You know how the saying goes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Even after losing to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, and struggling to get past Rutgers, this team still had the personnel capable of contending in the Big Ten West. But after losing to a Northwestern team that has struggled mightily, and at home no less, it’s clear that the Hawkeyes are pretenders instead of contenders.
After losing Matt VandeBerg for the season, many wondered how the Hawkeyes would cope. The ground game tried their best to make up for his loss, but it wasn’t enough. And after losing their first game following his injury, the Hawkeyes’ future looks bleak. If they can’t even beat Northwestern at home, how are they expected to beat the likes of Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin?
At the same time, though, Northwestern deserves credit for getting a gutsy road win. For a team that has struggled so far, they finally got off the schneid against the defending Big Ten West champions.
Ifeadi Odenigbo was crucial in Northwestern’s win. He got four sacks, and played a big part in the game-clinching interception by pressuring CJ Beathard. His performance earned him a spot as one of the Big Ten defensive players of the week. Anthony Walker Jr. also had his best game of the season in getting 10 tackles. He’s starting to look like the first round talent that many people projected him to be.
Meanwhile, their best offensive weapon Justin Jackson reached 3,000 yards, moving into fifth on the all-time rushing list in just his junior year. Although Jackson hasn’t been as productive as many expected – he’s only reached 100 yards once before this game – he had 78 yards in the first half alone.
So does this mean that Northwestern is back? It’s probably too late for them to catch up with the likes of Nebraska and Wisconsin. But this win was a much-needed confidence booster, and they have to like their chances against the slumping Michigan State Spartans.
Nobody expected Minnesota to run the table, but they could’ve done a lot worse than Penn State for their first loss of the season. Even though Penn State has dominated this rivalry in recent years, and it was Minnesota’s first game away from home, it was there for the taking considering how banged up the Nittany Lions are.
They did enough to win the game. They got great production from their running backs while limiting Saquon Barkley throughout most of the game. And Emmit Carpenter won special teams player of the week by hitting four field goals. But they couldn’t stop McSorley and Barkley when it counted the most, as they both came up with big plays in the second half and overtime.
Despite the loss, the Gophers proved their mettle. They won’t have any difficult games outside of their division, and if their offense keeps playing well, they’ll be a hard team to kill off.
Despite the touchdown in overtime, Saquon Barkley averaged 3.2 yards per carry. And despite having two scores on the day, Trace McSorley was 19-of-41. But while they were struggling, Marcus Allen was dominant all game long.
The other defensive player of the week, Allen has emerged as a leader on Penn State’s depleted defense. He played the game of his life by getting 22 tackles, and one for loss. That total was two shy of a single-game record. And while his counterpart hit four field goals, Tyler Davis got the biggest one of the game, as his 40-yarder with time expiring sent the game to overtime.
Penn State has been really inconsistent this year, but wins like this are sure to keep James Franklin happy.