College football is back! Take reading this article as an excuse to crack open a beer (if you’re looking for one). This year I’ll still be covering all things newsworthy in the B10 but in a new format (too hard to talk about every team with 18 teams in the conference).
“10 things in the Big Ten”
My 10 most newsworthy updates recapping last week or looking forward to this week’s games. Let’s dive in….
1. Week 1 Record: Conference goes 17-1
The BIG10 conference as a whole went 17-1 with the only loss coming from Minnesota losing to UNC last Thursday night.
2. BIG10 QB’s Shine
Dylan Raiola – The true freshman put up 238 yards and 2 touchdowns in his debut and looked pretty good in his first outing. His teammates are now going to bat for him in the media. I’m excited to see him play Colorado this weekend. I don’t think the Buffaloes are a good team, but they’re still a P5 team.
Drew Allar – My biggest concern coming into the season for Penn State was how was Drew Allar going to play under the new OC. Allar put on a clinic against WVU throwing for 216 yards and 3 TDs which gave him the nation’s second best QBR of the week, 98.3.
Will Howard – Is Will Howard an upgrade over Kyle McCord? I personally don’t think so but we won’t find out if it matters for a while because these Buckeye receivers are going to carry him until they play Oregon. Even though they played Akron, he put up 228 with 3 TDs. Not a bad debut.
3. Oregon struggles against FCS Idaho
The Ducks have been getting a lot of love this offseason, so much to the point they’ve been considered the favorites to win the B10 and are heavily favored to win the whole thing. I don’t think anyone expected Oregon to only score 24 points OR only beat Idaho by 10 points, but it seems like they have some things to figure out as the season goes on.
4. Ohio State has another dawg in Jeremiah Smith
OSU has to be WRU at this point and they keep reloading every year. True freshman Jeremiah Smith made some insane plays and went off in Week 1 having 92 yards and 2 TDs.
5. Penn State beats the breaks off WVU
As a Penn State die hard, you should know by now that Penn State will be talked about weekly. While going into Morgantown on Saturday seemed like we were in “upset” mode, Penn State absolutely crushed West Virginia on their home turf despite a 2 hour long weather delay during halftime.
6. USC wins Sunday Night thriller vs LSU
With the loss of former Heisman winner Caleb Williams, there was a lot of doubt about how Lincoln Riley’s Trojans would perform in week 1. Miller Moss shined in his first start for USC and led a pretty impressive game winning drive to lift USC 27-20 over LSU.
7. QB controversy in Ann Arbor
Most people would have bet on Alex Orji to be the starting QB entering week 1. He saw a lot of backup time last year and he’s a physical freak at 6’3 236, but senior Davis Warren got the nod. He didn’t have the best outing, only throwing for 118 yards and 1 TD/1 INT. I expect both QBs to see the field this weekend against Texas, especially if Warren struggles early.
Important Week 2 Matchups
8. Michigan vs Texas
#3 Texas and #10 Michigan face off in the first top 10 matchup of the year. Texas is currently a -7.5 favorite over the Wolverines. Catch this one at noon on FOX sports.
9. Boise State vs Oregon
#7 Oregon might be on upset alert this weekend against a very good G5 Boise State. Boise State RB, Ashton Jeanty ran for 6 touchdowns and 267 yards in Week 1, so I expect him to give the Ducks a few problems this weekend. We should be in for a high scoring affair after Boise State let up 45 points in Week 1 to Georgia Southern. Oregon is the 18.5 point favorite against Boise State and you can watch this one at 10:00pm on Peacock.
10. Colorado Vs Nebraska
Over 8 million people watched last year’s match up between the Cornhuskers and Buffaloes. I’m truly excited to see how Dylan Raiola fairs against a P4 defense. College football fans should be in for a fun game with this one as the trash talk is heating up going into Saturday. Nebraska is favored by 7.5 points; you can watch this one on NBC in primetime at 7:30.
