Big Ten West after Week 1

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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Didn't see everyone play but based on scores and recaps here is my quick take on where the Teams in the West stand after week 1.

Iowa (1-0). Only saw some of their game today but holding Indiana to 6 is impressive. Iowa could be very good.

Minnesota (0-1). Gave Ohio State a battle for majority of the game. Should do very well in the West

Wisconsin (0-1). Watched entire PSU game. Badger defense looks solid (at least up front...secondary not so much). Wisconsin offense was very mediocre looking. Mertz is way overrated

To me those three are the clear cut top teams in the West through 1 week at least. After that....

Purdue (1-0). Didn't see their game but guess they get this spot since they won against a power 5 team. Would be curious to hear thoughts on them from those that watched them play.

Northwestern (0-1). Looked flat out bad against MSU. Can't count them out because they have started poorly in the past and Fitzgerald is a good coach. But they did not look good at all in week 1.

Illinois (1-1). Lost at home to UTSA. Bielema may turn things around there eventually but it ain't going to be this year.

Nebraska (1-1). Final score looks great for Nebraska but they looked like garbage early against Fordham.....Fordham. There is nothing about Nebraska that scares me at this point.

Anyway that is my quick take on the West so far. Long way to go and a lot will change but it has not been an impressive start to the season for the West. Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska have just looked bad, and honestly Wisconsin did not look like anything special against Penn State either.
 

Solid recap.

The three worst teams in the B1G may reside in the West (Illinois, Nebraska, jNW…from least bad to worst) with the resurgence of Rutgers and MSU. Time will tell.
 

I still think Maryland could end up bad.

But Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska are the bottom 3 in the conference



the big 10 west = the big 12 north
 

Some guy said:
I still think Maryland could end up bad.

But Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska are the bottom 3 in the conference



the big 10 west = the big 12 north
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Ouch! What an indictment.
 

Fitzgerald love is weird. He coaches in the BT west where multiple teams strugggggle year in year out. He is barely average.
 


Spaulding!No! said:
Fitzgerald love is weird. He coaches in the BT west where multiple teams strugggggle year in year out. He is barely average.
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He's just a solid coach.
You don't win Big Ten titles with his talent if you aren't a good coach.
Also, you don't compete strong against OSU a couple weeks before OSU hang 49 on Clemson if you don't know how to coach defense.
 

IA looks like the best team in the West after the first games.
It is clear that Mertz is not ready and according to the beat writer for the Milwaukee paper the other QB, Wolf, was better in the fall practices.
Chryst will continue to start Mertz no matter how badly he plays.
PSU had 43 yards and no first downs and the score was 0/0 at half.
That is poorly the WI offense was.
Chryst stuck with a toxic, incompetent Hornibrook for two years.
 

Face The Facts said:
He's just a solid coach.
You don't win Big Ten titles with his talent if you aren't a good coach.
Also, you don't compete strong against OSU a couple weeks before OSU hang 49 on Clemson if you don't know how to coach defense.
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Good post. To call Fitzgerald "barely average" is absurd. He just doesn't get the kind of talent that allows them to reload every year like some of the best teams in the conference. Inevitably they have some off/rebuilding years. Fitzgerald's overall winning percentage at Northwestern is 56.4%. You have to go back to the late 50s/early 60s to find another Northwestern coach with a winning record and that was the legendary Ara Parseghian with a 50.2% winning percentage.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
Fitzgerald love is weird. He coaches in the BT west where multiple teams strugggggle year in year out. He is barely average.
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I wouldn’t say he is barely average, but the love has gone a bit far I think with people thinking he routinely turns his teams around within season. He’s had bad teams that didn’t have enough talent before, this is probably one of them.
 



I watched part of the Purdue game. If you realize OSU is a perennial bottom feeder in the PAC 12, it makes Purdue's win even less impressive. OSU scored a td to pull within 2 with about 4 min left. With about 2 min left, facing a 3rd and 1, both teams had everyone bunched up on the line. Purdue's QB faked a handoff and tossed it to a wide open TE who took it in for the td .
 
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Rutgers may indeed be in the next tier of teams above the bottom tier in the Big Ten .... but I'm not sure a win against Temple proves that.


But anyway, about the West: pretty much agree with the OP.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Purdue (1-0). Didn't see their game but guess they get this spot since they won against a power 5 team. Would be curious to hear thoughts on them from those that watched them play.
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Wolverine gave a fair rundown. I watched a bit of it but switched from it after seeing that Illinois was losing late in the game. I'd say it was a competitive but fairly lackluster game. Plummer and their passing attack were pretty good as expected but neither team could get much on the ground.

The game event that made the biggest impression on me was an Oregon State defender getting disqualified for targeting on a fairly soft late hit on Plummer after he just released the ball a half second earlier. The helmet contact wasn't anything close to the level of the OSU hit on our receiver that the refs refused to call.
 

Either I under sold Iowa, iu is overrated, or week 1 fluke.

Iowa lost lot of talent on lines and Petras is just a guy that lost his top receivers.....
 



salzie said:
Either I under sold Iowa, iu is overrated, or week 1 fluke.

Iowa lost lot of talent on lines and Petras is just a guy that lost his top receivers.....
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Not that you are here, but trying to declare how the season will go after week 1 is almost as bad as trying to declare how the season will go in the preseason.

Teams change and improve throughout the season, but especially from week 1 to 2.
 

salzie said:
Either I under sold Iowa, iu is overrated, or week 1 fluke.

Iowa lost lot of talent on lines and Petras is just a guy that lost his top receivers.....
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From what I saw Iowa got in Penix’s head early and he was forcing balls all over the place. Brutal game. I think week 1 is early to say how any team will finish but Iowa‘s D looked good. Their offense and their QB look to be vintage Iowa for better or worse. Ferentz went for it on 4th and 1 up by 14 rather than take a chip FG so something has riled up Captain.
 

Plato said:
IA looks like the best team in the West after the first games.
It is clear that Mertz is not ready and according to the beat writer for the Milwaukee paper the other QB, Wolf, was better in the fall practices.
Chryst will continue to start Mertz no matter how badly he plays.
PSU had 43 yards and no first downs and the score was 0/0 at half.
That is poorly the WI offense was.
Chryst stuck with a toxic, incompetent Hornibrook for two years.
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I'm hesitant to agree, Indiana made so many mistakes that any team would be hard press not to win, and win by a good margin. Indy QB is back but you could easily tell he was skeptical of himself coming off ACL surgery. Just wasn't anything close to what he was, yet. Iowa's defense is good, but their offense is very 'meh'
 

salzie said:
Either I under sold Iowa, iu is overrated, or week 1 fluke.

Iowa lost lot of talent on lines and Petras is just a guy that lost his top receivers.....
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Probably a little of all 3

But take away the 2 pick 6 plays and it’s 20-6 in a game where Iowa gained 300 yards and Indiana got 225.

I just don’t think it was as big of a blowout as the score indicated. Wasn’t close. But was more of a 2-3 score game than a 4 score game
 

Plato said:
according to the beat writer for the Milwaukee paper the other QB, Wolf, was better in the fall practices.
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Was he/she saying this before yesterday’s game or after?
 

Plato said:
IA looks like the best team in the West after the first games.
It is clear that Mertz is not ready and according to the beat writer for the Milwaukee paper the other QB, Wolf, was better in the fall practices.
Chryst will continue to start Mertz no matter how badly he plays.
PSU had 43 yards and no first downs and the score was 0/0 at half.
That is poorly the WI offense was.
Chryst stuck with a toxic, incompetent Hornibrook for two years.
Click to expand...
The best Qb is always the one sitting on bench according to Wisconsin football team.
 





Plato said:
Before the season started he diplomatically said that Wolf was performing as well as the Chryst anointed starting QB.
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Probably should fire Chryst.
 

I think the Gophers and Iowa definitely separated from the pack. Two pick sixes on Penix was eye opening as far as their East potential goes. Even without those....Iowa smacked them hard. That was a no question win against a team that was pegged an a possible East contender.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Didn't see everyone play but based on scores and recaps here is my quick take on where the Teams in the West stand after week 1.

Iowa (1-0). Only saw some of their game today but holding Indiana to 6 is impressive. Iowa could be very good.

Minnesota (0-1). Gave Ohio State a battle for majority of the game. Should do very well in the West

Wisconsin (0-1). Watched entire PSU game. Badger defense looks solid (at least up front...secondary not so much). Wisconsin offense was very mediocre looking. Mertz is way overrated

To me those three are the clear cut top teams in the West through 1 week at least. After that....

Purdue (1-0). Didn't see their game but guess they get this spot since they won against a power 5 team. Would be curious to hear thoughts on them from those that watched them play.

Northwestern (0-1). Looked flat out bad against MSU. Can't count them out because they have started poorly in the past and Fitzgerald is a good coach. But they did not look good at all in week 1.

Illinois (1-1). Lost at home to UTSA. Bielema may turn things around there eventually but it ain't going to be this year.

Nebraska (1-1). Final score looks great for Nebraska but they looked like garbage early against Fordham.....Fordham. There is nothing about Nebraska that scares me at this point.

Anyway that is my quick take on the West so far. Long way to go and a lot will change but it has not been an impressive start to the season for the West. Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska have just looked bad, and honestly Wisconsin did not look like anything special against Penn State either.
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Iowa - Do they have the talent. Yes.
Do they have the defensive scheme. Yes.
Can they run the ball. YES.
Is the QB efficient enough. YES.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. No.

Wisconsin - Do they have the talent. Probably.
Do they have the defense. YES.
Can they run the ball. Maybe.
Is the QB efficient enough. Doesn't look like it.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Sometimes.

Minnesota -Do they have the talent. Pretty much.
Do they have the defense. Maybe?
Can they run the ball. YES.
Is the QB efficient enough. YES.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Very unlikely.

Purdue - Do they have the talent. Some.
Do they have the defense. Some.
Can they run the ball. Maybe.
Is the QB efficient enough. Maybe.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Maybe.

Northwestern -Do they have the talent. No.
Do they have the defense. Probably.
Can they run the ball. Usually.
Is the QB efficient enough. No.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. No.

Nebraska -Do they have the talent. YES.
Do they have the defense. Possibly but unlikely.
Can they run the ball. They probably could.
Is the QB efficient enough. NO.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. GUARANTEED.

Illinois - Do they have the talent. Not really.
Do they have the defense. Probably not.
Can they run the ball. Kinda.
Is the QB efficient enough. Doubtful.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Yes.
 


Face The Facts said:
Iowa - Do they have the talent. Yes.
Do they have the defensive scheme. Yes.
Can they run the ball. YES.
Is the QB efficient enough. YES.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. No.

Wisconsin - Do they have the talent. Probably.
Do they have the defense. YES.
Can they run the ball. Maybe.
Is the QB efficient enough. Doesn't look like it.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Sometimes.

Minnesota -Do they have the talent. Pretty much.
Do they have the defense. Maybe?
Can they run the ball. YES.
Is the QB efficient enough. YES.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Very unlikely.

Purdue - Do they have the talent. Some.
Do they have the defense. Some.
Can they run the ball. Maybe.
Is the QB efficient enough. Maybe.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Maybe.

Northwestern -Do they have the talent. No.
Do they have the defense. Probably.
Can they run the ball. Usually.
Is the QB efficient enough. No.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. No.

Nebraska -Do they have the talent. YES.
Do they have the defense. Possibly but unlikely.
Can they run the ball. They probably could.
Is the QB efficient enough. NO.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. GUARANTEED.

Illinois - Do they have the talent. Not really.
Do they have the defense. Probably not.
Can they run the ball. Kinda.
Is the QB efficient enough. Doubtful.
Will they make mistakes to lose games. Yes.
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Minnesota has a top 2 QB in the west. But maybe not a top 3 defense.

If Minnesota’s defense ends up being top 3 in the west and Morgan stays healthy: Minnesota wins the west,
 


Some guy said:
If Minnesota’s defense ends up being top 3 in the west and Morgan stays healthy: Minnesota wins the west,
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If the respectively ranked defensive teams were equally distant from each other, that could be the case but the top two defensive teams in the division, Iowa and Wisconsin, are perennially among the very best in the nation.

Last season, Iowa gave up 16 points per game and Wisconsin gave up 17.4. The third best defensive team in the division, Nebraska, gave up 29.5 per game. In 2019, Iowa gave up 14 points per game and Wisconsin gave up 16.9. The third best defensive team in the division, Minnesota, gave up 22.5 per game; not bad at all but significantly more than the other two.

Obviously, we have a big Iowa and Wisconsin problem, particularly on the defensive end.
 

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