My take on B10 West (for what it is worht)

T

thawks1

Well-Known Member
Wisconsin- New DC, New DB coaches. New DC said he is not as aggressive as previous one. Need to find a QB and Wr's. But OL and running game should be better. Their O will be better and much closer to what they normally are with wearing down teams and physical running attack. I think 3 new DB's this year. If the 3 man front can't get the job done without all the pressure both running and passing blitzes by the LB's their D will be down from last year more than expected. DC was brought in from USC were he was fired because he runs the 3-4 which they have been running for a couple of years. I feel a significant downgrade in coaching here.

NW-Not enough depth and O firepower to beat the big boys. The last few years they simply have been unable to compete with the better team- their crossover games do them no favors in that regard this year. Both DE's graduated. Teh De's provided the pressure- where will it come from now?

Minnesota- New OC, new OL coaches and at least 2 D coaches (DC is one of them) are new. Have the easiest crossover games and easy out of conference games. I think 3 new DBs this year. My team most likely behind Iowa to take the west due to schedule, Need the QB to complete higher percentage of passes. If their startign QB goes down their season might just go with it quickly.Needs a couple of WR's to step up. Not sure on DL depth. They will be physical. Get Iowa early and at home.

Nebraska- Have the best WR's and RB's in the west. Scored over 31 Pts per game last year. Must replace 3 Ol. Lack of depth as they only have 3 tackles on O this year. Injuries could cripple their attack badly. Tommy turnover must do a better job of taking care of the ball or they will have another losing season. D was not great. Lost 4 of top 5 DT's. Lost 2 o3 top DE's. They have no depth and lack of talent at DT and DE. They will get worn down and injuries could really make this the worst D they have had in many, many years.
 
Illinois and Purdue can't challenge for the title. Purdue will have a new coach after the season- they have been a disaster frankly.

IL. has a good D front and the LB transfer is good. DE for Il is one of if not the best DE in the B10 the other is a talent also- by far the strength of their D. Other LB's are not good unless they really develop suddenly. DB's are OK- one corner I believe is young and will improve. They need ball control to limit the D time on the field because it is not deep and can/will get worn down if it is on the field a lot. No proven WRs' as the one proven WR is injured for the 2nd year in a row. Interestingly L. Smith has had almost no contact as he prefers his players to be fresh and avoid injuries.
 
Wisconsin will struggle. Check out their schedule. It's brutal. They may improve on O, but will not in the W column.
 
I'm not sure wiscy's OL is going to be any better this year. They just lost Voltz, a 3 year starter and Outland Trophy candidate earlier this week.
 
Wisc. had a number of injuries last year so a bunch of young guys got playing time. They are a year older and experienced. Barring injury etc they will be better.
 
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Schedule for Badgers sucks- Hopefully they will be beat up and we get the W. The schedule is why I do not think the Badgers will challenge for the B10 west title. Also the Cornhusker's had a WR who came in January and was the 4 or 5 WR leave the team today- homesick.
 
thawks1 said:
Wisconsin- New DC, New DB coaches. New DC said he is not as aggressive as previous one. Need to find a QB and Wr's. But OL and running game should be better. Their O will be better and much closer to what they normally are with wearing down teams and physical running attack. I think 3 new DB's this year. If the 3 man front can't get the job done without all the pressure both running and passing blitzes by the LB's their D will be down from last year more than expected. DC was brought in from USC were he was fired because he runs the 3-4 which they have been running for a couple of years. I feel a significant downgrade in coaching here.

NW-Not enough depth and O firepower to beat the big boys. The last few years they simply have been unable to compete with the better team- their crossover games do them no favors in that regard this year. Both DE's graduated. Teh De's provided the pressure- where will it come from now?

Minnesota- New OC, new OL coaches and at least 2 D coaches (DC is one of them) are new. Have the easiest crossover games and easy out of conference games. I think 3 new DBs this year. My team most likely behind Iowa to take the west due to schedule, Need the QB to complete higher percentage of passes. If their startign QB goes down their season might just go with it quickly.Needs a couple of WR's to step up. Not sure on DL depth. They will be physical. Get Iowa early and at home.

Nebraska- Have the best WR's and RB's in the west. Scored over 31 Pts per game last year. Must replace 3 Ol. Lack of depth as they only have 3 tackles on O this year. Injuries could cripple their attack badly. Tommy turnover must do a better job of taking care of the ball or they will have another losing season. D was not great. Lost 4 of top 5 DT's. Lost 2 o3 top DE's. They have no depth and lack of talent at DT and DE. They will get worn down and injuries could really make this the worst D they have had in many, many years.
Click to expand...

What's your take on Illinnoying with Lovie? Just curious.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
What's your take on Illinnoying with Lovie? Just curious.
Click to expand...

Illanoy is an unknown. Lovie in his upper 50s is also an unknown (nobody is sure how good he is and if he can be good at the college level. Last year which was truly Beckman's first full year with his team had about 3/4 of a team of good players. The other 1/4 was really bad. They've had some improvement at the weak 1/4. Can he coach up the rest?

They also have a good QB. He like CJ has had health issues. Can he stay healthy will be a big part of the question. That they played Iowa fairly well last year was no fluke when combined with KFs management. I'm more concerned about this game than any other. Getting up for M and PSU should not be difficult. Then again it might be a cakewalk.
 
Lovie- first his personality is very lacking- he needs success to get recruits. But Illinois has added 8 new people to the recruiting staff to really attempt to try and improve their recruiting. Iowa has benefited from adding staff and I would hazard Illinois will too. I am not sold on his staff yet. His staff is a strange collection that has potential. NOTE- Non PC statement to follow: His staff I believe has the largest number of minorities in the B10 which normally helps in recruiting. I like his S&C coach and think we will see a stronger better conditioned team from them. The key will be their O. If the O can avoid turnovers, run the ball to keep the D off the field they have a chance. Their D line is good, LB young except the transfer. But they have little depth on the DL. So if there are injuries in the DL or they are on the field too much they will not be as effective.

The question will be the administration at Illinois. There are all kinds of big problems going on now for 3-4 years there. They can and do effect the football program. I have no idea if the situation is almost over and things are starting to settle down.
 
Iowa. Very tough to beat Iowa with King and CJ. Strong defense. Good offense. Good home schedule. But Penn State, Michigan and Rutgers are going to be tough.

Wisconsin. Beyond their personnel issues is their schedule. They need to win 3 of the four opening B1G games to have a shot. And one of those teams they have to beat is Iowa. In Iowa City. And then they have to keep from losing another game to remain 1/2 game up on Iowa. They lose to Iowa, Wisconsin is likely down and out this year.

NW. Good team. Returning 7 on offense, 6 on defense from a 10-3 record. Schedule. Problem; Michigan State and Ohio State on their schedule.

Nebraska. Returns 6/6. Tommy Armstrong. Can he change? Schedule; Problem. At NW, At Wisconsin, At Ohio State, At Iowa. Can they be a road team? They haven't shown it so far.

Illinois. Lost over half their offense and defense. 5/4 returning. New coach. Very well respected coach. But how much better can he make them considering that they have Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin and Rutgers away and Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State at home this year? (NW is an away game, technically, still an instate game)

Minnesota. Returns 7/7. Good QB. Decent schedule, except they open up traveling to Happy Valley. Then back home to TCF stadium to host Iowa. They win both of these games. They have a shot.

Purdue. Not even in contention. Decent schedule. Returning 7 offense, 9 defense.
 
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