Quote Originally Posted by BWS77:
Had great success with this thread last year, hope it continues.
https://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=33&sub=102147590
First off, as always these are my observations from watching 14+ hours of college football every Saturday along with Thursday night ACC/AAC, Friday night Mountain West, weeknight MACtion and 60 minute replays of games on Big10 Network.
There is a lot of transition this year, lots of Senior talent graduated, guys that we counted on week in and week out for 3-4 years are gone and leave big voids. Group of 5 conference guys like Kenneth Dixon, Rashard Higgins, and Tyler Ervin. Others like Keenan Reynolds, Trevone Boykin and Brandon Doughty who could win games themselves are gone leaving big questions with their replacements.
Here we go.... things I want/need to see this season:
Big 10
Ohio State- Find a closer The Buckeyes only return 6 total starters from last years team (fewest in FBS). The most glaring loss will be the absence of Ezekiel Elliot. Elliot was the one constant over the last 2 seasons. He is the one guy who could take over the game when the QB's were struggling last year. He alone bailed them out against Indiana and he punished teams in the 4th quarter. Whether it be Mike Weber, Bri'onte Dunn or Curtis Samuel, the Buckeyes have to find someone to finish teams off, especially in the 2nd half of their schedule where they go @Wisconsin, @Penn St (both Badgers and Nittany Lions will be off byes) vs. NW, vs. Nebraska, @Maryland, @ Michigan State and finish with Michigan at home. JT Barrett was the closer, even though sometimes I felt like he was trying to do too much... but in the end he has his team on the doorstep of the playoffs
Michigan- Senior leadership The Wolverines will have Seniors starting at RB, TE, WR, 3/5ths of the OL, and up to 8 on defense including the entire defensive backfield. This class has lost 6 consecutive games to rivals Michigan State and Ohio State over the last 3 seasons. If there is a year for them to beat one or both, this is it, and they will have to do it on the road. The seniors showed up all year, they broke the streak against Michigan State and came up just short in Columbus. They will be disappointed but they are one of the top 4 teams in the country
Michigan State- Endurance Breaking in a new starting QB and losing your top 2 WR's is tough, but doing with the Spartans schedule will be even harder. They open with Furman, have a bye and then play 11 straight weeks starting in South Bend. That is not an ideal situation on either end of the schedule, although they do catch Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State at home. My biggest questions are will they be in sync early and will they be exhausted late? New faces, key injuries to Riley Bullough and the QB's and less talent led to a dreadful season
Iowa- Play with expectations The Hawkeyes finished a great season with a thud in the Rose Bowl after losing a heart breaker to Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship Game with a Playoff spot on the line. Now they return as the favorite to win the Big 10 West with a schedule that doesn't get interesting until mid October. A lot is expected from a team that hasn't been ranked in the preseason since 2010. The biggest question is exactly how good were they last year? This years schedule is back loaded with much better teams than they faced down the stretch last year. Uneven start, but they finished hot winning 3 in row including the big upset vs. Michigan. Will be dangerous in their Bowl game.
Nebraska- Make 1 more play The Huskers lost 7 games last year. Those games were lost by 5, 3, 1, 2, 2, 10, and 8 points. These guys are not far from being a 10 win team again and contending for the West crown. Close loss in Madison then a blowout loss in Columbus derailed what was a really nice season. Seems like any coach can win 9 games in Lincoln
Northwestern- Sustained success In 2012 Northwestern went 10-3 and won the Gator Bowl. After that they stumbled to back to back 5-7 seasons before returning to 10-3 last year. Half of their starters are gone from both sides of the ball, but they keep RB Justin Jackson and QB Clayton Thorson will improve. They also return their top 2 tacklers and pass rushers. A 3-0 start is a must if they want to return to a Bowl game this year, Western Michigan will be tricky in Week 1. Last year they upset Stanford at home in Week 1 and built on that momentum. Slow start, but they brought it every week, won on the road in Iowa and East Lansing, gave OSU all they could handle in Columbus and had the Big 10's top WR
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