Big Ten Football: Storylines That Will Define the Season
With Michigan's season opener against Utah taking place next Thursday night, we are nearly one week away from the start of Big Ten football. And with Wisconsin taking on Alabama and Ohio State facing Virginia Tech, the conference should dominate the headlines of college football's opening weekend.
That would be par for the course for the Big Ten in 2015, a year which has already seen the league capture the first-ever College Football Playoff championship and hire one of the sport's most high-profile coaches. In fact, it's hard to remember a year where the conference has possessed this much hype heading into a season.
From Piscataway, New Jersey, to Lincoln, Nebraska, and every Big Ten stop in between, the league is buzzing with anticipation as the 2015 season approaches. With that in mind, let's take a look at the top storylines that will define the league in the upcoming year.
Ohio State's Quest to Go Back-to-Back
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With wins over No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Oregon, Ohio State became the first-ever College Football Playoff champion in January, despite entering the new postseason format as the fourth and final team.
This season, however, it will be hard for the Buckeyes to play the role of underdogs, as they now find themselves favored to repeat as college football's champion.
With a combined 17 starters returning from last season's team and no shortage of NFL talent on its roster, Ohio State has already become the first-ever unanimous preseason No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25. The Buckeyes should also enjoy a manageable schedule in the coming season, which may not see them truly challenged until a Nov. 21 date with No. 5 Michigan State in Columbus.
Having been faced with defending a national championship twice before, however, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer insists he's not focused on what happened a year ago.
"Repeat is not the conversation," Meyer said.
Maybe it's not for him and the Buckeyes, but across the country, all eyes are on what could be a budding Ohio State dynasty. And if Meyer can win consecutive championships for the first time in his coaching career, it would certainly speak to the strength of a Big Ten Conference that only appears to be getting stronger.
Jim Harbaugh's Ann Arbor Homecoming
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Despite currently sitting atop the college football world, Ohio State hasn't even been the Big Ten's most talked-about team this offseason.
That title would belong the Buckeyes' rival up north, Michigan, which sent shockwaves through the college football landscape when it hired Jim Harbaugh following a 5-7 season in 2014. And without having even coached a game at his alma mater, one could argue the former San Francisco 49ers head coach has already exceeded expectations with an offseason that has placed a spotlight directly on Ann Arbor.
From his unique Twitter account to his controversial satellite camps, you'd be hard-pressed to find a day this year where the Wolverines program hasn't been in the headlines. Harbaugh, however, claims this hasn't been by design, stating that it wasn't his plan to seek the attention he's received.
"I'm not striving to be creating any buzz, just striving to coach the football team," Harbaugh said at Big Ten media days. "Anyone who is popular is bound to be disliked, so just coaching football."
But intentional or not, Harbaugh has created an unprecedented atmosphere around a program that's coming off of a losing campaign. How quickly he can turn Michigan around remains to be seen, but the Wolverines will continue to receive plenty of attention in 2015, starting with next week's season opener.
Christian Hackenberg's Make-or-Break Season
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After a 2013 campaign that saw him named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Christian Hackenberg looked like he had all the makings of the Big Ten's next great quarterback.
But the 6'4", 236-pounder endured a sophomore slump the following year, posting fewer touchdowns, more interceptions and a lower completion percentage in 2014 than he did as a freshman.
Plenty of Hackenberg's problems can be placed on what was one of the worst offensive lines in college football last season, as the Penn State quarterback found himself sacked 44 times, the second-most of any player in the nation.
That should no longer be a suitable excuse moving forward, however, as the Nittany Lions return four of five starters up front from a season ago, and perhaps more importantly, possess depth they haven't recently enjoyed due to NCAA sanctions.
"Overall if you're talking about a position, I would say the offensive line is probably the position I'm most excited about or anticipating seeing how they play together," Penn State head coach James Franklin said.
"As camp goes on, we'll say, not only who are the best five, but typically you don't really have a best 10, you've got your best five on the offensive line, and then who's the next best tackle to go in the game, who's the next best guard to go in the game, who's the next best center to go in the game," Franklin explained. "So typically if you can have eight that you feel really good about, you're rolling. You get to the point where you have 10, now you're at a different level."
Having 10 offensive linemen he can count on might be a stretch for Franklin at this point. But if the Nittany Lions can block consistently for their junior signal-caller, that may just be enough for Hackenberg to once again look like one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Can Michigan State Maintain Momentum?
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With all of the talk about Ohio State, Michigan and even Penn State, Michigan State has somehow managed to fly under the radar this offseason. That's especially impressive when considering the Spartans have compiled a combined 24-3 record in the past two seasons, which have each included a win in a major bowl game.
But even though Michigan State is the only program in college football to finish in the top five of the polls in both 2013 and 2014, the Spartans still find themselves in the shadow of their Big Ten East rivals. Make no mistake, though, Michigan State is a legitimate playoff contender this season, especially with the return of quarterback Connor Cook.
"I just think we've got a great opportunity with him," Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio said of Cook in the spring. "Championship-type quarterback."
Add in the returns of defensive end Shilique Calhoun and one of the best offensive lines in college football, and there's no reason why MSU shouldn't be able to maintain—or even build on—the momentum it's built over the past two seasons. In order to actually make the playoff this year, however, the Spartans will likely have to beat Ohio State in a Nov. 21 matchup in Columbus that could be one of the biggest of the college football season.
Who Will Win the Big Ten West?
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If Michigan State is flying under the radar, then it's hard to describe what's happened to the entire Big Ten West Division this offseason.
With all of the attention that's been placed on the other side of the league, very little has been made of the Big Ten West, which has seen two of its preseason favorites undergo coaching changes. Paul Chryst is now in charge at Wisconsin, which won the division a year ago under the direction of new Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen, while Mike Riley takes over for Bo Pelini at Nebraska.
The Badgers received 32 votes from media members to win the West in Cleveland.com's preseason poll, with the Huskers tallying five. The only other team to earn votes to take on unanimous East Division pick Ohio State in the Big Ten title game was Minnesota, with the Golden Gophers receiving three votes.
But with uncertainty facing both Wisconsin and Nebraska under their new regimes, one whole side of the Big Ten could be considered wide-open heading into the 2015 season. It's unlikely that any team from the West will pose much of a threat to make this season's College Football Playoff, but they could very well wind up playing the role of spoiler for the Big Ten's more talked-about half.
Urban Meyer's Quarterback Conundrum
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While Ohio State has already made history with its preseason ranking, it's worth noting that Meyer doesn't even know who his starting quarterback for the season is going to be yet.
That's because the Buckeyes head coach is still deciding between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett in what's been the rare quarterback battle between two qualified candidates.
"I think it is fairly unique," Meyer said in the spring. "I've never been in this situation."
It was Barrett who led Ohio State to an 11-1 record in the regular season a year ago, pushing the Buckeyes to the brink of the College Football Playoff before fracturing his ankle in the team's regular-season finale. That opened the door for Jones to win three of the most important games in school history, before bypassing on entering the NFL draft.
Meyer has yet to reveal who his starter will be—at least publicly—and doesn't plan to do so before Ohio State's Sept. 7 season opener against Virginia Tech, the only team to beat the Buckeyes in 2014. But the quarterback situation in Columbus will be worth monitoring throughout the season, as Ohio State may just have the two best in all of college football.
Can Tim Beckman Survive the Season?
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Every year, there are teams in the Big Ten that enter the season with coaches on the hot seat—it's the nature of the beast.
But perhaps no coach in the league is feeling the heat more than Illinois' Tim Beckman, who's compiled a 12-25 record in his first three seasons in Champaign, including a 4-20 mark against Big Ten opponents.
With those sort of numbers, it's no surprise that Beckman didn't receive an extension prior to what's the last year on his original contract with the Fighting Illini. At Big Ten media days in July, Beckman downplayed his uncertain future, shifting the attention to the approaching season.
"We're focused right now on the 2015 football team," Beckman said. "We've been focused since January on becoming a better football program. The philosophy we continue to use is what these football players believe in."
Nevertheless, questions will remain, perhaps even persist depending on how the Fighting Illini's season plays out. And it may just be a matter of whether Beckman's Illinois exit comes during or after the 2015 season.
Who Else Is on the Hot Seat?
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So who else joins Beckman on hot-seat alert in the Big Ten in 2015?
- Despite being the conference's longest-tenured coach, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz has been unable to parlay favorable scheduling breaks into significant success. The Hawkeyes have compiled just a 34-30 record since winning the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2009 season, including a 19-21 record in Big Ten play. If Iowa doesn't show signs of improvement in 2015, the Hawkeyes could find themselves parting ways with the nation's 10th-highest paid head coach.
- While Indiana isn't a traditional football powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, Kevin Wilson's time in Bloomington has been underwhelming. In four seasons, the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator has compiled a 14-34 record with the Hoosiers. If Wilson can't finally put together a winning season at Indiana in 2015, it could be his last.
- With Kyle Flood being investigated by Rutgers for "impermissible contact with a university faculty member regarding the status of one of his players," as first reported by NJ.com's Keith Sargeant, the Scarlet Knights may need a big year to save his job.
- It may seem like a stretch for a coach as beloved as Pat Fitzgerald, but Northwestern enters 2015 coming off of back-to-back losing seasons. If the former Wildcats linebacker can't change that trend in the coming season, there may be some uncomfortable conversations to be had in Evanston.
The Jake Rudock Effect
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Jake Rudock is the rare quarterback who will have the ability to affect not just one, but two Big Ten teams this year.
A two-year starter at Iowa, Rudock used his ability as a graduate transfer to head to Michigan after Ferentz named C.J. Beathard the Hawkeyes' quarterback of the future at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Rudock has yet to be named the Wolverines' starter—he's currently battling with junior Shane Morris—but the fifth-year senior took reps with the first-team offense at Michigan's student-only practice Saturday, according to Michigan Daily's Kelly Hall.
That's obviously an encouraging sign for Rudock, who finished 2014 with a 61.7 completion percentage—the second-best in the entire Big Ten. If he can effectively play the role of game manager for the Wolverines, they just may be able to win enough close games to make some noise in the league during Harbaugh's first season.
And if Rudock does in fact succeed in Ann Arbor, Beathard better be playing well in Iowa City. Otherwise, it will look like Ferentz made a colossal mistake in letting Rudock get away to another Big Ten school.
For those wondering, Michigan and Iowa are not scheduled to play each other this season. Unfortunately.
Ezekiel Elliott's Heisman Chase
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Rushing for a combined 696 yards and eight touchdowns in Ohio State's three postseason games last season, Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott became a nationally known name in the college football world. He also became the Heisman Trophy front-runner for the 2015 season, even though most people in Columbus find themselves talking about Meyer's quarterback conundrum.
But once Ohio State's season starts up in less than two weeks, that will no longer be the case. With four of five starters returning from what was one of the best offensive lines in the country last year, Elliott should find himself with no shortage of holes to run through this season—just as he did last January.
For what it's worth, Elliott insists he's more interested in replicating the team success the Buckeyes enjoyed last season than he is his own statistics.
"We're focusing on these team-oriented goals," Elliott said. "Our goal is to get back to the Big Ten championship."
But if the Buckeyes are going to do that, it's a safe bet that Elliott will be a big reason why. And that just could be enough to land him in New York City in December, as he's already managed to establish himself as one of the country's best players.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
