We finished the second full week of the 2024 college football season and the Big Ten took a step back this week from their great Week 1 performance. Let’s get into the week 2 Big Ten football top storylines ….
1. Defending National Champion and #10 Michigan trounced by #3 Texas 31-12 … and what happened to that vaunted defense?
Texas came into this game as 7.5-point favorites at the Big House. That spread created a quandary for the college football experts since this game was at home for the Wolverines after all, and Michigan still has that very talented defense with some rating three defenders amongst the Top 10 potential NFL picks next year. So, they should be able to keep it to a one score game despite the question marks on offense, right?
Apparently not, as the Texas Longhorns and Quinn Ewers skewered the Wolverines and dominated the game throughout looking like a national title contender while Michigan barely looked like a Top 25 team. Everyone knew Texas had the substantial advantage at the skill positions but what was so disconcerting for Michigan is they got pushed around up front on both sides of the ball, which is what they usually do to other teams.
Michigan’s vaunted defense gave up 389 total yards, which included giving up 10 of 16 third down conversions to the Longhorns, and 143 rushing yards at 4.5 yards per carry, which is not supposed to happen with that strong defensive front. Texas is super talented, and coach Steve Sarkisian is a great play caller with a Heisman contender in quarterback Quinn Ewers, so I am not going to say Michigan is not what we think on defense, but this game raised some questions.
And Michigan needs to figure out who can be their quarterback to get better production from that pedestrian offense that had just 286 yards on Saturday, helped by a 78-yard TD drive late in the fourth quarter when the game was all but over.
http://Why Michigan Football in 2024 Won’t Fall off a Cliff
2. Big Ten has a bad day going 11-3 in non-conference and 2-3 vs. Power 4 teams and two Top 10 teams struggling.
After going an impressive 17-1 in Week 1, the Big Ten was not nearly so with Michigan getting soundly beaten in the week’s marquee game and all-important SEC vs. Big Ten clash. The Big Ten went 2-3 vs. Power 4 schools, which included Iowa blowing a big lead to the Big 12 rival Iowa State, and Northwestern falling to the ACC’s Duke Blue Devils 26-20.
On the positive side, in other clashes with the Big 12, Illinois knocked off #19 Kansas 23-17 and Nebraska beat Colorado 28-10. But other upper level Big Ten teams struggled including national title hopeful #7 Oregon needing a last second field goal to beat Boise State, #8 Penn State looking mediocre in a 7-point win over MAC team Bowling Green and Wisconsin struggling again in a 27-13 win over FCS level South Dakota.
The fallout is Oregon dropped to #9, Michigan to #17 and Iowa was bounced from the top 25 was in essence replaced by Nebraska. In the AP Top 25 poll, the SEC now has an unprecedented 6 of the top 7 teams, with only #3 Ohio State amongst the group. The SEC has 8 teams in the Top 25 and the Big Ten is second with 6 teams.
3. #7 Oregon once again struggled barely beating Boise State 37-34 on a last-second field goal.
What is going on with the Ducks? To open the season, experts deemed them one of three teams most likely to win the national title, which also included Georgia and Ohio State. In Week 1, they struggled at home against Idaho, winning 24-14, but statistically they dominated with 487 yards compared to just 217 for Idaho. So the assumption was that in Week 2, against a tough Boise State team, the Ducks would look more like an elite team.
Instead, Oregon found themselves in a tough battle against Boise State as Ashton Jeanty rushed for 192 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns. With just 10 minutes remaining in the game, Boise State was ahead 34-27. Oregon managed to secure the win with a last-second 25-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington; however, without an 85-yard punt return touchdown in the third quarter and a kickoff return touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Ducks would likely have lost this match.
In contrast to Week 1, Boise State outgained Oregon, totaling 369 yards to the Ducks’ 353. More significantly, they achieved 221 rushing yards at an average of 6.7 yards per carry, compared to Oregon’s 110 yards on just 3.1 yards per carry. These statistics are concerning as they indicate that Oregon is being overpowered in the trenches, which bodes poorly for their prospects in the competitive Big Ten.
Additionally, Oregon committed nine penalties for a total of 74 yards and had two turnovers. The Ducks need to strengthen their performance up front and eliminate these errors as they prepare to face their archrival Oregon State on the road next week.
4. Nebraska and Dylan Raiola continue to impress dominating Colorado and Coach Prime 28-10.
What a difference a year can make. In 2023, Nebraska faced off against Colorado, where Coach Prime and the Buffs were generating buzz across the football landscape following their impressive start, highlighted by a significant opening win over TCU. The Huskers lost that game 36-14 in Matt Rhule’s inaugural season, and we witnessed some of the same errors that have troubled Nebraska for years, ultimately resulting in another bowl-less record of 5-7.
This year in Lincoln, Nebraska thoroughly outplayed Colorado in the first half, heading into halftime with a commanding 28-0 lead. However, in the second half, the Huskers became disorganized and ineffective, failing to score any points.
Fortunately for them, the Blackshirt defense managed to keep quarterback Shedeur Sanders largely contained, allowing 244 passing yards but just one touchdown. They also stifled the Buffaloes’ rushing attack, giving up only 22 yards at an average of 0.7 yards per carry.
True freshman, 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola once again looked the part going 23-30 for 185 yards and a TD, but most importantly had zero turnovers which had been a major reason why Nebraska had struggled so much in the prior Scott Frost tenure.
Nebraska made its way into the Top 25 AP poll this week at #23 and has a real opportunity to be 7-0 when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Buckeyes on October 26. While that may seem a bit optimistic, it’s precisely why Cornhusker fans are excited about the potential ahead.
5. #21 Iowa surprisingly squandered a 19-7 lead in the third quarter, falling to Iowa State 20-19, with their passing game performing poorly.
With 4:47 remaining in the third quarter, Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson finished a 7-play, 79-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Although the attempt for a 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, Iowa took the lead at 19-7. Given their strong defense, the Hawkeyes and their fans likely felt that this rivalry game was well in hand.
The Cyclones had different intentions, highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter from QB Rocco Becht, which resulted from an uncharacteristic blown secondary coverage by Iowa. With just 6 seconds remaining, they also nailed a 54-yard field goal to secure a stunning 20-19 victory in Iowa City. Looking back, that unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt proved to be costly for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s most pressing concern is the need for a more effective offensive attack, particularly in the passing game under first-year Offensive Coordinator Tim Lester. While quarterback Cade McNamara excelled in Week 1 against Illinois State with 251 yards and three touchdowns, he struggled against the Cyclones, throwing for only 99 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Iowa needs to hope McNamara improves as the season progresses; otherwise, their options may be limited.
6. Indiana puts up 77 points—marking their highest total ever—and improves to 2-0. Perhaps Curt Cignetti will truly bring his winning touch to the Hoosiers.
Since taking over the Indiana program in late 2023, Curt Cignetti has exuded confidence and even a bit of bravado, as shown by his statement during spring practice: “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me!” He has indeed found success at every head coaching position he’s held after serving as an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama. Considering Indiana’s losing history, he appears to be precisely the type of coach they need.
Cignetti also used a very specific transfer portal philosophy this off-season, seeking mostly players with proven production at either the FBS or FCS level. That led to Cignetti bringing over many players from his previous stop at James Madison who he turned into a Top 25 program. He also added experienced quarterback Kurtis Roark from Ohio who was MAC Player of the Year in 2022.
Indiana opened with a nice 31-7 win over Florida International and then in Week 2 put the conference on notice with their 77-3 dismantling of Western Illinois. Indiana scored a touchdown on all 6 possessions in the first half to post a 42-3 halftime lead, and then proceeded to score a touchdown 3 more times to start the second half making it 9 in touchdown drives in a row. They finished with 10 touchdowns in 11 drives to score their most points ever.
In leading the Hoosiers to 703 total yards, Roark played sharp once again going 15-17 for 268 yards and 2 TDs and the run game piled up 325 yards at 7.1 yards/carry. Next week Indiana visits UCLA to officially welcome them into the Big Ten so we will find out how real Indiana is, but early indications are this may be a different program under Cignetti.
7. Illinois shocks #19 Kansas with a 23-17 victory, offering optimism that the program is on the upswing under Brett Bielema’s leadership.
Brett Bielema has had a mixed tenure at Illinois going 18-19 over his three years running the program. Under him the Illini have had some very good defenses that have produced NFL players but last year that defense took a big step back from ranking 3rd in the nation in 2022 at 259 yards/game to 61st in the nation at 377 yards/game.
And they led the nation in 2022 at 12.8 points/game but that leapt up to 93rd in the nation at 29.4 points/game in 2023. No wonder they went 5-7 in 2023 after going 8-5 in 2022. This year is a barometer for which direction this program is going to take, which made the Illini’s win over Kansas so important.
However, it wasn’t easy, as Illinois was outgained 327 to 271. Fortunately, Kansas quarterback Jaden Daniels had a game to forget, completing 18 of 32 passes for only 141 yards and throwing three interceptions. Illinois finished with a +3 turnover margin, which was likely essential for pulling off the upset since the Illini managed just 79 rushing yards at an average of 2.3 yards per carry.
The schedule is not easy for Illinois though which includes road games at #23 Nebraska, #10 Penn State, #9 Oregon and a tough Rutgers team, so they will need their offense to perform much better.
8. Michigan State and Jonathan Smith get first Big Ten win with a surprising upset at Maryland as 7.5-point underdog.
Maryland looked really good in a Week 1 win over Connecticut 50-7 and Michigan State looked average at best in a close 16-10 opening win over Florida Atlantic in which their offense had just 293 yards. So in the first Big Ten game of the year, it only made sense Maryland at home was a 7.5 favorite over the Spartans.
Maryland got out to a 14-7 first quarter lead but Michigan State scored 10 in the second quarter for a 17-14 halftime lead signaling to the Terps this was going to be a battle. Maryland pulled ahead 24-17 early in the 4th quarter on a 28-yard TD pass from first year starting QB Billy Edwards Jr. only to see the Spartans get a-77-yard pass from new quarterback Aidan Chiles to Nick Marsh and a 37-yard FG with one second left to pull off the 27-24 upset.
What did we learn here? First, that Maryland and Mike Locksley continue the pattern of looking really good and then laying an egg making you question how good they are. And for Michigan State and Jonathan Smith, they may be better than I and many people thought since it was a Big Ten road win and statistically the game wasn’t as close as the score indicated, with the Spartans outgaining the Terps 493 to 339.
9. Wisconsin struggles again Week 2 – raising questions if Year 2 under Luke Fickell will see a big step for the Badgers.
What is going on in Madison? With a high-quality coach like Luke Fickell, I expected them to make significant improvement in Year 2 of the Fickell realm. In week 1, the Badgers had to come from behind to beat Western Michigan 28-14. And then in week 2 as a 17.5-point favorite over FCS team South Dakota, the Badgers found themselves in a dog fight going into the 4th quarter ahead by just 20-13.
The Badgers finally put the game away with a 4th quarter 1-yard run by Chez Mellusi to win 27-13. Statistically though the Badgers were better than week 1, gaining 385 yards to South Dakota’s 237 and they did have good balance with 214 yards passing by Tyler Van Dyke and 171 yards rushing. But the Badgers only had 4.2 yards/carry vs an FCS team, which is concerning.
In week 3 we will really find out where Luke Fickell’s program is as they welcome #4 Alabama to Madison as 16-point underdogs, in another critical SEC vs. Big Ten matchup when it comes to defining the conference pecking order.
10. Despite a dominant 56-0 win over Western Michigan, Ohio State falls to #3 in the AP rankings but has to feel great about their start.
It’s hard to evaluate Ohio State with their extremely weak non-conference schedule so falling to #3 in the AP rankings behind Texas makes sense. Through two weeks they have beaten two Mid-American Conference teams by a combined 108-6. On Saturday they completely dominated a Western Michigan team 56-0 who the prior week had a 4th quarter lead on the road at Wisconsin.
Total yardage was a 683 to 99 advantage for the Buckeyes. And 55 of those yards came on the first drive for Western Michigan, and from there the remaining 11 drives resulted in 44 total yards. The Buckeyes defense looks completely dominant up front and the backend has talented guys like new safety Caleb Downs flying around and making plays
In week 1, the run game looked fairly average but in this one both Quinshon Judkins (9 carries for 108 yards) and TreVeyon Henderson (10 for 66 yards) looked explosive and had two touchdown runs each. Chip Kelly used quarterback Will Howard very effectively in creative read-option, run/pass plays.
The only concern from this game is Howard missed a couple big pass play opportunities. The kinds he needs to complete if OSU is going to achieve their National Championship goal.
