10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to in the Big Ten after Week 11

Week 11 is in the books, and it’s been history-making. Congrats to the Northwestern Wildcats for winning the Big Ten West for the first time ever. Their ticket is punched for the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 1

Their opponent is unknown, and we got one step closer to an all-or-nothing game for the Big Ten East when Michigan and Ohio State meet in Columbus on Nov. 24.

So much happened Saturday that there’s a lot to overreact to, so let’s get right at it. Here are 10 things that I am absolutely overreacting to in the Big Ten after Week 11:

1. Northwestern is a very deserving Big Ten West champion ….

For the first time in school history, Northwestern has won the Big Ten West. They’ve done it by going 6-1 so far in the league, and have a two-game lead on Purdue and Wisconsin with two games to go, and tiebreakers in hand. This team has changed completely since freshman running back Isaiah Bowser became their go-to guy. He had 165 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries Saturday in the 14-10 win over Iowa.  “This team has overcome a ton of adversity,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said Saturday. “We got beat up. We had a bunch of injuries, lost some tough games there. The brotherhood in that locker room is the glue that kept everything together.”

2. … Because everyone else stinks

Northwestern is also the first team EVER to win a Power 5 division title while losing all three nonconference games (Duke, Akron, Notre Dame). What the means is that Northwestern isn’t very good, but everyone else in the division is awful. This has been a pathetic season for preseason favorite Wisconsin, Nebraska has really struggled and Iowa and Purdue have been recently fallen off the map lately. Kudos to the Wildcats, yes, but shame on the rest of you. None of you even put up a fight.

3. Ohio State wins the field position game, and it mattered

Coaches talk about winning the field position game all the time, but it’s usually just noise. It never really seems to matter. But it did in Ohio State’s 26-6 win over Michigan State. The Spartans’ first five drives in the second half started at their own 5, 6, 3, 1 and 2-yard line thanks to some including punting by Ohio State’s Drue Chrisman, and great punt coverage. “We just kept playing the field-position game,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “We always talk about the offense’s job in a game like this — get two first downs, get the ball to midfield and let’s get the ball down inside the 10-yard line.” That certainly worked. Michigan State could never get out of that hole, converting only 2 of 16 third downs.

4. Bandwagon jumpers empty the train with hapless-again Purdue

We were really high on Purdue just a few weeks ago when the Boilermakers crushed then No. 2-ranked Ohio State by 29 points for their fourth consecutive win. But they’ve since lost road games and Michigan State and Minnesota, and Saturday’s 41-10 loss to the Gophers was downright ugly. We were talking about Purdue winning the Big Ten West a a few weeks ago and now we’re wondering if they can even get bowl eligible at 5-5 with games left against Wisconsin and Indiana. If you can lose by 31 to Minnesota, you can lose to anybody. “Really, just some selfish things that are going on that can’t happen,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. “Too many people that have patted themselves on the back too much, and listened to others instead of working their tail off and finding ways to improve, and understanding that all the little things matter, and realizing that the team comes first.”

5. Michigan State quarterbacks both struggled

We talked all week about it was going to be important for banged-up Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke to have a big game against Ohio State. It didn’t happen. We also talked about going to freshman Rocky Lombardi if Lewerke struggled, but he got his chance and had no success either in the 26-6 loss. Lewerke was just 11-for-28 passing and Lombardi was only 7-for-20. Throw in the fact that the Spartans rushed for only 54 yards, and they had no chance. It was a disappointing outcome.

6. Wisconsin’s season of disappointments continues

Wisconsin went to Penn State and lost 22-10 on Saturday, never putting up a fight offensively to get tagged with yet another disappointing loss this season. The Badgers are just 6-4 now, which is stunning considering many of us considered them a possible Big Ten champion and Playoff participant this year. Iowa is the only team with a winning record that they’ve beaten all year. Jack Coan got his second start at quarterback with Alex Hornibrook still battling concussion issues, but he threw for only 60 yards on 20 attempts and had two interceptions. He was also sacked 5 times. It was just awful.

7. Row the boat in Minnesota, finally

Congratulations to the Gophers for a huge 41-10 win over Purdue. After defensive coordinator Robb Smith was fired a week ago, the defense stepped up and held Purdue to season lows in points and yards. It’s been a tough year for the 5-5 Gophers, who have just two Big Ten wins. But this one was big, and puts them in position to get to bowl eligibility now. They need to find one for win, against either Northwestern or Wisconsin during the final two weeks.

8. Never saw this Iowa losing streak coming

For three weeks in a row now, Iowa had a chance to win a crucial Big Ten game in the fourth quarter. All three times they’ve failed, and failed miserable. Two late fumbled cost them Saturday in the 14-10 loss to Northwestern, so that’s a three-game losing streak now after starting 6-1. Ouch.  “They outplayed us tonight,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Nobody’s more disappointed right now than the 115, 116 guys on our football team. They’ve worked hard, they’ve invested and I thought they competed hard tonight. But I guess it wasn’t good enough.” Nope, certainly not enough, and certainly very surprising.

9. McSorley sets a record, which is well deserved

When Penn State beat Wisconsin Saturday, it was a special day for Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley. It was his 29th career win as a starter, which tied the school record held by former Penn State great Todd Blackledge. He can pass him with one more win, obviously, and should have good chances to do that with games against Rutgers and Maryland remaining. McSorley’s senior season hasn’t gone the way he wanted, but it’s a wonderful accomplishment none the less. Great job, Trace.

10. Indiana gets one win away from bowl eligibility

Indiana got past Maryland 34-32 in a thriller Saturday to raise its record to 5-5. They’re one of four Big Ten teams sitting at 5-5 right now, all looking for one more win to get there. Indiana has two shots left, one that’s very unlikely next Saturday (at Michigan) but one that now looks more possible. Purdue is starting to implode, so many that Old Oaken Bucket game will decide bowl eligibility. It’s amazing how often that happens.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.