Gopher Football
Here’s a look at how things stand so far in the Big Ten:
University of Illinois Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1)
Last Saturday: The Illini had their heads handed to them in a 61-14 home loss to Michigan State. Ron Zook received a rude welcome to the Big Ten as John L. Smith unleashed the Spartans’ high-octane offense on the poor Illini. Ineptitude reigned on both sides of the ball as Illinois’ offense only made it to the Michigan State 20-yard line twice in the game (although they did score a touchdown both times) and tallied 271 yards of total offense. Not to be outdone, the defense set a Memorial Stadium record for most yards given up by an Illinois defense, allowing Drew Stanton and company to roll up over 700 yards of offense and set or tie several MSU records.
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): Quarterback Tim Brasic was Illinois’ leading rusher against the Spartans, with 54 yards on 11 carries. The next-highest rusher was first-string running back Pierre Thomas, who had a whopping 24 yards on 9 carries. Through four games, Thomas has 41 only more net rushing yards than Brasic (223 yards vs. 182 yards). Actually, Brasic has more positive yards (270) than Thomas (228), but Thomas has fewer negative rushing yards (5) than Brasic (88).
Because I can’t help myself, here’s another Bad News Observation: Illinois ranks dead last in the Big Ten in scoring offense and scoring defense, among other things. Not so hot.
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): The Illinois kicking game looks rock solid. Kicker Jason Reda leads the team in scoring, having hit 8 of 9 field goals with a long of 45 yards. His only miss came from 52 yards out in the season opener against Rutgers. Punter Steve Weatherford is averaging 40.1 yards a punt. Sure, it may only be 10th-best in the Big Ten right now but it’s still a good number and Weatherford has had to put the ball in the air 35% to 229% more times than the punters ahead of him. Now for an even more impressive statistic: 10 of Weatherford’s 15 kickoffs–he’s Illinois’ primary kickoff man as well–have been touchbacks.
Enlightened Comment of the Week: I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m going to go ahead and predict that the Illini finish in sole possession of the Big Ten cellar this year. (That was bold and daring, wasn’t it?)
Next Up: @ Iowa (2-2, 0-1)
Indiana University Hoosiers (3-0, 0-0)
Last Saturday: The Hoosiers took it easy, enjoyed their undefeated record, and watched their conference cousins beat up on each other. (Bye week.)
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): Indiana is 11th out of 11 teams in the Big Ten in penalties (70 yards per game), rushing defense (217 yards per game), and red zone offense (scoring only 63% of the time inside their opponents’ 20-yard line). However”¦.
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): Indiana leads the league in passing defense (136 yards per game), red zone defense (opponents score just 57% of the times they get in the red zone), and kickoff returns (34 yards per return). Okay, the Hoosiers haven’t exactly faced offenses the likes of Arizona State or Texas Tech. Any way you slice it, though, first is still better than last, and 3-0 is better than 0-3!
Enlightened Comment of the Week: Terry Hoeppner is one of two new coaches getting rave reviews in the State of Indiana. Let’s see who keeps his job longer.
Next Up: @ No. 17 Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0)
University of Iowa Hawkeyes (2-2, 0-1)
Last Saturday: The Hawkeyes got pounded 31-6 by their hosts in Columbus. Ohio State certainly is looking awfully tough to beat but Iowa did not do anything to buoy its rapidly sinking stock. Iowa had -9 yards rushing on the day to go along with just 146 passing yards. In contrast, the Hawkeye defense gave up 530 total yards to the Buckeyes and were lucky to have gotten away with only 31 points hung on them, as OSU fumbled six times and lost two fumbles inside the Iowa 5-yard line. So, it could have been worse (but not much) for the boys from Iowa City. Texas they ain’t.
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): Last week makes two games in which Iowa has not scored a touchdown. As great as Drew Tate was last year, he isn’t exactly living up to all of the preseason Heisman-darkhorse hype: He is last in the Big Ten in pass efficiency among starting quarterbacks (118.7 rating, 4 TDs, 3 INTs). As if that doesn’t hurt enough, Iowa also ranks last in the conference in rushing offense (159 yards per game).
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): Like Illinois (I can hear Hawkeye fans cringing at the comparison already), Iowa has some pretty impressive special teams players. Kicker Kyle Schlicher is 4 for 4 on field goal tries and 14 for 14 on extra point attempts. He scored the Hawkeyes’ only points in losses to Iowa State and Ohio State, including a 52-yarder at the ‘Shoe. Jovon Johnson returned a punt for a touchdown (and also ran back an interception for a touchdown). Iowa leads the league in net punting (41.7 net yards per punt).
Enlightened Comment of the Week: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Kirk Ferentz has outperformed expectations year after year, but that was when expectations ranged from poor to mediocre. This year it looks like the bar was set too high, and maybe unfairly so.
Next Up: vs. Illinois (2-2, 0-1)
University of Michigan Wolverines (2-2, 0-1)
Last Saturday: Michigan lost a hard-fought battle in Madison, 23-20. It was the Wolverines’ first loss in a conference opener since 1981 when top-ranked Michigan was upset, appropriately enough, by Wisconsin. Michigan jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led 13-3 at the half, but couldn’t stop Brian Calhoun and John Stocco on the Badgers’ game-winning drive. Wideouts Jason Avant and Mario Manningham (a true freshman) had notable performances, each having over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in the contest.
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): Michigan is out of the AP Top 25 Poll for the first time since October 18, 1998 (as a point of reference, that was Tom Brady‘s first year as a starter for the Wolverines). The nation-leading streak spanned 114 straight weeks over nearly seven years, and the Maize and Blue have to start over to try to regain their longest-ranked-streak title. With Oklahoma dropping out last week for the first time since 1999, that leaves Miami (FL) with the current distinction of being ranked the most consecutive weeks (93).
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): The Wolverines’ passing defense efficiency is still the best in the Big Ten (100.4). Michigan defenders have allowed only two passing touchdowns in the first four games and have made three interceptions.
Enlightened Comment of the Week: Oh, how the might have fallen (part deux). Okay, I’m not a Michigan backer, but to those Wolverine fans (or so-called fans) trying to generate a “œFire Lloyd Carr“ campaign: Don’t be such idiots. Carr has led Michigan to more Big Ten titles (four) than any other team over the past decade. He has an almost 77% winning percentage (fourth among all active D-IA coaches), and he’s coached the Maize and Blue to nine consecutive January 1st bowl games (second-best streak in the nation). Maybe these people are actually Buckeye fans in Wolverines’ clothing”¦.
Next Up: @ No. 11 Michigan State (4-0, 1-0) (Paul Bunyan Trophy Game)
Michigan State University Spartans (4-0, 1-0) (11th-ranked)
Last Saturday: Michigan State showed no signs of a slowdown for its surprisingly potent offense in a 61-14 rout of Illinois. Drew Stanton was once again spectacular in a performance that moved him up the ladder in Heisman voting circles. He set a school record with five touchdown passes in the game, surpassing Jeff Smoker‘s previous record of four, and accomplished the feat before halftime. He only played briefly in the third quarter before stepping out of the game, finishing with 259 yards on 20 completions out of 26 attempts. Mostly lost in all of the accolades was the fact that Javon Ringer rushed for 194 yards on just 13 carries, and made two tackles on special teams to boot!
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): The Spartans have allowed more touchdown passes (11) than any other Big Ten team and are ninth in the conference in pass defense, yielding 293 yards per game through the air.
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): Where do we start? Stanton is a frighteningly awesome quarterback””would it be heresy to suggest that he might even be better than Matt Leinart? He leads the nation in pass efficiency, with an eye-popping QB rating of 201.3 (incidentally, just a shade better than Leinart’s admittedly impressive 200.4, but I say, “œLook at the supporting cast, folks”). A ranking like that is what happens when you throw 73 percent of your passes for completions and rack up a 13-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio. Oh””by the way, I almost forgot””Ringer is averaging 9.2 yards per carry. The Spartans lead the league in passing offense (322 yds/game), total offense (594 yds/game), and scoring offense (49 pts/game), and are 10th, 3rd, and 5th in those respective categories nationally. MSU is averaging 52.5 points on the road, with 105 points the last two weeks in victories in South Bend and Champaign.
Enlightened Comment of the Week: The win over a good Notre Dame team was nice but Illinois was not very representative of the competition the Spartans will face the rest of the conference season. Let’s see what John L. Smith can do starting this week.
Next Up: vs. Michigan (2-2, 0-1) (Paul Bunyan Trophy Game)
University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0, 1-0) (18th-ranked)
Last Saturday: Minnesota finally got two monkeys off of its back last week by (1) winning a big game when it counts for the first time five years, and (2) beating Joe Tiller and the then-10th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers for the first time since Glen Mason took over as coach of the Gophers. The Gophers came away victorious in a double-overtime thriller that ended 42-35 after the oft-maligned Minnesota defense stiffened up and stopped the powerful Purdue offense three straight times with short yardage in the second overtime. What a way to celebrate Coach Mason’s 100th game at Minnesota.
Bad News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Not So Hot Report): The Gophers are last in the conference in punting and next-to-last in net punting. Also, even after a perfect week of point-after kicking by Jason Giannini, the Gophers are still a pretty sad 78 percent (18 of 23) on extra point attempts. This is last in the Big Ten by three missed PATs.
Good News Observation of the Week (a/k/a the Pretty Darn Good Report): As with Michigan State, there is a lot of good news to report. The running game, which tallies 327 yards per game on the ground, is tops in both the conference and the nation by a wide margin (54 yards per game more than MSU and 30 yards per game more than Texas). Laurence Maroney leads the nation in rushing (175 yards per game) and all-purpose yards (221 yards per game), while his backup, Gary Russell, only leads the nation in touchdowns scored (9 ““ tied with Wisconsin’s Brian Calhoun). Russell’s also got Maroney beat on yards per carry: 8.1 to 6.2. I mean–c’mon, Laurence–let’s pick it up a little bit, will ya?!
Enlightened Comment of the Week: Gopher fans have been excited about the team’s chances early in the year several times in over the last few seasons, only to have their hopes dashed into the ground. And then kicked a couple of times. And then stomped on repeatedly. However, something feels a little different this year, largely because the win over Purdue last Saturday actually meant something. What is now cautious optimism should become unbridled sanguinity if the Maroon and Gold can make it back home undefeated (or even with just one close loss) when the Gophers face the Badgers on October 15th.
Next Up: @ Penn State (4-0, 1-0) (Governor’s Victory Bell Trophy Game)
Part II of Around the Big Ten (Week 1 to 2) to follow by Saturday a.m. Stay tuned!