General Illinois Penn State 

Big Ten Football: The Sunday Morning Recap

Posted By: DJ Hoyt

A stunner in Happy Valley drops Penn State from playoff consideration

The Lead

College football saw its first nine overtime game on Saturday, and the end result was the Nittany Lions falling at home to Illinois, 20-18.

The prior record for most overtimes played in a game was seven, when in 2018, LSU went to Texas A&M and lost 72-74. The game would prompt new rules for OT in an effort to promote player safety. These same rules would help produce the nine OT classic we saw yesterday, when Illinois and Penn State would struggle to convert their two point attempts from the third overtime on.

The Fighting Illini would eventually convert and complete the upset when backup quarterback Brandon Peters connected on a throw to receiver Casey Washington in the back of the end zone.

The win would be head coach Brett Bielema’s 100th career win. In his inaugural season with the Illini, it was expected the team would struggle on the field while building a new culture off it. Up till yesterday, that has largely been the case. Now Bielema has his signature win, and it is a win that he can use to validate the way he is rebuilding Illinois to recruits.

After spending the week having to defend comments about his personnel philosophy, Bielema was able to rally together the Illini for their first top ten road win since 2007. Relying on a what made him successful during his first stint in the Big Ten, Illinois used a lot of heavy run packages to rack up 357 yards on the ground while an improving defense kept PSU in check for most of the game.

While Illinois deserves credit for executing their game plan well enough to win, Penn State and their coaching staff should come under fire for looking unprepared after their bye week. Questions should range from whether players for PSU were overlooking Illinois and focused on next weekend’s match-up with Ohio State, to starting Sean Clifford at QB when he may not be fully healthy, to being unable to use the bye to create some semblance of a rushing game.

This second loss all but assures that Penn State will see any dreams about entering the CFP for the first time evaporate. No two loss team has ever made the four team cut, and it’s hard to see that scenario unfolding this year. James Franklin and his staff will have to convince the team to focus on winning the Big Ten while playing spoiler to the rest of the East.

However, there are cracks that are starting to show on this team. Injuries have impacted a few key areas, but it also looks like this team will not be able to run the ball effectively this year. On defense it is still a strong unit, but Illinois thought they could establish the run like Auburn did earlier this year, and the Illini were right.

If Penn State truly is vulnerable to the run on defense, then things won’t look promising moving forward. With games against Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State still left on the schedule, PSU better find a way to slow down the run or all three of those games could result in losses.

Ohio State Rounding Into Form

The Buckeyes came off their bye from last week and hammered an Indiana team that is a shell of their 2020 form. At halftime, Ohio State was up 44-7 and called off the dogs in the second half, cruising to a 54-7 victory.

Some observers have said how this Buckeye squad does not look like the one that lost to Oregon in week two. While the criticism is Ohio State hasn’t played anyone capable of challenging them, what they are doing is taking apart teams that they play, as good teams do.

I wrote before that if Ohio State wants to run the table like they did in 2014, it would have to look different where they would have to rely on their explosive offense to carry the load, while looking for the defense to steal a few possessions against stronger teams. Right now, it appears the Buckeyes are poised to play that type of football.

The defensive issues that plagued the team earlier were largely fundamental in nature: from gap assignments not being filled, coverages not being known, and a rotational system that took their best players off the field far too often.

The Buckeyes have scaled back on the rotating of players, and that alone may have helped to fix the other two issues mentioned above. Secondary coach Matt Barnes who is now calling the defense, has also provided more two-safety looks that for now seems to have assisted the defense in limiting chunk plays. This defense still hasn’t been tested by a team that can hold its own on offense, but even when they do, they will just need two or three stops a game.

A few stops a game will put the ball back into the hands of an offense that may be the nation’s best unit. It’s amazing to see this offense operate at the levels they are while being lead by a freshman quarterback in C.J Stroud and a freshman running back in TreVeyon Henderson. It’s even more amazing to know that these two players were the spark plugs this offense needed in order to reach the levels they are operating at now.

Combine them with the best receiving core in the country, and an offensive line that many argue should hold that designation too, and it’s no wonder the Buckeyes are averaging just over 57 points the past four games.

Before the season, people knew Ohio State had the potential for a scary good offense. It certainly looks like that potential is being reached, and that’s a scary thought for anyone having to play OSU.

Let The Battle For Michigan Commence

In the first ever George Jewett Trophy game, Michigan defeated Northwestern 33-7.

For a moment though, it looked like Michigan would be on upset alert as it was only 10-7 at the half. The Wolverines would get it in gear in the second half, using defense and special teams play to create short yardage situations for the offense and blowing open the game.

The win now sets up a huge game between the undefeated Wolverines and the undefeated Michigan State Spartans. This will be the first time the Wolverines and Spartans will play each other with undefeated records.

On the line will be key positioning for the East Division race, as well as CFP implications. Of course, there also will be bragging rights over your in-state rival.

If anyone has followed these two fan bases on Twitter, the trash talk and animosity is at a all-time high and has started about three weeks ago.

The preview for this game will receive its own special post and come later this week, however fans of old school Big Ten football with modern concepts will love this game. Both teams sport strong rushing offenses and solid defensive play, which as the weather turns cold, is exactly the type of game on which the Big Ten grew its brand.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa Driving The West

After upsetting #2 Iowa the week before, Purdue entered this week ranked inside the AP Top-25 for the first time since 2007. Wisconsin will make their stay a short one however, as they defeated Purdue 30-13.

Purdue should now drop from the division title chase with two losses to divisional foes. As it stands, it’s looking like the race is now between Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa for the West title.

Technically Northwestern is still in it, like Iowa, with just one divisional loss. However, it doesn’t appear NU has the horses this year to push the top teams in the division for a repeat of the divisional crown. They certainly could cause quite a stir and change that perception should they beat Minnesota next week.

Similar to the East, the West will have a pivotal divisional game scheduled on the 30th, as the battle for the Heartland Trophy will take place between Iowa and Wisconsin. A Badger victory would keep Wisconsin undefeated in the division and build momentum towards an end of the year clash with Minnesota for the West. If Iowa should win, they will remain in the hunt while holding onto a chance to re-enter CFP consideration should they also win the Big Ten.

Minnesota must take care of Northwestern next week to remain unbeaten in divisional play. If they do so, their biggest tests lay in November where Iowa and Wisconsin sit circled on their schedule.

Tweets of the Week

Players of the Week

Offense

C.J. Stroud – Quarterback – Ohio State

Stroud would be key to the Buckeyes recording their fourth straight game with over 50 points scored. He finished yesterday against Indiana going 21 of 28, for 266 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Defense:

Leo Chenal – Linebacker – Wisconsin

Chenal led the Wisconsin Badger defense in their victory over #25 Purdue yesterday. He would record nine tackles, including three and a half sacks, and five and a half tackles for loss.