Preview Big Ten Football Week 1 Schedule | B1G Today

lock in folks the college football season is right around the corner here's a look at some of the early week one matchups August 29th Howard at Ruckers North Carolina Minnesota Eastern Illinois Illinois I'll be on the call for that one so mark your calendars August 30th Florida Atlantic at Michigan State and Western Michigan at Wisconsin by the way a new era is underway out in East Lancing so let's hear from first year head coach Jonathan Smith on training camp you know I say I thought where we'd be I thought we were work in progress um I think each day you make some strides and then you have a setback in a day or two when you know more install comes and maybe some more flaws you're trying to learn about you know in individual players or schemes and sides of the ball um so look I feel good of where we're at and really the progress we're we're making in case you're getting closer there's things to get fixed talked about this week kind of you know being a week of Separation you know I think good teams are not going to just go through the motions and get through Camp we're constantly improving and we got to push this the middle of camp like I say bodies of to our even on the mental side we got to keep pushing on it and then let's face it separation regards to depth chart guys are trying to earn spots earn playing time earn getting on the bus for travel Squad so it's a huge week a lot of excitement building in East Lancing as head coach Jonathan Smith is ready to get underway in his first season with a program that's in a rebuild it's hard to figure out like where do you start a lot of changes not just in the coaching staff but in player turnover 36 players going out 24 coming in via the transfer portal what is the most pressing issue this Michigan State team has to address okay so I I I look at the word pressing and I look at the word urgent there's a there's a quote by John Wooden uh talking about how he wants his teams to be urgent but never rushed and I think that applies to Michigan State here where because of all that newness it's going to take some time and I listen to Jonathan Smith talk and I say that guy is the right man for the job he's going to get them back to their standard but there's no need to be rushed the most urgent matter at this point is you know you go through spring and that you have a ton of film and you have a ton of data you go through summer conditioning you're wait your strength coaches say hey here's the guys that are strong here's the guys that are fast here's the guys that are improving you're now halfway through Camp you have more data well with all this newness it's on Coach Smith and the rest of his staff to go through that data and say here is this is our identity of the team going forward these past few years for Michigan State they've lost their identity he has now a ton of data that can go and meet with his staff on and say this gives us the best chance for us to win and you're playing a game against Florida Atlantic very very winnable game for Michigan State go in in that game and establish who you want the Spartans to be now in week one of the jonthan Smith there one thing that can be a delicate balance for first year head coaches is how much do you implement your system that you believe in for example Smith known to maybe have a similar style of offense to the San Francisco 49ers for example how much do you cater it to the players that you have available and you may not have a roster that you entirely built the way you want it what's that balance have to be it's a good question and it it's completely dependent on your roster and the health of your team as well uh you know when you're going through a drastic change he will get to his system but does he feel you know Michigan State at times ran 10 Personnel in 11 personnel last year he's known to use multiple tight ends I think that's the right identity for Michigan State just understanding the type of recruits they're going to get there in the midwest bigger bodies you know I was one and three against Michigan State in my career they won with a physical run game and a physical defense uh that's going to be you know for Jonathan Smith is is it's going to take some time based on how quickly he can develop and recruit guys body type to get to that type of system well Michigan State kicks off the season hosting Florida Atlantic that game coming up on Friday August 30th right here on the Big 10 Network moving on to another team that maybe will finish middle of the pack it'll be interesting to see exactly where they fall is Wisconsin coming up in year two Under head coach Luke fickle finished seven- six last season lost to LSU in the reliaquest bow the Air Raid Offense there's high expectations what do you feel like is the most pressing issue that this Wisconsin team has to figure out well the first one was who's going to be named quarterback and uh offensive coordinator Phil Longo said it is Van dijk as of yesterday van dijk's going to be their quarterback this year which was a bit expected uh but you look at Wisconsin that's going to be one of the better defenses in the conference it in the country once again but you talk about the air raid system and I go back to their offensive philosophy last year brand new system but everything when I look at the film everything happened within 10 to 15 yards of the line of scrimmage they weren't able to stretch defenses and challenge them vertically that that condenses the field you want a nice big open field in the air raid system so van djk and some of his bigger receivers whether that's CJ Williams or Bryson Green big tall strong guys they got to get down field they got to stretch the defense then all of a sudden it's going to open up the Run game and the underneath passing for will Pauling another big factor for Wisconsin this season has got to be their schedule it looks like a gauntlet on paper they've got Alabama in September Big 10 powerhouses in Penn State Oregon USC Iowa how big of a challenge is that going to be for this group to overcome as they try to figure out that offense and find a rhythm it's a huge challenge this is the new era of the Big 10 you know this is this is where coaching is going to be at a premium because all of a sudden you have to factor in roster man management and health and practice habits so uh this is one of the more challenging schedules in college football but you know Luke fickle a phenomenal coach he's been to a playoff he's put guys in the NFL so he's the right guy for a job how about Wisconsin once again they kick off the season hosting Western Michigan now moving along though to Minnesota a bit of a step back last year for head coach PJ Flex Squad six and seven is how they finished a little bit of a slide defensively which had been their strong suit prior what is the most urgent issue for this Minnesota team what with PJ F whenever he's a head coach it's two things they want to run the ball and they want to play defense and they're going to be able to run the ball they got a veteran offensive line maybe the best tackle in college football in arante ursery a young talented running back in Darius Taylor they'll be able to run the ball okay you're implementing a new quarterback okay but they have got to play better defense and Joe Rossy joined uh Jonathan Smith in Michigan state so they went out and got a new defensive coordinator and Cory heatherman from ruter at times last year you know what made their Miss Minnesota defense so great is they made no mistakes there was no mental errors and then in situational football they Rose to the occasion that it was the opposite last year in the biggest moments they were out of position the Illinois game I think is a great example of that just letting Illinois drive down the field and win the game so you're bringing a new coordinator you're implementing a new language a new system they have to take these next two weeks and really get their fundamentals and situational football down to a te because you're playing a North Carolina team with talented offense they got to be on their P's and qes two weeks is not a lot of time to figure all of the things out that you just touched on but the Gophers get underway on Thursday August 29th when they host UNC over on Fox