Big Ten Football Takes Huge Step Back After Devastating Opening Weekend
The opportunities were there. But with all but two games left for the league in college football's opening weekend, the most anticipated season in Big Ten history has started with a whimper rather than a bang.
The conference, which was arguably college football's most talked-about this offseason, went a respectable 7-5 through its first 12 games of 2015 but suffered losses in five of its highest-profile matchups.
Defending national champion and unanimous preseason No. 1 Ohio State still has a chance to put a positive spotlight on the league with its Monday-night matchup with Virginia Tech, but the Buckeyes would likely just be viewed as a cut above their conference counterparts with a win over the Hokies.
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In the league's other matchups that were witnessed by a national audience this weekend, the Big Ten lacked the substance to back up an offseason full of sizzle.
It started on Thursday night with Jim Harbaugh's disappointing debut as Michigan's head coach, a 24-17 loss at the hands of Utah. That night ended with Minnesota suffering a 23-17 home defeat to No. 2 TCU, a game that could be viewed as either a moral victory or missed opportunity depending on your perspective.
"They made some critical plays and we didn’t. It’s disappointing," Golden Gophers coach Jerry Kill said of his team's performance, which included two costly fumbles, including one out the back of the end zone on a would-be touchdown. "You sleep with it tonight or try to and get up and then you go again. You’re disappointed because you had a chance to win."
The Big Ten would get on the board on Friday night with its first win of the season thanks to Michigan State's 37-24 win over Western Michigan.
However, the Spartans hardly lived up to their No. 5 ranking while holding off their Mid-American Conference opponent and will clearly have to make some strides in order to meet their goal of crashing the College Football Playoff.
But while Michigan State's relatively minor struggles could be chalked up to cleaning off the collected rust of the offseason, the real embarrassment for the league came on Saturday.
If the lasting memory of the 2014 season was Ohio State hoisting its national title, perhaps the most memorable image from 2015's opening weekend was Christian Hackenberg lying on his back.
Sacked 10 times in Penn State's 27-10 loss to Temple, that's what the Nittany Lions signal-caller spent most of his Saturday doing in what was an alarming defeat for one of the Big Ten teams supposed to be on the rise this season.
Losing to the Owls—who hadn't beaten their in-state rivals in 41 years—would have been a bad enough way for James Franklin to start his second season as Penn State's head coach. But the Nittany Lions' inability to protect Hackenberg showed that the same problems that plagued Penn State a season ago are still present in Happy Valley.
"I'm not going to come in here and be defensive and make excuses," Franklin said after the game, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "We've got to get it done."
Moments after the Nittany Lions' disappointing season opener came to an end, Nebraska found itself on the wrong end of another memorable moment from the weekend. Tanner Mangum's 42-yard Hail Mary pass landed in the arms of Mitch Mathews in the end zone as time expired, giving BYU a 33-28 win over the Cornhuskers, spoiling Mike Riley's debut in Lincoln in the process.
At least Nebraska was able to keep its new head coach's opener close, which is more than can be said for Wisconsin in its prime-time showdown with No. 3 Alabama.
A losing result wasn't necessarily unexpected for the Badgers, but the struggles they endured in their 35-17 defeat at the hands of the Crimson Tide were somewhat surprising. Wisconsin only mustered 40 total rushing yards on a paltry average of 1.9 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Derrick Henry gashed the Badgers' run defense for 147 yards and three touchdowns.
Yes, Alabama is expected to be one of the best teams in the country, but Wisconsin is going to need to rediscover its identity sooner rather than later in order to bounce back under the direction of first-year coach Paul Chryst.
That's not to say there wasn't some good to be found in the Big Ten's opening weekend, especially with Northwestern knocking off No. 21 Stanford on Saturday. Rutgers and Illinois put distractions behind them to register commanding victories, and Maryland and Iowa each walked away from the weekend as winners as well.
The same could be said for Indiana, but the Hoosiers' 48-47 win over FCS opponent Southern Illinois wasn't exactly something to write home about.
Nevertheless, as we learned a year ago, one weekend isn't enough to define a conference's season, and this weekend isn't even over yet for the Big Ten. Ohio State can make a statement in its prime-time showdown with Virginia Tech on Monday, and Purdue will look to get its season off on the right foot with a Sunday matchup against Marshall.
Furthermore, hype is already building for Michigan State's matchup with No. 7 Oregon next weekend, which will once again place the conference on the national stage.
Yes, it's only one week and plenty of opportunities for the conference still exist.
With that said, the Big Ten is going to have to do a better job of taking advantage of them than it did on Saturday if it's going to live up to the lofty expectations that were set for it this offseason.
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.
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