Around the Big Ten: Week 10 (Football)
Host Jordan Hession and analysts Matthew McLaughlin, Alex Rocco and Trevor Grady discuss all six matchups in the third week of the Big Ten's condensed season.
The Big Ten has played its first two weeks, and this season has had some surprises. Who could have thought Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern would all be 2-0 to start the season?
There is no surprise with who is at the top of the Big Ten however. Ohio State dominated Penn State on Halloween night in Happy Valley with a huge 38-25 victory. Justin Fields is leading an offense who is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the conference.
The Buckeyes are clearly the most talented team in the Big Ten, and they showed it by scoring 38 points against a great Penn State defense. The first two weeks have been exciting, but the one constant is that Ohio State still runs the Big Ten.
Indiana has looked good through two weeks, and they are arguably the second best team in the Big Ten East. The Hoosiers picked up their second win on the road as they knocked off Rutgers 37-21 to move to 2-0 on the season.
Outside of Ohio State, the Big Ten seems to have no clear second best team, and Indiana already has a win over Penn State. Tom Allen has the Hoosiers in a great position to make a run at a New Year’s Six game this year.
The Big Ten this season has been filled with a lot of let downs. Penn State and Minnesota are both 0-2 and have struggled a lot through two games. Both teams seem to be in a rebuilding situation, and everyone will have to wait and see if they can turn around and get something out of their 2020 seasons.
Michigan lost a home game to a bad Michigan State team which leaves Michigan 1-1 with a lot of issues on both sides of the ball. Coach Harbaugh’s seat is getting very hot and it could just be a matter of time before Michigan moves on from him and heads in a different direction.
After Week 1, the Big Ten West looked like Wisconsin’s division, but a COVID-19 outbreak has forced the Badgers to cancel games against Purdue and Nebraska. Wisconsin is getting close to being ineligible to play in the Big Ten Championship game at the end of the season.
If Wisconsin is ruled ineligible, that would be terrible for college football because Wisconsin seems like a team that can compete against any team in college football. Hopefully the outbreak slows so Wisconsin can get back on the field and compete for a conference championship.
The Big Ten did witness the emergence of a new star in Week 2. Taulia Tagovailoa played a tremendous game and got his first career win as the starter at Maryland. Tagovailoa racked up 453 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in Maryland’s dramatic 45-44 overtime win over Minnesota. Taulia Tagovailoa will always be compared to his older brother Tua, but after that performance Taulia Tagovailoa has made a name for himself early in the 2020 season.
The Big Ten has had some amazing performances and some huge surprises. The one constant is the Big Ten still runs through Columbus and the Ohio State Buckeyes have to be frontrunners to win the Big Ten and represent it in the College Football Playoff come January.
Adam Sheetz is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.
About the Contributors
Jordan Hession
Junior / Broadcast Journalism
Jordan Hession is a junior from Annapolis, Maryland majoring in broadcast journalism. Jordan is the co-host of CommRadio’s longest running live radio show The Sin Bin with Kyle Cannillo. In the summer of 2020, Jordan interned at SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio as a sports programmer. When Jordan is not discussing sports, he is writing various articles for collegiate and professional sports leagues and teams. Jordan has a love for all sports but has a genuine passion to spread ice hockey and baseball globally. Away from broadcast journalism, Jordan enjoys lifting weights and cooking. Jordan’s role models in the broadcast journalism industry include Doc Emrick, Gary Thorne and Mike Lange. In the future, Jordan sees himself working as a producer or host in sports talk radio and potentially television. To contact Jordan, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Alex Rocco
Third-Year / Broadcast Journalism
Alex Rocco is a third-year student from Long Island, New York majoring in broadcast journalism. Rocco is a general manager, football reporter and broadcaster for CommRadio. Along with covering football for CommRadio, he’s a women’s soccer reporter for The Daily Collegian. Rocco got his start as the president of his high school sports media department, where he wrote numerous articles and broadcasted many games. If you would like to contact him, his email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Matthew McLaughlin
Freshman / Broadcast Journalism
Matthew “Matt” McLaughlin is a freshman from Abington, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism at Penn State. He is a writer and analyst in all three departments for CommRadio. He’s been featured as an analyst on live shows such as Daylate Tailgate, State College Saturdays and Hail Mary.
Adam Sheetz
Junior / Broadcast Journalism
Adam Sheetz is a third year student from Reedsville, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism. He has been a broadcaster for WCHX 105.5 FM in Mifflin County covering high school sports. He has also been a member of CommRadio since his first semester at Penn State, being involved in both the Arts and Sports departments. Adam has extensive experience in a play-by-play setting within CommRadio, covering football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball for the station. He has done written content for CommRadio ranging from Penn State football articles all the way to discussing Disney Channel movies. To contact Adam, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Trevor Grady
Fourth Year / Management Information Systems
Trevor Grady is a fourth-year from Dublin, Ohio majoring in supply chain management at Penn State. He creates various forms of content for the CommRadio sports department and he has also interned for 270 Hoops, a local high school basketball media outlet in central Ohio. He is interested in broadcasting play-by-play for a national television or radio network in football, basketball or baseball. To contact Trevor, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
