Around the Big Ten: Week 12 (Football)
Host Matthew McLaughlin and analysts Trevor Grady, Jon Draeger, and Adam Sheetz preview this upcoming week’s games, including No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 3 Ohio State and everything else Big Ten football.
Two teams remain at the top of the Big 10, and neither of them are ones that many expected: Northwestern and Indiana. Both teams are 4-0 to start the season with Wisconsin (2-0) and Ohio State (3-0) not far behind them.
It will be the showdown of the undefeated this week as No. 9 Indiana will face No. 3 Ohio State and No. 10 Wisconsin will face No. 19 Northwestern.
Justin Fields has been nothing short of exceptional this season with not one interception and as many incompletions as his 11 touchdown passes. Ohio State’s run game has been average with Trey Sermon and Master Teague III both averaging a little over four yards per carry.
Against Michigan and Michigan State, Indiana has allowed a total of only 73 rushing yards and also leads the Big 10 in terms of sacks. With pressure on Fields from the Hoosiers’ solid defensive line, the run game for the Buckeyes will need to improve if they hope to come out still undefeated.
Wisconsin has been impressive on both sides of the field. Its defense is No. 1 in both run and scoring defense while their offense is dominating time of possession and third downs.
Northwestern must look to slow down Wisconsin’s aggressive yet disciplined offense, which currently sits at 3rd in the nation in third down conversion percentage. The Wildcat’s defense definitely has the capability to pull off an upset after only allowing 2 yards rushing in their game against Purdue last week.
Penn State will host Iowa this week after a disastrous start to the season. The Hawkeyes are coming in with a ton of momentum following two wins against Michigan State and Minnesota.
Iowa has something that Penn State is lacking: a solid run game. The Hawkeyes ran for 226 yards against Michigan State and 235 against Minnesota with the help of their solid offensive line.
The Nittany Lions could potentially get their first win of the season here, but not without one of their two quarterbacks stepping up and consistently connecting with receivers, like Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington, since the run game is not where it has been in the past.
With both teams coming off a loss, Purdue will travel the Minnesota. The Boilermaker’s solid offense lead by quarterback Aidan O’Connell should not have many issues against the Golpher’s lack of backfield presence.
Also this week, Michigan State will play Maryland who is favored coming off of a win against the Nittany Lions and Minnesota.
Illinois will travel to Nebraska where their offensive line will definitely be tested against the Huskers strong defensive line.
Lastly, Michigan will play Rutgers as both teams hungry for a win after coming off of a three-game losing streak.
Kathryn Tague is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email kgt5061@psu.edu .
