College football powerless rankings: Michigan State makes Rutgers looks like Ohio State

Welcome to the Powerless five; a ranking where you do not want to be No. 1. This week in the Powerless Five, there were bad Big Ten debuts the Panthers dominated by Notre Dame and Kansas doing Kansas things. 

The Big Ten was back this weekend and it was the best of times and the worst of times their first weekend back. While teams at the top looked good, Michigan State, Illinois and Minnesota’s debuts did not go so well.

Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi threw three interceptions and fumbled once as the offense had seven turnovers in their upset loss to the Rutgers “Fighting Schianoes” 38-27. Illinois managed just 87 passing yards and no offensive touchdowns en route to being obliterated by Wisconsin 45-7. The Minnesota Golden Gophers’ defense dug a 21-10 hole and could not recover losing to the Michigan Wolverines 49-24.

In the ACC, the vaunted Pitt defense gave up 310 passing yards to Ian Book in their 45-3 drubbing by the Fighting Irish. Finally, Kansas continues to prove they are the worst football program in the Power 5 putting up little opposition against the Kansas State Wildcats losing 55-14.

College football powerless rankings

5. Michigan State Spartans

Considering the pandemic and entirely new coaching staff, the Spartans did not play that poorly. Michigan State outgained Rutgers 379 to 276 in total yards. Spartans quarterback Rock Lombardi was not terrible in his first start as the full time throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Michigan State was over 50 percent on third downs. Two things ruined the game for the Spartans.

Five fumbles and two interceptions will cost you every time. Despite Lombardi’s 300-yard, three-touchdown performance, three of their seven turnovers were on the first-time, full-time starting quarterback. As a result, the Spartans found themselves down 14-0 early and could not recover. Michigan State could not run the ball either with just 50 yards rushing at 1.3 yards per carry.  That is a toxic combination playing a team with nothing to lose.

4. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Golden Gophers came into this game versus the Wolverines with expectations to make a statement proving that last season was no fluke. Instead, after scoring first, the Gophers found themselves down 21-10 in the first quarter and could never catch up. Before the start of the game, the Gophers said they would be without their starting tackle, guard, kicker and punter.

The absences on the offensive line showed early against Michigan when Donovan Jeter returned a strip-sack fumble for a touchdown. It was the defense, however, that let the Gophers down. This largely inexperienced unit returned only 33 percent of their returning production and the Wolverines took advantage. Redshirt freshman quarterback Joe Milton had a great debut with 277 total yards and two total touchdowns.

The Gophers could not contain the big play either. Michigan had six plays of twenty yards or more in this game. The Wolverines running game had 8.2 yards per rush. Michigan took it to the Gophers for four quarters Minnesota had no answer.

3. Illinois Fighting Illini

The Illini are not on this list because they lost a game they were supposed to win. Illinois was 20.5 point underdogs. However, this was a game for Illinois to prove its progress toward competing with the top half of the division. The Illini returned 78% of last season’s production good for 12th in the country. Granted, this was a revenge game for Wisconsin but Illinois didn’t even come close to covering.

The Illini offense looked anemic and impotent in this game. Quarterback Brandon Peters did not throw for 100 yards in this game. In today’s game, a quarterback leading the team in rushing is acceptable unless your quarterback is Brandon Peters. The Illini got nothing going offensively with just eight first downs and converting only two third downs totaling a meager 218 total yards.

The Illini had five drives of five plays or less and had the ball just 16 minutes. It does not matter how much production returns if it is not good.

2. Pittsburgh Panthers

Who knew the Panthers would miss Kenny Pickett as much as they did? This 45-3 drubbing at the hand of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is the result of a confluence of issues the Panthers have. First, the Panthers’ defense is feast or famine. Though Pitt has one of the best defensive lines in college football, the back seven is marginal at best in pass defense.

The Panthers are giving up 308 yards passing during their four-game losing streak. It makes sense because the Panthers are playing some of the better offenses of the conference. Ian Book, who has struggled to throw the ball downfield all season, threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns averaging 10.4 yards per attempt.

Offensively, the Panthers have played close to the vest all season. Pitt is not an efficient pass offense. The Panthers average about 38 pass attempts per game for 259 yards which is less than 7 yards per attempt. Against Notre Dame, without Pickett, the passing game was even worse. Joey Yellen completed just ten passes and threw three interceptions.

1. Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are proving to be the worst program in the Power Five. How bad are they? Kansas has played 20 quarters of football and have gone scoreless in 40 percent (eight) of the quarters they’ve played. Defensively, the Jayhawks have given up over 300 yards of total offense in every game they’ve played this season.

Their game against Kansas State is a sample of Kansas’ woes this season. The Wildcats scored on offense, defense and special teams against their interstate rival. The Jayhawks never scored a meaningful touchdown. They were down 20-0 before their first touchdown. The defense is so porous, that the Wildcats scored 35 points in a row before Kansas scored again. Not only are the Jayhawks not competitive in the Power Five, but they also might not be competitive in FBS.

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