Week 2 PASS/FAIL Report: Big 10

BIG TEN CONFERENCE

 

PASS: Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Iowa, Nebraska

The conference as a whole gets a solid passing mark after going 12-2 this week. It all starts with Ohio State, even though the Buckeyes largely struggled to get going in the home opener against a pesky Hawaii defense. Things settled out in the second half, and the Buckeyes cruised once more.

Michigan State got the gorilla off their backs this weekend and won the biggest PASS of all, as they held off Oregon late and got away with a 41-38 win over the Ducks. This was aggressive scheduling for MSU, and they now look like a possible final four contender if they can upset Ohio State in November.

Wisconsin bounced back big from a loss last week to beat Miami (Ohio) 58-0. Even Joel Stave figured out how to throw a football, so it was a party all the way around.

Michigan picked up Jim Harbaugh’s first win this weekend in beating Oregon State 35-7. Michigan had lost 8 of 9 against the PAC-12 coming into this game.

Minnesota gets another big pass as they won on the road against a tough Colorado State team in OT. The Gophers were not assured of a win coming into Fort Collins, so this win is way bigger than it seems, and it puts the Gophers back on track.

Iowa beat rival Iowa State, and that was a huge must win for Kirk Ferentz this week. Lose to ISU, and the fire Ferentz calls start getting made.

Nebraska looked solid once again, as they cruised past an undermanned South Alabama 48-9 at home. The Huskers, who should be 2-0 at this point, have to be happy with their bounce back performance this week.

Purdue, Illinois, and Northwestern all took the FCS ticket to winning this week. Whoopie!!!

FAIL: Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers

Penn State beat Buffalo 27-14, but held a narrow 7 point lead heading into the 4^th quarter before pulling away, and Christian Hackenburg was a mess again. It’s time to come to the reality that this kid is not good.

Indiana scraped by another team they should have manhandled this week in a 14 point win over FIU. The Hoosiers now have survived scares against Southern Illinois and FIU, and that’s bad news for what one can expect come conference play.

Maryland fell off the radar in the second half, and allowed Bowling Green 42 points after the break in a blowout loss to the Falcons from the MAC. And Maryland football was supposed to be good for this conference why again?

Same can be said for Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights got shredded through the air and played horrid defense in a 37-34 loss to lowly Washington State this week. Rutgers is a mess all the way around, and kicked yet another player off the team after the game. Why is Kyle Flood still there?