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USA Today adds two B1G teams to most recent ‘misery index’
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Two B1G teams have been included in USA Today’s most recent misery index. After less-than-impressive weekend from Nebraska and Northwestern, they’ve been included on the unfortunate list.
Nebraska suffered an embarrassing 48-7 loss to Ohio State in Lincoln on Saturday, proof that the program still has a long way to go to compete with the upper echelon of the B1G. The Huskers were hoping to at least competitive in the matchup, but it didn’t happen.
Through five weeks, Nebraska is 3-2 and has a win over just one Power Five opponent — a 42-38 victory over Illinois in the B1G opener.
Northwestern was the other team to crack the misery index following a 24-15 loss to Wisconsin. The Wildcats are now 1-3 on the season and 0-2 in the B1G. Not exactly the curtain call Northwestern was hoping to have following a B1G West title year in 2018.
Here’s what USA Today had to say about Nebraska:
…The most difficult thing to accept about Nebraska’s start to Scott Frost’s second season is that they don’t even look like they’re playing as well as they did at the end of his first. Nebraska has won three games it was supposed to win and looked unimpressive in two of them. It lost a toss-up at Colorado and looked totally outclassed by Ohio State in a 48-7 loss. The hard part to reconcile is that Frost was publicly confident, almost boastful, about the Huskers’ prospects for a breakthrough this season during his summer media tours. The fact that he was this far off the mark in evaluating his own team should be just as concerning to fans as the level of play.
And on Northwestern:
…The Wildcats are 1-3 and pretty hideous offensively, as their 24-15 loss at Wisconsin showed. The Badgers didn’t even play particularly well, but they held Northwestern to 255 yards, 5-of-20 on third down and scored two defensive touchdowns in building a 24-3 lead. Northwestern banked a lot this year on Clemson transfer and former blue-chip recruit Hunter Johnson at quarterback, but his struggles have made Fitzgerald’s offense appear non-functional. But if you’re a fan who has a problem with that, Fitzgerald suggested recently to email your suggestions to “Hashtag I don’t care,” creating another viral moment for him. It may end up being the highlight of the season.
You can view the complete USA Today misery index here.
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