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We’re approaching mid-August. Fall camp is underway and in less than a month, B1G football will be returning to the field.
The never-ending offseason is finally…well, ending.
Over the last two weeks, B1G teams have started ramping up for the 2021 season with the beginning of fall camp. It’s a return to normalcy after a hectic and chaotic year that was 2020 and there’s a lot of optimism from every team across the league.
Even though it’s early, there are plenty of things to discuss with fall camp underway. Let’s take a look at some of the news, notes and quotes from the start of practice.
Bret Bielema hearing the advantages of a great (super) senior class
Leave it to Bielema to bring the unique perspective to fall camp. The first-year Illinois head coach admitted that it might sound a little strange, but the thing he’s been most encouraged by through the early stages of practice is what he’s hearing on the field.
“The thing that jumps out to me, I listen and I hear our guys practice…the football knowledge, the IQ, the acumen to be able to communicate, to get it across to one another, especially the younger players, is a very positive thing,” Bielema said.
Illinois is one of the more intriguing teams in the B1G heading into the 2021 season. The return of more than 20 super-seniors certainly provides Bielema with the kind of experience necessary to smooth over the transition process. This is still a team that finished 2-6 last fall and played in just one bowl game under Lovie Smith.
From the sound of it (literally), team chemistry and communication is at a high level in Champaign. That’s a good sign for Illinois heading into that Week 0 matchup against Nebraska.
“Scrap everything” is an incredibly smart move for Josh Gattis
Sometimes, it’s best for a team to learn from the mistakes of the previous season. In other instances, it’s wise to crumble up the notes, destroy the film and shred the game notes and toss it into a garbage can, strike a match and let it all burn down to ashes.
The latter is the approach Gattis is taking. After the year Michigan suffered through in 2020, that’s probably the smart move.
Statistically, Michigan finished in the middle of the B1G in points scored and total yardage. That didn’t paint the whole picture, though. The Wolverines lacked consistency under center from Joe Milton and Cade McNamara and failed to establish a successful rushing attack for most of the year. Both were major factors in a 2-4 outcome.
“I wish we could scrap everything,” he told the media, via MLive’s Aaron McMann. “Last year was just a challenging year in so many different ways. Not just football-wise, but in a normal activity (standpoint).
Will the return to a (somewhat) normal offseason result in improvement for Michigan’s offense? Everyone in Ann Arbor certainly hopes that’s what it means.
What’s the word on Michael Penix Jr.?
Good news for Indiana, bad news for B1G defenses. Indiana head coach Tom Allen believes his star quarterback will be at 100% for the season opener against Iowa on Sept. 4.
Penix is the unquestioned leader of the Hoosiers offense, a candidate to win the B1G Offensive Player of the Year award and an outside contender to the Heisman Trophy. IU’s offense clicks at a much better rate when he’s on the field.
Penix’s quick return from a torn ACL is a huge boost for the Hoosiers entering the 2021 season. Now he just needs to get through Indiana’s 12-game schedule healthy, something he hasn’t been able to do in his first three seasons.
“Smooth operation” in East Lansing so far
A quick walk through Michigan State’s locker room in the summer months resembled a game of “Guess Who?” Mel Tucker said at B1G Media Days that 34 new faces are in the program between incoming recruits and transfer players.
Typically, a little friction would ensue considering all the change. Tucker says that’s not the case early in fall camp.
“I didn’t see a team full of transfers out there from an operation standpoint,” Tucker said, per MLive.com. “I didn’t notice a difference in terms of these guys know what to do, these guys don’t know what to do. I didn’t see that. I saw a football team with a lot of new faces but the guys know what is expected, they know what the expectations are, the standard, the culture. The operation was smooth, it really was.”
Michigan State is a team many project will finish last in the B1G East because of all the change. If the operation really has been as smooth as Tucker describes, maybe that won’t be the case.
Best Nebraska team under Scott Frost?
Analyst Gerry DiNardo saw enough during B1G Network’s visit to Lincoln to take in an early fall camp practice. The fourth team Scott Frost will field during his time at Nebraska is his best.
“Physical, enthusiastic. It really looks like Scott Frost’s team, more so than the previous ones,” DiNardo said. “It just seems like there was a comfort zone there. Probably the best Nebraska team we’ve seen (Frost) have.”
That’s a good sign for Nebraska, which has not enjoyed many bright spots in Frost’s first three seasons with the program. The Huskers are just 12-20 and have not appeared in a bowl game since 2016.
Nebraska finally has the combination of experience and talent to make a little noise in the B1G and return to the postseason. DiNardo’s comments reinforces the notion that the Huskers are capable of getting to that all-important .500 mark this fall.
TreVeyon Henderson impressing early in Columbus
Could a true freshman be the primary running back in Ohio State’s offense this season? The hype swirling around former 5-star back TreVeyon Henderson indicates he could be tasked with a heavy workload in his first year.
It’s still too early to tell what role Henderson will have with the Buckeyes, but Ryan Day is certainly impressed by his work ethic and attitude. Those are good indicators that he’ll be on the field in some capacity early on in Columbus.
“He’s very serious about his football. It means a lot to him. He’s low-maintenance, high-effort,” Day said. “And he has a lot of talent … I think he has a chance to be special.”
Master Teague III was thought to be the next primary ball carrier in the Buckeye offense. That might still be the case. But it wouldn’t be too surprising if Henderson is the one occupying the backfield on a majority of the snaps this fall.
Purdue’s quarterback carousel still spinning
Jeff Brohm has to be getting dizzy at this point. The carousel hasn’t stopped spinning since he arrived in West Lafayette with Purdue’s inability to keep a quarterback healthy for the duration of a season.
Because of the injuries and constant change under center, the Boilermakers enter fall camp without a clear leader for the starting job. Aidan O’Connell and Jack Plummer both have experience in the offense and former UCLA transfer Austin Burton brings athleticism to the position. It’s a three-man race without much separation.
Maybe that’s a positive for Purdue considering the unfortunate luck the team has faced on the injury front. It’s hard to imagine that, by his fifth season with the program, Brohm isn’t at least a little frustrated by the fact that there isn’t a clear frontrunner in the room.
A quarterback battle isn’t uncommon in fall camp. Most programs at least have someone leading, though. For Purdue, it’s still a total mystery.
The return of “Moorpoints” to Happy Valley?
Remember how potent Penn State’s offense was when Joe Moorhead was calling the shots? Well, that might be the case for the Nittany Lions again in 2021.
No, “Moorpoints” isn’t coming back to State College. Neither are Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley or the plethora of talented wide receivers that catapulted the Nittany Lions to a B1G title in 2016. The style of play will be returning, though.
James Franklin told reporters that a lot of the concepts new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich brings to Happy Valley are similar to what Moorhead implemented during his time with the program. That might be the perfect medicine to remedy the ailments from Penn State’s look in 2020.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB