After an exciting first week for the Big Ten, we could be in for an even tighter competition in the East division this year.
The first week of the college football season has come and gone. While it wasn’t as exciting as last year’s opening week, the Big Ten was at the center of some of the biggest results. From Michigan’s win over Florida in Jerry World to Maryland stunning Texas in Tom Herman’s debut, it was an overall successful week for the conference. Big Ten teams went 11-3 in Week 1, with one of those losses coming in the all-conference matchup between Ohio State and Indiana.
The Big Ten East once again looks like the best division in all of college football, and with the top three teams practically neck-and-neck with each other, the race for the top spot could prove to be even more competitive than last season’s, which was determined by mere inches. But even though the season is a marathon, not a sprint, it’s important for these teams to not fall behind before conference play starts.
Rutgers were the butt end of everyone’s jokes last year in the Big Ten. But they were a completely different team after losing Janarion Grant in the fourth game of the season. With a full season out of him, they’re hoping to at least climb out of the basement. Against Washington, however, Grant was limited in terms of offensive output outside of his one touchdown.
It helps, too, that the Scarlet Knights now have an answer at quarterback in Kyle Bolin. This is a guy who nearly beat out Lamar Jackson as the starter in Louisville. And fans will certainly be happy with his performance against Washington — minus the two picks, he had a completion percentage of 70.6 and threw for 178 yards. Combine that with the offensive mindset of Jerry Kill, and Rutgers should be a much more interesting team to watch this season than last.
It was thought that Lovie Smith would help turn Illinois into a relevant program, but when he had a chance to prove himself on the recruiting trail, he came back with a class that ranked 10th in the Big Ten and no players rated higher than three stars.
Perhaps that’s why they were a prime candidate to fall victim to MACtion in Week 1, but even though they won, it was far from convincing. Heading into the season, everyone was excited about what Kendrick Foster could do out of the backfield, but he was limited to 15 yards on eight carries. On the plus side, freshman Mike Epstein looked good. Chayce Crouch also got outplayed by Riley Neal, and they only avoided overtime by blocking a last-second field goal.
They can’t keep winning games like this, which is perhaps why the oddsmakers have Western Kentucky pegged as an eight-point favorite next week.