by Sean Szymczak

Heartbreak for the Huskies

The Huskies faced a 4th & goal from the 2-yard line, down 5 with a minute left in the Apple Cup. Despite a litany of self-inflicted wounds throughout the afternoon, Washington still had a chance to take home the Apple Cup.

Washington had 16 penalties 135 yards on the day, many extending Cougar drives with boneheaded PI or holding calls. Will Rogers, despite his fantastic afternoon, mishandled a snap on 3rd down which made a promising drive end in a field goal. Washington was set to go for a 4th & 5 inside WSU territory with eight minutes left, but a false start led to a punt. In total, the Huskies had four drives that went inside the Cougar 25-yard line. Their first three resulted in three field goals due to those aforementioned mistakes. Their fourth, though, had them on the doorstep to victory.

What did the offensive genius Jed Fisch dial up from the 2-yard line? A… (checks notes) …speed option to the short side of the field. It wasn’t like it was a good look and poorly executed either. Washington State had them out-numbered and Washington still ran the play with a timeout in their pocket. Just look:

The play-call was questionable at best and ultimately led to Washington State taking the Apple Cup back home. Now, the Huskies have no choice but to face the plenty of other concerns that arose on Saturday.

Their defense generally did a good job at spying John Mateer, allowing him to escape the pocket but not to pick up chunk yardage with his legs. However, they fell asleep on two plays which resulted in Mateer TD runs of 25 and 23 yards. Starting LB and captain Carson Bruener was injured in the 4th quarter and could be out for an extended time. That may leave the Huskies with only four scholarship linebackers left.

Their defensive front did a good job of stuffing the run and harassing Mateer, but the secondary had a rough day. They lost track of Cougar receivers, could not tackle in open space, and accounted for many of Washington’s 16 penalties. Mateer is a great athlete, but Washington is sure to face more potent aerial attacks against teams like USC, Oregon, Indiana, and Penn State left on their schedule.

The offensive line continues to impress, allowing Washington to run a balanced attack. They racked up 452 total yards and won the turnover & time-of-possession battles on Saturday. Will Rogers has proven to be conservative check-down merchant. He is stretching defenses and making good, quick decisions. But Jeremiah Hunter’s absence was apparent. They have failed to get their splash transfer from Cal consistently incorporated into the offense. Without a real threat opposite Giles Jackson, Washington struggled in the red-zone.

Their other big transfer addition – RB Jonah Coleman – was a beast all day. He had 92 total yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry but was only given 14 carries. Coleman is as electrifying of an athlete as there is in the Big Ten – he needs to be a bigger part of this offense.

Some of Washington’s problems are fixable. They can clean up some of the penalties, improve their play-calling, and figure out a better way to incorporate their playmakers. But the holes in the secondary were alarming and now they must deal with a real depth issue at linebacker.

The Huskies should be able to regroup at home against Northwestern this weekend, but then their schedule gets very difficult very quickly. Expectations weren’t sky high in Seattle entering the season, but Washington will have to clean up a lot just to get to a bowl game in the ultra competitive Big Ten.

Oregon Will Be Just Fine

Two uninspiring performances to start the season had many questioning whether Oregon was ready to meet the lofty expectations set for them in the off-season. On Saturday in Corvallis, the Ducks looked much more like we expected as they took down their rival 49-14 in the Civil War.

In their first two games, Oregon’s offensive line was getting dominated and their defense was giving up big plays. On Saturday, their offensive line didn’t allow a single sack and paved the way for nearly 8 yards per carry. Their defense yielded only 4.5 yards per play and did not allow a single play of 20+ yards.

Dillon Gabriel had only four incompletions and completed passes to six different receivers. Jordan James and Tez Johnson proved why they are each among the very best at their positions in all of college football. Oregon State hung around into the 3rd quarter, but Oregon asserted their dominance and did not let their foot off the gas pedal. It was a good old-fashioned beating.

The Ducks weren’t necessarily perfect. They allowed drives of 49, 75, and 81 yards in the 1st half. For the second consecutive game, they did not force a turnover. They did not give up any chunk plays, but they did not force many negative plays either. WR Evan Stewart has yet to show off why he was a 5-star prospect just three years ago. There is certainly room for Oregon to continue to grow, but they are finally looking like the team we expected in the pre-season.

Oregon has a bye week and matchups against UCLA and Michigan State before the Buckeyes come to town. There is plenty of time to improve before the ‘game of the year’ in the Big Ten. Even if that doesn’t go in their favor, Oregon still four teams on their schedule that rank in the bottom-six of our latest Big Ten Power Rankings. At the very least, the Ducks will be able to cruise to 10 wins and a CFP appearance.

Hoosier Hysteria

The Indiana Hoosiers are 3-0. In football. The FPI has them as the 19th-ranked team in the country and projected for 9.3 wins. They are receiving votes for the AP and Coaches Poll. They are top-15 nationally in total offense, scoring offense, total defense, and scoring defense. They are being talked about.

The Hoosier hype train started gaining steam in the off-season with the eccentric Curt Cignetti coming to town and bringing one of the Big Ten’s top transfer classes with him. It gained steam when Indiana put up 77 points against hapless Western Illinois. After their 42-13 beatdown of UCLA in their Big Ten opener, the hype train is going to fast it might have no choice but to derail.

But it’s truthfully difficult not to buy into what Cignetti and Indiana are selling. Kurtis Rourke has been an exceptional leader and decision-maker. His years of football experience have been apparent as he has run this offense as efficiently as possible. The Hoosier offensive line is playing much better, allowing only two sacks through three games. With their ample depth at both running back and wide receiver, this offense has been nearly impossible to defend. Meanwhile, their defense has been averaging 4 sacks, 6 TFLs, and 2 takeaways per game.

With games against Charlotte, Maryland, and Northwestern coming up, Indiana looks like they will be 6-0 when Nebraska comes to town on October 19th. If they win that game, we will have no choice but to talk about Indiana in the College Football Playoff.

The Reality of the Badger Rebuild

While some programs are reaching new heights to start 2024, others are venturing near new lows. On Saturday in Madison, Luke Fickell’s Badgers took the Tide on the chin in a 42-10 beatdown.

Listen, very few if any people in America thought Wisconsin had a shot at pulling off the upset. When they lost Tyler Van Dyke shortly into a very promising first drive, there was no question what the final outcome would be. But Saturday’s dismantlement was an illustration of just how far the Badgers have to go in Fickell’s rebuild.

Using the term “rebuild” doesn’t feel quite right when we are just three seasons removed from a 9-4 season. It was only five years ago that they finished with 10 wins and met Minnesota in a top-10 clash to finish the regular season.

Nonetheless, Wisconsin has had a stark downfall from fringe Big Ten title contender and consistent top-25 team to hopefully finishing with a winning record. It doesn’t take a genius to correlate this spiral to their lack of dominance along the line of scrimmage. Gone are the Watts, the Chris Borlands, the Joe Thomas’s, the Ryan Ramczyks.

The veterans along Wisconsin’s line of scrimmage – Jack Nelson, Jake Renfro, Darryl Peterson, Curt Neal, and many others – were supposed to be the point of optimism in 2024. They were supposed to resemble the Wisconsin of old a little bit more. They were supposed to be able to control the line of scrimmage on offense to generate a more consistent run game that can set up play-action. They were supposed to be able to rush the passer instead of leaving their secondary out to dry.

None of that has happened and it is at the core of Wisconsin’s struggles. These struggles began under Paul Chryst, continued with Luke Fickell last year, and have no signs of improvement so far.

Luke Fickell’s philosophical change to Wisconsin’s offense hasn’t necessarily helped things either. A running back room that once churned out NFL starters has been neglected, now relying on a serviceable-at-best trio of Chez Mellusi, Cade Yacamelli, & Tawee Walker. Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo essentially calls the passing game to set up the run, but only has one legitimate threat at wide receiver in Will Pauling. Even with Tyler Van Dyke playing adequately through two games, it was not enough to give this offense any boost.

Wisconsin no longer has that reliable run game to fall back on and they have been left without an identity throughout Luke Fickell’s short tenure. Backup Braedyn Locke has been far from impressive when called upon in his career, but it’s not his fault that Luke Fickell invested so much in Phil Longo’s QB-reliant scheme without properly investing in the position itself.

Losing to Alabama is acceptable. But he degree and fashion in which Wisconsin was beaten down spoke loudly about the state of the program. This is a full rebuild, and it’s just getting started.

Boilers Still Simmering

Purdue’s spanking this weekend was much swifter and more extreme than Wisconsin’s. The line fell to 7 before kick-off, but Notre Dame came into Ross-Ade Stadium and took down the Boilermakers 66-7.

Notre Dame’s offense threw as many incompletions as they scored touchdowns. They racked up 364 yards rushing and possessed the ball for 60% of the game. Purdue averaged 3.3 yards per play on offense while giving up 8.4. There were really no positive takeaways for Purdue fans on Satuday.

In a lot of ways, Purdue’s loss to Notre Dame exposed the very same weaknesses as Wisconsin. An offensive line that I expected a lot more from was manhandled from the start. The lights shined a bit too brightly on Purdue’s inexperienced cast of receivers and Purdue had to abandon the run almost immediately. Hudson Card had to run for his life and carry this offense on his shoulders and, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t quite up for it.

Defensively, Purdue was outclassed in every way possible. Ryan Walters’ scheme relies on two or three down linemen and a variety of hybrid safety/linebacker/edge players to attack from different areas, confuse the offense pre-snap, and generate turnovers & negative plays. But none of that works if your three down linemen can each be handled one-on-one. Purdue’s linebackers then didn’t have the speed to fill in the holes or the physicality to take on the Irish linemen and Notre Dame ran crazy.

Despite such a dismal performance to start Ryan Walters’ second season, I am not quite as alarmed as I am for Wisconsin. Nevermind the massive gap between the state of these programs – both in scope of 2024 and throughout the CFP era. In no world was Purdue actually supposed to be be able to contend with Notre Dame at this point in Walters’ rebuild. The scoreboard is certainly alarming, but it was a tough matchup early in the season for a team that is enduring incredible amounts of turnover.

The main reason for my faith in the direction of Purdue is because Ryan Walters knows exactly what needs to be fixed and how to fix it. He addressed the size, physicality, and toughness that was needed but severely lacking on Saturday. Purdue has just three winning seasons in the past twelve seasons – it takes more than one season to gather and nurture the type of athletes Purdue needs.

More important than getting beaten up by a superior team is how you react. I’m not going to sound the alarms on Purdue’s rebuild because Notre Dame was more physical than them and blew them out. But with another challenge on the road against Oregon State, Purdue certainly need to demonstrate more toughness in the trenches and a more competitive team. If they come out with the same kind of energy again next week, it would be hard not to question Ryan Walters.

Darius Taylor is BACK!

Minnesota phenom running back Darius Taylor looked 100% healthy as he rushed for 124 yards and a couple TDs on 11 carries and picked up five receptions. He accounted for nearly half of Minnesota’s yardage.

He’s going to need to brace for a big workload with Iowa coming to town this weekend.

Unsung Hero of the Week: Giles Jackson

Jackson came up big again and again for the Huskies, hauling in 8 catches for 162 yards and a TD. The veteran slot has been unassuming for most of his career but has broken out in Jed Fisch’s scheme. He’s become the top target for Will Rogers and the focal point of the pass attack.

Jackson had this beautiful toe-tap to take an early lead:

Off his back foot: “f*** it, Jackson’s down there somewhere”.

Great route, great throw, great catch. This one felt like a game-winning play:

Kaleb Johnson: The Nation’s Leading Rusher

For all of Iowa’s offensive woes, their greatest fault might be not getting Kaleb Johnson the ball more.

Through two and a half games (he was suspended the first half of the opener), Johnson has 479 yards and 6 TDs on 7.9 yards per carry.

His combination of patience, vision, power, and speed in the open field is reminiscent of LeVeon Bell. Had Iowa hung on to beat Iowa State, Kaleb Johnson would be in the thick of the early Heisman discussion. It’s starting to make sense how the Iowa offense mustered only six points in the half they played without him.

Tai Felton: The Nation’s (3rd) Leading Receiver

Felton is in his fourth season with the Terps and has taken a step forward every single year. He just might have taken a step forward to one of the best wide receivers in college football this season.

In three games Felton has already caught 27 passes for 447 yards and 4 TDs. He’s truly the total package: a complete route-runner, a RAC threat, and monster in jump balls.

Terp QB Billy Edwards has been one of the best surprises of the Big Ten season so far and much of that has to do with the play of his potential All-American receiver.

Felton is proof that sometimes it’s best to stick it out at a program. Maryland has consistently had one of the best and most crowded receiver rooms in the Big Ten over the past few seasons. Felton has kept his head down, continued to grow, and is now reaping those rewards.

Great Scotts!

The Illini are off to a 3-0 start thanks in large part to a defense that has already forced 9 turnovers.

Roommates Miles Scott and Xavier Scott have had their hand in seven of those turnovers. Their shared last name may be a coincidence, but their impact has been very intentional.

Miles and Xavier Scott have quickly become one of the nation’s best DB duos.