4 Big Ten football teams with something to prove in Week 3

We are two weeks into the 2019 season, and impressions are starting to form. The Big Ten, for the most part, has done well in the non-conference season. It could have been a disaster with Michigan nearly losing to Army, but the only true blemishes are a couple losses to Pac 12 teams.

So which teams have something to prove in Week 3? Here are four:

1. Maryland

The No. 21 Terrapins are ranked for the first time since 2013 and also achieved their highest ranking since 2006. So why does Maryland, more of a basketball (and soccer) school than football, have to prove anything? Well, now that the Terrapins have become somewhat of a national story, they have to show they belong. They have to go on the road – where they have lost eight of their last nine over the last two seasons – and show this is a traveling offensive show.

Maryland has shown that it is great in the first two games of the season in recent history as it has started 2-0 the last four years – including wins over Texas in 2017 and 2018. But it always falls off big time. In their final 10-11 games the last three seasons:

2016: 4-7

2017: 2-8

2018: 3-7

So how do we know this is for real quite yet? Beating the brakes off the supposed second-best team in the ACC is a great start (and it probably ruined Syracuse’s chance at hosting College GameDay against Clemson this week).

This explosion from Virginia Tech transfer quarterback Josh Jackson and the Maryland offense feels legit. The Terps are first in the country in points per game (71), fifth in yards per game (636.5) and sixth in rushing yards per game (335.5). Just how easy has it been? Star running back Anthony McFarland is fourth on his own team in rushing yards (though he leads the way with four rushing touchdowns).

So let’s make sure this is for real before we crown Maryland, because the last three years have shown us to be cautious. First-year coach Mike Locksley really seems to get it, though.

“We’re on a journey right now as a program,” Locksley told the media at his weekly news conference. “We’re at stop two of a 12-day journey. And so if you look at it as a journey, after two games, are we happy where we are? Well, of course we are. But I said this to the team: It’s like driving from California to D.C., and you hop in your car.

“And Day One and Day Two, you pull up, and are we happy we’re in Phoenix? Yeah, we didn’t get a flat tire, we didn’t have an accident. But it’s still only Day Two of a 12-day tour, which means we’ve got a lot of the trip left. And so we’re happy where we’re at, but we also understand that there’s so much more to the journey.”

2. Northwestern

This schedule does Northwestern no favors, as I’m sure it was champing at the bit to get back out there after laying an egg at Stanford in the season opener and then getting a bye week. Or, if you’re an optimist, it gave Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats to re-evaluate what went terribly wrong offensively. It also gives them time to make sure Hunter Johnson is comfortable leading this offense, because he looked anything but that against Stanford.

I think Johnson will be just fine, because he’s too talented not to figure it out. This week against visiting UNLV would be the perfect time to do that because the schedule gets pretty tough after that, with five of the next six opponents in the current Top 25. And if Johnson struggles the same way against UNLV (which I don’t suspect he will), that makes the outlook look pretty bleak for the next month and a half.
The bright side is that despite getting poor quarterback play, Northwestern’s defense looked legit against Stanford. Hosting a team in the Western Time Zone on a Saturday afternoon also gives the Wildcats an advantage.

3. Nebraska

The best thing that Nebraska can do this week against Northern Illinois is play a complete game. That means four quarters of good football. The Huskers were pretty solid for three last week at Colorado and seemed to be cruising to a nice road win, but they took their foot off the gas and were stunned in overtime.

Adrian Martinez hasn’t gotten off to the type of start he would’ve liked. He is making some mistakes that we didn’t expect in his second season, and it’s more than just turnovers. What was up with taking a sack in overtime to push a 41-yard field goal attempt back to 48 yards? That’s a mental mistake.

The Huskers should come out with a heightened sense of urgency with how they have started this season, combined with a loss to NIU two years ago.

4. Iowa

It’s not as if Iowa has been unimpressive in two early wins, but with a game against a rival with College GameDay on campus in Ames, the Hawkeyes will want to come out and make a statement. These high-profile games tend to stick in the casual fan’s mind in terms of perception, so it’s best not to lay an egg. Iowa isn’t quite in that territory where it is being looked at as a threat to make the College Football Playoff (like Wisconsin has ventured into that territory), but it can certainly start down that path with a convincing victory.

The Hawkeyes are so good up front, and if they come anywhere close to last season’s performance in this game, they’ll be in great shape. They held Iowa State to 19 rushing yards on 25 attempts – which included limiting All-Big 12 running back David Montgomery to his lowest yards per carry of the season.

Ryan O'Gara

Ryan O'Gara is the lead columnist for Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGara.