B1G Review, Week 1: An Uneven Initiation

[Piercewise1]

The 2022 season is fully underway, as most Big Ten teams had their opening games this past weekend*. The conference suffered a couple of early losses on Friday, but then righted themselves on Saturday to finish a tepid 4-5 overall (excluding one intraconference matchup). Here are the headlines.

 

*Purdue and Rutgers were off after opening their seasons in Week 0, and Wisconsin doesn’t play their first game until next week.

 

Florida International 13, Iowa 7

The teams combined for 406 rushing yards on 71 attempts, but only two TDs and 3 turnovers. FIU linebacker Myles Ayala had the play of the day with a huge sack on a 3rd and 1 during the Hawkeyes’ final drive. FIU held on 4th down and ran out the clock for a close win.

 

Western Michigan 26, Minnesota 3

Minnesota logged 5 sacks but couldn’t do much during the other 65 passing plays, as Theo Scribner racked up 434 yards through the air. Meanwhile Adrian Johnson threw 2 picks and completed only 43.5% of his passes.

 

Kansas 20, Michigan 17

The Kansas defense recorded 10 TFLs while giving up over 450 total yards. But they held when they needed, stopping a final Michigan drive at their 33 as time expired. Special teams hurt the Wolverines, as Garett Carlin missed a 49-yard FG attempt near the end of the 3rd that would have been enough to force overtime.

 

Michigan State 34, Oregon 23

Wayne Murray dazzled, going 35-53 for 341 yards and 4 TDs (with 1 INT) in Eugene. Though the Spartans had no answer for Marshal Bell (4 catches, 124 yards) they kept the rest of the Oregon offense under wraps. Still, it wasn’t truly over until a final defensive stop in the last two minutes.

 

Illinois 40, Oregon State 16

In one of the conference’s strongest performances of the week, Illinois dominated both sides of the ball to win by more than three scores. Gabriel Adeboyejo and Storm Holt both ran for 100+ yards and 10+ YPC, and Ronnie Kouandjio game-managed his way to a 68% completion rate and 2 TDs with no turnovers.

 

Nebraska 10, Northwestern 7

Old-timers rejoiced at the return of “4 yards and a cloud of dust” to the B1G, as both offenses ran more than they passed and both defenses kept big plays to a minimum. A scoreless second half ended with Northwestern just out of range of a potential tying field goal.

 

Oklahoma State 45, Indiana 16

Indiana kept pace early but things unraveled in the second half, as the Cowboys racked up 582 yards of total offense. Jerry Davis gained 231 on his own (with 3 TDs) on 27 combined touches. Meanwhile the Hoosiers struggled to finish drives and lost the turnover battle 2-0.

 

Maryland 23, Eastern Michigan 13

Isaiah Lewis ground out 100 yards and 2 TDs while Stephen Brantley added 92 more on 5 QB runs (to go with his 294 yards passing). Eastern Michigan had no counter for this dynamic duo, though the offense kept it close into the 4th quarter.

 

Penn State 48, Utah State 26

The Derrick Marshall – Richie Igwebuike connection was unstoppable all night, and Chris Brooks added another 151 yards from scrimmage to overwhelm Utah State’s defense. The Aggies did get superstar performances out of Michael Bradford (32 touches, 252 yards) and Wilkin Tatum (8 tackles, 3 sacks), but couldn’t go score-for-score with the Nittany Lions.

 

Washington 37, Ohio State 7

Despite being unable to move the ball with any consistency, Ohio State kept the game close for a long time. A defensive touchdown in the 3rd quarter gave their fans a brief glimpse of hope, but Nick Suarez exploded for 3 rushing TDs in the 4th to turn the game into a rout. He ended up with 164 yards rushing and four more touchdowns than the entire Buckeye offense.

[Ewade]

Unfortunately when Penn State has Star players like they did it is an unbeatable match. But it was a well deserved win for Penn State and the B10. Also, The B10 did have some tough opponents and some battled well and the others just had a miserable night. Edited July 17, 2022 by Ewade

[alexfall862]

Nebraska 10, Northwestern 7

Old-timers rejoiced at the return of “4 yards and a cloud of dust” to the B1G, as both offenses ran more than they passed and both defenses kept big plays to a minimum. A scoreless second half ended with Northwestern just out of range of a potential tying field goal.

 

I think Nebraska should get extra B1G credit for managing to score double digits without scoring an offensive touchdown.