Big Ten grades for 2025 season: Penn State gets 'F-' for collapse, Indiana earns 'A+' as conference champion

flyingfish said:

Have to give credit when it's due.

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Exactly. If you look at this team's stats relative to its conference competition in games played this year, this team looks pretty bad but key guys made plays at times to get the win. Two examples:


Michigan State game: Outgained 467 yards to 301. Trailing by 7 with 1:45 left in regulation but went 65 yards in under a minute and a half to score the tying touchdown. Held MSU to a field goal in overtime and scored a touchdown on their first possession to win the game.

Wisconsin: outgained in a day where it was hard to move the ball. Weston kept Wisconsin in poor field position throughout the game and Nestor came up with 3 turnovers including one with a long return to put us in good scoring position.

Even the Northwestern game where we were outgained 525 yards to 323, we were in position to tie the game at the end of regulation but our kicker missed 2 field goals that day.

It's weird trying to grade out a season like this nowadays- how often do you actually see a P5 head coach trot out a 1st year Qb for every single game??

Last I remember was Adam Weber, and we were AWFUL that year... Now that I look that season up (2007, 1 and freeeaking 11), I suppose I can see how this year would be a "B" grade

Texan Gopher said:

I actually agree.

I don't think we had "the developed talent" on the roster to start the season that some thought.

Add in new play callers on D and O, and a 7-5 record with wins against nebraska and wisconsin equals a B in my book.

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At the end of the day…the OL was a weakness in 2024 and the hope was the upside was high because it gets fixed in 2025

It got worse.

Defense had some growing pains. Played well at times and bad at times.

QB was good for a freshman but not as good as the year before.
No one emerged to be Jackson’s replacement.


Darius Taylor played in 9 games in 2025 after playing in 12 of the games in 2024



All things considered it doesn’t matter if it was a B or a C.
But 9-3 (6-3) is a top 15 season since 1970. So it really just depends on what you consider an A B or C