The 5 B1G things I have the most confidence in after 5 weeks of 2018

Sometimes I’ll hear an idea and think to myself, “hey, I could apply that to B1G stuff.”

I was listening to Ryen Russillo on “The Russillo Podcast” last month before the start of the NFL season and he had Mike Tirico on as a guest. They discussed a simple, but interesting idea that I haven’t stopped thinking about.

The goal was to list the things they think they know heading into the 2018 NFL season. You had things like the Vikings’ secondary, Tom Brady’s high completion percentage, etc.

So I thought I’d apply that to B1G things, but instead of doing it in the preseason, I’d use our first 5 weeks of games to forecast it for the rest of the season.

1. Dwayne Haskins settling in

Shareef Miller’s comment about the Ohio State quarterback “folding” if you get pressure on him was all but debunked last Saturday night at Penn State. In his first start in a truly hostile atmosphere, all Haskins did was bounce back from a slow start to lead a pair of late touchdown drives to fuel an impressive comeback win on the road.

Everyone is going to talk about Penn State’s inability to defend the screen passes down the stretch, but let’s not act like those are automatic completitions, especially for a quarterback who saw his fair share of pressure early on. Haskins didn’t panic, and much like J.T. Barrett did in 2017, he dug Ohio State out of a hole with his poise.

Coming off his fifth straight game of at least 3 total touchdowns, Haskins is now up to 19 touchdown passes and 1,464 yards with 9.5 yards per attempt. The Heisman Trophy buzz is looking more legitimate than ever, too.

I probably wouldn’t call out Haskins before a big game from now on.

2. Iowa’s/Michigan State’s run defense

The Spartans and Hawkeyes are ranked No. 1 and No. 4 against the run, respectively. Some of these numbers through four games are just ridiculous:

• MSU allowing 1.49 yards per rush
• MSU allowing 40.3 rushing yards/game
• Iowa allowed 1 rushing TD
• Iowa allowing 84 rushing yards/game
• Jonathan Taylor is only back to rush for 75 yards vs. Iowa
• MSU has yet to allow anyone to rush for more than 32 yards

And to be clear, both teams have faced one back that ranks in the top 6 nationally in rushing yards (Taylor had his lowest single-game output with 113 yards on 25 carries). So yeah, that’s super impressive.

We knew that Iowa’s defensive line was going to be a strength coming into this season. The uber-talented A.J. Epenesa wasn’t even a starter for this group because of how loaded it was. He, Anthony Nelson and Parker Hesse have been huge off the edge, and Iowa’s linebackers have managed to pick up the slack in the post-Josey Jewell era.

As for MSU, that top-ranked run defense is the product of a few things. Without Josiah Scott, the Spartans are much more vulnerable through the air (No. 114 in pass defense) than they are against the run. Joe Bachie and Kenny Willekes have come up big for a defense that’s had to do a lot of the heavy lifting with MSU still struggling to find its offensive identity.

Still, running on either one of these teams in B1G play will be no small task.

3. Rondale Moore’s big-play ability

There might not be a single more exciting player in the B1G than Moore. That sounds crazy to say for a Purdue freshman who’s only played in 5 games, but I feel like we’re already at that point. He’s as slippery as they come, he can break ankles as well as he breaks tackles and his usage is going to continue to expand in Jeff Brohm’s offense.

Here are just a few of my favorite plays from Moore that we’ve seen so far (via Bad Hat Productions):

I mean, the dude has been electric. The fact that he set the Purdue single-game yards record in his college debut was probably a sign that the 4-star freshman was going to be a good one.

He has nearly 600 yards from scrimmage and 5 touchdowns, and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before he busts one loose as the Boilermakers’ primary return man. Brohm is going to continue to dial up ways to use this guy because he’s as dangerous of an open-field weapon as there is in the B1G and maybe even all of college football.

Here’s hoping that we get three more years of Moore doing his thing.

4. Michigan’s second-half defensive adjustments

The Michigan defense is like what they say about an ace starting pitcher. You have to get to it early before it’s settled in, or else it’s going to be a long game. Notre Dame did that. Northwestern even did that. But what has Michigan repeatedly done even when it gets punched in the mouth? Adjusted.

Michigan is averaging 6.6 points allowed per second half this year. That’s obviously a credit to Don Brown, who’s one of the best in the business.

But it also speaks to the veteran presence of guys like Chase Winovich, Devin Bush and Rashan Gary, none of whom seem to get flustered if a team takes an early lead like Northwestern did last week. They allowed just 97 total yards the rest of the game against Northwestern after a completely one-sided first quarter.

Hella quick move by Chase Winovich. Big TFL. pic.twitter.com/LPgBhx650S

— Due# (@JDue51) September 30, 2018

That might be the key difference with this Michigan team compared to last year’s. There’s no way Michigan wins that game at Northwestern last year. The fact that the defense knew it had an offense capable of sustaining scoring drives was huge.

The Wolverines are No. 1 in America in total defense. With the offense showing its promise, the defense is going to have a much better shot at staying fresh and playing to its potential, even if it gets off to a slow start.

5. Penn State’s running game

Consider this. There are 16 Power 5 players who have at least 6 rushing touchdowns this season. Penn State has two of them. Miles Sanders and Trace McSorley have been the straw that stirs the drink for a running game that ranks tied for first in touchdowns (21) and is ninth in yards per game (261.2 yards).

McSorley and Sanders are both averaging 6 yards per carry, as is the talented Ricky Slade. It was a bit surprising that Slade didn’t get a carry against Ohio State when Sanders struggled to run the ball, especially after coming off a career-high 94 yards and 2 touchdowns against Illinois.

Penn State’s offensive line is better than it was last year, which is too bad considering what Saquon Barkley could’ve done with solid blocking. Still, though. The Lions are built to win a game in nasty conditions, which I’m not sure they were last year.

This group needs to continue to be the driving force to help keep a susceptible defense off the field. As long as the Lions can follow that formula, there’s no reason why this team can’t still win double-digit games and at least stay in the hunt in the B1G East.

James Franklin should absolutely be confident in his ground game. Well, except when it’s facing a do-or-die 4th and 5 against Ohio State.

Too soon?