that is embarrassing.

Looking Ahead:
They only have to hit the road four times this year, they have some winnable games and they don’t have to play Ohio State. Indiana can still make a bowl game, but they’re not going to do it with defense. If and when they win, it’s going to be in a shootout.


Illinois: 2-1
How they’ve fared:
Kudos to Illinois for scheduling such a tough game in the first week. Missouri showed it can light up the scoreboard with the best of them by beating the Illini 52-42. We’re just glad we didn’t have to play them. But the opening loss seems to have had some negative effect on the Illini, as their play has been shaky since. They gave up 21 points to Eastern Illinois, and barely squeaked by Louisiana-Lafayette, 20-17.

Looking Ahead:
Well, we couldn’t be happier that Illinois is coming off of a couple questionable performances going into this weekend’s conference opener at the Beav. Their season rests squarely on the shoulders of Juice Williams, who’s been a bit spotty so far. But if Juice plays well and the team comes together, we see no reason Illinois can’t finish the Big11Ten schedule a respectable 6-2.


Iowa: 3-1
How they’ve fared:
Iowa thought they were tough shit, as they rolled through their first three opponents giving up a total of only 8 points and no touchdowns. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell anyone that those three games were against Maine, Florida International and Iowa State. They then went to Pittsburgh (to face a Panthers squad that had real problems scoring in a loss to Bowling Green) and promptly gave up three TDs in a 21-20 loss. Losing to Pitt would suck, but losing by one point would be even worse. We’re just glad it wasn’t us.

Looking Ahead:
We picked Iowa to be one of the worst teams in the Big11Ten before the season began. We may’ve been a little off with that one, but the Hawkeyes still have a lot to prove. They’ll have to step up big in their first three conference games (Northwestern, at Michigan State, at Indiana) because their next three are brutal (Wisconsin, at Illinois, Penn State). We still think bad times are ahead for Herky the Hawk.


Michigan: 1-2
How they've fared:
Through three non-conference games, the mighty Michigan Wolverines were only able to pull out one win, a 16-6 win against Miami(OH). To put that score into perspective a little, Miami allowed to 34, 38 and 45 points to Vanderbilt, Charleston Southern and Cincinnati, respectively. Were the Michigan offensive woes that far understated at the beginning of the season? Michigan lost their opener to Utah by a score of 25-23 and then turned the ball over 6 times on a rainy day in South Bend and lost to the Irish 35-17. That kind of schedule should have been 3 wins for a big time Big11Ten team, but as we all know it's gonna be a rough year for the Wolverines.

Looking Ahead:
Thing's are going to get a lot tougher now, too. Michigan opens Big11Ten play with games at home against two ranked conference foes, Wisconsin and Illinois. After that they get a little bit of a breather (ok maybe not) when they host Toledo. After that it's a game in Happy Valley on October 18th and then 5 straight and 3 on the road against conference teams, closing the season in the Horseshoe. We know things are bad for the Wolverines but we never thought it could be this bad. Is it really possible they've seen their only win for the season? They should win some of those Big11Ten games, but will they?


Michigan State: 3-1
How they've fared:
Michigan State opens the Big11Ten schedule after having beat Notre Dame in the final week of their non-conference schedule. While the win wasn't exactly the pounding that most Spartan fans hoped for, it was convincing enough. They held the Irish to just 7 points while Javon Ringer piled up 201 yards in rushing and two TDs. To sum up their non-conference schedule you could say the Spartans beat who they should have beat. Their one loss is to Cal, who they played on the road, but managed to hang with all game long before the final whistle blew while the score was 38-31.

Looking Ahead:
Michigan State opens their conference schedule with Indiana, a very winnable game. They then follow that up with Iowa and Northwestern, two more winnable games. There's no reason to think they shouldn't be able to build up a little momentum before their big game at home against Ohio State. After seeing what USC did to Ohio State, it'd be easy to say that a lot of other teams should be able to do well, but we don't think Michigan State is one of those teams. Javon Ringer is a beast and all, but wether or not MSU as a team can hang with the big teams in the conference will remain to be seen.


Minnesota: 4-0
How They've Fared:
Minnesota! 4-0! Unlike previous years, Minnesota was able to get through their non-conference schedule unscathed. While not every win was a real pounding, the Gophers did beat such perennial power-houses as Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State and Florida Atlantic. The Gophers are getting stellar play out of quarterback Adam Weber and his number one target Eric Decker, who already has 454 yards receiving. The problem, is that they can't seem to stop anyone, except for Florida Atlantic. During our season previews we said that this wasn't the Gophers year but should go a long way towards seeing what they will be, and if they can find a defense to balance the offense, they should be a good team in the near future.

Looking Ahead:
Unfortunately for the Gophers, their next game is at the Horseshoe. It's likely their 4-game run will end here, so enjoy it while it lasts, Gopher fans. Hockey season is right around the corner though, so that's something positive coming up.
After Ohio State, the Gophers play two of the next three on the road, at Illinois and Purdue after their conference home-opener against Indiana. It will be interesting to see how their offense does against some quality opponents but we're going to stand by our prediction of another poor season in conference play for Minnesota.


Purdue: 2-1
How they've fared:
Purdue beat the soft teams they should have, then put on a show at home against Oregon, taking them into a second overtime before succumbing to a 3 yard run Oregon's LaGarrette Blount. That's his real name.
Purdue led by as many as 17 points before allowing Oregon to come back and tie the game late in the fourth. It would have been a huge win for Purdue and also for the Big11Ten, it's a shame they couldn't pull it out. The Boilermakers passed and rushed for just over 200 yards but allowed Oregon to rush for 306. The balance on offense looks good but that rushing defense just won't cut it.

Looking Ahead:
Purdue travels to Notre Dame next to complete their non-conference schedule before opening Big11Ten play at home against PSU and then traveling to Ohio State. Notre Dame is a joke, but those next two games will be rough. If the Boilermakers don't show up against Notre Dame, they could find themselves in a huge hole after consecutive weeks against PSU and OSU.


Wisconsin: 3-0
How they've fared:
As expected, the Badgers are 3-0. They beat Akron (pffft), Marshall (o rly?) and won a tighty against Fresno State (beasts). They pounded who they should have pounded (despite a slow start or two) and then beat a team they had to beat, a team that also has a history of knocking off highly ranked teams. If someone would have said that Fresno State would beat Wisconsin, we wouldn't have been surprised at all, but credit the Badgers as they went out on the road and took care of business.

Looking ahead:
Two or three years ago, Wisconsin would have had one of the hardest possible three games to start conference play. The Badgers open at Michigan and then OSU and PSU back to back weeks at home. While Michigan is down, PSU and OSU are both good teams that should make for interesting games. After seeing the shellacking that OSU took at the hands of USC, you have to think that the Big11Ten is fairly wide open and Wisconsin is looking to get their hands on the conference title. The Bagders should know by their sixth game if winning the Big11Ten is at all possible for them.

We think they'll at least beat Ohio State. Book it.

And of course...

Penn State: 4-0
How they’ve fared:
Well, we all know by now. You could call both this year’s and last year’s offenses scary, but you would mean two entirely different things. All the Lions have done so far is average over 52 points a game through the first four contests. The defense has looked pretty sharp as well, even without half the D-line. They’ve given up an average of 10 points per game. Clark has done a very good job of running the offense, Devlin has passed well in a change-up role, and Evan Royster, Stephfon Green and the O-line are wrecking opposing teams. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention the combined record of Penn State’s opponents so far: 5-10. So let’s not get too excited.

Looking Ahead:
The first real test of the season arrives this Saturday night in the form of the Fighting Illini. Our rush D has been stout, and if we keep the Juice in check, we think the offense can take care of the rest. It will be interesting to see how well Clark/Royster & Co fare against an actual college defense, but we have high hopes. As for the rest of the season, we have three games circled: at Wisconsin, at Ohio State, and home against Michigan (because they’re way past due for an ass-beating). Until then, this weekend will tell us a lot. For now, we’re trying to stay modest and hope for the best.