Big Ten Week 1 Recap: The Awesome, Good, Bad and Ugly

It wasn't a bad first weekend of Big Ten college football. 

There were some spectacular plays, some excellent performances and some unusual developments.

I also managed to finish 11-1 in predicting the outcomes of the games.

Two events stand out in the first weekend. 

First, Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson quieted some critics with his solid performance against the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), completing 10 of 13 passes for 255 yards. Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran 46 yards for another score in Wisconsin's 51-17 win.

The second event was the cancellation of the game between Michigan and Western Michigan at the University of Michigan's stadium with a little over a minute to go in the third quarter. It was absolutely the right decision, but it was first time in 40 years of following college football that I've witnessed a game being cancelled.

Two hands of applause for the Big Ten teams that performed well in week no. 1. Purdue and Indiana get two thumbs down for their efforts, though the Boilermakers did manage to beat Middle Tennessee, 27-24.

Big Ten Week No. 1 Recap: Awesome Performances and Moments

Wisconsin running back Montee Ball was the leading scorer with four touchdowns in week no.1, while Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez (pictured) and Ohio State tight end Jake Stoneburner each had three touchdowns.

Badger quarterback Russell Wilson had an incredible 292.5 quarterback rating after completing 76 percent of his passes and finishing with no interceptions.

Michigan linebacker Brandon Herron was awesome on defense. He intercepted a Western Michigan pass in the first half and ran 94 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter, he picked up a Bronco fumble and ran 28 yards to score another touchdown.

The most awesome team performances go the three highest-rated Big Ten teams.

Though all three teams were expected to win in week no. 1, the Wisconsin Badgers  swept aside UNLV, Nebraska throttled the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga by a margin of 40-7, and Ohio State convincingly beat Akron, 42-0.

Big Ten Week No. 1 Recap: the Good Were Really Good

Joe Bauserman looked comfortable starting at quarterback for Ohio State. He had a quarterback rating of 222.5, which most weeks would have been the best in the conference.

The Buckeye senior completed 12 passes in 16 attempts for 163 yards, and threw three touchdown passes to tight end Jake Stoneburner.

Six other Big Ten quarterbacks finished with a QB rating over 100. 

They were Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase at195.8, Michigan State's Kirk Cousins with a 181.6, Iowa's James Vandenberg at 180.9, Indiana's Edward Wright-Baker with a 144.2, Northwestern's Kain Colter at 131.4 and Purdue's Caleb TerBush with a 127.3.

In addition to Stoneburner's three-touchdown performance, three Big Ten receivers had good weekends. Illinois wide receiver A.J. Jenkins caught 11 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown, Marvin McNutt of Iowa caught six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Michigan State's B.J.Cunningham caught nine passes for 130 yards and one touchdown.

Though Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez finished as the leading rusher in the Big Ten with 135 yards, Purdue has to be grateful for the efforts of running back Ralph Bolden who finished with 120 yards. Silas Redd of Penn State finished with 104 yards rushing and Carlos Hyde fell just seven yards short of a 100-yard day.

The team at the top of the "Good" category is the Michigan Wolverines. They played well both offensively and defensively in their 34-10 interrupted win over Western Michigan. Minnesota should also get some credit for almost pulling off an upset in their 19-17 loss to USC.

Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Penn State won as expected.

Big Ten Week No. 1 Recap: the Bad Seem Centered on the Indiana Schools

The two Big Ten schools located in Indiana had a rough time in week no. 1. 

Purdue rallied for a last-minute touchdown to beat Middle Tennessee 27-24, while Indiana could not mount a similar rally and lost to Ball State, 27-20.

The "bad" in these circumstances was the failure of Purdue and Indiana's defenses to contain their opponents. Ball State, under the leadership of quarterback Keith Wenning (pictured), scored 13 unanswered points against the Hoosiers to build a 27-17 lead. Indiana kicked a field goal with less than a minute to play to close the gap to seven points, but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.

Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush was not the projected starter for the Boilermakers two weeks ago, but injuries to Rob Henry and Robert Marve pushed him into his first Big Ten start. 

Marve was the starter last year until he tore the ACL in his left knee, and hopes to return this year. Henry tore the ACL in his right knee on August 24th and won't be able to play this year.

TerBush led the Boilermakers to 17 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Antavian Edison came with 49 seconds left in the game.

Indiana and Purdue need dramatic improvements on defense before playing their second games.

Big Ten Week No. 1 Recap: the Ugly Weather

The University of Michigan has never had to cancel a home football game until last Saturday.

Though the picture above makes it look like it was a beautiful day, I have several eyewitness reports that the weather was miserable. The rain soaked fans in this big bowl of a stadium, and the concern for the safety of those in attendance was readily apparent.

Though it was strange to see over 100,000 people being evacuated from the stadium, it was the right decision to cancel the game, award Michigan a 28-10 victory and send everyone home.  Hopefully, there will be less rain in the forecast for next week's games.

Big Ten Week No. 1 Recap: No Gloating Here Because the Predictions Get Tougher

There's no sense in gloating, because we've only completed the first weekend of Big Ten college football.

I do want to thank Sparty for his insights that helped me finish with an 11-1 record in week np. 1.

Here are the predictions and the results from last weekend.

           Predictions                                                                  Results 

Illinois beats Arkansas State 24-21                             Correct, Illinois wins 33-15

Indiana beats Ball State 16-14                                    Incorrect, Ball State wins 27-20 

Iowa beats Tennessee Tech 45-0                                Correct, Iowa wins 34-7  

Michigan beats Western Michigan 28-21                     Correct, Michigan wins 34-10

Michigan State beats Youngstown State 24-10            Correct, MSU wins  28-6

Nebraska beats UT-Chattanooga 72-7                         Correct, Nebraska wins 40-7

Northwestern beats Boston College 24-20                   Correct, Northwestern wins 24-17

Ohio State beats Akron 21-7                                      Correct, Ohio State wins 42-0

Penn State beats Indiana State 37-6                           Correct, Penn State wins 41-7

Purdue beats Middle Tennessee 20-10                        Correct, Purdue wins 27-24

Wisconsin beats UNLV 31-20                                     Correct, Wisconsin wins 51-17

USC beats Minnesota 23-13                                       Correct, USC wins 19-17