Here's my honest call on how we have to win these games:
NW- take away the run early to attempt to make them one dimensional, that way the d line can pin their ears back and rush. our team's skill set matches up with them well on defense as we are undersized but have the ability to fly to the ball. if we aren't getting gashed by draws and option plays, we can really cause some havoc of NW. offensively the o line needs to put in a strong effort to open up holes so the ground game can move the ball, chew clock, and allow the defense to rest. definitely a winnable game in my eyes
Wisc- load the box, load the box, and load the box some more. Whoever happens to be playing qb at that time for Wisc will have to be the one we challenge to try beat us. we need to run blitz and slant early and often in this one and yes that will put us in 1 on 1 situations in the passing game. however I like those odds much more than the one we employed early against Iowa by letting them run the ball at will. If we are run blitzing, yes the big play chances are there for Wisc, but we also give ourselves shots at the big play while trying to negate Wisc's size advantage. On offense, I think we have to try take shots to stretch the field early to soften them up. I can't see us overpowering Wisc's D even though Neb had success doing that.
Purdue- again we have to stop the run and make them pass against us. i feel our db's have the skills to cover Purdue's receivers, but not if they also are going to be responsible for making a ton of tackles in the run game. On offense, we should be able to move it on Purdue in both facets and Marshall crushed them through the air. If the offense gets grooving early, we can put Purdue in a hole and force them to pass, which plays into our strength defensively as well.
Mich- Make Denard pass from the pocket. Its that simple but going to be extremely difficult to execute. We saw how Denard tries to force the ball when he remains in the pocket as he always wants to big play. Let him beat himself and we can turn out a good defensive performance in this one. On offense, i'd say we have to get creative. Michigan can out speed us but if we can get them with some misdirection at times, this will help to negate their speed as they will be having to spend more time reading. The offensive line will have to be extremely physical in this one for us to have a chance.
Illinois- A lot of how we need to approach this game will depend on the illini psyche at this point. if they continue their tailspin, we need to come out throwing and put them down early and they will cave. If they have gotten some wins at that point, the key will be to pressure the illini qb as much as possible as the illini offense will fall apart without him. Offensively I think we can stretch the field on them and take advantage of what will hopefully be at that time, some much more experienced receivers. Heck of La Tech can do it, so can we!
Nebraska- this one will be the toughest game. The key to it will be discipline. Defending Neb you can't try to play hero but have to stick to doing your job. If the defense can play sound assignment football, they may be able to slow the Neb attack enough to stay in the game. Offensively, we will have to trust in Gray's arm and legs (if he's healthy at this point). We will need him to have a massive game to move the ball effectively in this one.
MSU- defensively we have to load the box and try to force maxwell to beat us. Bell will kill us all game without 8 in the box and we have to take an active approach blitzing to try to force them into negative plays to put them against the sticks. If we can do that, we can try force maxwell into turnovers to give our offense favorable position against a tough D. Offensively the approach will have to be to trust in Gray as he will have to put in the same kind of effort that almost got us the upset last year.
All in all, the games will all present their own unique challenges. However, all the games are winnable especially in a down year for the B1G. I can definitely see us getting the 2 wins somewhere, but it will take much better performances than we showed against Iowa.
