Week 11 B1G Grades
It shouldn’t be easy.
An ‘A’ implies that a team surpassed expectations. We expected Ohio State to win by four possessions. We expected Michigan State to be in control against Maryland. We expected Iowa to take care of Minnesota.
Sure, all of these teams won and solidified their top-10 rankings in the process. But did they blow us away? No. In fact, one could argue that no B1G team really blew us away this weekend.
So without sounding too harsh, here are my Week 11 grades.
Illinois: C-
It would’ve been nice to see the Illini carry a little bit of the offensive momentum from the Purdue game. But against the defending champs, that might’ve been asking for too much. Bill Cubit’s squad didn’t let Ohio State light up the scoreboard, so it gets credit for that.
Indiana: B-
Once again, IU came up one play short of notching a monumental win for the program. Jordan Howard and the offensive line were incredible against one of the top run defenses in the country. Still, the IU secondary made Jake Rudock and Jehu Chesson look like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Iowa: B
The Hawkeyes are unbeaten because they dominate at the line of scrimmage, they don’t turn the ball over and they are successful on third downs on both sides of the ball. It might not have looked pretty at times against a battle-tested Minnesota squad, but that formula was once again the key to a victory.
Maryland: D+
So. Many. Turnovers. I’ve truly never seen a team turn the ball over at the rate the Terps do. And it doesn’t matter who’s playing quarterback. They spoiled a prime opportunity after Connor Cook was knocked out of the game. MSU’s defense had been exposed plenty late in games and Maryland couldn’t muster anything in the second half. I’m out of ideas for the Terps.
Michigan: B-
Rudock and Chesson get the highest possible grade. But for a defense that hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher all year, Saturday was certainly not an acceptable performance. Without Ryan Glasgow, Jordan Howard gashed the Wolverines all day. Had Kevin Wilson actually given him the ball with the game on the line in double overtime, Michigan’s defense could’ve been looking at one of the bigger letdowns of the season.
Michigan State: B+
It wasn’t a clean game by any means, but the Spartans won comfortably without their leader. Tyler O’Connor did enough to pace MSU and Gerald Holmes established a presence to prevent a second straight loss. Riley Bullough and Malik McDowell also made life miserable for the Maryland offense. Still, MSU will need to play at a completely different level to take down the unbeaten Buckeyes.
Minnesota: B
On the road, against the No. 5 team in the country, Minnesota had a shot. Mitch Leidner and KJ Maye were effective again, but the defense had no answer for LeShun Daniels. Against probably 10 other B1G teams, the Gophers did enough to win.
Nebraska: A-
The lone ‘A’ of the week goes to…Nebraska? You better believe it. Despite Tommy Armstrong’s mistakes, the Blackshirts didn’t allow Rutgers to pose a threat late. Laughers have been few and far between for Mike Riley. Heading into the oddly late bye week, that had to feel good.
Northwestern: C
I predicted a 28-point Wildcat victory, so my expectations were a bit high against two-win Purdue. Instead, Justin Jackson had to score a late touchdown to bail out Northwestern. That shouldn’t happen to a top-25 team at home against Purdue.
Ohio State: B
There’s nothing wrong with having a tailback break off 100-yard game after 100-yard game and having a defense that doesn’t allow long scoring drives. The Buckeyes were in complete control in the second half at the line of scrimmage, though we didn’t see the explosive plays we’ve come to expect. You can bet some of that was Urban Meyer trying not to show his hand to Michigan State and Michigan.
Purdue: B+
If not for Markell Jones’ injury, we could be talking about the best win of the Darrell Hazell era. Battling until the end with a top-25 team hasn’t happened too often for Purdue. Credit the Boilers for making some nice adjustments after being humiliated at Illinois and looking like an actual B1G team.
Rutgers: D
Ah, the worst for last. With a hobbled Leonte Carroo, Rutgers still couldn’t muster enough offense to keep it close down the stretch. Picking off Tommy Armstrong three times was impressive, though certainly not unfathomable. At the very least, the defense finally didn’t allow 48 points and 500 yards of offense. Still, it was a struggle on both sides of the ball for most of the afternoon. Those words have become all too common for the Scarlet Knights.