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Topic: ELA September 10 Breakdown
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ELA · « **on:** September 06, 2022, 07:43:49 PM »

Ohio Bobcats (1-0) at Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0, 1-0)

NOON - State College, PA - ABC

Penn State answered a lot of questions about their offense, with perhaps the best win of Week 1, by pulling out a late victory on the road over Purdue. But for all of the questions the offense answered, the defense failed to. Now, I'm willing to write off a lot of that, due to how much the defense carried them last year, and how Aidan O'Connell might be the most polished current NFL prospect under center in the conference. But another week like last week, and I'll be officially concerned. This should be a good test of that. Ohio shouldn't threaten to win the game, but Kurtis Rourke could probably start at quarterback for at least half of the Big Ten teams. The Bobcats will throw the ball around the field, and challenge the secondary, much like Purdue did. Ohio put up 41 points in their win over Florida Atlantic last weekend, with Rourke throwing for 345 yards on 27-34 passing, with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. But you know who else looked pretty good? Sean Clifford. And the Bobcats defense let Florida Atlantic pass all over them, with absolutely no balance from the running game, averaging 3.4 ypc, and only one carry (of 11 yards) of double digits. Sean Clifford should be able to pass at will. Now Penn State likely hopes he doesn't have to, but if needed, he can. They would like to be able to getting their running game on track, both from the backs, and the line. The line did a pretty good job keeping Clifford upright, allowing just 1 sack, but the holes simply weren't there in the running game. Averaging just 3.1 ypc, with your leading rusher totaling just 31 yards, and your quarterback tallying the lone rushing touchdown ain't going to cut it. Penn State rolls, but if it's because of Sean Clifford, that's reason for concern.

PENN STATE 41, OHIO 9

Duke Blue Devils (1-0) at Northwestern Wildcats (1-0, 1-0)

NOON - Evanston, IL - FS1

Mike Elko seemed to have an instant impact on Duke's defense, as the Blue Devils managed to tally their first shutout of an FBS opponent since 1989. Granted, does Temple count? The Owls' losing streak is now extended to 8 games, and it's hard to imagine a Duke defense, which finished last in the ACC in basically every major stat last year, including 46.6 ppg allowed, worst in the ACC by over 12 ppg, swung that much based on a new head coach. But if Duke fans are going to allow themselves to feel prematurely excited about the quick swing for their defense, then I suppose we should extend the same courtesy to Northwestern fans' feelings about their offense. After scoring just 13.0 ppg in conference play last year, Northwestern put up 31 in their season opening win over Nebraska. That was the most points Northwestern had scored in 14 games, their 2020 season opener. The key was Ryan Hilinski having the best game of his career, at least the Northwestern portion of it. Completing over 70% of his passes for over 300 yards, and no picks, looked a lot like the freshman who beat Georgia in Athens back in 2019, with South Carolina. He hit 5 different receivers on plays of 20+ yards. Having this kind of explosion in the passing game is something we aren't used to seeing out of Evanston. What we are used to is a running game that totaled 214 yards on 4.6 ypc. And it sure felt like they got exactly 4.6 yards on every carry, particularly down the stretch, when Northwestern didn't attempt a pass over the final 12:02. Duke is improved, but so is Northwestern, and this is a team that is not far removed from play in a Big Ten title game. Is it another case of even year Northwestern?

NORTHWESTERN 34, DUKE 17

Arkansas State Red Wolves (1-0) at #3 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0)

NOON - Columbus, OH - BTN

In case there was any doubt that there is a thick, red, permanent marker line between the title contenders and the CFP contenders year in and year out, consider how disappointed Ohio State fans at large appear to be over a double digit win against a top 5 team. To be clear, there were issues, but at the same time, the run defense, particularly the linebackers, seemed to suddenly know where to be. They were able to split 29 carries nearly exactly equally between their top two backs, both of whom ran for over 6.0 ypc. C.J. Stroud was efficient in a season opener. OK, so now the other side. As stout as the Buckeyes looked against the run, their corners gave up way too many long balls. The Irish averaged nearly 18 yards per reception, as compared to just 6.6 yards per attempt for Stroud. Why did it take so long for Ryan Day to run the ball? TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams combined for 29 carries, but 13 of them were over the final two drives. 16 carries between them over the first 48 game minutes? Then we have the hamstring injury suffered by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the best receiver in the country. Yes, Ohio State has the deepest stable of receivers, but you need your alpha, although not this week. Arkansas State had built a pretty consistent program over the past decade, winning 5 conference championships, under 4 different head coaches, since 2011. Year 1 under Butch Jones was rough, after being picked to finish 2nd in their division. They wound up going 2-10, with just one win over an FBS team, and losing their Power 5 game to a bad Washington team, 55-3. Week 1 did provide some hope, albeit against Grambling, that the offense could be very good. They ran for 339 yards, with 5 different players breaking off 10+ yard runs. Not sure that's the recipe for even threatening an upset here, and the defense was #124 in the FBS in SP+. Ope.

OHIO STATE 55, ARKANSAS STATE 7

Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-1) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-0)

NOON - Minneapolis, MN - BTN

MINNESOTA 48, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0

ELA · « **Reply #1 on:** September 07, 2022, 11:28:23 AM »

Noon games in

Abba · « **Reply #2 on:** September 07, 2022, 12:25:08 PM »

Back to back shutouts for the Gophers. As much as we rail on Michigan's schedule, Minnesota's may actually be worse. Colorado is not a good Power 5 team.

GopherRock · « **Reply #3 on:** September 07, 2022, 12:37:04 PM »

Quote from: Abba on September 07, 2022, 12:25:08 PM

Back to back shutouts for the Gophers. As much as we rail on Michigan's schedule, Minnesota's may actually be worse. Colorado is not a good Power 5 team.

The Gophers shut them out in Boulder last year, and they hired the OC that grounded the Gopher offense as their coach. They're really bad.

FearlessF · « **Reply #4 on:** September 07, 2022, 12:51:23 PM »

Brian Ferentz bad??

Benthere2 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 07, 2022, 02:08:47 PM »

Quote from: Abba on September 07, 2022, 12:25:08 PM

Back to back shutouts for the Gophers. As much as we rail on Michigan's schedule, Minnesota's may actually be worse. Colorado is not a good Power 5 team.

its bad but in all non conference schedules they were made so many years ago that it is hard to predict. the Gophers have a good defense, how good will be determined when they play MSU. Mo looked good and Morgan looked more like he did prior to Sanford screwing up the offense (which as noted Colorado decided he was good enough to hire)

ELA · « **Reply #6 on:** September 10, 2022, 12:15:32 PM »

This week is always tough. Generally 14 games, 12 of which are trash, 4 day week, and I end a W-R conference.

Anyway, just to call my shot on MSU, I'll say

Michigan State 53, Akron 6

MrNubbz · « **Reply #7 on:** September 10, 2022, 03:39:24 PM »

Great call on the PSU/OHIO contest score

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Topic: ELA September 10 Breakdown

ELA

ELA September 10 Breakdown

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