Big Ten football mired in mediocrity in this strange and surreal season
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In case you haven’t noticed, Big Ten football leaves much to be desired this season.
That isn’t just me saying it, just look at the numbers, or more specifically, look at the records.
Five of the 14 teams currently have a 1-3 record, including Michigan and Michigan State, while Penn State is 0-4 for just the second time in school history.
Michigan hasn’t been 1-3 since 1967, and Jim Harbaugh’s team failed to even be competitive during this past Saturday’s 49-11 loss to Wisconsin, which had missed the last two games because of COVID-19 issues and played without a handful of starters.
“We were thoroughly beaten in every phase and didn’t really do anything well,” Harbaugh said. “Did not play good, did not coach good. Not in a good place with the execution, not in a good place adjusting and what we were doing schematically. Not in a good place as a football team right now and that falls on me.”
Michigan State failed to advance beyond Indiana’s 35-yard line during this past Saturday’s 24-0 loss, which came a week after Iowa had pounded the Spartans 49-7 at Kinnick Stadium.
The 66-point combined margin of defeat is the worst two-game stretch for the program since Michigan State lost by 68 combined points in the last game of the George Perles era in 1994 (to Penn State, 59-31) and dropped Nick Saban’s first game in 1995 (against Nebraska, 50-10).
As for Penn State, the best thing you could say at this stage is that the players didn’t quit after falling way behind at Nebraska this past Saturday. The Nittany Lions went from trailing 24-3 to having a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter before losing, 30-23.
Penn State, which faces Iowa on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, also might have found a better option at quarterback with sophomore Will Levis having replaced a struggling Sean Clifford against Nebraska.
Minnesota, under head coach P.J. Fleck, was thought to be a program on the rise after finishing 11-2 last season. But the Gophers are now 1-3 and they performed woefully against Iowa, losing 35-7 this past Friday at home
Iowa had shown signs of being another Big Ten underachiever when it started the season with losses at Purdue, and at home against Northwestern.
But the 2-2 Hawkeyes have since won their last two games by a combined 70 points and should be favored in three of their last four games, the exception being the regular-season finale against Wisconsin.
Nebraska is 1-2, but just 10-17 overall under Scott Frost, so it’s hard to know what to think of the Cornhuskers. Frost was considered the savior when he returned to his alma mater in 2018, but so far, he has failed to deliver.
Illinois and Rutgers are both 1-3, and it’s easy to know what to think of them. Neither team is very good.
The teams that have been good so far, well, not surprisingly, it starts with third-ranked Ohio State, which is 3-0 and preparing to face 4-0 Indiana on Saturday in Columbus.
If I’m a Buckeye fan, my biggest concern at this stage is the Big Ten’s overall lack of strength, because anything less than an undefeated season would almost certainly cost Ohio State a spot in the playoffs.
Indiana has been a pleasant surprise under head coach Tom Allen, and the same with 4-0 Northwestern under Pat Fitzgerald.
The Wildcats, who finished 3-9 last season, are proof that one player can make a huge difference, especially if that one player is a quarterback as talented and experienced as Indiana graduate transfer Peyton Ramsey.
The addition of Ramsey, along with a solid defense, has created a winning formula in Evanston.
Purdue also deserves praise for being 2-1 under extremely difficult circumstances.
The Boilermakers have been impacted by COVID-19, and have played without star receiver and return specialist Rondale Moore for undisclosed reasons.
The fact that Maryland (2-1) is one of six teams in the conference with a winning record also comes as a surprise. The Terrapins looked awful during the 43-3 loss to Northwestern in the season opener, but have since defeated Minnesota and Penn State by scores of 45-44 and 35-19, respectively.
Maryland had to cancel its game against Ohio State last Saturday due to COVID-19 issues, which is unfortunate, although, the Terrapins were able to avoid almost a sure loss.
The challenge of playing during a global pandemic, obviously, makes this season unique. But every team is in the same position and faces the same obstacles and distractions.
As a whole, the Big Ten just seems weaker than usual. The conference suffers from an image standpoint when two of its blue bloods – Michigan and Penn State – both struggle at the same time.
Combine that with Michigan State spiraling in the wrong direction and that’s three of the conference’s top programs that are failing to produce.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz never would acknowledge that the conference is weaker than usual, because what would he gain by criticizing the conference?
The challenge for Iowa is to take advantage of the conference being down this season.
If the Hawkeyes could figure a way to beat Wisconsin again, a 6-2 record would seem within reach.
Following Saturday’s game at Penn State, Iowa will face Nebraska on Black Friday at Kinnick Stadium, Illinois on Dec. 5 in Champaign, Ill., and Wisconsin on Dec. 12 at Kinnick Stadium.
Those four teams have a combined 4-9 record.
The strength of a conference is cyclical, and right now, the Big Ten is down.
Big Ten West Division standings
Northwestern 4-0
Wisconsin 2-0
Purdue 2-1
Iowa 2-2
Nebraska 1-2
Minnesota 1-3
Illinois 1-3
Big Ten East Division standings
Indiana 4-0
Ohio State 3-0
Maryland 2-1
Michigan 1-3
Michigan State 1-3
Rutgers 1-3
Penn State 0-4