B1G Thoughts: The Bigger Ten went 17-1 in Week 1, but not all wins were created equally

Every week after the Big Ten games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and more.

Ryan Day and Ohio State are all in for the 2024 season. Is Oregon a national championship contender or will they stumble in their first Big Ten season? How do the former members of the Big Ten West fair in the new division-less format?

Here we will track all these storylines and more as the Big Ten hopes to win back-to-back national championships. Check out the I-80 Football Show for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.

Week 2 has come and gone. After five straight days of college football, we fans can do what we do best: overreact to everything we’ve seen in 60 minutes of game time.

If you’re one of the lucky few, mainly Ohio State and Penn State fans, you may already be making plans for how to celebrate your national championship. The unlucky few, Michigan and Oregon fans, it’s time to cope.

Depending on your level of angst, either Week 1 means nothing and you will bounce back, or your team sucks and it’s a wasted season already. No matter what side of the fence you sit on, we can all agree that we’re happy football is back.

With that, I have some thoughts from Week 1…

USC learned how to tackle… but have you seen their schedule?

USC beat LSU this weekend, which I did not think would be possible, and they deserve credit for that. They took a first-time quarterback and a new defense and did what many of us thought was impossible.

That being said, we need to take several steps back from the USC hype. The Trojans learned how to tackle (welcome to college football), but finally being able to tackle doesn’t immediately make them a national championship contender. Defense is more than finally learning the fundamentals, and despite many people’s expectations, I don’t think LSU has a very good offense.

You may think I’m being crotchety, but LSU lost that game more than USC won it by coaching not to lose and putting their defense in horrible positions with its constant blitzing, leaving a poor secondary in man-coverage.

I predicted USC to go 7-5. They may be better than that on the backs of this win alone, and I still believe they’ll beat Michigan, but this is not a national championship contender and they most likely won’t make the playoffs. In my opinion, the most underrated part of joining the Big Ten is the upgrade in talent and coaching from the middle-class teams. This is still a USC team that lost five of its last six games last year.

Yes, their defense may be improved, but their quarterback is worse — no offense, but he’s not Caleb Williams. USC still has a five-game stretch of Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers. All five of those teams are expected to win eight or more games, and they also have to play a tough Nebraska defense and end the season against Notre Dame.

Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I’d be surprised if USC wins more than eight games this season. At least they can tackle, though.

It’s time to delete your “Oregon is going to run the Big Ten” tweets

Entering the season almost everyone, myself included, thought that Oregon was easily a top-five team in the country. When you talk about which teams are guaranteed to make the playoffs, that list starts with Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon.

Oregon’s spot in Indianapolis felt preordained, and even die-hard Ohio State fans have thought of a scenario where the Buckeyes lose to Oregon in the regular season but win the rematch in the Big Ten Championship game. All of that may still come to pass, but after one game Oregon may want to lower its sights.

Oregon beat FCS Idaho 24-14 in a game where they gave up three sacks and seven tackles for loss. One of Oregon’s strengths was supposed to be its offensive line, and it looked overmatched against Idaho.

Many people will look at the stats and say they’ll be fine. Expected Heisman contender Dillon Gabriel threw for 357 yards and two touchdowns on 41 completions, and sure that looks great. The problem is you needed to throw the ball 51 times to beat Idaho.

After struggling in Week 1, now Oregon has an unexpected test in Boise State who ran for 357 yards and seven touchdowns against Georgia Southern. I have more belief that Oregon may have just stumbled in Week 1 and will fix their issues, but it would be a lie to say that the opener wasn’t concerning for an expected national championship contender.

Wow, Michigan, that was worse than even I expected

In the new college football game, you start a season with impact players based on ratings and whatever else the EA Sports team used in their formula. You do not necessarily get to pick which players are impact players, but if you had the choice I’d bet my next paycheck you wouldn’t choose defensive tackle and tight end.

That is where Michigan sits. They have four potential first-round picks on their team, but outside of star corner Will Johnson, it’s two defensive tackles and a tight end. All four of those players are dynamic, and they will have long NFL careers. But for good teams, and maybe even bad teams, it’s possible to neutralize players at those positions.

After struggling to move the ball consistently against Fresno State and needing a pick-six to seal the game, Michigan has serious problems for the 2024 season. Their defense is going to be excellent, for the most part, as it was in their last game. But with Texas, USC, Oregon, and Ohio State on the schedule, having a bad offense dramatically lowers your ceiling — just ask Iowa.

I entered this season thinking Michigan would struggle and have a step back, but seeing the product they put on their field, it may be worse than even I could imagine. Readjust your expectations. The championship hangover is going to be a tough one.

We have an answer to the quarterback recruiting question.

There is a debate in college football around what is the best way to recruit quarterbacks. For the schools that can recruit high-level quarterbacks, there are two main ideals:

One, used by Ryan Day, is to bring in the best quarterback you can every season and constantly compete for starting reps. At Ohio State, being the starting quarterback is earned, and can be taken from you at any point, a la Kyle McCord.

The other, used a lot by Dabo Swiney and Lincoln Riley, is to recruit a stud quarterback every other year so your QB feels safe and is less likely to transfer. If you’re Riley, this system probably works for you because if your quarterback isn’t good enough, you can just go into the portal. For Swinney, who doesn’t use the portal, it can be a death wish.

It’s great when you land a Trevor Lawrence type, but after back-to-back misses, Clemson has had below-average quarterback play for four straight seasons with no clear hope that it will change. Michigan, which has not recruited highly-ranked quarterbacks yearly and chose not to pursue the transfer portal, is feeling the effects of this as well. It’s great when you land JJ McCarthy, but now Michigan is stuck with Alex Orji, Davis Warren, and an injured Jack Tuttle.

Unless you’re Riley, who can grab almost any quarterback he wants out of the portal, it’s safe to assume it’s better to have a room full of highly rated quarterbacks than to have to choose your quarterback like you choose dirty laundry — a quick sniff and hope it doesn’t stink too badly before laundry day.

Marvin Harrison Jr., who needs him?

When asked who was the best wide receiver in Ohio State history, Marvin Harrison Jr. didn’t miss a beat before answering that in his opinion, he is the best wide receiver to ever play at Ohio State. A bold claim for a college that produced David Boston, Cris Carter, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Ted Ginn Jr., and so many more talented wide receivers.

Despite the bold claim, I agree with Maserati Marv, but his reign may be short-lived. It’s been one game, but I am not afraid to say that Jeremiah Smith has the inside track to be the best wide recoverer to every walk through the Woody Hayes Center.

As a true freshman, he started despite a deep Ohio State WR room, but that was only the beginning. Smith is already Ohio State quarterback Will Howard’s go-to target. After a slow start to the game, Howard threw a 50/50 ball to a freshman on third-and-6 in the red zone. If that pass isn’t completed, you are forced to settle for a field goal and Akron wins that moment.

In multiple key moments on third down or the red zone, it was clear who Howard was looking for, and that’s an unheard-of amount of faith in a true freshman. Smith rewarded him with six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. The sky may not even be the limit for Smith — he may be limitless.

Let’s just hope for three healthy seasons before he walks into the NFL as a top-five draft pick.

Iowa isn’t the only team that can score on defense!

Ohio State was one of the top five defenses in the country last season, but defensive coordinator Jim Knowles had one major complaint. Outside of the fact Ohio State didn’t win all its games, Knowles was unhappy with the Buckeye’s inability to force turnovers.

They also did not sack the quarterback a lot. The Buckeyes ranked 60th in the country with 28 sacks on the year and 81st with 11 total takeaways.

The Buckeyes came out hot this season with five sacks, three takeaways, and two defensive touchdowns. For Ohio State to reach its goals, it can’t just hold teams to field goals. They need to create havoc with sacks and forced turnovers.

If game one was a look at what this season holds, they should be a scary defense in 2024.

Gabe Powers to the House!

I don’t smell anything (“Holes” reference).

Sniff sniff, I don’t smell anything. No, seriously, the Scott Frost stench may finally be out of the Nebraska program.

Over the past few years, Nebraska has been one of the most frustrating teams to follow, as they were legitimately the best non-bowl team in the country. For years, Nebraska would lose three or more games a season by less than a touchdown. Last year, in Matt Rhule’s first year in the program, they lost all four November games by seven points or less.

Nebraska was a team that for many reasons couldn’t get out of its way, but most of it was due to quarterbacks who couldn’t help but give away possession with ridiculous turnovers in the worst moments possible. Enter Dylan Raiola, a former five-star quarterback with Nebraska ties who may be the quarterback to finally lead Nebraska to bowl eligibility — and dare I say win eight or nine games.

In his first collegiate game, Raiola looked comfortable leading the offense, completing 19 of 27 passes for 238 yards, two touchdowns, and most importantly no turnovers. Their defense will still lead Nebraska for most of 2024, but the game doesn’t look too fast for Raiola. If he can live up to his five-star billing, then Nebraska will be fun to watch for at least the next three seasons.

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