Fatigue in Ann Arbor, a Hurricane in Tuscaloosa: College Football Recap and Preview

Here is a question nobody at Big Ten headquarters wanted to field in early October: which blueblood is in worse shape right now, Michigan or Penn State?

We’ll get there. Start in Minneapolis.

The recap

Minnesota 20, Michigan 14. I expected Michigan to win, and I expected Minnesota to keep it close. Instead the Gophers won, and for the first time since 1977, they got to celebrate the Little Brown Jug after beating Michigan in their own building. That’s a great mark for that program.

I wouldn’t call this the straw that broke the camel’s back. You can see the signs of fatigue, though, in Kyle Whittingham’s first Michigan team, and it’s bad over there. Bryce Underwood is not showing he was worth the money. His decision-making has been terrible, and Saturday was more of the same: 10 of 21 for 101 yards and two second-half interceptions. Whittingham said afterward that everything’s in play. The next quarterback up is a true freshman.

It’s a shame, because that Michigan defense is really good. It has some stout players, and linebacker Chase Taylor is a great one (he looked like he got hurt in this game, too). But there’s a complete inability on the other side to drive the ball down the field. At one point in the second half, Michigan had 103 yards of offense. Neither team looked all that great offensively. Minnesota found a way to get the job done, and that’s what counts.

A quick shout to my Badgers, who hung 31 points on Michigan State in a 31-3 win. More on them in a minute.

Ohio State 31, Iowa 14. It would be a disservice not to talk about this one, but I can get through it quickly, because Iowa got the brakes beat off of them. That secondary could not hold up to Jeremiah Smith: 11 catches, 206 yards, two touchdowns, and a couple more school records for the collection. Julian Sayin threw for 324. Vintage Ohio State, and exactly what I expected. Iowa made the game very Iowa-ish and slow for a while, and Ohio State just kept dominating.

The defense is what stood out. Iowa ran for 39 yards. The message from that unit was pretty clear: Hey, we’re still good. We’re still here. We know we lost to Texas, and we know we had a bad fourth quarter (they blew a 20-point lead in it and lost by a point). We’re still a dominant defense. Even though we lost Sonny Styles. Even though we lost Arvell Reese. We’re going to dominate you at every level of the game. And that’s what they did.

USC 25, Washington 21. A four-point game, at home, after trailing 21-10 in the second half, and the Lincoln Riley seat is hot. People are talking about it. I’m seeing the social media posts, and some of the Coliseum crowd let him hear it, too. He got that massive contract, he’s brought in good quarterbacks, and USC has not been the playoff and national championship team he was hired to build. For an organization that pulls in that kind of money, he needs to start winning more, and he needs to start winning the Oregon games (USC lost to the Ducks 41-27 the week before) and the other ranked matchups. The Big Ten has good teams, so there are opportunities to prove yourself. And Washington is not a bad team by any stretch.

Northwestern 34, Penn State 13. Penn State lost to my Badgers at Beaver Stadium (shout out to them again; Wisconsin came back from 17 down and won 24-20), then went into Northwestern’s new Ryan Field last Friday and got absolutely pounded. It was not close. Northwestern ran for 413 yards and led 31-7 after three quarters. There have to be serious questions around Rocco Becht, who could not move the ball at all; Penn State’s only touchdown after halftime came with the game long decided. I haven’t seen a Penn State team get dominated this badly. It’s somehow worse than last year, and I don’t know how that’s possible.

That program is in a bad spot. It’s in a worse position than Michigan, and I don’t know how that’s possible either, because they’re both in bad positions. This started as a top-20 team and climbed to No. 13. It’ll be an interesting season for Penn State, and one a lot of Penn State fans might not want to continue.

Elsewhere: No. 25 Missouri ran No. 8 Florida out of the building, 45-17. Most of the rest of the Top 25 took care of business against unranked opponents.

The preview

No. 2 Georgia at No. 6 Alabama (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. CT, ABC). This is Georgia’s dominant defense against Keelan Russell. Russell is the real deal, but so is that defense. Georgia controls the ball like a pro team: play good defense, then slowly wear you down on offense. They’re No. 2 for a reason, even with Alabama favored by a point and a half at home.

Then there’s the side story. Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall near Gulf Shores late Friday, and the worst of it in Tuscaloosa is forecast for Saturday morning into the early afternoon. Alabama says the game is on as scheduled, and forecasters think most of the rain could be north of town by kickoff, with a lightning delay the bigger risk. Obviously, we hope for everybody’s safety first. But we could get a very interesting weather game, and if the track shifts, a time change isn’t out of the question.

USC at Penn State (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. CT, NBC). That’s a must-win for Lincoln Riley and USC. Penn State is on its heels. It’s down on the mat. USC has to win that game. Otherwise, you might see Riley collect one of the biggest buyouts in college football (reported at $60 million or more) just to get him out of there. On the other side, Penn State needs a big win of its own after being down and out for the count. And it’s the White Out, so Beaver Stadium will be loud either way.

Texas vs. Oklahoma (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. CT, ABC). I wouldn’t say Oklahoma is surging. The Sooners are stumbling. John Mateer looked like a surefire Heisman candidate, and he has absolutely not been that this year. That offense cannot move the ball, which is a shame, because the defense is pretty good and has kept them in games. They just haven’t been able to close those games out. Take Michigan: I just spent three paragraphs on how bad that Michigan offense is, and Oklahoma held it to 17 points. The Sooners still lost, 17-10, because their own offense couldn’t get there. That offense needs to score some points, get some touchdowns and get some confidence. Texas comes in unbeaten.

No. 7 Indiana at Nebraska (Saturday, 11 a.m. CT, Fox). Nebraska is 5-0, and the Nebraska faithful travel well and are saying, hey, rank us. I have my own gripes with the AP. Indiana had a close game against Northwestern, then handled business against Rutgers last weekend, and the Hoosiers have won 21 straight. It’ll be interesting to see how this one goes. It’s not a ranked-on-ranked matchup, and I honestly think it should be.

No. 21 UCLA at No. 13 Oregon (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. CT, CBS). UCLA needs to prove it’s worth the ranking. The Bruins are 4-0 and fairly untested; Oregon is their first ranked opponent of the year. Oregon will likely roll with Dylan Raiola, since Dante Moore is dealing with a concussion from the USC game, and Raiola looked good against USC (two touchdown passes), even though that USC defense has had its problems. We’ll see what UCLA’s offense can do in Eugene. OG Pac-12 game, both teams having good seasons.

No. 20 Iowa at Washington (Friday night, Fox). Washington needs to get back on its feet. The Huskies have lost two close games, 27-24 to Minnesota and 25-21 to USC, but this is still a good team. Washington fans, keep the faith. You’ve lost some tough ones, your team is young and learning, and they’ll get there.

Outside the Big Ten and SEC: Texas Tech is the team to watch in the Big 12. Miami is the team in the ACC (the 5-0 Hurricanes are off this week). After that, it’s kind of the rest of the pack, and it’ll be interesting to see if anybody can challenge them.

As for that question at the top: it’s Penn State, and I still don’t know how that’s possible. Michigan hosts Penn State on Oct. 17. Somebody has to win that one.