All 18 Big Ten schools played again in Week 2, which means the conference as a whole has 36 games under its belt already. In a sport like college football, teams’ performances can vary a lot from week to week. But as teams play more games, we start to get a better picture of their floors and ceilings. Last week we learned a lot. This week, some teams reinforced that message–while others sent a different one. Let’s look at 18 quick takeaways from the Big Ten in Week 2–one from each team.
1. Northwestern still a question mark
You don’t learn much from beating up a cupcake. Still, after their first week performance it wasn’t clear whether the Wildcats could still do what they just did to Western Illinois. The Leathernecks are nothing special, but Northwestern didn’t struggle against them. That’s something, at least.
2. Maryland needs more strength
I’m not sure what to think about Northern Illinois yet this year. The Huskies struggled against Holy Cross last week, and weren’t dominated by Maryland. They’re not a top MAC team, but they can usually give good teams trouble. Regardless, the Terrapins should be able to beat them more easily. Maryland should dominate the trenches against Northern Illinois, and the receivers should have found more space with their elite speed. But they didn’t. That doesn’t bode well against better teams.
3. No letdown from Ohio State
Once again, you don’t learn much against FCS cupcakes. We knew the Buckeyes had vastly superior talent already. But we just learned that there won’t be much letdown in games that should be won easily.
4. Penn State’s defense is elite
The Nittany Lions still have question marks on offense. They can move the ball, and they’re consistent, but they haven’t shown real explosive capabilities yet. But they probably don’t need that much offense with that defense. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and there is very little that other offenses can do. The team needs to work out small things, but the talent, especially on defense, is unmatched.
5. Oregon might be the best team in the country
Oklahoma State might not be what it once was a few years ago. Even so, the absolute beatdown that the Ducks put on the ‘Pokes is not normal. The offense was unstoppable, and the defense looked as good as anyone in the country. The performance earned the Ducks one first-place vote in both major polls, and that seems too few to me. It’s only one data point, but that showing was absurdly impressive.
6. The Illinois hype might be legit
I don’t want to read too much into this showing, especially because turnover luck (which rarely lasts) made it look much better for the Illini than the game actually was. Duke seems like a decent team, and the Blue Devils moved the ball well. But turnovers and big plays swung the game, and it got out of hand late. Still, it’s an impressive performance from Illinois, but don’t rush into too much from it.
7. Michigan is not last year’s team
Or, to be more accurate, this looks like last year’s team. But not the team that finished last year strong. The defense wasn’t powerful in the trenches like it was against Ohio State or Alabama. The offense couldn’t do that much. I’m not sold on Oklahoma being amazing this year, and Michigan didn’t look like a great team against the Sooners.
8. Iowa is still Iowa
Despite the changes at coordinator and the hope about the offense, everything looks the same. Methodical, consistent offense that doesn’t score much, ball control, field position, strong defense, and impeccable special teams. That’s what Iowa does. It keeps the Hawkeyes in games, it beats most teams, and it sometimes loses games it shouldn’t. It’s still FerentzBall, and it lost to Iowa State by one score. That’s what Iowa fans are used to, and that’s what they’re getting again.
9. Indiana looked much better
The Hoosiers didn’t look amazing in Week 1. In Week 2, they looked much better. I don’t know quite how good Kennesaw State is. But the Owls almost beat Wake Forest in Week 1, and they were absolutely dominated by Indiana in Week 2. That says something good about the Hoosiers, I think.
10. Minnesota might have an offense
The Golden Gophers didn’t look amazing on offense in Week 1. They did in Week 2, albeit against a much worse team. Northwestern State was actually possibly the worst team in FCS last year. So we don’t learn much in cupcake games, but at least Minnesota moved the ball against a bad team. Some years the Gophers barely even do that.
11. Wisconsin looked better than Week 1
The Badgers struggled a decent bit in their opener against Miami (OH). The defense looked solid but not amazing, while the offense didn’t do much. Against Middle Tennessee State both sides of the ball looked even better. Is that because MTSU is worse than Miami? Or is it because Wisconsin improved? Both are definitely possible, but we’ll find out soon enough anyway.
12. Rutgers looked better than Wisconsin
Wisconsin beat Miami (OH) in Week 1, while Rutgers played the RedHawks in Week 2. And if we’re being honest, Rutgers just looked better. The Scarlet Knights looked better on both sides of the ball for most of the game, though the defense didn’t get big stops in big moments like Wisconsin’s did. Rutgers and Wisconsin don’t meet this year, but if we’re trying to figure out relative power of Big Ten teams, we have a good data point.
13. Nebraska might be very good
It’s hard to judge Nebraska this year so far. Is Cincinnati good? Maybe. Is Akron good? Probably not. But the Zips looked okay on defense against Wyoming in Week 1, and they couldn’t slow Nebraska at all. That tells us something. Maybe Nebraska can keep games further apart than one score this year.
14. USC’s defense needs work
The offense clearly doesn’t have problems this year. USC can score at will, especially against teams that can’t really compete in the trenches. But now it’s two weeks in a row that USC has given up way too many yards and points against teams that the Trojans should slow down a lot better. That could be a problem if it isn’t fixed.
15. Michigan State got a decent win
It was a very fun game. What does it tell us about the team? It’s hard to tell. Boston College seems like a middle-of-the-road ACC team. Michigan State beat the Eagles, but didn’t really outplay them all game. So that leaves the Spartans as a somewhat middling Power 4 team, fighting for bowl eligibility. Which maybe is better than what we expected from them before the season.
16. Two wins for Purdue!
Boilermaker fans are probably surprised about this. Expectations this season were not so high. Purdue beat the first two cupcakes on the schedule, and good for them. Up next are three games against very good teams, including two in the top 10. 2-0 to start the season, but 2-10 is probably the expectation. And nothing from the first two wins was impressive enough to change that.
17. UCLA is in for a rough year
Honestly, UNLV isn’t so bad. The Rebels won 11 games last year and finished ranked in the final AP Poll. They may have taken a bit of a step back this year, based on their first two wins. This loss isn’t as bad as it would have been three years ago. UCLA is still going to be towards the bottom of the Big Ten, and it won’t be a fun season, but it could be much worse.
18. Washington dominated a cupcake
Washington didn’t look amazing in Week 1. The Huskies looked better than in their opener, but it was against a far worse team. I’ll end with the same warning I started with: You don’t learn that much from beating cupcakes.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: What we learned about each Big Ten team in Week 2
Reporting by Yesh Ginsburg, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
