It's Game Day! Game Previews & More | Joel Klatt on Big Ten Expectations | B1G Today

Rutgers, Illinois and Minnesota Start Their Football Season Tonight | B1G Today it just feels a little bit different when it's game day welcome inside big 10 today Rick piso Jake but the time to talk is nearly over we're going to do that for about 59 and a half more minutes then we get focused on Thursday night three big 10 games Jake so excited you don't just see it in his face you don't just hear it in his voice it's the emotions he's crying at home on Wednesday waiting for Thursday games hey maybe not crying but shedding a tear you know Rick for 10,000 years we've broken down our calendar into Four Seasons fall winter spring summer for me I'm a sicko I love football I have only two seasons in season and offseason so yes I shed a tear when football comes back around now I know what to do with my life and I'm excited to break it down with you you haven't lived here in Chicago long enough because then you would know there is a fifth season called construction season which basically goes for 11 months out of the Year our big story does remind us what Jake already knows today feel like Christmas morning for Big 10 football fans the league officially kicking off the 2024 season with three Thursday night games ruter against Howard Minnesota hosting North Carolina and the Ali getting things started against Eastern Illinois let's work through these games chronologically first game of the season is right here on the Big 10 Network when R ruter plays host to Howard Jake there's been a lot of preseason Buzz surrounding this ruter team they did get dealt a pretty serious blow with the season ending injury to muhamad ter but offensively Kyle manangi is back they have so much experience so much leadership now they need to put it on the field and show that some of this hype has been warranted yeah I mean we we talked about this at Big 10 media days and it felt like their hype has just grown and grown and grown since and rightfully so you know they're they're not in the Big 10 East they avoid Ohio State Michigan Penn State that that's certainly beneficial but expectations can kind of be like NY will you know like take it you take too many sips and it'll low you to sleep so this is this is a a really great opportunity for Ruckers with a veteran team I don't think they're going to come out sleepwalking but make a statement across the locker room that this is going to be their best season they've had in recent history we know they are going to be able to run the ball with Kyle manangi and it doesn't really matter if you put eight or nine guys in the box they're still going to try to run the football because that's what ruter does right the question offensively is the quarterback position where Athan ccmis transfers in from Minnesota the great news he's back with Kirk Shaka and we've seen quarterbacks flourish under Shaka that then struggle when they don't have him as the OC so you have to think that maybe tonight is the night that he gets to show off a little bit of that arm that they've been talking about through all of Camp yeah and the difference for ruter this year between five or six wins and seven eight or nine wins is going to fall solely on the shoulders of of ccmis in my opinion and you're exactly right what I expect teams to do which is what they did last year they will put seven eight nine players in the Box until ccmis and this Rucker offense can threaten them successfully down the field what's so special about mananga is he led the Big 10 in rushing last year even with those odds but just imagine how much more space there will be if they can get a consistent pass game I'll say what's encouraging though is this was a battle in the spring between him and whimit but not very long like he sees control of that right away so I think it's fair to expect that there'll be a step forward in the passing game I would love to get your take on the injury to muhamad teray because he's not just a leader Greg Sho said and this is counting Kyle manangi he may be the best player that ruter was able to put on the field and they're not able to put him on the field now how as a team do you kind of deal with that when it happens in the preseason and you know one of your best players one of your best leaders is never going to be able to be on the field with you well it's a challenge but it when you talk about that caliber of player and him going down it's not just frustrating to him it's frustrating to the rest of the locker room because they knew what was at stake for him so they got a chance to Rally around him but this is a big storyline for the defense because the other guy is Tyne pal coming off a hand injury and then an aill so there's health questions in that room and yet I still say Ruckers you look at the experience all around of the dline and the secondary littered with upper classman that have played a ton of snaps that's the benefit of having experience they can settle things in you won't have to rely too much on one player ruter 12 and two over the last five seasons against non-conference opposition it's one of the best records in the entire country they are expected to improve that to 13 and2 with a win over Howard on Thursday night to kick off their 2024 season uh much more difficult opponent for Minnesota tonight North Carolina comes to town this is not expected to be a North Carolina team that challenges in the ACC but they have a really good running back they have a philosophy where they like to throw the football around and late word from Minneapolis is that Darius Taylor who suffered a hamstring injury couple of weeks ago late in Camp is very questionable we won't know for sure until the injury report two hours before game time but if he can't go I think it changes everything that Minnesota wants to do in this game oh yeah and it does for a few reasons I mean on the defensive side of the ball it it helps that you're not playing Drake May the third overall pick to the Patriots right like that North Carolina is going to have to replace him but then there's also some serious questions with the weather as well like they expect some big-time storms rolling in tonight all that lens is this is going to be a heavy Run game and you would say if Darius Taylor in the game I'd say Okay I I put him toe-to-toe with most backs in the country but if he's out and UNCC has their stud running back am Maran Hampton back that's an advantage that UNCC has on paper which puts further Challenge on this defense already replacing Joe Joe Rossy and bringing in Cory heatherman it's a challenge but it's also an opportunity because Minnesota at their best it starts with the defensive side of the ball what a great benchmark test to open the season I will say Minnesota has suffered multiple injuries at running back over the the last couple of years it's just plug and play they like find guys from the band playing the tuba and they come in and average 52 yards per carry I think that speaks to the depth that PJ Fleck has built on the recruiting Trail and in the development on the offensive line and they'll need that again tonight they will also need something from Max brosmer and we've gotten mixed reviews throughout the course of training camp as to whether brosmer can be not a guy but the guy when Minnesota needs him to be the transfer from North from New Hampshire well he certainly put up great stats at the FCS level but you just think about the jump from FCS FBS and then onto the NFL you know I played it every the the windows get tighter the timing gets quicker you have to everything just the de it comes down to Marginal details and we haven't seen him play at this high level so that's that he's got to be that much more sharp tonight and the good thing is though okay yes Darius Taylor's out but what helps a quarterback is not just a run game it's a veteran offensive line Minnesota returns four of their five uh offensive lineman including left tackle arante urser is I mean that's a first round pick in my opinion the best offensive lineman in the in the uh uh Big 10 so those are good Omens for Minnesota and there are o line that should love brosmer now he recently signed an nil deal with a local restaurant so what do you do if you have that deal you take your oine out to eat and you do it every week good work by Freehouse Minneapolis I will say this though that nil deal is going to turn out to be very expensive if you have offense lmean eating there each and every week well what's more expensive like take those guys out and all of a sudden they block for you a little bit you spend less money on treatment outside of the facility so I I think stuff like this counts like I I think you want to take care of your big men and all the they're going to strain a little harder when you're in the pocket so brosmer coming in a new transfer it's good to get on the good graces of your Big Fellas in the Huddle I got to tell I love when you see these stories and then you actually see the receipt and what they consumed because those o linemen can eat at a level that is nothing short PJ Fleck of elite and finally Illinois is at home on Thursday night against Eastern Illinois this may be a lower level opponent but Jake when you start to think about what Eastern Illinois has coming back the questions that Illinois has the way this game sets up Illinois is the favorite no doubt about it a big-time favorite but I don't think this is just a gimme not at all this is a extremely dangerous game and in just starting with the defensive side Eastern Illinois returns an elite quarterback a ton of weapons on the offensive side of the ball so we can start with Illinois's defense which the transition from Walters to Henry wasn't great like they took a number of step back a number of steps back statistically and and the number one thing for their defense to succeed is disruption sacks interception pressure rate last year wasn't good enough because in that defense they're going to leave their corners on an island these guys unless you have Deon Witherspoon which they two years ago they had multiple draft picks in the secondary and when you don't you have to get to the quarterback so this is going to be on their front remember they're replacing the law firm as well I think this this game right now has to be one in the trenches disrupting that ill uh Eastern Illinois uh offense interesting to see how Luke Alm responds he had ups and downs last year got injured a little bit was replaced late in the year and the Illinois offense actually kind of found a new gear now he's back and Brett belma says that last year was the kind of learning experience he needed he came can't be in the learning phase anymore though he needs to be in the leadership and production phase it was like a parado like at some levels he showed some great things like I mean he he was accurate at time his completion percentage was uh pretty solid but then you look at took way too many sacks way too many turnovers needs to just get a little bit more consistent so the question is for him how can he further emphasize his strength also as dangerous running the ball but eliminating some of those mistakes you know bad teams lose games so for a team like Illinois you got to avoid losing games and one guy I'm really excited is uh Fagan their their sophomore running back came on really really strong late in the season we know Bela needs to run the ball altm will benefit from not being the leading rusher to start the season as well that big strong tough guy that can run between the tackles Brett beam has had a couple of those especially during his most successful years at Wisconsin of course also had guys who can really go and had longtime NFL careers like Melvin Gordon and James White those guys help as well what are you going to be doing tonight during all the games I am other than watching obviously I'm flying I'm heading out to Washington so hopefully we got TVs on the plan so out to Seattle for the first game of the season with the a crew I love it Jake but when you're out there make sure plenty of coffee a little bit of salmon of course enjoy Husky Stadium supposed to be a terrific environment uh ruter has turned into a great HomeField environment for the Scarlet kns over the last couple of years it's the first game of the year and you can see it right here on the Big 10 Network 6 Eastern followed by Eastern Illinois visiting the Ali in Champagne our pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to that Ruckers game at 5:30 eastern time the Jonathan Smith era in East Previewing Michigan State and Wisconsin's Opening Games | B1G Football Lancing kicks off Friday when Michigan State welcomes FAU to Spartan Stadium you can see it right here on the Big 10 Network at 7 Eastern this game also marking the MSU debut and first ever career start for QB Aiden Childs we talk about it I think he's definitely ready for this um you know he's a competitive uh player and true competitors understand it's not going to go perfect every snap and things are going to take place there's going to be some really good plays too um but there's nothing like experience and the guy's been out on on the field playing Big Time football before just hasn't been on the first snap we'll be there for him to get him get him adjusted and we're confident that in his preparation in his instincts and how competitive he is that he'll give us a chance to score some points today's big stat brought to you by Hardies where there is good in the making every day from sunrise to supper time no team in the league has a longer win streak in season openers against non-conference competition you got all that Jake than does Michigan State Spartans have won 14 consecutive such matchups three more than either Indiana or Maryland Rick pisel back with Jake but I don't think I'm overstating this when I say that no team in the league will have its success to find more by quarterback play than Michigan State because that's what Jonathan Smith is known for Aiden child comes in along with Smith from Oregon State and if they are able to transform this offense being led by a dual threat quarterback I think they become a completely different team I think if child struggles with the other roster issues that they could potentially have offensively could be a long season if he succeeds I think they could be a little bit of a Dark Horse yeah I look the stakes are high for every reason you just said and and just go back to when this when Smith initially got hired and there was a Max Exodus of all the quarterbacks on their roster and everyone assumed it was Child's but it was a little while before he fully committed and all of a sudden you have all your chips on the table in this young man's hands to your point Rick but it also shows the value Smith sees in him as well and and I I think this will get better in time I I think Smith is the right man for this job I don't think this will be the best year in his tenur it may take a year or two or three right but but it will get better in time and and and it's not just going to be for child it's the other guys around him and and one guy really would like like to to you know you know I like to do this with the tight ends Jack Belling oh I know where you're going here Jack Belling a coming out party in Michigan state has historically they've done a great job of recruiting and developing tight ends this guy is as talented as they've had in recent years and Jonathan Smith likes to run more 12 Personnel than what uh Coach Tucker did so all of a sudden you have some nice pieces coming out party here see if they can keep that streak alive I just like to show you probably can't show the camera here but do you see what was on my page here before you even started talking about tight ends is linked to Jack fing he's a tight end that also came over from Oregon State and I got to tell you if you haven't watched him play he could be one of the best tight ends in this league and that's talking about a league that has tight ends like Le and Loveland and some of the best in the country guys that are expected to compete for the Macky award as the nation's top tight end uh overall how do you think he defines success Jonathan Smith in year one because I don't think it can be through wins and losses only no I I think what the first thing you got to do is is you want to have a clear culture and a clear identity and I just felt Michigan state was segmented like it's a house divided against itself cannot stand I I couldn't Define Michigan State these past few years but Smith comes in and I think he wants to make this his team he hires Joe Rossy to make that defense his defense I think what we'll start to see is a change in brand of football for Michigan State that will inevitably lead to wins but I think you're right I think he understands more wins will come in the future are are you quoting Abraham Lincoln right now during Big 10 today maybe is that a Lincoln I think so maybe our producer can get on that to see if we're historically correct yes we get a check mark Jack fing Abraham Lincoln mentioned in the same conversation for the first time in the history of sports or political conversation all right so Charles is not the only first year starting quarterback to transfer in that we're going to have eyes on on Friday night because Tyler van djk comes from Miami to Wisconsin now van djk had a phenomenal first year at Miami and then the last couple of years he was really unable to find that same form and that same footing last year Luke fickle went with a veteran quarterback in morai as a transfer till the injury I thought he was pretty effective effective had his ups and downs as well what does Tyler van djk need to provide for this offense well you just bring up a great Point what a big year for him in his career too right where it's like at his best there's a reason why he was a coveted transfer quarterback this off season and and that's what Wisconsin and Phil Longo need him to be they need him to be at his best what what happened with wi son last year is they're implementing this air raid system but every their whole offense happened within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage second fewest yards per completion in the conference behind Iowa right and you typically throwing the ball don't want to be in that conversation so for Van djk can you stretch the ball vertical and I think they got some big bodies in CJ Williams at 6' one Bryson Green in 6'3 we know what will Pauling can do in the slot but you have to stretch defenses vertical then all of a sudden you have chz maloi running through space everything opens up a little bit so for Van djk make the easy throws stretch defense vertical everything will open up at that point I will say I hope one thing for this Badger team and for chz maloi specifically just stay healthy throughout the course of the entire season right he's back this is the very last year of Eligibility after having a career that has really been marred by injuries he could have been over the last 5 years one of the most productive backs in the country had he not been hurt you just want to see him play a full compliment of games at 100% when he's he exploded before he got injured last year and as talented as brayan Allen is the Dude Looks Like Derrik hen we all love brayan Allen I I felt like chz Maly kind of fit the offense that Phil W wongo wanted I think the coaches were giving maloi more of the load than brayan Allen even when they were both healthy yep so I I that's what I would expect is you've had a year to recover let's go out there and see this once again I'm excited for him and I'm exactly with you just just stay healthy yeah I'm excited to see Wisconsin it is again against Western Michigan it is a Friday night game on FS1 trying to set the table in year two that of course as we all know is supposed to be the year that a coach makes the biggest leap when he takes over a new program and it is year two for Luke fickle in Madison now Joel Klatt Previews the 2024 Big Ten Football Season | B1G Today Fox Sports Joel clatt offered up his preseason look at the teams he thinks will be part of the first ever 12 team playoff four among that group come from the Big 10 including his pick for the overall number one seed in Ohio State clat sat down with Mike call for much more including story time in this edition of the big interview always good to bring in Joel clatt a man who's such a giver he once left a cutless cruiser on the side of the road with keys in it also that's true that's true I can't believe you remember that story I remember it was a good one it was a good one he's the lead analyst for Fox college football and he's good enough to join us now and we could talk about your Minor League Baseball days if we want but in instead I'd rather focus on the upcoming season in the Big 10 give me some some idea of like what's going to make a successful season for some teams so let me start with Ohio State it feels Joel like the narrative is they have to win the national championship or it's a failure what do you think is reasonable I think that um to to claim that you have to win at all is is is too much so you know that's that's over the pale for me but to claim that you have to give yourself a chance to win it all I think is is absolutely on the table for Ohio State I hearken it back to like what Tom Brady and and the New England Patriots did what did they do year in and year out give themselves a chance that's why they played for so many AFC championship games now having said that I do believe that this version of the playoff the 12 team version of the playoff it's going to be more difficult once you get into the semi-finals than what we've had in the past therefore my expectation my highest expectation on any team in the country is to get yourself in that final four because at that point it's a call it's a turnover it's a play you just got to get yourself and give yourself a chance and I think that's my expectation for Ohio State the Buckeyes and everyone trying to take the national title from Michigan but it's obviously a clearly different Michigan team the program's going in the right direction each of the last three years they've either tied or then broken the record for most wins in the history of the program in a single season but the head coach is gone the star QB is gone the star running back is gone on and on and on Down the Line what's realistic for them well it's and it and by the way that list continu by the way new offensive coordinator new defensive coordinator new strength coach the way that I've categorized it is is for Michigan everyone is different and yet the sentiment in particular amongst the ranks in an arbor is that nothing's changed so like how does how does that you know work well it works because they really believe in their culture they believe in their ability to develop players which you can't argue with after the last three seasons you just can't in particular last season going on Feed and winning the national champion I think realistic expectations for Michigan are that they've got to understand that self admittedly they're a development program more so than let's say an Ohio state of Georgia or in Alabama or a Texas who just wants to come readymade top tier talent year in and year out well when you're a self- admitted development program you're going to have little dips before the Peaks and we've seen that ramp up for the last three years for Michigan so for me even a little dip still puts them right in the clay playoff conversation in particular in a 12 team format I believe if you look at their four toughest games they've got Texas USC Oregon and Ohio State I believe that they're going to win two of those games if they win two of those games they're going to go to the playoff and I think that they're going to be a a nine win team as their floor 10- win team as maybe their ceiling yeah that makes sense a 10 and2 Michigan team feels like they're in the top 12 for sure you brought up the schedule and how it can be hard I want to turn our attention one of the new teams to the Big 10 USC generally when you welcome a team or a person to your house you're you're kind and and you you know you welcome them man USC schedule it's not the big 10 fault they open with LSU but then their third game of the year is at Michigan their fourth game is home against Wisconsin they're going to have to earn it right off the bat yeah they are Al although I I'm going to take the other side of that coin I actually think USC's schedule is favorable to them and and let me let me tell you why you can't just say that without saying why well number one is you get to face LSU which was a top three offense a year ago um coming off of a Heisman Trophy winner when you you lose the Heisman Trophy winner and you lose both of those wide receivers neighbors and Thomas they also lost their offensive coordinator when do you want to see LSU early as early as you possibly can that's the exact same equation that I would say for Michigan when would you want to go to Michigan if you're a team that feels like you want to beat them early in the season in sep September when they still might be wondering about who their quarterback is when they're still trying to get their feet wet in this jua position of everyone is different and yet everything is the same so that's when I would want to play those two games then they get Penn State at home and they get Notre Dame at home so to me when I looked at that schedule they don't go back East to play a cold weather game after the middle of October and they've got Penn State at home and Notre Dame at home after facing the teams that they need to early to me it's actually a very favorable schedule and if USC is able to beat LSU then watch out then then you can see a clear path to a nine win team facing Notre Dame for the right to go to the playoff that's that's where I think USC sits yeah think of think of the narrative shift around that program if they win on Sunday against LSU I mean that's that's a massive change and and by the way those two I don't think that there's a bigger game week one in terms of the narrative surrounding college football and in particular of these two conferences the comperative all year and we have to just be prepared for this this is going to be the new style of college football is like how many teams does each of these power conferences get I believe that we have power two conferences Big 10 and SEC and they're going to be vying for the most amount of participants that they possibly can get into the college football playoff so think about it these two teams are sitting basically in the same spot in their conference in terms of preseason narrative right around anywhere from four to five where they're picked and so they're on equal footing within those conferences so a head-to-head Victory is going to mean a whole lot moving down to the stretch that's why this is such a big game on Sunday night you know I'm curious Joel since you brought that up like kind of like a very macro point about college football one of the things that bummed me out when we went to the four team playoff was I felt like too much of the focus too early in the year was just on those four teams I'm curious how much you think the shift to 12 is going to affect the way we as media members and we as fans look at the regular season in college football yeah so so to answer that I would have to go back further than the four team playoff because prior to the four team playoff there were a lot of ways mechanisms results levers that you could use to define yourself as successful whether you were a program or a fan base I think you would agree with that right a New Year's Bowl was defined as successful you know you would get to the largely this is the way that Wisconsin built their entire program they never never played for a national championship and yet they built their program into one of the most successful programs in the country because they had Avenues to Define themselves as successful until the four team college football playoff which then sucked all the oxygen out of the air in terms of that definition of success and now all you could do was go to the playoff or else it was going to be a failure and that's not what the fans wanted and the players were going to opt out of the bowl games now is it so once the toothpaste was out of the tube you can't put it back in and go all the way back so what do you need to do expand within reason the definition of success I like 12 maybe 14 because it retains the level of importance of the regular season for the top tier teams to get the buy into the into the playoff but it also expands that definition of success for instance an example I think that we are on the precipice of having a November where 25 maybe 30 teams and fan bases feel like they have a legitimate path to the college football playoff that's going to be incredible for the sport yeah that that's a great way of thinking of it instead of five to eight teams in November that have fan bases that are in it you could triple that amount because the size of the playoff has tripled instead and and to put a bow on this you don't think that the September Games will feel far less important because there will be two and probably some three lost teams that end up making it in the playoff I I think when you when you actually go about an exercise of of filling in and predicting a bracket you realize that this notion of a three loss team getting in is iffy that's why I think Michigan might need to go 10 and two this is why Oklahoma even with their tough schedule probably needs to go 10 and two even if that's going to be incredibly difficult um which means that the regular season's actually still going to mean a lot that loss that Florida state had on Saturday to Georgia Tech puts them behind the eightball they now basically have to win the ACC in my estimation or else they're not going to get into the playoff so it's a balancing act you want to try to retain the level of importance and the meaningful nature of the regular season as well as expand the definition of success and I think that we're in the right model maybe it grows to 14 uh then you would retain two buys and not four buys all of those things I think will will will play itself out but if I know college football fans like I like I think I know them games are not going to lose their importance right they just aren't yeah and we look at the NFL people still flock to games on TV and in the stadium in September for sure uh final 30 seconds I know you got to run you have Penn State in West Virginia this week I think Drew Aller is a fascinating college football figure he had great numbers last year but just that that next level was missing from him especially against the big teams he's got a new offensive coordinator what do you expect to see from him week one I I've always thought that he is a supremely talented player um I didn't feel like what was going on schematically was a great fit for his skill set last year um he is a strong armed quarterback that needs to push the the the ball and and threaten the defense down the field that's not what they did in fact when you look at their average average air yards per attempt it was it was near the bottom of both the Big 10 and in a lot of cases the country that needs to that needs to change and I think it'll change with Andy cotal Niki their new offensive coordinator um I think that this is a team I'm very high on there was no team hurt more by the four team format than Penn State in the last eight seasons if we would have had a 12 team playoff they would have made six playoffs in the last eight years six and our our whole definition of James Franklin and that program would be very different if that was the case I firmly expect that they'll be in the playoff they've got a schedule that's advantageous they don't have to play Oregon they don't have to play Michigan so so for me I'm expecting a lot out of Drew Aller himself and also that program nobody makes better points in college football than Joel clatt Joel always great talking to you man have a great time in Morgantown I'm going to go try to find that uh it was a capric capr that we left on the side of the road that's right uh and Idaho Falls Idaho old minor league baseball stories they're great we can come on and just do a whole segment of myor League Baseball stories next week book it let's go let's More Week 1 Game Previews - Michigan, Oregon, Iowa, Northwestern, Indiana | B1G Today go our Taco Bell countdown to kickoff now just two days away for Chiron Moore and the Wolverines Michigan set to play for the first time under Moore as it's permanent head coach when the Maze and blue host Fresno State Saturday night at the Big House 7:30 eastern time in an arbor and that is where we begin statement Saturday what kind of statement does Michigan have to make and is there a statement that Chiron Moore still has to make after what we saw from him when he replaced Jim Harbaugh in 23 I I think the the full I don't think cheron has to prove anything and I I do I talk to these guys I talk to the players and they aren't interested in proving anything to anyone either they want to prove themselves right which I think is a good sign of maturity but to me it's it's binary for Michigan it's an if than statement solely on the quarterback play if it's Alex orgy and he comes in and he plays well then what does the rest of the college football landscape think cuz we're kind of baking in a few losses for Michigan right we're like okay they're losing everyone they'll probably lose to some of Texas Oregon Ohio State what if they get quality quarterback play on the flip side it's if the whoever his quarterback comes in and struggles and looks shaky and doesn't look confident then all of a sudden we are going to change our expectations on the season like Michigan is one of these interesting teams where the defense is a college football player playoff level defense the offense is a bit unproven at this point but has potential a lot of it's on the quarterback well I'll throw another if then at you and I'd love to hear your response if Donovan Edwards stays healthy throughout the course of the entire season and can give them 20 quality carties a game than than in the running if not the offensive player of the year in the big team I think he's got that that level of juice because I also think what what Donovan does as well as any running back is the passing game and Michigan's replacing their top two re Terri they're going to get him involved and and also he can throw the ball too I mean Donovan's a guy that just can stuff the stat sheet and you know playing behind Blake last year Blake was the first guy off the bus that's Donovan now that's Donovan a lot of this offense will ride on his success as well we just had this conversation during the break I believe even if to play Devil's Advocate Michigan loses the three games on their schedule that right now they would be considered underdogs in and those would be the Texas Oregon and Ohio State game I think they still have a great shot to get into the college football playoff they'll be close I mean they you know they need a team like us they would need USC to beat L they need some of these other matchups to but it it's it's a gauntlet it's going to be fun to cover this down the stretch of the Year totally agree starting off against Fresno State little bit easier opener for Oregon they take on Idaho so much talk right now about Dan Lanning rightfully so he's done an unbelievable job one of the most impressive young coaches in the country d Gabriel steps in so you don't expect there to be a huge downslide after the departure of bonck what kind of statement do you need to see Oregan make maybe this Saturday maybe the first couple of weeks yeah I I I believe they will make a statement which is to back up some of this conversation we've been having around their program all offseason like when we talk about you hear people pick their National Champion Oregon's name's right in there conference title Oregon's name when you talk about the deepest roster in the Big 10 it's typically Oregon Ohio State leading that convers ation and all of a sudden you go from the the Pack 12 to the Big 10 whole new set of eyeballs are going to be watching and not just the Big 10 of course Ohio State Michigan pens the teams at the top of our conference are going to watch how Oregon looks but so will Georgia so will Texas all the national title contenders want to see what Dan Lanning does this year I don't think Idaho can or will challenge him but how dominant do they really look you know what I love about Oregon right now in the entry into the Big 10 they have not come in and said well we're just happy to be part of the league we just want they've come in they got the giant inflatable duck floating down the White River in Indianapolis they've said we're here to win the championship we're here to win the Big 10 and the national title and they're not doing it in a bragging super cocky kind away they just are as confident as a team should be that's had this level of success and Returns what they return I mentioned Nicks is gone TZ Johnson's back at wide receiver Jordan James is back at running back there's another back that was hurt last year they could be a thousand yard guy T yeah oh two great tackles too they go and get Jabar mohamd from Washington one of the best I mean they are loaded on both sides of the ball and I I love the subtleness of how Dan Lanning approaches the question of how are you going to adjust to Big 10 play he says well winning football is winning football and I completely agree Oregon is in the driver seat other teams are going to have to adjust to them totally agree really interesting game in Iowa City should the Hawkeyes win the opener of course they should against Illinois state but what do we see from Kade mcam recently just barely beat out Brennan Sullivan for the quarterback job Kirk fence not going to be on the sidelines the one game suspension because of the recruitment of mcnea and oh by the way Tim Lester comes in and everybody in Iowa wants to see what this offense looks like because they're hoping it looks nothing like it looked like a year ago yeah so the statements are I I go back in my notes from last year and the year prior and I just recycle it's it's all about the offense right I I mean the defense is loaded maybe it's one of the best defenses in the country once I think it could be better than last year and it always will be with Phil Parker but it's it's comes down to the quarterback play and I part of the reason you go make a change at the coordinator position is to get a fresh voice a fresh set of eyes and when I look at Iowa last year you want to talk about completions I want to go a step further it's ball placement right if you're throwing a bubble screen it can't be on the back hip it's got to be on the upfield shoulder so you can catch and run you know they're playing Michigan State they playing some of these games you got to catch the ball like the receivers and tight they have to catch the ball the offensive line has to protect and pick up blitzes so it's little fundamentals in in in just marginal differences that will decide Iowa season they're not going to be the best offense in the conference but they don't need to be to have a great season but can they improve that's what we're all waiting to see can they improve offensively I'm waiting to see if mcne is healthy and effective because if he's not I just get the sense there's not going to be a really long leash of the quarterback position this year not with brenon suvan waiting yeah no there can't be and and again part of this falls on the offensive line they return a lot of talent a lot of experience there so I mean Logan Jones up front is one of the best centers in the country right right so so you know they they've struggled to find that identity in the Run game even in past years and Iowa at their best they know they control the game starting with their defense but at least by having a consistent Run game that's part of why you bring in Tim Lester that's part of what you expect with an experienced offensive line all right let's go to Indiana because Kurt cetti came in he made a statement at the basketball game shortly after he was introduced remember he said produce sucks but so do Ohio State Michigan I'm not sure you can make a more bold statement that being said he completely flips this roster 30 plus transfer players coming in a bunch from James Madison where he had a ton of success their schedule's very favorable what kind of statement should we be watching Indiana try to make this weekend against FIU we we just want to see if he backs it up like he he has set the statement to your point right he he has set the expectations in Bloomington and and to me I when I think about Kirk cetti I I just if I'm watching that game I don't think I'll be able to stay seated like he just injects so much juice and life and he's got so much fire I can't wait to see what happens but but to your point you're bringing in a ton of transfers guys who he really likes a lot from the FCS level like we talked about with brosmer earlier it's a different Beast here now you know in the FBS and certainly in the Big 10 he has has set the expectations extremely high in Indiana I know the fans love to hear that I certainly love to hear it but now we got to see it right that that is the game of football you are what you put on sa I just always think a fan base has expectations about what a team can be you can't really have legitimate and realistic expectations right now because you have no idea what this team is it is going to look entirely different than anything you've seen on the field in Bloomington and I okay so the spring we get to see the spring game right that was competitive that was back and forth it looked to the viewer that they are taking that step forward it looked like they had an an offensive identity it looks like their defense is going to fly around the communication looked in place now you get 12 guaranteed opportunities in the fall put it on tape build on that confidence and I'm not taking away from the great year that Tom Allen had back in 2020 they have had success by different I mean there are players that most IND Indiana fans have never seen before because they're coming from the different level and different programs and then you're going to have to get used to them trying to gel in through Spring ball and get it all on the field this weekend against FIU last year statement for Northwestern was an unbelievable one because nobody expected David Brawn who was named right before the year as the interim to do anything with this team who had won one game the year prior all the tumult after Pat Fitzgerald is dismissed and then all Northwestern does is have a career year last season in a year that no one expected what statement did they try to make if they're looking to back up the impro 2023 that what you can see is what you should believe like that like like that last year should be the expectation for David Braun and Northwestern going forward that's a big statement by you it it's well let's let's see it because I I do I look at what David Brawn inherited and it I just say it was an impossible situation last year from the from his open pressor at the Big 10 conference you're just like do I can I believe in that and then they just keep winning and your head and then they finish against a Utah team that's consistently one of the toughest in college football okay and and now you have the added benefit of David Braun was calling play just because of the timing last year he's calling plays on defense it limits his ability to be a true head coach now he's you know giv up those play calling duties I'm really excited to see because you get the feeling when you're around Northwestern that that is a team that loves one another and trusts one another and and I just think that that counts for something down the stretch of the season so I'm excited to see what they can do I'm excited to watch games on campus they're playing let's go at Martin Stadium which is basically on the lake while Ryan Field is getting redone yeah I've seen it looks really cool allegedly they can put like 12 to 15,000 and they have the Wisconsin game by the way a conference game is there you know how hard that ticket's going to be for folk coming down from Madison not that far a drive it's going to be fun too with the elements remember the Ohio State game a few years ago it's windy now it's going to be really wind right on the water so it'll be fun and they'll have a new cat in charge watching those games just got news on Thursday morning it's official Mark Jackson who is currently the ad at Villanova leaving that position to take over at Northwestern he'll start next week I mean it's football season you got to get in place by September 1st he is a previous ad of the Year won that award in 2020 while at Nova and also importantly spent some time as an associate ad at USC so knows the current Big 10 extremely well comparable institution at Villanova to Northwestern Mark Jackson the new Northwestern athletic director now we are the best volleyball conference in the country there's no question fighting with the Previewing USC vs. LSU | B1G Today SEC to be labeled as the best football conference in the country and we get a big 10 SEC matchup right off the Jump it's neutral site in Vegas USC top 25 LSU top 15 I don't have any concerns with USC's offense I know Caleb Williams has gone I think Miller Moss can do the job Lincoln Riley is an offensive genius the question is going to be does Danton Lyn the former UCLA DC who went cross town make as big a difference as Lincoln Riley thinks and hopes he can make yeah it's it's really the storyline as both defenses because the these teams were like a mirror image of each other last year where you you had you know Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels both just putting up stupid numbers offensively neither of them could stop anything out there but you mentioned Danton Lynn LSU goes and gets Missouri's defensive coordinator uh Blake Baker and then I I so I expect both defenses to be improved but one one indicator for for USC is it's not just coaching their offseason program Lincoln Riley said their team has put on a total of 1400 lb of muscle this offseason I'm sorry what 14 you should see some of these before and after pictures these guys I mean Miller Moss is put on 5 six pounds or o linan are put on 1015 these they they look different they they look like a big 10 team right and now you have a coach that's going to know what to do with that size Talent speed and and I I would go as far to say as Danton Lyn Lincoln Bradley is one of the best coaches in college football I think Danton Lynn is the best defensive coordinator he's had in his whole career so doesn't that make this really interesting to your point we know he's going to put up points this is a chance to prove it though I mean LSU they got a great offense as well they got a great young quarterback got to prove it gotta prove it fun game so Mike Hall and Joel clatt talked about how the narrative could change for either or both of these teams depending on Sunday's result how much does it change what you think of USC has a really really hard schedule mhm in terms of being a big 10 Championship Contender if they're able to knock off LSU it it it immediately jump boards them deeper into that conversation but but as far as the playoff goes too just just think about the breath of air you get having a ranked win at this point in the season if USC wins this they'll crack the top 20 LSU will probably stay in there and vice versa I think they crack the top 15 if they win this game this is a huge huge game one of the biggest games of the weekend so a lot riding on this game and a big match up for both coaches and Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly so wait a second you're going to be in Washington on why don't you just stay stay out west go to La I should stop at Vegas you should not stop in Vegas it's a terrible idea is it in Vegas the game's in it is in Vegas I'm just saying for you to stop in Vegas see the game then immediately leave don't stay overnight okay