Ohio State is the conference’s new best squad
Not only did the Buckeyes win last Saturday, but they destroyed Penn State, at Penn State. And in doing so, regained their early-season claim as the league’s best.
Nobody on offense had stunning numbers, but Jim Tressel went back to playing more “Tressel-ball.” Running backs Brandon Saine and Daniel Herron rushed a combined 36 times, good for 126 yards on the ground. Terrelle Pryor wasn’t fantastic, but passed for two touchdowns and added a third on a gutsy run.
But it was the other side of the ball that really made the difference.
The Buckeyes held Penn State to just 201 yards and nine first downs. The Nittany Lions were 4-of-16 on third down.
This week’s game against Iowa will probably be the deciding factor on who will finish Number 1 on the power ranks, and more importantly, who is going to the Rose Bowl.
Is Rich Rodriguez back on the hot seat?
What is going on in Ann Arbor right now? Things have gone from bad to worse and is it fair to say now things are out of control?
In their last four conference games, the defense has failed to hold their opponents to under 30 points. At least the offense was good for 36 points this week.
The last two losses have really put the pressure on head coach Rodriguez, but maybe more-so, new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. Granted, Robinson, the former Syracuse coach, has inherited a subpar defense.
The defense does have a first-round pick on the D-line in Brandon Graham, as well as a future high-round draft pick in corner Donovan Warren. But there is also a lot of youth on that side of the ball, so errors are going to happen.
The loss makes things very difficult in the road back to a bowl game for the Wolverines as they will need to win in Wisconsin or against Ohio State for any hope.
After loss, Iowa shouldn’t call this a lost season
Iowa was a great story while it lasted. The overachieving Hawkeyes were narrowly escaping questionable teams while outside of the Penn State game over a month ago, had yet to play a team deemed “a real test.”
So we shouldn’t be that surprised to see a gritty Northwestern team come into Iowa City and upend the league’s only unbeaten.
But let’s not forget, this team and their fans shouldn’t give up now. Three months ago, anyone realistically thinking that Iowa would be in the driver seat to earn a right to Pasadena this late in the season would have been dubbed partially delusional.
But it’s real, and the Hawks are just two games away from that being a reality.
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