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It’s finally here.
Yes, we were served a sample size in Week 1 when the season opened with Ohio State-Indiana. We got an appetizer-sized portion last week with three conference games on the schedule. But the meat and potatoes of B1G play has arrived.
There’s a clean slate when conference play starts, and the same can be said for bold predictions (give me a break, you’ve seen how bad some of those were in non-conference).
Here are the bold predictions for the first full week of B1G play:
Nebraska is held to its lowest scoring total of the year but still beats Illinois
Both the Cornhuskers and the Illini have played relatively well defensively but have struggled with fatigue due to offensive woes. This could be an ugly, low-scoring affair. Nebraska’s current low is 17, the point total scored in a loss to Northern Illinois. I think the Huskers are held under that total but still have just enough to get a win in Champaign.
Minnesota’s defense keeps Maryland’s Ty Johnson in check
Until last weekend’s game against UCF, Johnson had been averaging over 15 yards per carry on the season. The Terrapin running back had just 25 yards on 11 carries last Saturday. He’s going to have more trouble against a Minnesota defense that ranks No. 1 nationally against the run, allowing just 59 yards per game.
Justin Jackson hits the 100-yard mark one more time vs. Wisconsin
In three meetings against the Badgers, Jackson has averaged 114.3 yards per game. He hit the 100-yard mark in 2014 and 2015 before being stifled by Wisconsin’s defense last year. It’s the B1G opener for both teams and the Wildcats will need a big performance from their running back to pull off an upset. Look for Jackson to have another big outing in Madison.
Iowa exposes Michigan State’s secondary, Nate Stanley throws for 300 yards
Michigan State quietly owns the B1G’s top pass defense through the first four weeks of the season, at least from a statistical standpoint. But don’t expect that to last after Saturday. Nate Stanley has completed 61 percent of his passes and has thrown 12 touchdowns with just one interception. In other words, the Spartans’ secondary is getting its first real test. Stanley has already thrown for 300 yards once this year and could have another big day in East Lansing.
There are no major upsets in Week 5
Week 5 doesn’t look too difficult for the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State, but the matchups could be a little trickier than you think. Here are those matchups for Saturday:
- Northwestern vs. No. 10 Wisconsin
- Indiana vs. No. 4 Penn State
- No. 11 Ohio State vs. Rutgers
Ohio State will probably take care of Rutgers without much trouble, that’s a given. But Northwestern has won two of the last three meetings against the Badgers and Indiana takes one of its best teams in recent memory to Happy Valley. Those two games could be sneaky good this weekend. But in the end, all three ranked squads have too much talent and pull away late in the game.
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