Big Ten Week 2 Roundup, Rankings, Breakdowns & Recaps

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Scroll down for thoughts on each Big Ten team, recaps and picks

Big Ten East Rankings After Week 2

1. Ohio State (2-0)
2. Michigan State (2-0)
3. Michigan (1-1)
4. Penn State (1-1)
5. Indiana (2-0)
6. Maryland (1-1)
7. Rutgers (1-1)

Big Ten West Rankings After Week 2

1. Wisconsin (1-1)
2. Northwestern (2-0)
3. Iowa (2-0)
4. Nebraska (1-1)
5. Minnesota (1-1)
6. Illinois (2-0)
7. Purdue (1-1)

Big Ten Player of the Week

Michigan State LB Riley Bullough led the team with 14 tackles with a broken up pass and a quarterback hurry in the win over Oregon.

Everything is setting up nicely.

The Big Ten season appears to be heading towards an all-timer.

Every year there’s a massive Big Ten showdown, but with Michigan State coming up with the win over Oregon, the watch will be on for the November 21 Spartan-Buckeye showdown with the world on the line – maybe. At the very least, it’ll be fun as long as both big boys stay unbeaten and keep on rolling to the potentially epic battle.

But the nice part about this for Michigan State is that there’s a buffer now. If both teams are unbeaten, the loser of the Ohio State-Michigan State game will have a reasonable argument that it deserves to be considered among the big four, too. If the OSU-MSU winner is the No. 1 team in the country, then theoretically, the 11-1 loser might be No. 2.

Obviously there’s a whole bunch certain to happen over the next two months, but Sparty did its part to hold on against Vernon Adams and company, and the Big Ten has its really big moment.

With the problems Maryland and Rutgers had this week, and Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska and Purdue had in Week One, the Big Ten desperately needed someone other than Ohio State to deliver a limelight moment.

BIG TEN EAST

Indiana: W, FIU 36-22

It’s not like beating Florida or Florida State, but IU got the offensive balance needed to get by a vastly improved Florida International. The running of Jordan Howard and a decent day from Nate Sudfeld has made this far, far more of a complete offensive team, but now the little things have to stop. The Hoosiers need to slow down on the penalties after committing 11, and the secondary has hardly been a rock in the first two games, but 2-0 is 2-0 with winnable games against WKU and Wake Forest up next. If this is a real, live bowl-caliber team, go 4-0. It’s going to take some shootouts to get there.

Maryland: L, Bowling Green 48-27

After two weeks, there might not be a more disappointing unit in college football than the Maryland secondary. The talent is there for this to be among the best in the Big Ten, and good enough to be able to hold up against anyone, and it’s getting absolutely ripped to shreds. Bowling Green carved up Tennessee the week before, but the Terps were supposed to be prepared for games like this, and instead got destroyed for 491 yards and six touchdowns in the ugly loss. West Virginia is going to be a terrific test next week to see if the new look D can adjust.

Michigan: W, Oregon State 35-7

Okay … there’s the running game. It took about six quarters to get there, but finally the offensive line took over, pounding away on a good Oregon State run defense and getting De’Veon Smith his 126 yards and three touchdowns. And that’s what the Wolverines have to start doing more and more – getting physical. This isn’t going to be a pretty team, and it’s going to have to get by on defense and keeping the mistakes to a minimum, so the more the ground game can keep Jake Rudock from having to make plays, the better.

Michigan State: W, Oregon 31-28

Is the Michigan State secondary planning to come up with a big game any time soon? Considering this is now a true national title contender after beating Oregon, at some point it’s going to take a tighter defense for an era built on tough defenses. In the first two games, MSU has been able to come up with two picks in each game, but it also got hit for 365 yards by Western Michigan’s Zach Terrell and 309 yards by Vernon Adams on Saturday night. But those were just two games against two great passing games, right? Georgia Southern shut down WMU on Saturday allowing just 223 passing yards and coming up with three interceptions.

Ohio State: W, Hawaii 38-0

So now it’s time to nitpick a bit in the attempt to perfect nation’s top team. Ohio State is better than everyone on its schedule, and it’s going to be conducting practices on most Saturdays, it’s time to work and tweak for two months from now. It’s time to get the downfield passing game to start rocking and make it more efficient and effective. It’s easy and tempting to keep getting the short passes in the hands of the NFL receivers, but with the quarterback rotation, the accuracy can’t be off. So far, the Buckeyes are only hitting on 57% of their passes and came up with just 5.3 yards per throw against the Rainbow Warriors.

Penn State: W, Buffalo 27-14

This is more like what the Nittany Lions have to do. Until the pass protection comes together, and until the offense can figure out how to turn Christian Hackeberg into Dan Marino in terms of release, pound, pound, pound. It was hardly a great running day against Buffalo, but the 200 yards and a five yards per pop at least took the heat off. Granted, it took a couple of big runs to get there, but short throws, no mistakes, good defense. With Rutgers up next and then the tough San Diego State run defense, Penn State has to get physical.

Rutgers: L, Washington State 37-34

Despite being outplayed, Rutgers had the game there for the taking if it didn’t screw up so royally. Washington State was Washington State, bombing away and bombing some more, but the Scarlet Knights stood up to the storm and were right there – until they started messing up. With three turnovers, no takeaways, and 11 penalties, it was a rough all-around effort surrounding a terrific day of offensive balance. The team put itself in tough spots time and again.

BIG TEN WEST

Illinois: W, Western Illinois 44-0

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Illinois hasn’t played anyone yet, but still, considering all the drama and all of the problems – losing a coach a week before the season stinks no matter what – starting out the season 2-0 winning 96-3 is amazing. When teams are struggling left and right with their focus, that’s not an issue so far starting with a defense that’s not allowing anything so far through the air. The Illini are attacking and controlling the tempo, and it’s all working. Now it’s time to see if it’s all for real with North Carolina up next.

Iowa: W, Iowa State 31-17

The defensive front has been absolutely terrific so far. That was a great Illinois State team the Hawkeyes thumped in the first week, and they stuffed the Iowa State running game dead cold in the good win over the in-state rival. In two games, Iowa has allowed just 98 rushing yards, no touchdowns, and just 1.78 yards per carry. Why? Because the front seven is getting behind the line. The pass rush has been there with five sacks in the opener and four against Iowa State. The defense has shown up so far this season with an attitude.

Minnesota: W, at Colorado State 23-20 OT

Minnesota has yet to be able to do the things Minnesota is supposed to do. The running game is just been okay, even though Rodney Smith came up with 108 yards and ran well, but the offense isn’t controlling the clock, it’s not taking advantage of all of its scoring chances, and it’s stalling too much. At this point in the season last season, Mitch Leidner threw the ball 28 times. So far this season he has 80 attempts, and while he threw a dart in regulation to force overtime, the Gophers have to be ground and pound to do what they do best.

Nebraska: W, South Alabama 48-9

When is Tommy Armstrong going to take off? While the offense is trying to tweak things a little bit, part of the design of the attack revolved around Armstrong being able to jet from time to time when the opportunities are there. The guy who ran for 705 yards last season has just 11 rushing attempts for six yards – at some point he has to be a threat to freak out defenses. His passing has been excellent so far – hitting 64% of his throws with five scores and just one pick – but soon he has to unleash the full arsenal. Maybe the coaching staff is saving him for Miami.

Northwestern: W, Eastern Illinois 41-0

The No. 3 defense in America? The Wildcats have allowed just six points in two games, and it’s doing it by owning the backfield with eight tackles for loss in each of the first two games. The pass rush has been great and the run defense has been a rock, but it’s all been based on the attacking that’s screwing things up. After the first two games, Northwestern is whipping teams on the lines, getting nasty against Stanford and beating up Eastern Illinois with the running game. It hasn’t been anything flashy, but it’s brutally effective. It shows in the time of possession, keeping it for well over 34 minutes a game.

Purdue: W, Indiana State 38-14

No interceptions. After the nightmare against Marshall, the Boilermakers needed to come up with a clean game, and it did it with Austin Appleby throwing for 289 yards and four scores – and no interceptions. The four against Marshall all but cost Purdue the game – at the very least, they didn’t help – but Appleby is a talented player who has to carry the offense. He’ll have to press and press some more, but he has to keep the mistake to almost nil. But more than anything else, Purdue won a football game. It’s just the fifth in the Darrell Hazell era.

Wisconsin: W, Miami University, 58-0

Wisconsin is 107th in the nation in rushing? Not having Corey Clement didn’t help against Miami, and starting out against Alabama doesn’t help the overall statistics. There’s a big positive out of this, though – Joel Stave is throwing. The Badgers will be able to run the ball as the season goes on, and while it’s going to take a little bit to find the groove, it’s going to work. To come up with the 11-1 regular season needed to be in a position to win the Big Ten title and possibly get into the playoff, Bucky has to throw, and Stave has 464 yards and five scores in two games, throwing almost as well against Alabama as he did against MU. However, it’s time against Troy to start gearing up the ground attack.

Predictions & Picks: How’d We Do?

Straight Up: 22-6 ATS: 12-8-1

Penn State 27, Buffalo 14

Line: Penn State -20.5, o/u: 49.5, Prediction: Penn State 34, Buffalo 10 

Purdue 38, Indiana State 17

Line: No Line, o/u: No Line, Prediction: Purdue 34, Indiana State 17 

Wisconsin 48, Miami Univ. 0

Line: Wisconsin -33, o/u: 53, Prediction: Wisconsin 45, Miami University 10 

Michigan 35, Oregon State 7

Line: Michigan -15.5, o/u: 48, Prediction: Michigan 20, Oregon State 16 

Illinois 44, Western Illinois 0

Line: No Line, o/u: No Line, Prediction: Illinois 27, Western Illinois 20 

Bowling Green 48, Maryland 27  

Maryland -7.5, o/u: 70, Prediction: Maryland 37, Bowling Green 30  

Ohio State 38, Hawaii 0

Line: Ohio State -38, o/u: 59.5, Prediction: Ohio State 52, Hawaii 10 

Minnesota 23, Colorado State 20 OT

Line: Minnesota -6, o/u: 55, Prediction: Minnesota 31, Colorado State 23 

Washington State 37, Rutgers 34

Line: Rutgers -2, o/u: 62, Prediction: Rutgers 38, Washington State 31 

Eastern Illinois at Northwestern
Line: No Line, o/u: No Line, Prediction: Northwestern 23, Eastern Illinois 13 

Iowa 31, Iowa State 17

Line: Iowa -3.5, o/u: 52, Prediction: Iowa 31, Iowa State 27 

Indiana 36, FIU 22

Line: Indiana -7.5, o/u: 55.5, Prediction: Indiana 31, Florida International 21 

Nebraska 48, South Alabama 9
Line: Nebraska -26.5, o/u: 54, Prediction: Nebraska 44, South Alabama 10 

Michigan State 31, Oregon 28 ABC

Line: Michigan State -3.5, o/u: 67, Prediction: Michigan State 44, Oregon 37