Ohio State Buckeyes: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 1st place in the Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 1st place in the Big Ten (12-1, 7-1)

Ohio State had another very good year in 2010 as Jim Tressel led the Buckeyes to their 6th straight double digit win total. It was also the 6th straight year that Ohio State lost no more than one conference game. Now that is an impressive stat. Ohio State's lone slip up this year was at Wisconsin where they fell by 13 when they were ranked as the #1 team in the country in the AP Poll. 2011 will be a very interesting year for the Buckeyes as they will start off their first five games without four offensive starters QB (Terrelle Pryor), RB (Dan Herren), OL Mike Adams, WR DeVier Posey. For my money the most interesting games for the Buckeyes next year will be the Sept 17th game at Miami (Fl) where Al Golden and gang will look for a signature win and the first game that the suspended players are back- which is at new Big Ten school Nebraska. Will the suspended players be ready to compete at mid-season form or will they be rusty? To talk Ohio State football we summoned HD Handshoe of BlockONation to get the answers to some of our questions about the 2010 season and get a quick peak at 2011.

1. Ohio State had a very strong year going 12-1 and beating Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. What were your favorite memories from the 2010/2011 season?

I have a couple. Beating Michigan is always great so that stands out. Tressel is now 9-1 and OSU has not lost to UM in 7 years, and then of course the Sugar Bowl win and finally ending the 0-for-forever (0-9) steak vs. SEC opponents in the postseason is a huge weight lifted off of the fans, Tressel, and the program as a whole.

2. Which players surprised you the most with their play?

Well, we always have high expectations of all of our players, especially our starters, so I was not overly surprised during the season by anyone's play, although I will say that Dane Sanzenbacher certainly exceeded all expectations, leading the Buckeyes in both receptions (55), receiving yards (948), and touchdown catches (11).

3. Which players are you most looking forward to watching play next year?

With the looming suspensions, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens this Spring as the Buckeyes prepare to replace QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Dan Herron, and WR DeVier Posey for the first 4-5 games.

Coach Tressel will do what's best for the team but I am hoping to see either Kenny Guiton or Taylor Graham at QB, but 5th year senior Joe Bauserman could get the call, or top recruit and early-enrollee Braxton Miller could burn what we all believed would be a redshirt season if he outshines the others.

At running back, it's hard to say who will emerge. The Bucks are loaded with young talented guys all looking for their shot. Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry, Carlos Hyde, or Roderick Smith will get that chance. We may also see more than one of them get a lot of touches in the first 4-5 games, and perhaps beyond that if they are tearing it up. Herron may end up wishing he had declared for the NFL...

With Posey suspended, and Sanzenbacher graduating, the big shoes to fill are obviously at WR. It's too early to call but my gut says Corey Brown, James Jackson, TY Williams, James Louis, and Chris Fields could all potentially see significant time. All these guys were 4 or 5 star recruits, but Brown is the only one who has any real experience this far, so it is a concern due to that lack of experience.

4. Five Buckeyes are suspended for the first five games of next season. The two games to watch during this stretch are Miami (Fl) and Michigan State. Who do you think is going to step up in their absence and how difficult will it be filling the void these guys leave for 5 games?

I kind of touched on this already but I will also say Miami and Michigan State are good teams so there are no guarantees in those games, but if Tressel limits the risks for our young QBs and inexperienced WRs and leans on the slew of talented RBs and what should again be one of the best defensive units in the country, I'm pretty confident both games are winnable and 5-0 is still a very real and attainable possibility for OSU even without Pryor and company.

5. Heading into the 2011/2012 season, what are the major things that the Buckeyes need to improve in order to get back to the Rose Bowl or a BCS Championship Game?

They have to replace studs Chmidi Chekwa and Cam Heyward on defense, and the WR position is obviously the biggest concern based on the lack of game experience, but they are Ohio State - they have players and they always reload.

I can't help but think of the big kick/punt returns by Miami and Wisconsin against the Buckeyes last season, so Special Teams, specifically the kick and punt coverage units must be better. If Wisconsin didn't get the huge touchdown return they did against Ohio State, the Buckeyes just might have won that game and they would have likely played for the BCS title last year.

Nebraska Cornhuskers: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 1st Place in Big 12 North and Big 12 Champion
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 1st Place in Big 12 North and Big 12 Runner-Up (10-4, 6-2)


Nebraska came really close to having a special season but it came apart in the last four games for them. The Cornhuskers got off to a 9-1 start including wins over Okie State and Missouri (who was ranked #6 at the time). On November 20th Nebraska fell to Texas A&M 9-6 in a game where they set school records for penalties and penalty yards. After beating Colorado to get their record to 10-2 they lost a close one in the Big 12 Championship Game to rival Oklahoma 23-20. Probably the most disappointing moment of the season came when Nebraska fell flat in it's bowl game against Washington (a team it had previously beaten this year 56-21). We were able to talk our Nebraska blogger, Brandon, down off of his ledge long enough for him to answer some questions for us about the 2010 season and get a quick look into the 2011 season. You can also follow him on twitter @bigstad24, he should be an interesting guy to follow next college football season as it will be Nebraska's first in the Big Ten.



1. Nebraska finished 10-4 losing 3 of their last 4. Looking back on the season was it a success, a failure or somewhere in between?

I, personally, have to label this season as a failure. I never really bought into the hype of Nebraska being a National Championship contender but you could definitely see that the talent was there to do so. Unfortunately, there were too many holes to prevent it from happening. I admit that I was snowed after the Washington and Kansas State games when the offense looked like the Nebraska of old with its domination of the run game and a defense that could shut down pretty much any offense. Then…the Texas game occurred and from that point forward they didn’t look like the same team. Taylor Martinez was exposed as not having the confidence that he should, the defense was shown prone to being beaten by the run, and the coaching staff was exposed as having little creativity offensively (save for a few Rex Burkhead plays in the last few games…) to get scores. So it became a failure when in three of the last four games you lose 9-6 to Texas A&M taking you out of a potential (albeit…small) chance at a National Title. You lose in heartbreaking fashion to Oklahoma, going back to your Quarterback who had been stopped repeatedly and not sticking with what was working and losing your last game on the way out of the Big 12 Conference. Then finally you lose to a team which you had dominated earlier in the season, and while you may have taken a lot of money away from their Quarterback, you still couldn’t get anything going offensively. If this seems like a successful season to you then by all means take it, but for it was a failure.

2. If you could have one game to "do over" which one would it be?

As much as people would probably expect me to say that I would like to redo the Texas A&M or Oklahoma game, I would rather redo the Holiday Bowl game against Washington. I think that you have to win a game of that magnitude after the prior month going so awry. I don’t think it hurt recruiting too much, but it seemed as if the team just lost focus and seemed badly distracted going into and during that game. As I said before you NEED to win that game so that you can prove the naysayers wrong, and regain some of the luster you lost with two of the losses which you suffered late. It also shows that you may have not been as good as you were touted to be EARLY in the season when you had already beaten that team. You need people to perceive that your team is dominant even if they actually aren’t that way you can keep the intimidation factor. With this loss? You lose that factor, and you also lose the idea of, “A couple of bad breaks…” being the difference in your season.

3. Which player were the most surprising to you this year?

The player that most surprised me this year was Lavonte David. I understand that he was a decent prospect coming out of JUCO last year, but for him to play that hybrid safety/linebacker position and in a dominant manner was something to behold. I don’t think he has much of a future at the next level as a linebacker, but with his ability to cover and run and his tackling ability he will make whatever team drafts him very happy as a Strong Saftey.

4. Which players are you most looking forward to watching in 2011?

Jared Crick because I think he has a chance to be another awesome defensive tackle; I don’t think he will ever get to a Suh-type level, but I certainly think he could be an awesome force on the inside of a defense for years to come. The aforementioned Lavonte David. Alfonso Dennard is also one to watch because of how well he played with Prince Amukamara on the other side of him. I am anxious to see if he can be the same type of corner when he is the focal point of the secondary, and see if he can shut down one side of the field like Amukamara did this entire year. I am also very pumped to see Rex Burkhead as the main running back and see if he can keep up what he did at the end of this year as a do everything style back, and be able to shoulder the load of the carries with no Roy Helu there to help him out.

5. Nebraska is in the same Big Ten division as Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern. How do you like Nebraska's chances in this division and what do they need to do this off-season to compete for a Big Ten Championship in their first year?

I like Nebraska’s chances in this division for sure because of how different every other team in it will look next season. Michigan is going to be rebuilding again, Michigan State was greatly exposed by Alabama and I don’t think they can do the same thing they did this past season. Minnesota is going to have a new coach to go along with the same players from a very poor season. Then there is Northwestern whom I think is a sleeper in this division and could win it, but they have never proven to win the big game yet, and I don’t have much faith that you can just learn that over an off-season. What does Nebraska need to do this off-season? I think that a change must be made with the offensive coordinator. I know that Bo Pellini has given him a “vote of confidence” but to me you can’t expect any different result on offense with the same person in charge. Where they would turn? I have no clue, but I know it probably can’t be with current Oregon Wide Receiver’s coach Scott Frost as this was his first year as a coach on the offensive side of the ball. I also don’t think Joe Ganz (a current Graduate Assistant) can just jump up to Quarterback’s coach, but I think that this is what needs to change the most because the defense is always going to be there to stop people. All that you need is one more point than the defense allows, and right now I don’t think that this offensive staff can get that done on a consistent basis.

Northwestern Wildcats: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 6th Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 7th Place in Big Ten (7-6, 3-5)

Northwestern finished just about where we thought they would this year. They beat up on some inferior opponents to start the season 5-0. Then they lost a game at home to a Purdue team that would finish 4-8. The Purdue loss was definitely their worst loss and stands out when looking at their season. After going 5-0 to start, Northwestern finished up 2-6 in their last 8. The high point of the season was beating Iowa, then ranked #13, 21-17.  However, the win was bittersweet as the Wildcats also lost their dynamic QB Dan Persa in that game and without him finished the season 0-3 including losses in very winnable games against Illinois and Texas Tech. To find out more about the 2010 Northwestern Wildcats we reached out to the Northwestern blog Lake The Posts.


1. In our Pre-Season Preview you said 8-4 would be a very successful season and anything less than 7-5 would be a major disappointment. Northwestern finished 7-5 in the regular season (7-6 after the bowl). How do you feel now that the season is over? Was this season a success, a failure or somewhere in between?
 
Somewhere in between. Overall, a disappointment as we continued the nation's current longest bowl losing streak. I'm always one to not use injuries as an excuse as they are part of the game. I think NU's inability to still have the "put teams away" demeanor is the most disheartening. Clearly the emergence of Dan Persa was THE storyline of the season as 'Cats fans believe we have a legitimate Heisman candidate in 2011. Without Persa I shudder to think how far we would've fallen after 2009.

If I had to fairly go back in time and assess expectations for the 2010 season it would go something like this:

1) Confident at QB and skill position players b/c we've proven we can reload at both in our spread system. Fitz was very confident in Persa and we believed.

2010 post analysis - spot on and even bested expectations.

2) OL should be a strength as we return everyone and RB game has to be better since Fitz put it as a point of emphasis and he believed it was much improved.

2010 post analysis - pretty big disappointment. The OL struggled in pass protection and our run game, while OK by committee and overall stats really was a trial and error experiment.

3) Defense - some pretty big question marks as our secondary is the most suspect and replacing Corey Wootton at DE will be a tall task. LB should be good though.

2010 post analysis - biggest disappointment. NU gave up 550+ yards in total offense in last three games - all post-Persa and all losses. We ranked 97th in total defense and simply lacked the ability to do some very basic fundamentals like wrap guys up when we had them. Our pass rush was God-awful.

4) Special Teams - Our punting is pretty bad and kick coverage has been an Achilles heel but hopefully Stefan Demos will recover from the Outback Bowl and have a bang-up year.

2010 post analysis: aside from placekicking where Demos played injured all year and struggled on FGs and PATs, it was a night-and-day improvement. Brandon Williams was an unsung hero as a punter and our return game, ignited by Venric Mark shows huge promise for the future, while our kick coverage teams might be the most improved unit on the field.

2. What were your favorite memories from this season?

In no particular order, yet another "upset" against Iowa in a classic performance by Dan Persa, being up 21-0 at Penn State and having Sean McDonough gushing about the level of athleticism at NU.

3. Which players surprised you the most this season?

In general, I'm going to go with the true freshmen on this one. Fitz is a vocal proponent of redshirting so for him to play a true freshman it takes a lot. Fitz unleashed many frosh this season and they were impact players like WR Rashad Lawrence, WR Tony Jones, KR/PR/WR Venric Mark, RB Adonis Smith and DT Will Hampton. Its great to visibly see so much improved talent on the field and really bodes well for the future.

4. Who are you looking most forward to watching next season?

Obviously all eyes are on the recovery of Dan Persa which is reportedly ahead of schedule. I'm looking forward to Adonis Smith making a big jump at RB next year with a full off-season to really dive deep in to the system. We're all sitting back arms crossed waiting for someone, anyone to step up and lead this team on defense.

5. Northwestern has been placed in a division with Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Nebraska. Where do you think Northwestern fits in and what do they need to do this off-season to move up the ladder in their division?

I think most objective fans would look at the end of 2010 and say the projected order of finish for 2011 would be:
1)Nebraska
2)Iowa
3)MSU
4)Northwestern
5)Michigan
6)Minnesota

However, I'm not objective. With Persa returning as a senior captain, this has the makings of one of those once every 3-4 year jump years where NU actually competes for the top of the pack in Big Ten play. MSU and Iowa are both realistic to overtake in 2011 and a 2nd place finish isn't unrealistic. However, that will rely on us converting all of our productive offense into 7 points instead of 3 points on drives and of course a defense that can prove it can make a few stops in key spots. I put the bar of success season at 9-3 in the regular season and that includes a couple of non-conference gut check road games at Boston College and Army - both bowl teams in 2010. NU catches a schedule break in 2011 with no Ohio State, no Wisconsin (we also unfortunately lose Purdue) with 3 of the 8 opponents experiencing year one coaching changes (Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana). You can't ask for a better schedule.

Michigan Wolverines: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 7th Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 7th Place in Big Ten (7-6, 3-5)

Michigan has started out the last two years looking like it might be ready to turn the corner under Rich Rodriguez. Both years they beat Notre Dame and this year they added a season starting win over eventual Big East and BCS Bowl Invitee Connecticut. QB Denard Robinson broke out and finished 2nd in the Big Ten with 1702 yards rushing (only 4 yards behind Illinois Mikel Leshoure). Robinson also passed for over 2500 yards. Michigan offense finished 13th in the Nation in rushing yards and 25th in the Nation in points scored. Sounds good right? Well, Michigan lost 6 of their last 8 games to finish 7-6 and their season was capped off when they were annihilated by Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl 52-14 (but this isn't your father's Mississippi State...this is Dan Mullen's Mississippi State). So what happened? For the most part it was a lack of defense. Michigan ranked 107th in scoring defense, 95th in rushing defense, and 112th in passing defense. It's tough to win football games when you are giving up over 30+ points per game (in their 6 losses the least amount of points they gave up with 34 to Michigan State). RichRod was shown the door and Michigan brought in San Diego State Coach Brady Hoke to take the helm. We have some thoughts up here on Brady Hoke if you'd like to click over and read them. For some up close information about the Wolverines 2010 season we once again partnered with the with the colorful Michigan blog Midnight Maize to get their thoughts.


1. Michigan went 7-6 this year. You predicted 7-5 or 8-4 for the regular season. Was this season a success, a failure or somewhere in between?

It was success on the individual level and failure on a team level. We discovered that Denard Robinson is pretty good. Denard went on to break records and made us worth watching. He went on to win some Big Ten awards and to give us a ray of hope for the next 2 years. Michigan failed on a team level. Only beating teams that were avg to bad and being pounded by the good to very good teams. Struggled again in the Big Ten. Defense was a mess all over the field while being blown off the field in the bowl game. In the end the coach gets fired. It was a huge failure on many levels.

2. Obviously the most glaring weakness for the Wolverines was their inability to stop anybody's offense. What are the biggest changes that need to be made on the defensive side of the football?

Lets just put this out there. The defense is a complete mess from A to Z. Some kids have switched positions so many times that they just aren't good at what they are suppose to do. We have also changed our base defense so many times that the kids are always thinking instead of playing. We will be on our 3rd D-Cord in the last 4 years. We have recruited kids who have either busted out (Justin Turner) or haven't had an impact at all (Big Will,was changed to the OL). The best thing that we could do is to have the D-cord stick around for more than 2 years and to recruit kids by position and keep them there. Rich Rod would recruit a WR and move him to safety or have a guy like Craig Roh play LBer when he was clearly better at DE and played that in high school. They really can't get worse from 108th in total defense. I expect some improvement under Hoke since he seems to give a crap about what happens on that side of the ball. Seeing the defense force a punt once in a while will be a nice welcome.

3. What are you favorite memories from this past season?

It was the Notre Dame game and the Illinois game. I was at the Illinois game and had great seats at the 40 and close to the field. Watching a 67-65 thriller is pretty fun. It was more than likely Tate Forcier's last great moment at Michigan. The ND game was Denards coming out party. He ran wild for 847927 yards and put the nation on notice that Michigan had a new QB. ND win was great at the time also for the fact that we still had hope at that point and no one really knew how bad the defense was at that point (ignorance is bliss).

4. If you could have a do-over from any game, which one would it be?

PSU game. I feel like that was the start of the end for Rich Rod. You could feel it slipping away at that point. PSU was a shell of its self from the previous year. Evan Royster was having an awful year and than he shows up and runs wild on Michigan. The team just put in a terrible effort. I look at that game as the game Rich Rod was put on notice. It only got worse from there.

5. Michigan finished only 3-5 in the conference. What does it need to do this off-season to get back in contention with the Ohio State and Wisconsin?

5. Michigan is light years behind OSU. Michigan is is pretty far behind Wisconsin at this point too. We are sorta starting over again with Brady Hoke. He has a lot better roster to work with which is the upside. Rich Rod was given a walk on and Steven Threet for a QB and was told to win anyway. Hoke will have some weapons. We still need to recruit some better horses on defense (not gonna happen in this class) and just have some stability for the next few years and we will be with OSU again. I wish I could tell you it was just the young secondary or the bad LBing coaching but its so many things that its gonna take a season to figure out and fix. This fresh start was the right call. I look forward to us finally getting better and not just on one side of the ball.

Brady Hoke at Michigan...Will It Work?

The Michigan Head Coaching position is one of the best gigs in all of College Football. Michigan has a long and storied history but recently it's fallen on hard times. From 1969 to 1989 Bo Schembechler won 79% of his games and won 13 Conference Titles in 21 years. Lloyd Carr won 5 Conference Titles in 13 years, and a National Championship, but began to tail off towards the end of his run (and the fact that he lost 6 of his last 7 games to rival Ohio State did not help) and ended up "retiring". Being the Head Coach at Michigan is serious business. The Wolverines brought in Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia thinking that he would take the Big Ten by storm with his offensive acumen. In his 3rd year at the helm, Rich Rod's offense did finally take off (placing 13th in the Nation in rushing yards, 36th in passing yards and 25th in points per game). But unfortunately, the defense that was put on the field never gave the Wolverines a chance to win a big game. Rich Rod finished his 3rd year with a 15-22 mark, the worst winning percentage in Michigan history. So who would replace Rich Rod?

There was a great discussion a week or two ago on the fantastic Barnhardt & Durham show (airs on 790 the zone in Atlanta 10am to 1pm) that discussed the Michigan coaching position. The take was that they needed a larger than life persona to take over and be successful at Michigan. A guy like a Nick Saban or an Urban Meyer (not that those guys were mentioned in connection with the job...but those types of guys), a guy that would be in complete control of the program from the out-set. A guy with unquestioned clout and an ability to instantly be "The Man" when put in front of the players, the media, the administration, the recruits, the boosters, etc. Maybe I'm taking it out of context or I'm mis-remembering (too many steroids when I was pitching for the Red Sox) but that's who they thought Michigan needed. A guy like Jim Harbaugh. Well, Harbaugh ended up in the NFL and Michigan went out and hired Brady Hoke.

Wait a minute? Who is Brady Hoke? Hoke is, believe it or not, a man who coached under Lloyd Carr. Remember Carr, the guy that was pushed into "retiring"? Kind of a strange hire for such a prestigious position at one of the elite College Football franchises. But I'm not here to bash Brady Hoke. He could turn out to be a great coach for Michigan and a great hire. Hell, look at Gene Chizik. Everybody hated that hire and look at it now. Brady Hoke has been a Head Coach at Ball State and San Diego State. At Ball State he went 34-38 but did go 12-1 in his final year. At San Diego State he went 13-12 going 9-4 last year. As a Head Coach he is 47-50 overall. For one of the most prestigious coaching jobs in College Football it's weird that they settled went with a guy who hasn't even won half of the games he coached (and at schools that were not in a BCS Conference). It sounds like I'm trying to bash the guy but really I'm just listing his record and scratching my head a little. But hey, that Gene Chizik guy was 5-19 at Iowa State.

Just like we did with the Steve Adazzio hire at Temple I decided to get some input from around the country that might be a little closer to the situation that I am. Here is what they had to say:


Todd Kaufmann (Columnist for Sports Page Dallas and an expert on all things San Diego):

Brady Hoke is not the name Michigan fans wanted and while I can't really blame their frustration I do think he'll do better than a lot of people expect. Hoke knows this program. He coached under Lloyd Carr from 1997-2002 so he's not a rookie to this program or its pressures. However, being a head coach at San Diego State is nothing like being the head coach at Michigan. A lot is going to be expected of him right off the bat. I think any less than 8 wins next season will bring the program and the athletic director under fire again.

Ross (From SB Nation's Iowa Blog Black Heart Gold Pants):

Brady Hoke seems like both a safe and a risky hire.  It's safe in that he has experience rebuilding programs (Ball State, San Diego State), he has history with Michigan that should appease many of the traditionalists, and his teams tend to play a style of football that's long proven to be effective in the Big Ten.  But it's risky in that he's never succeeded at this level (and his success at his past destinations is mitigated by the fact that he still has a sub-.500 career record and only a handful of good seasons), he's never recruited at this level (except as an assistant coach), and he inherits a program devoid of talent in many areas (primarily on defense) and that's ill-suited to his preferred schemes -- and a jilted fan base and administration that has little patience for failure.  One of the biggest keys for Hoke will be how well he's able to manage the transition period between the RichRod era and his own tenure; if he can bend his preferred schemes well enough to accommodate Denard Robinson's obvious talent, Michigan may be able to ride out this rough patch with an adequate record.  But if he can't do that and Michigan is forced to start from scratch, there could be some very ugly years in store. 

The first thing he needs to do is assemble a top-flight coaching staff and hit the recruiting trail hard to salvage what's left of the current class and try to poach a few late signings -- preferably on the defensive side of the ball.  It's also that side of the ball where Hoke needs to do the quickest turnaround; assuming he's able to keep Robinson and adjust his offensive schemes to fit Robinson's talents, the offense should be solid (though it would also help if he can recruit or develop a running back to give Robinson some much-needed assistance).  If he can't transform the defense in a hurry, though, they aren't going to be much better in 2011 than they were in 2009 or 2010.  Overall, Hoke strikes me as a solid hire, but not a home run.  He's been good but not great elsewhere and his teams have had trouble getting wins in their biggest games.  He should be able to get Michigan out of the laughingstock category and make them more competitive, but I'm skeptical about his ability to transform them into a true national power again.

Shredder (from the ridiculously awesome Michigan blog Midnight Maize):

Not very sexy is it? No its not. But can it work? Yes. The most important thing will be for Hoke to recruit. I see he did well at Michigan but didn't bring in many studs at Ball State or SDSU. As much as I love some of RR recruits, some just didn't have any right getting a Michigan offer. I hope Hoke can start selling Michigan early and now. This class will be the worst class at Michigan in years or maybe ever. He will really need to bounce back next year with a good class. Winning would be a huge boost. 

As for coaching I think he can do this. He seems to be willing to give his life away just so Michigan can get back to being Michigan. He has passion and I think his defense and offenses will be very flexible. Something that killed RR chances at Michigan. Is he Jim Harbaugh? No that would have gave Michigan instant "sexy" with the nation and recruits but this is a very solid hire. Better than Miles imo. Miles was just to damn old and shady. That's not a combo you want going forward. Michigan fans need to give full support. We can't have these "ahhh Hoke hasn't done enough for this job" etc etc. We need to learn from our mistakes by not giving RR a fair shake from the start. It killed the last three years. Some major bloggers are crying about the hire but I am someone that gives people chances. The sexy name didn't work with RR and now we went out and got a guy who will work until he falls over to make Michigan great again. Count me in.

Will Brady Hoke be able to live up to the standards at Michigan? Is he the right coach for the job? Only time will tell. Maybe he'll pull a Gene Chizik and be hoisting a trophy over his head in the next few years but I think his rebuilding job might be more than a couple of junior college guys and a great offensive coaching hire can cure. There is no question that this will be one of the more interesting stories in the Nation over the next few years.

Iowa Hawkeyes: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 2nd Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 4th Place in Big Ten (8-5, 4-4)

2010 was a year of high expectations for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Coming off an 11-2 record we had then ranked #7 in our Pre-Season poll. Sports Illustrated pegged then as #6 in their College Football Preview. Iowa started off 7-2 losing by 7 at Arizona and by 1 to Wisconsin. But then the season took a turn for the worse and Iowa finished the regular season by dropping 3 consecutive games (at Northwestern, vs Ohio State and the killer at Minnesota) to finish 7-5. Iowa got a little bit of redemption by beating a ranked Missouri team in the Insight Bowl to finish off the year at 8-5. We reached out to our friend Ross from Black Heart Gold Pants to get his take on the 2010 and get a quick look into 2011.


In our Pre-Season Preview you picked Iowa to go 10-2. They looked well on their way to that until the Northwestern game. What went wrong on the way to 8-5?

Injuries took their toll on defense (especially at linebacker, where Iowa was down to a pair of freshmen for much of the last month of the season), but the biggest problem was an inability to make enough plays on offense and defense. The defense typically played well for roughly 56 minutes in the losses, but gave up back-breaking drives late in the fourth quarter in all five of the losses. That was hard to watch. Still, in many cases the defense was put in those bad late-game spots by an ineffective offense; against three of the worst defenses in the Big Ten (Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota) the Iowa offense could muster only 18 points, 17 points, and 17 points (the 24 they scored against Minnesota was aided by a kick return TD). That's just pathetic production out of an offense that was loaded with experience and talent.

If you could have a "re-do" for any game which game would it be?

With five losses it's so hard to pick just one... but it has to be either the Wisconsin or Northwestern losses and if you put a gun to my head, I'd probably go with the Northwestern game. The Wisconsin loss was painful and eminently winnable, but it did come against a team that wound up being very good and Iowa managed to rebound with two wins afterwards. The Northwestern loss effectively killed any hope of a Big Ten championship, killed whatever momentum had been regained after the Wisconsin loss, and seemed to put Iowa in a funk for much of its next two games. And it only happened because of a pair of 80+ yard drives in the fourth quarter -- just brutal.

Who were the most surprising players for Iowa this year?

The most surprising player in a good way was probably freshman middle linebacker James Morris who was pressed into service by multiple injuries to the LB corps and wound up developing into a solid option as the season progressed. He struggled in pass coverage, but he displayed great instincts and athleticism and it should be a lot of fun to watch him develop for the next few years. The most surprising player in a bad way was probably senior defensive end Adrian Clayborn. He didn't have a bad year and he did have to deal with multiple double-teams and offenses scheming against him, but he failed to live up to the considerable hype -- or the production he displayed a year ago. He had a fine career at Iowa, but his final season was one to forget, unfortunately.

Who are you most looking forward to watching next year?

This one is easy. After the breakout performance he had in the Insight Bowl, I can't wait to watch more of Marcus Coker next year. Iowa had used a patchwork rotation of running backs for the past two years to get passable production out of the position, but they haven't had a stud running back since Shonn Greene took his talents to the NFL two years ago. Coker looks like he has the ability to be that stud running back. He has things to work on (lowering his pad level, for one), but he already displays immense power (including a wicked stiff-arm) and impressive speed for a back his size. With a full off-season of practice and conditioning, plus an offensive line that returns 3-4 starters, he could have a huge season next year. But no matter what it will be fun to watch him run over (or past, if possible) opposing defenders.

Iowa got placed in the Big Ten division with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. How do you like your chances in that division and what does Iowa need to do this off-season to put itself in position to win a Big Ten Championship?

In 2011, Iowa will have to deal with some significant rebuilding (there are key losses at QB, WR, RB, TE, DE, DT, LB, and S), but the thing that gives me hope that Iowa might be able to make some noise in their new division is threefold. One, they return a ton of experience along the offensive line and strong offensive line play has been at the key to all of Iowa's good seasons over the last decade. Two, they'll have a lot of new faces -- but many of those new faces have seen some time over the past few years and there's definitely some talent among the new faces... it's just not experienced yet. Three, the division itself looks to be in quite a bit of turmoil. Michigan and Minnesota could be deep in their own rebuilding efforts. Michigan State loses key players at WR and LB -- and benefited from a very fortuitous schedule this year. Nebraska will be good, but they lose key players in the secondary, have an inconsistent offense, and have to navigate a brutal schedule. Northwestern will be dangerous so long as QB Dan Persa returns to 100% health, but it's difficult to take them seriously as a legit contender until they display a more consistent running game and defense. So the division looks wide open, which could be to Iowa's benefit. The two most important things Iowa needs to do are identify and develop new starters at QB and along the defensive line. Iowa lives and dies by its line play and while the offensive line should be fine, the defensive line will be breaking in 2-3 new starters. James Vandenberg is the likely starter at QB and he's looked promising in bursts, but replacing Stanzi's leadership will still be difficult. The sooner Iowa can get those positions sorted out, the better their odds of being a surprise contender in 2011 will be.

Penn State Nittany Lions: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 4th Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 4th Place in Big Ten (7-6, 4-4)

2008 and 2009 saw Penn State post back-to-back 11-2 seasons. Many thought Penn State was back but after posting a 7-6 record this year many of those same people are wondering how long Joe Paterno will stick around. Starting a freshman at QB, Rob Bolden, the Nittany Lions managed only 3 points in each of their first two major tests against Alabama and Iowa. Bolden went down with an injury and former walk-on Matthew McGloin took over at the end of the Minnesota game and Penn State the regular season winning 4 of their final 6 (losing to the only two ranked teams they played during that stretch). To get a closer look inside Penn State we talked to Devon Edwards of the Nittany White Out to find out his thoughts for the 2010 season and the future of the program.


1. In our Pre-Season Preview you said you thought the team would finish 10-2 or 9-3. Unfortunately, 7-6 was Penn State's final record. Do you see this season as a success, a failure or something in the middle?

In the preseason, I overestimated Penn State's ability to reload along the offensive line, and underestimated the depth of the Big Ten. Throwing out the bowl game, because I didn't include that in my prediction, Penn State lost two games that I didn't see coming--to Illinois and Michigan State. Obviously, the Spartans were one of the biggest surprises if not in the country than certainly in the Big Ten, and if I thought they were going to be a top 10 team, I'd have predicted a loss to them, too. The one real turd in the punch bowl was the Illinois game, and it was one of the weaker performances of the last five years at Penn State. All considered, 2010 obviously wasn't a successful year, but neither was it an unmitigated failure.

2. What are your feelings on Joe Paterno remaining the coach of Penn State and when do you think he should finally give it up?

I don't think Joe Paterno is really holding this program back, though bringing in a big name coach after he finally does hang 'em up could provide a shot in the arm for a school that really has the capacity to be more than a distant second to Ohio State in the Big Ten. That said, he's earned the right to coach at least one more year, until his contract runs up following the 2011 season. But after next season, if Joe won't graciously step aside, we'll have a problem.

3. What were your favorite moments of the season?

There was a great two-and-a-half game stretch right in the middle of the season--starting with a primetime win over Michigan, and culminating in the first half against Ohio State, with the Lions taking a 14-10 lead into the break. Sandwiched between those two games was the high point of the year, a stirring comeback from a 21-0 deficit to beat the Wildcats of Northwestern en route to a 35-21 win that not just injected some sanity back into the program, but was Joe Paterno's 400th career win, all at Penn State.

4. Which players surprised you the most with their performance in 2010?

Matt McGloin is the obvious answer--the former walk-on QB led Penn State to some of its biggest wins on the season--but I'm really not a fan. In fact, his emergence has led, directly, to the possible transfer of Rob Bolden, a true freshman who was Penn State's starting quarterback before suffering a concussion. I was, however, incredibly impressed by the continued development of Derek Moye, who progressed, over the course of the season, into an absolute stud at wide receiver, and by the emergence of true freshman running back Silas Redd, who looks like a star in the making.

5. Who are you most looking forward to watching in 2011?

With Bolden's possible transfer, this might be Paul Jones' chance to get the nod at quarterback. Jones took a redshirt year, rather than play as a true freshman, but drew rave reviews in the recruiting game and looked the part in Penn State's spring game. Joe Paterno even spoke highly of Jones, and if there's a legitimate competition between him and McGloin, I firmly expect PJ to win it.

Purdue Boilermakers: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 8th Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: Tied for 9th Place in the Big Ten (4-8, 2-6)

For the last 3 years Purdue has posted records of either 4-8 or 5-7. Right now Purdue seems to be a team that is cementing their spot in the bottom third of the Big Ten. In 2009 Purdue started off 1-5 before rebounding to go 4-2 in their final six. In 2010 they took the opposite approach and won 4 of their first 6 before dropping their final 6 games. We reached out to the Purdue-centric blog Boiled Sports to find out their thoughts of the 2010/2011 season and get a quick peak into 2011/2012.


In our Pre-Season Preview you said that winning 7 games would make this a successful season for Purdue. Unfortunately Purdue fell short with only 4 wins. What went wrong?

The team was most definitely decimated by injuries. They had, essentially, one healthy running back (Dan Dierking) and then wide receivers getting carries at RB. Starting QB Robert Marve tore his ACL (again) early in the season, as did WR Keith Smith who was expected to be among the best -- or THE best -- WRs in the Big Ten. This kind of stuff is difficult to recover from when you're Purdue and aren't full of blue chips like other teams in the conference. So first stringer at QB Marve went down, then second-string QB Caleb TerBush had already been declared ineligible because of academics...so we saw third string QB, redshirt freshman Rob Henry for a while. And then Ohio State tore his fingernail off his index finger on his throwing hand. So we saw a lot of fourth-string QB, freshman Sean Robinson. And Sean wasn't that effective, so against Michigan on November 13, Purdue started fifth string QB (and a guy who began the season as a wideout and last played QB two years ago) Justin Siller. Who promptly got injured on the first play from scrimmage.

You get the picture.

This is not to say this was the only reason Purdue had a lousy season. Coaching was suspect and preparedness was laughable at times, as was a complete and utter inability to finish.

Which player(s) was the biggest surprise of the season and on the flipside who was the biggest disappointment?

Dan Dierking was one of the biggest bright spots, let's say that. He's a senior RB who had been buried on the depth chart for most of his Purdue career and then this year got the chance to be the feature back, mainly because of injuries. Dan is a tough kid and he carried the load and was one of the few guys we all trusted with the ball. He wasn't the most explosive back, but he had good hands and made us proud. He's the kind of kid who is a real Boilermaker.

As for disappointments, it's hard to pin it on a player, so we'll say the coaching staff in general. Too many head-scratcher decisions on the field too many times. Inconsistent decisions (Are you a gambler or a conservative coach? You can't be both!) and inconsistent effort from the team is something that falls on the coaches.

Danny Hope is 9-15 after two seasons in West Lafayette. What are the general thoughts on him around campus. Is he on the hot seat or on the verge of being there in this "win now" era of college football?

It's becoming clear that there are really two camps on this guy. In one, you've got those who are ready to see him gone, no bones about it. He has worn thin on these people and we can't say much to defend him. He seems to be too emotional to be a head coach. He can get the guys fired up but his teams are also prone to huge letdowns or perhaps looking ahead to bigger games. Thus, losses in each of his seasons to MAC teams -- at home. He also seems very confused in pressure situations and will make rash decisions that seem completely illogical at random times. No predictability.

The other camp is those who, while not happy with the team's performance, are continuing to blame things on the injuries and inexperience. The "give the guy a fair chance" camp feels that without the extenuating circumstances, this team would be winning 7-9 games a year. These people are, to put it mildly, delusional.

However, Purdue alums and fans have often accepted mediocrity and once you expect or accept mediocrity, you're going to get that -- or worse. The Purdue football program is in danger of sliding into complete irrelevance, the likes of which they haven't seen since the Akers and Coletto days -- or worse. We get told we're being overly dramatic when we say this, but we've seen it before and we know there are some bad things happening right now. Losing to IU, for example, this season was brutal. Absolutely brutal.

Who are some of the guys that need to step up next year to become major players for the Boilermakers?

Keith Smith is expected to be granted a 5th year by the NCAA and his leadership and sheer talent will be a huge help. Robert Marve intends to rehab his second blown ACL in the last two years and come back to lead the team at QB, so he'll be critical as well. Purdue needs a downfield threat in order to survive in the Big Ten and they did not have it this year. Hopefully, that will return.

What area(s) does your team need to improve on the most this off-season?
Playing football. (Is that too broad?)

Indiana Hoosiers: 2010 Exit Survey

2010 CFBZ Prediction: 10th Place in Big Ten
2010 Actual Finish: 11th Place (5-7, 1-7)

In 2007 the Indiana Hoosiers finished 7-6 and went to a bowl game. Since then they have endured 3 straight losing seasons. In 2010 Indiana started off 4-2 but then lost 5 straight on their way to a 5-7 season. The Hoosiers have plucked Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson to lead them into the 2011/2012 season. We caught up with John from the SB Nation Indiana Hoosiers blog Crimson Quarry to find out some answers about the Hoosiers 2010 season and to get a quick glimpse into the future of the progam.

In our Pre-Season Preview you said that going to a bowl game would make this a successful season for Indiana. Indiana went 5-7 after starting 4-2. How do you feel now that the season is over?

Sure, the turning point was when we stopped playing cupcakes and started playing Big Ten teams. I'm kidding, somewhat. Unfortunately, the 2009 and 2010 seasons both were characterized by being competitive but unable to finish. By my count, IU was "in" eleven of its 16 Big Ten games over the last two seasons, but managed only two wins. IU's defense was the bigger problem, but it seemed than in games in which the defense was decent, the offense struggled.

Indiana has brought in Oklahoma OC Kevin Wilson to be the head man. What are you looking forward to most about his tenure and what will be his biggest challenges?

It's always a bit of a gamble to hire someone who hasn't been a head coach before, but I love Wilson's pedigree. He has spent the last nine seasons working for Bob Stoops, someone I consider to be the best coach of his generation. Before that, he worked for Randy Walker at Northwestern and Miami of Ohio, which means he has ties to the Midwest and has experience working with less than blue chip talent. My hope is that his teams will be more fundamentally sound, more aggressive, and that he and his staff will make sound decisions in close games.

His challenges will be the challenges that any IU coach would face: a losing history, less than overwhelming fan support, a limited natural recruiting territory, and a tough conference. I am encouraged that IU's facilities and talent level are better than for any other coaching transition at IU in recent memory, but it's still a tough job.

Which player(s) was the biggest surprise of the season and on the flipside who was the biggest disappointment?

The biggest surprise, although not necessarily a shock, was Juco linebacker Jeff Thomas, who finished second on the team in tackles and had two interceptions, including a crucial pick in overtime in the win against Purdue.

The biggest disappointment was Darius Willis. That has nothing to do with his play, but with the fact that he missed IU's final eight games with an injury. He has missed over half of the games in his first two years, and must find a way to stay on the field.

Who are some of the guys that need to step up next year to become major players for the Hoosiers?

IU returns quite a few starters on both sides of the ball, but the glaring exception is at quarterback. Ben Chappell started every game the last two seasons, and none of IU's current quarterbacks have started a college game. It is likely that next year's starter will be either Edward Wright-Baker or Dusty Kiel, who shared the backup position in 2010. It's also possible that incoming freshman Tre Roberson, Indiana's Mr. Football, may be in the mix, although that's a tall order for someone coming right from high school. All three guys are good runners, so it seems likely that IU's 2011 starter will be a dual threat.

What area does your team need to improve on the most this off-season?

It's hard to speak in terms of improvement when a new staff is coming to town with its own strengths, weaknesses, and emphases. With an offensive-minded coach in Wilson and with good talent returning on offense, I do think IU will score plenty of points, so I would say that the key is being good enough on defense, which has been a major problem for IU for years.

Five Questions: Big Ten Edition

There is a 4-way log jam at the top of the Big Ten. Who is the best team?

Alex: Even after tanking against Iowa, Michigan State has a chance to slip into the Rose Bowl. Iowa/Ohio State is the toughest game any of these teams have to face, with Michigan State/Penn State a close second. If Michigan State were to blow the game Wisconsin is Pasadena bound. However to answer the question I still feel Iowa is the best team in the Big 10 in the slimmest of margins over Wisconsin.

J Martin: My instinct is to say Ohio State is still the "best" team by virtue of having the most talent of anybody in the conference.  However, they lost convincingly to by far the best team they've played and haven't been challenged otherwise, so I feel like I don't really know this team as well as the others.  Conversely, there's a fair amount of empirical evidence supporting Wisconsin as the best of the bunch.  They thumped OSU at home, then went on the road and edged out Iowa on the road in consecutive weeks.  That's awfully impressive.

Kevin: I've got Wisconsin. They lost to Michigan State but since then they have beat Ohio State and Iowa. Ohio State hasn't beaten anybody and Iowa has 2 losses. If Iowa routes Ohio State I might be persuaded to change my opinion.

Ross: TBD until after the Iowa-Ohio State game, but right now it's either Iowa or Wisconsin.  Wisconsin went 2-1 against the other three teams, losing fairly badly to MSU but getting an impressive win over OSU and winning a squeaker over Iowa.  Iowa has the most impressive win of the lot with their 37-6 beatdown of MSU, but they also lost that game to Wisconsin.  Gun to my head right now I'd probably say Wisconsin by a hair.

RichRod is 6-3 and Ron Zook is 5-4. Will they be retained or shown the door?

Alex: I do not feel as if either coach should be shown the door. They have beaten the teams they should have, and lost to the upper echelon of the Big 10. I have never felt that either team was ready to break out of the middle tier. Illinois can still be an 8-win team as it has a better defense and no offensive juggernauts left in the schedule. Giving Michigan 65 points was just an anomaly, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Fresno State will not touch that figure. Michigan is looking at a 7 or 8 win season. Wisconsin is a loss, Purdue is a win and Ohio State is an unknown. Michigan is tired of getting beaten on by the Buckeyes and they might just make a big splash in the Ohio State pond, which would lock RichRod in for another season.

J Martin: I think both of those guys are going to stick around.  Rodriguez probably needs to beat Purdue this weekend just to be sure, but he's at least done the minimum amount necessary to keep his job.  Plus, he's got Denard coming back, and he can sell his ability to maximize his talents as opposed to starting over with a new coach and a new offensive philosophy.  Zook isn't quite there yet, but I feel pretty good about his odds of beating Minnesota and maybe even going out west and beating Fresno.  They should probably just make Paul Petrino head coach, though.

Kevin: I do think they both deserve a chance to come back and build on what they have accomplished so far this year (barring a complete collapse at the end of the year). 

Ross: Both will be retained.  Rodriguez should win at least seven games this regular season (they ought to beat Purdue this week) and they could certainly win a bowl game for an 8th total win, depending on the match-up.  It's also not completely unreasonable that they could pull off an upset of Wisconsin or Ohio State, given their incredibly explosive offense.  Either way, 7-8 wins and one of the nation's best offenses should get Rodriguez another year -- provided he agrees to make some changes on defense.  Zook will be retained with a few more wins -- which seems like with three more games against Minnesota, Northwestern, and Fresno State.  With a bowl game, they could win nine games, which would be remarkable.  As it is, a 7-5 regular season seems like a good bet -- and that's good progress after the last two disastrous seasons.

Who is the Player of the Year in the Big 10 so far?

Alex: Denard Robinson from Michigan. This will change by years end but he got Michigan off to a rocketing start which may well help Rich stay in Ann Arbor. Robinson is currently 1st in Rushing, 2nd in Total Offense, 6th in Passing and 7th in scoring. There is not one Big 10 player that can boast such numbers. The fact that he is out with an injury is what will cost him this title by years end, but there is no way to deny him the pole position as we stand in early November.

J Martin: Denard, of course.  He's very impressive for a guy who's probably only logged about 6 games worth of field time.

Kevin: From a statistics stand point Denard looks very good but I have a problem picking a "Player of the Year" from a team that is 2-3 in the conference. So it's John Clay of Wisconsin. Leads the league in rushing TDs and is 2nd to only Denard in yards rushing. 

Ross: It's Denard Robinson and it's not even close -- 118/186, 1814 passing yards, 13/7 TD/INT, 183 carries, 1349 rushing yards, 12 TD.  And he did that despite missing time in every game this season because of injury.  He's been simply sensational and the leading reason why Michigan's offense has gone from "good" to "amazing."  

Where does Nebraska fit in next year? Will they be the pre-season favorite to win the Big 10?

Alex: Nebraska is going to be a middle of the pack team. I would say 4th at very best but probably around 6th. The Big 12 is not as defensive minded as the Big 10, and Nebraska is not as good now as many think they are. If they get better a solid fourth is in the future, but if they get worse a battle with Michigan or Illinois for 5th and 6th place could be in store for the Huskers. Also note that many of these transitions do not go as planned. The ACC brought Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech into the fold and the one that they WANTED to contend for the title (Miami) did not. VT and BC have had very good success since the transition. In the SEC Arkansas and South Carolina were brought in before the 92 season and neither has won a conference championship. This is not Nebraska walking into an inferior conference, and the Huskers best remember that.

J Martin: They'll be one of the two most talented teams in the conference the moment they set foot through the door.  Whether they'll be the favorite to win the conference depends on if Pryor comes back to play his senior year at Ohio State.  The Buckeyes with a superstar QB will always get the benefit of a doubt.  But Taylor Martinez and that Pelini defense will give them a battle for it, that's for sure.

Kevin: I'm tempted to pick Nebraska first in the Big Ten out of the gate. If Roy Helu Jr wasn't a Jr I probably would. At this point I'm slotting them 2nd or 3rd but they have a legit shot at winning and contending for the Big Ten title next year. 

Ross: It's hard to say without knowing exactly what Nebraska returns next year, but based on their play this year, they should be a solid contender -- but not an overwhelming favorite by any means.  The schedule -- games against Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Penn State -- will prevent that. They should probably finish in the top five of the league, though.

Who should Minnesota turn to in order to turn their program around?

Alex: You could ask me this for any struggling team in the nation and my first choice will always be Mike Leech. He has done more for the passing game than anyone in the past two or three decades. If he can bring TTech to a nationally recognized level, he can do it for any team. Other choices include Skip Holtz, and Art Briles.

J Martin: There are a lot of positives to the Minnesota job, but the program was run into the ground over the past few years.  It now safely qualifies as a "rebuilding job."  For this sort of rebuilding job in particular, I'd look for an up-and-coming head coach still looking to make a name for himself a the BCS level that will be willing to really hustle for the program.  Someone like Kevin Sumlin from Houston or Al Golden from Temple.  Both have already had their names linked and both would be good choices.  The last thing you want to do is hire some tired retread head coach or roll the dice on a hotshot assistant with no head coach experience.

Kevin: From an outsiders perspective I see Minnesota as a team that is going to have a really tough time contending for the upper echelon of the Big Ten year in and year out. Because of that I would go the Georgia Tech route. Get Ken Niumatalolo of Navy (23-12). Doing this causes Minnesota to be a difficult game for everybody on their schedule once they get some kids in to run the offense. The Big Ten is having a lot of trouble trying to stop Rich Rod and Michigan just imagine what would happen if you threw in an option type offense for them to have to deal with as well. 

Ross: That's tough to answer, since I don't exactly want to see Minnesota improve their fortunes.  That said, assuming Minnesota can't get one of the seeming home run hires like Chris Peterson or Gary Patterson or Jim Harbaugh (and they aren't going to get a guy like that), they should focus on a guy who's really hungry to prove himself and who understands the Big Ten well.  The last thing they need is a retread like Phil Fulmer or Lou Holtz.  Someone like Don Treadwell (the current Michigan State offensive coordinator) might be a good fit.

In Review: Alabama 24, Penn State 3

Alabama’s Chase for 14 began in earnest on Saturday, and it got off to a rousing start, with the Tide throttling a traditional power and Top 20 team in Tuscaloosa. My predicted final score of 31-16 turned out to be way off, but my overall impressions of the game proved correct. Penn State was able to create several explosive plays by picking on the inexperienced defense, but barely managed a sniff of the endzone. Worse, instead of settling for field goals, they suffered 3 costly turnovers inside the 20 yard line. And that was ultimately their undoing. Failing to put the fear of a comeback in Alabama, the Tide was free to dial up whatever they wanted on offense without reservation for most of the game and looked tremendous in doing so. At times, it seemed the only people capable of stopping the Bama offense were itself and the refs.

Speaking of which, is the Big 10 hiring one-eyed refs again? I’m not usually one to complain about officiating, but this was some of the worst I’ve seen in quite some time. In particular, the ball spotting was infuriating. Penn State was consistently given an extra half-yard on every spot, while Bama’s spots were routinely marked a half yard short of where anyone with 20/20 vision could tell they were supposed to be. Sometimes it was even WORSE, such as with Greg McElroy’s 3rd down scramble late in the game that would have allowed Bama to keep running the clock. If he didn’t get the first, he was right at the line to make. However, the Big 10 officials spotted him a solid yard and a half short. And this wasn’t even their most egregious offense of the night. That brings me to the first of several points I’d like to highlight.

The Triple Fumble Fiasco. This was one of the most bizarre plays in the long history of Bryant-Denny Stadium. On 2nd and 6 from the Bama 16, Penn State’s Chaz Powell caught a short pass, then took a stiff hit from Mark Barron, coughing up the football. Robert Lester recovered at the 9 yard line, then took off down the sidelines with a convoy of blockers. Despite clearly being warned by Dre Kirkpatrick that a Penn State receiver was on his trail, Lester failed to secure the ball and got Teague-d at the State 16-yard line. Kirkpatrick attempted to scoop up the ball and finish the score, but was tackled short. When his back hit the ground, the ball squirted free and was recovered at the 2 by State’s Brett Brackett. This is where it got weird.

The lead official did NOT make a call on the field over the PA. He immediately sent it to replay review. The only indication of the call on the field we got was a hand signal that appeared to say, “1st down Alabama.” So it went to review. I’m not going to spend time arguing over what the replay actually showed. To me, it appeared Kirkpatrick had possession and the ball came free after he was down. At the same time, I can see the argument that he might not have ever had possession. So it seemed like a clear case of the replay not providing conclusive evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. Which was? Alabama’s ball?

When the replay ruling came down, it was explained as such: “The ruling on the field stands. 1st down Penn State.” The official then gestured first down….Alabama. What the heck? No official ruling was ever made on the field! The closest we got to a ruling was a signal of Bama’s ball. And even after the ruling, the ref’s words don’t match his signals. Shady, or just incompetent? You be the judge. Regardless, it was a major field position flip for the Tide defense. Still, you have to wonder how ugly the game would have gotten if Bama had been awarded the ball and been able to punch it in from the 2 yard line.

The Secondary play was…Encouraging, actually. This was the inexperienced unit’s first test, and they struggled in a lot of the ways you would expect, giving up several big plays. And, let’s be honest, if they go to Fayetteville and play like they did on Saturday, Arkansas will win, big. They still have a long way to go. But I’m encouraged because they didn’t make the BIG mistakes. There were no horrendously blown assignments. There was never an instance of a Penn State receiver getting behind the defense. Whenever they made catches, there was always a Bama defender in at least reasonably good position to make a play on them. It wasn’t a matter of them not knowing where to be, it was an issue of them being a step slow because, well, they’re inexperienced. You can cure inexperience. You can’t cure stupid. Right now, it seems Bama’s problem is the former. You can work with that. You also have to keep in mind that the defense was playing without it’s two best pass rushers for the majority of the game. Courtney Upshaw being extremely limited by an ankle injury (only a handful of snaps) was a big loss that exacerbated the problems caused by Dareus’ absence. When both of those guys are on the field together, it will make the secondary’s life a lot easier.

This talk about the secondary makes me want to point out one guy in particular…

Robert Lester: Hero and Goat. I can’t figure this guy out. There are times you understand why he’s rarely played before this year, and then there are times you think he can be All-SEC. His main problem is tackling. Dude was tackling so bad last night it was like he was playing for Georgia. He gave up a handful of big gains that should have been nothing if he wrapped up. But then he always comes back later and shows the potential to be a Barron-esque ballhawk. Of course, he had the redzone fumble recovery, but then he also had a redzone interception and another potential pick glanced off his hands at the goalline. He is ALWAYS where the ball is. He just runs into trouble when the ball doesn’t end up in his hands.

In his defense, I’ll say tackling was a tad sub-par by Bama standards all night. Even Dont’a Hightower had a play or two where he didn’t wrap up properly and let a ball carrier pick up an extra couple of yards. You didn’t see that out of the Bama defense too much last year. Hopefully, it’ll improve.

On the Injury Front: As mentioned, Upshaw was mostly on the sidelines. In his place, redshirt freshman Ed Stinson started at Jack and played very well, leading the team with 9 tackles. Upshaw should be back next week. Freshman corner DeMarcus Milliner started at corner over DeQuan Menzie and had a solid game after a shaky start when he was picked on early by Penn State. However, he left the game in the 3rd quarter with a pulled hamstring. Starting left tackle James Carpenter also left the game in the 4th after suffering a sprained ankle. Finally, linebacker Chris Jordan did not play the second half with some sort of shoulder injury. He’s scheduled to have an MRI today, so we’ll see how that goes. Everyone except Jordan is expected to be good to go for next week. I feel good about our depth at inside linebacker with the emergence of CJ Mosely, though.

Early indications after the game are that Mark Ingram WILL play next week against Duke. That’s somewhat surprising, and I’ll be keeping an eye on that situation throughout the week.

Checking Up On My PLAYERS TO WATCH

For Alabama: Julio Jones – Julio finished with 4 catches for 49 yards. He was targeted twice on Bama’s first drive, but slipped on the slick grass on a comeback route and couldn’t bring down an errant McElroy pass. Of course, he had his obligatory one drop on an easy quick hitter when he looked up field too soon, but beyond that, he made every catch he should have made. His impact on the game was lessened by State’s complete inability to stop a certain someone I’ll mention in a second.

For Penn State: Even Royster – Another lackluster game for the man who would be the Nittany Lions’ all-time leading rusher. He carried 9 times for just 32 yards, failing to gain any traction against Bama’s defensive front. And, as expected, that failure took away most of State’s play-action threat and made life much more difficult for Robert Bolden. Royster wasn’t alone, though. No other State back fared much better.

The Player of the Game

Trent Richardson – Easy choice here. He rushed 22 times for 144 yards and 1 TD, and added 4 catches for 46 yards. It turned out that Richardson didn’t need any help loosening up the State defense. He came out strong, running over and around (but mostly over) their defensive front on his way to 92 first quarter rushing yards. I always defend Mark Ingram to those who are so quick to anoint Richardson as “already better,” but this game made the argument much tougher. The term “beast” gets thrown around way too much, but I don’t know how else you describe his performance last night.

DID THEY TAKE MY ADVICE?
Just a quick check up to see how my Unsolicited Advice factored into the game:

The Defense must get in Robert Bolden’s head: Yes and no here. In most situations, Bama played a little more vanilla than I would have expected, perhaps not wanting to take to many chances with two of their best pass rushers on the sidelines. Penn State also did a nice job of letting the offensive scheme do most of the work for Bolden. However, when State got into scoring range, Kirby Smart ratcheted up the intensity, and Bolden made bad decisions each and every time.

The Secondary must play sound assignment football: YES. As I said earlier, it wasn’t an assignment issue that gave up the big plays, it was not trusting themselves enough to make the plays. That will come in time. Also give credit to Penn State’s veteran receivers for getting into open spaces in the zone, as I thought they might.

Bama needs to come out throwing: Another yes and no here. After the game, it was stated that the plan was to come out throwing, but a terrible block in the back foul on the opening kickoff backed Bama up against their goal line, and that changed things. And as stated above about Trent, they really didn’t NEED to, after all. However, when they got in better field position to open drives later in the game, you saw that the coaching staff trusted McElroy to sling it around and make plays in the passing game. In particular, Bama’s second drive of the game, played exclusively with 5 players spread out wide, was a thing of beauty. State’s DBs were no match for the Tide’s skill players, and GMac shredded them en route to the first score of the game, a 36 yard TD catch by redshirt freshman Kevin Norwood (reportedly has the best hands on the team), the first of his career.

Bama must protect the right side of the offensive line: No. Interestingly, Bama seemed to be doing the exact opposite for most of the night, leaving DJ Fluker to handle things himself. I think he did well. He had a really nice blitz pickup in an empty backfield that probably saved McElroy’s life. It may have been a bit of a hold, but better to possibly take a holding call than get your quarterback lit up. That guy was coming in HOT. At times, it seemed like Jim McElwain was saying, “Okay, if you’re going to load up to attack the right side, we’re going to put the tight end and the h-back on the left side and just out-man you on runs over there.” That’s why he gets paid the big bucks, folks.

The Kickers must NOT screw things up: They did a nice job. All of Cade Foster’s kickoffs got good distance and hang time. Cody Mandell had solid punts, though it definitely wasn’t as strong as his showing against San Jose State. He takes a long time to get the ball off, too. Jeremy Shelley hit one of those crucial “keep the pressure on them” kicks in the 1st half. However, Foster missed a kick that would have made it 20-0 and really put Penn State behind the 8-ball heading into the half.

FINAL THOUGHTS
You can’t turn your nose up at a 3 touchdown win over a Top 20 team. That said, this was one of those games coaches love. You win comfortably but you have enough problems that you can still chew everyone out on Monday. And really, what did Bama accomplish besides doing what everyone has been saying they would do all year? Time to look ahead to the road trip to Duke, the impending return of Dareus and Ingram, and the final tune-up before the real test of this team begins.

Oh, to be a Duke offensive lineman this week...

Big Ten Preview

2009 Standings
Ohio State Buckeyes 11-2 (7-1)
Iowa Hawkeyes 11-2 (6-2)
Penn State Nittany Lions 11-2 (6-2)
Wisconsin Badgers 10-3 (5-3)
Northwestern Wildcats 8-5 (5-3)
Michigan State Spartans 6-7 (4-4)
Purdue Boilermakers 5-7 (4-4)
Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-7 (3-5)
Illinois Fighting Illini 3-9 (2-6)
Michigan Wolverines 5-7 (1-7)
Indiana Hoosiers 4-8 (1-7)

Returning Leaders: Passing
Ben Chappell, Indiana, Sr (268 of 428 for 2942 yds, 17 TD, 15 INT)
Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin, Sr (211 of 328 for 2705 yds, 16 TD, 11 INT)
Kirk Cousins, Mich St, Jr (198 of 328 for 2680 yds, 19 TD, 9 INT)
Adam Weber, Minnesota, Sr (191 of 267 for 2582 yds, 13 TD, 15 INT)
Ricky Stanzi, Iowa, Sr (171 of 304 for 2417 yds, 17 TD, 15 INT)

Returning Leaders: Rushing
John Clay, Wisconsin, Jr (287 carries for 1517 yds, 18 TD, 5.2 ypc)
Evan Royster, Penn State, Sr (205 carries for 1169 yds, 6 TD, 5.7 ypc)
Ralph Bolden, Purdue, Jr (200 carries for 935 yds, 9 TD, 4.6 ypc)
Adam Robinson, Iowa, Soph (181 carries for 834 yds, 5 TD, 4.6 ypc)
Terrelle Pryor, Ohio St, Jr (162 carries for 779 yds, 7 TD, 4.8 ypc)

Returning Leaders: Receiving
Keith Smith, Purdue, Sr (91 rec for 1100 yds, 6 TD, 7.6 rec/game)
Tandon Doss, Indiana, Jr (77 rec for 962 yds, 5 TD, 6.4 rec/game)
Damarlo Belcher, Indiana, Jr (61 rec for 770 yds, 5 TD, 5.1 rec/game)
DeVier Posey, Ohio St, Jr (60 rec for 828 yds, 8 TD, 4.6 rec/game)
Nick Toon, Wisconsin, Jr (54 rec for 805 yds, 4 TD, 4.2 rec/game)

Returning Leaders: Tackles
Greg Jones, Mich St, Sr, LB (154 total, 11.8 tackles/game)
Ross Homan, Ohio St, Sr, LB (108 total, 8.3 tackles/game)
Ian Thomas, Indiana, Jr, LB (95 total, 7.9 tackles/game)
Brian Rolle, Ohio St, Sr, LB (94 total, 7.2 tackles/game)
Eric Gordon, Mich St, Sr, LB (93 total, 7.1 tackles/game)

Returning Leaders: Sacks
Adrian Clayborn, Iowa, Sr, DE (11.5 sacks)
Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue, Sr, DE (11.0)
Greg Jones, Mich St, Sr, LB (9.0)
Cameron Heyward, Sr, DE (6.5)

Returning Leaders: Interceptions
Tyler Sash, Iowa, Jr, SS (6 interceptions)
Ross Homan, Ohio State, Sr, LB (5)
Brett Greenwood, Iowa, Jr, FS (3)
Brian Peters, Northwestern, Jr, SS (3)
Kyle Theret, Minnesota, Jr, S (3)

BREAKING DOWN THE BIG 10 WITH THE ZEALOTS

Illinois Fighting Illini 

Chris (Prediction: #10): Bloop de bloop, de bweedley deep de deep de derk. Ron Zook is A COACH! For those of you who don't watch South Park and didn't understand the Rob Schneider joke reference, you're missing out. But the point is, Zook is a person masquerading as a coach. The only thing that we have to do now is figure out how long the act is in town. Newsflash: It's over at the end of this year. Also, I'm not even going to explain why I think the Illini will finish in 10th. It's Ron Zook isn't it? That's explanation enough.

J Martin (Prediction: #9): I never bought into the Juice Williams hype, but even I was astounded at just how badly the Illini fell on their face in 2009. I’m even more astounded that Ron Zook still has a job. I guess you can line up Illinois next to Maryland and Colorado as the schools that don’t care about football. But they’re still going to field a team this year, so I guess I’ll talk about them. It’s looking like a total reboot on the offensive side of the ball with new OC Paul Petrino needing to find a new QB, a new top receiver, and a consistent rushing attack, which they’ve lacked since Rashard Mendenhall bolted. (I really wish Daniel Dufrene had panned out, if only because my “Dufrene! Party of 6!” TD call was a big party hit.) Defensively, they’re a really underwhelming group, even though they return a fair amount of experience. Basically, it’s just a lame duck team. And they have two lower division teams on their schedule, so they’ll have to win 7 to get to a bowl. And that ain’t happening. I think everybody here will be through and waiting for the new coach by November.

Ross (Prediction: #9): The good news is that they return 3/5 of the offensive line and one of the league's most underrated running backs (Mikel LeShoure) and don't have to deal with the Juice Williams Experience anymore. On the other hand, they're on yet another new offensive coordinator and Ron Zook is still there. There are a few more faces back on defense, but really the last two years have made it crystal clear that it doesn't matter how much returning talent the Illini have; so long as Ron Zook is there, he'll find a way to screw it up. Skipping Iowa and Wisconsin on the schedule is a plus, but a three-game stretch against Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State could crush their season.

Indiana Hoosiers 

Chris (Prediction: #9): Indiana should improve gradually on offense as the year goes along, bringing back a lot of key pieces to the puzzle in the way of skill position players and just enough on the offensive line. As for defense...yeah, well...there's always next year.

J Martin (Prediction: #10): Indiana finished 1-7 at the bottom of the conference for the second straight season in 2009, but if just a handful of plays had gone the other way, they could have easily been 3-5 and playing in a bowl game. Because of that, they seem to have the most upward momentum of the worst programs in the conference. Unfortunately, when you’re at the level of an Indiana, progress isn’t always a straight line because you don’t have the talent on deck to pick up where the departing seniors left off. This year, Indiana will be feeling that the most on the defensive side of the ball, where they lose 9 of their top 13 contributors from last season. Not that the Hoosiers were world-beaters on D last year, but they were experienced, plucky guys who helped Indiana win the turnover battle in 7 of their 12 games (while their quarterback was busy throwing 15 interceptions). So its definitely a rebuilding year on that side of the ball. And the offense is simply not good enough to make up the difference. Their 4 patsy non-conference games should allow them to match 09’s win total, but beyond that, the going gets tough. This won’t be the year they take a step forward.

Ross (Prediction: #10): Indiana should have a very strong offense, considering they return nine starters -- everyone but a pair of linemen. QB Ben Chappell was pretty productive a year ago and he has all of his primary targets back again this year. So that's good. But an already bad defense returns only four starters and loses virtually all of its best players, too. That's a problem. They'd better get their wins early, too, since the schedule has them close with games against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Purdue. A year ago Indiana was good enough to hang in there for a while against Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, and Penn State; they were also bad enough to choke away all those games and get destroyed, 47-7, by Indiana. Their offense might be good enough to steal a game or two in the Big Ten, but they're going to need to score a lot of points to overcome their leaky defense.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Chris (Prediction: #2): My bonehead prediction of 2009: "Iowa does not stand a chance against GT's triple option in the bowl game. They're going to get throttled." Whoops...looks like I've got some splainin' to do on that one. 1. I was wrong. 2. Did I mention I was wrong? Like WAY wrong? So yeah, my bad in my failed attempt to pick against the Hawkeyes. Kirk Ferentz is an amazing program coach. He might not be flashy or in a league of his own, but he knows how to year in and year out put a good football team on the field. Defensively they should be among the nation's best again, returning 8 starters on that side of the ball. The concern is on offense, while returning Ricky Stanzi and some skill position guys, they have a completely revamped O-line. This team was a couple of injuries away from an undefeated season, although if you look at the first game, this team was a point away from being beaten at home by Northern Iowa too. So I'm not ready to call a team that loses so much from a sub-par offense a world-beater. The truth lies somewhere in between the two extremes...and that's why I think that Iowa will finish second to Ohio State and its arsenal of weapons on offense.

J Martin (Prediction: #2): I love this Iowa team. On defense, they look set to pick up right where they left off in 2009. Yes, they lost two very good linebackers and a good cornerback, but virtually everyone else who made a significant contribution to last year's unit is back. On offense, I expect them to be better than in 09. The offensive line doesn't look as dominant on paper, but OL's are Kirk Ferentz's specialty, so I have no doubt he'll put a quality line on the field. The main area where they need improvement is turnovers, particularly Ricky Stanzi's interceptions. If he can cut his 09 number in half, the Hawkeyes will be tough to beat. And I think he can do that. I think when presumptive running back starter Jewel Hampton went down with a preseason injury, thrusting that job into the hands of a couple of freshmen, it put the offense into a situation they weren't entirely comfortable with. Namely, it required Stanzi to make more plays than maybe he needed to at that point in his development. This year Hampton is back, and those freshmen (who didn't play half bad as the season progressed) now have a year's worth of experience under their belts. That's going to create more of a comfort zone for Stanzi and allow him to be more efficient with the football. I have this team below Ohio State right now, but just by a hair. The schedule definitely plays into their favor as they get their top 3 conference opponents at home. Iowa just needs to prove to me that they can win the lesser games consistently, like say against Northwestern, right along with the big games before I ever put them at #1.

Ross (Prediction: #2): Everything hinges on the development of the offensive line and the team's ability to stay healthy. The defense looks absolutely loaded and the offense is strong at the skill positions. But if guys start going down, there isn't a huge amount of depth at most positions. And the offensive line is still a big question mark, given that they have to work in three new starters who haven't had a lot of experience thus far. Still, if the injury gods smile upon them and the offensive line develops into a respectable outfit, this is a team built to go far. They get all of their toughest foes at home and the schedule is fairly manageable. On the other hand, their history against OSU is absolutely miserable, which makes it hard to pick them over OSU for now.

Michigan Wolverines

Chris (Prediction: #5): So Michigan started the season 5-2, and because of his stellar play everyone was lapping up the Wolverines and true freshman quarterback Tate Forcier. EHHHHHHHHH! Wrong answer. Survey says...the Wolves lost their remaining five games, and with exception of Purdue, they weren't close. So Michigan, what's up? Let's talk. For one, I have absolute faith that Forcier is a gamer and that if anyone is going to elevate that program back to where it was, it's him. The way he played as a true freshman coming into a situation that bad and with such moxie, WOW! Matt Barkley played like dog excrement compared to Forcier, especially considering that Barkley had skill position talent galore around him. Also, how long can Rich Rod and Michigan really be bad? I mean really? The guy's a winner. He may do it illegally, but he does win. The question is how will the ongoing NCAA probe affect the Maize and Blue? I think this is the year though, all things considered, that Michigan gets it right. I'm either way wrong or way right on this one. Here's to hoping I'm way right that one of college football's true traditional powerhouses comes back strong. Even Buckeyes fans want to see the rivalry game actually be somewhat competitive again!

J Martin (Prediction: #7): I’ll admit it’s really difficult for me to get a handle on Michigan this year for two reasons. Firstly, I don’t know who the quarterback is going to be. RichRod’s offense is totally dependent on who the trigger man is. In his heart of hearts, I think he wants Denard Robinson to be the QB because he’s the most dangerous runner of the two, but Forcier has shown more as a passer and doesn’t seem to be going away (unless he gets his feelings hurt and transfers, as rumored). If Forcier is the QB, Michigan is probably going to be in the .500 range, like last year, and maybe go to a bowl. If Robinson is the QB, they could go anywhere from 4-8 to 9-3. Secondly, I just don’t know how this team is going to respond to the axe hanging over Rodriguez’s neck. Are they going to rally around him and fight for a bowl, or are they going to quit and wait to start over with the new coach? Last year began under a similar cloud, and they started out inspired, but then they seemed to give up after dropping games to Michigan State and Iowa. If this year’s team doesn’t have more heart, this season could get REALLY ugly, because I think UConn has the team to show up in Ann Arbor and clean their clocks in week 1. I'm kinda on the fence, but I hate the 3-3-5 defense that Rich is bringing back, so I guess I'll be on the side of pessimism.

Ross (Prediction: #7): It seems increasingly unlikely that the Michigan defense will be able to stop a soul in 2010 (especially through the air), which means that the offense is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting to win games. Luckily, they return a pretty fair amount of talent on offense (3/5 of the OL, QB, a pair of receivers, and a tight end) and showed signs last year of evolving into the sort of high-powered offense that's been a staple of most Rodriguez-coached teams. But that defense... that defense is scary (and not in a good way), especially the secondary, which is an utter wasteland after multiple injuries and defections of highly-ranked talent. The schedule doesn't do them any favors, either; four of their final six Big Ten games are against Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State.

Michigan State Spartans

Chris (Prediction: #6): My logic here? Good coach, okay team...not as good as at least four of the teams ahead of them in the Big Ten (may be faltering on my Michigan prediction already), but is definitely not as bad as the 5 teams below. Middle of the road Michigan State can knock people off, or lose to questionable teams. But in the end it all equals out and the Spartans should improve at least one game from their 6-7 season a year ago. You know they should really make some kind of rule with 6-6 bowl teams that if they lose and go 6-7 than they should have to play another 6-7 team that lost and the winner gets back to .500. The loser is disqualified from playing in a bowl the next year because there is no way a team like that should have ever played in a bowl in the first place. Who's with me?

J Martin (Prediction: #6): The Spartans suffered somewhat of a let down in 2009. Despite some turnover on offense, the defense was expected to carry the team to another 9 or 10 win season. But early in the year, the secondary completely imploded, and MSU ended up with one of the worst pass defenses in the conference. That exacerbated issues with a young offense, and the next thing you know, they’re struggling to make a bowl game. Well, the defense is slightly less experienced, with many of their losses coming in the secondary. Your first instinct might be to expect another bad year, but my opinion is that when you’re as bad as the Spartans were in 09, a bunch of fresh faces can be just what you need. I’m looking for a big rebound, led by returning senior linebacker Greg Jones. I also expect more out of the offense now that they’ve settled in on one quarterback and all those freshman running backs have had a year to mature in the system. They still won’t be ready to compete with the best in the conference, but they should return to 8-9 win form.

Ross (Prediction: #5): MSU looks a lot like Iowa on offense: lots of returning talent at the skill positions and a lot of question marks along the offensive line. QB Kirk Cousins might be the best quarterback in the Big Ten and he has a slew of returning targets to throw to, which should lead to some impressive passing stats for MSU. They also have some talented RBs in Larry Caper and Edwin Baker; they saw a lot of action last year as true freshmen and that experience should serve them well this year. Still, all of that offensive firepower could be for naught if the new look offensive line can't open holes for the backs and keep Cousins upright -- and that's a definite concern for now. The defense is stacked at LB with veterans Greg Jones and Eric Gordon and newcomers William Gholston and Max Bullough. On the other hand, they'll need to find a pair of new starters along the defensive line and in the secondary. Still, if they get some quality play from the newcomers in the defense and the offensive line gels quickly, this could be a surprise team in the Big Ten.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Chris (Prediction: #11): Gone are the days of Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney rushing for 1,000 yards in the same year (in fact gone are those days in the NFL too, apparently...despite the fact that they are on different teams). Minnesota's offense will improve by way of returning a whopping 9 starters (which isn't saying much, it's hard to get worse than 109th in offense...you have to try pretty hard to do that). YAY! Whew. Wait, but they're still ranked 11th in the Big 10 (that sounds funny even to this day, I know, I chuckle)? So what's the bad news? Oh yeah, they return two on a D that was below average a year ago, including none in their front 7. YIKES! All Gophers fans can do is sit back and think about the days of their dreadlock tandems of running backs. Those were the days...

J Martin (Prediction: #11): It’s going to be a rough year in Minneapolis. I haven’t thought much of the Gophers for the past two seasons, but they’ve managed enough hocus pocus with the schedule to get bowl eligible in both. This season, the schedule is brutal, as they play USC and draw the consensus top 4 teams in the conference, and four of those games are at home (basically wasting home field advantage on teams they have no chance of beating). Even if they were good, they’d struggle. But despite returning nearly the entire offense, they lose their best player by far (Eric Decker), and Adam Weber is not a good quarterback at all. The defense was actually respectable last season, but they return only 2 starters in 2010. Minnesota has a nice new stadium. After this season, it might be time for the administration there to bring in a coach who can field a football team to match it.

Ross (Prediction: #11): As it stands, they're slated to return all of two starters and they'll be breaking in a new defensive coordinator, too. Expecting the Gophers to stop too many teams is a fool's errand. On the bright side, they return nine on offense, including fourth-year starter Adam Weber at QB. Of course, Weber is also working under his third or fourth different offensive coordinator, has regressed each year he's been there, and is without his safety blanket target (Eric Decker). Aside from Decker, they also return most of his top receivers, their leading rusher from a year ago, and their entire offensive line. But like Zook, Tim Brewster has managed the art of getting less out of his team and it's hard not to see them crumbling under the weight of a tough schedule (they entertain USC, Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa at home this year).

Northwestern Wildcats

Chris (Prediction: #7): Take your pick. It will be Purdue or Northwestern. Just like the middle of the Pac-10, this is truly hard to decide. Neither team brings much back, but Northwestern brings back 12 starters off of a surprising 8-5 team vs. Purdue bringing back 10 starters off of a decidedly average team a year ago. It's a fight to the finish, the only difference is, the winner only wins 7th place.

J Martin (Prediction: #5): Pat Fitzgerald has a really good thing going at Northwestern. And while I don’t see his program ever breaking through to contend for the Big 10 title, I also don’t see why he can’t keep winning about 8 games a year. He accomplishes the things that Bobby Johnson used to get credit for almost doing at Vanderbilt. The past 2 years, his Wildcats have finished 4th in the conference at 5-3. He generates this kind of consistency because his teams are always going to be focused around playing sound defense. This season, they return their entire starting linebacker unit. Their biggest challenge will be replacing the underrated Mike Kafka at QB, but presumptive starter Dan Persa gave Kafka a run for his money last off-season, and as a junior, he’s very familiar with the system. Their schedule divides neatly into two halves, and Northwestern could easily be 6-0 at the break. That could make them an extremely dangerous opponent to face late in the year, because they’ll already be bowl eligible and playing with house money, as they say. Revenge-minded Iowa should be wary heading into Evanston.

Ross (Prediction: #6): On the flipside of Michigan State, you have a team like Northwestern, who returns 4/5 of their offensive line but will be breaking in new starters at QB and two of the three starting WR spots. Still, Northwestern has usually done a fine job of finding unheralded players to come in and play at a high level at those spots. The defense features a lot of returning experience at LB and CB, but will be fielding new faces in the secondary and along the defensive line (where some newbie has the unpleasant task of trying to replace stud DE Corey Wooten). But Fitzgerald has proven himself to be an excellent coach, so it's not wise to bet against them too much. They'll probably lose to a team or two that they shouldn't, but they'll also beat a team or two that they shouldn't and will probably be a pesky out for each team on their schedule.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Chris (Prediction: #1): The Buckeyes are the prohibitive favorite to win the Big 10 and possibly even exorcise their demons by winning a national championship (though the Buckeyes do NOT want to see an SEC team meeting them there. Oh please, oh please, oh pretty please football gods! We knew you'd understand, we just can't beat the best of the best). Terrelle Pryor has been lambasted from the beginning of his sophomore year, the time in which fans thought he should have arrived and reached his potential. Instead, Pryor took baby steps until the Rose Bowl and then blew up. Fluke? I don't know, but I doubt it. I think some part of that guy has turned the corner. We'll see how much Pryor has grown when the Bucks go to Iowa for what will probably decide the conference champion. The defense lost some key cogs, but when does a Jim Tressel coached team not play good D? And they will again. Also running back is a concern. Nobody screams the next Beanie Wells. But I think Ohio State is a safe bet to at least take the Big 10, although I'm choosing not to speculate beyond that right now.

J Martin (Prediction: #1): I vacillated back and forth between the Buckeyes and Iowa as to which team was the best in the conference. It was a tough call. Both are loaded. Ultimately, I went with Ohio State. There isn't much negative you can say about this team on paper. They return a wealth of talent and experience on both sides of the ball. The only real question is which Terrelle Pryor is going to show up this season. The one from the Rose Bowl, or the one that had people calling for him to be moved to receiver? My guess is that he ends up close to Rose Bowl form. And if that's the case, the only thing standing in their way is a conference schedule that sees them go on the road to face their two biggest challenges this season, Iowa and Wisconsin. That almost tipped me in favor of the Hawkeyes. But then I remembered: these guys have developed into Big 10 road warriors over the past few years. Barring their epic brain fart against Purdue last year, the Buckeyes haven't lost a Big 10 away game since losing to Penn State in 2005. Kirk Ferentz does a great job at Iowa, but Jim Tressel has this program humming along on a much higher level than anybody else in the Big 10, and they know how to take care of business. They should win their 6th straight conference title, and maybe play in the BCS title game for the 4th time in the past decade if they can avoid another early season big game letdown against The U. They will then, of course, lose.

Ross (Prediction: #1): They return nine on offense and six on defense and have been so consistently dominant in the Big Ten that it's difficult to pick against them, no matter how much I'd like to. If the progress Pryor showed in the Rose Bowl was more than a one-game blip, the offense should be truly terrifying, as they'll have a dangerous passing game to go along with one of the nation's best rushing attacks. The defense has some key holes to fill (mainly, three spots along the defensive line), but OSU has done a better job of reloading than anyone else in the league, especially on defense... so it would be foolish to bet against them. Particularly since the guys they have starting this year are not fresh-faced newbies; they've seen a fair amount of action. The main potential red flag from them is the schedule, which has them facing their two toughest league rivals, Iowa and Wisconsin, on the the road.


Penn State Nittany Lions

Chris (Prediction: #4): The Big 10 is really a 3-team race (sorry if this is the first you've heard of this JoePa), but Penn State is right behind that group. Kevin Newsome should be a capable replacement for Darryl Clark in the athleticism department, but Clark brought such intangibles and leadership to the position that I think it is unlikely to expect Newsome to come right in and resume that role. In fact, he may never reach that level. To be honest, I don't know whether to be more worried about the offense or the defense. Neither will be bad, but neither will be spectacular. Because of Evan Royster I will go with the D. Royster's workload will probably increase, which is cause for concern because his statline DRAMATICALLY decreased a year ago, to the tune of 500 or so yards. However, I myself am in love with Royster's game, and I think he'll recover this year, posting equally as gaudy stats as two years ago.

J Martin (Prediction: #4): On paper, this looks like a very mediocre Penn State team to me. They have the schedule to still win 9 games and play in a nice bowl, but I don’t think they’re a threat to Iowa or Ohio State. Obviously, the main problem on offense is quarterback. They have no one with any experience. They have a couple of incoming freshmen who are promising (I hear Robert Bolden is impressing in camp), but knowing Joe Paterno, he’s going to go with the most steady upper classman until the wheels fall off. Of course, the “upper classmen” in question are sophomores, so regardless, the passing game is going to be WAY down. That means it’s going to fall to Evan Royster to carry the offense on the ground. And while he’s a talented guy, that’s going to be somewhat of a new role for him, and its difficult to say if he’s cut out for it. Defensively, they should be typically stout, which will be their saving grace. However, with the loss of their top 3 linebackers, as well as Jared Odrick on the line, they may not be an elite defense in 2010.

Ross (Prediction: #4): PSU returns plenty on offense (the majority of the offensive line, all their top receivers, and Evan Royster and Stephon Green at RB)... but they have a major question mark at QB, where they still haven't settled on a starter to replace Daryll Clark. That's definitely a concern, especially since they have to go on the road to Alabama and Iowa in their first five weeks. The defense returns just five and will need to find a pair of new starters along the defensive line and a trio of new linebackers. Fortunately, aside from OSU, no one in the Big Ten has done a better job of just reloading on defense than PSU; they have some highly-talented players waiting in the wings to step in and start at LB and along the defensive line. Really, the thing that damages this team the most might be the schedule: they should be a team that improves as the season progresses, but their schedule features some of their toughest games at the start of the season. That could be difficult to overcome.

Purdue Boilermakers

Chris (Prediction: #8): Take a look at Northwestern for my logic. If I'm wrong, see Robert Marve as the reason.

J Martin (Prediction: #8): The Boilermakers have been a better team than their overall record might have led you to believe the past 2 years. In 2009, they actually went 4-4 in the Big 10, and, if not for a slip-up against Northern Illinois, they would have gone to a bowl. This year’s team looks very similar to the past two, in the sense that they don’t wow you with their number of returning starters, but they’re not dreadfully undermanned either. So with their home-and-home series with Oregon coming to an end, and a much lesser opponent coming on, I don’t see any reason why this team can’t achieve bowl eligibility. They should win at least 3 of their non-conference games (Notre Dame is a toss-up), and they get three key conference “swing” games at home (Minnesota, Michigan, and Indiana). The x-factor here will be new quarterback Robert Marve. If he finally has his head on straight, look out. He has an excellent receiving target in Keith Smith, and they can make this offense dangerous.

Ross (Prediction: #8): Robert Marve is a reason for hope as he takes over the QB position (unless you remember him imploding at Miami two years ago, although Purdue fans would rather you didn't mention that), and he has some good targets to throw to (particularly WR Keith Smith)... if the rebuilt offensive line (2/5 starters back) can give him enough protection to find them. RB is a possible trouble spot; Ralph Bolden emerged as a real threat in the Big Ten a year ago, but suffered a significant knee injury in spring practice and may not be ready to go this fall. The defense features one bona fide star (DE Ryan Kerrigan, the best player in the Big Ten that no one talks about) and a number of returning starters in the front seven (3/4 of the defensive line, all three linebackers)... but a host of new faces in the secondary. So Purdue could be in line for quite a few shootouts in 2010; we'll see just how far Marve has come from his Miami days.

Wisconsin Badgers

Chris (Prediction: #3): Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema has filled in seamlessly for Barry Alvarez as the Badgers head coach. He maintained the power running game that his predecessor thrived on, with big backs like P.J. Hill and now John Clay. Expect the Badgers to be pretty amazing offensively, where they return every starter but their fullback. Defensively it might be a work in progress, but the offense has such firepower and can control the clock with their style of play that I don't think the D's flaws will stand out. Wisconsin was only one of 6 teams that averaged 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing a season ago. Expect them to be in that category again, and given a slip up by one of the two above them, they could be seeing roses.

J Martin (Prediction: #3): The recipe for success remains the same as it has for the past 15 or 20 years: take a big, fat running back, line him up behind an even bigger, fatter offensive line, and just run over people. This season, the Badgers have an incredibly experienced big, fat offensive line (109 total starts), and return the big, fat Big 10 offensive player of the year, not to mention another good one in Montee Ball. In fact, they return just about everyone of consequence on offense except Garrett Graham. Scott Tolzien wasn’t overly impressive at QB last year, but he came on strong towards the end, and this team doesn’t need him to be more than an effective game manager. If he cuts his interception total in half, Wisconsin will be tough to beat. They have a very easy non-conference schedule and a favorable conference slate, including Ohio State at home. The only trick is that they have to go to Iowa to play the very next week. But if they take care of business against the Buckeyes at home, they could very well ride that momentum to a victory over the Hawkeyes. Of course…I could also see them going into the tank against Iowa if they lose to OSU. So that’s the critical stretch. 10 wins should be the minimum expectation for this team.

Ross (Prediction: #3): The Badgers are loaded on offense, especially along the line where they return all five starters. Those five behemoths should open plenty of holes for John Clay and Montee Ball and give Scott Tolzien time to hit open receivers on play-action passes. On the other hand, their defense returns only six starters (including just one on the defensive line) and they've been banged up in preseason camp, with two of their best returning defenders (LB Chris Borland and SS Jay Valai) missing time with injuries. The schedule is also a little nasty, as they get Ohio State and Iowa back-to-back. Bielema's done a solid job of beating the teams he should beat at Wisco, but he's struggled to get over the hump and beat the top dogs.

CFBZ Predicted Big Ten 2010 Standings
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Iowa Hawkeyes
3. Wisconsin Badgers
4. Penn State Nittany Lions
5. Michigan State Spartans
6. Northwestern Wildcats
7. Michigan Wolverines
8. Purdue Boilermakers
9. Illinois Fighting Illini
10. Indiana Hoosiers
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers