Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79325
PREDICTIONS FROM PREVIOUS PAGE for the division's four postseason-eli- gible teams: Wisconsin, Purdue, Illi- nois and Indiana? "Not necessarily," Boilermakers coach Danny Hope said. "Obviously, it increases [the odds of] those teams that are eligible, but it's still going to boil down to who wins the most, who plays the best. So rather than compli- cate it and assume that it may be an easier road, I think that we certainly have to grasp the idea that you have to win. We have to beat the teams that are eligible for the division championship, and also the teams that aren't eligible in order to be the team that goes. So I don't think it changes the big picture all that much." Added Illinois' Tim Beckman, "It's still going to come down to winning football games. We all know that in the Big Ten." Of the coaches who weighed in on the eligibility issue, Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald was the only one to propose an alternative to the division- al model. "Maybe our division winner should automatically be in the champi- onship, and then you take the other teams that are eligible and we put a committee together – the 12 ADs and Commissioner [Jim] Delany as the 13th vote – and kind of [figure out] how we're doing the playoff. That would make a little bit of sense to me. "I like the idea of maybe having two guys from our division in. So who knows? Any way to get to Indianapo- lis, that's what it's all about. I think every team's focus is to play for the Big Ten championship." Delany didn't give any indications that he's considering potential workarounds. So, assuming the divi- sional structure remains in place, here's how the league is shaping up this fall. LEGENDS DIVISION 1. MICHIGAN 11-2, 6-2 (IN 2011) STRENGTHS Coach Brady Hoke says he expects even better things from Denard Robinson now that the senior quarterback has a solid grasp of Michigan's new offense. Robinson is coming off a junior season in which he threw for 2,173 yards and rushed for 1,176, so if he's better, that's bad news for the rest of the division. The Wolverines also have one of the Big Ten's best offensive lines, including its top tackle, junior Taylor Lewan. One caveat: The Wolverines need to cut down on the turnovers after throwing a league-high 16 intercep- tions last season. CONCERNS Robinson is a dynamic playmaker, but he can't do everything himself. Do the Wolverines have the complementary players they will need on offense to dominate the division this year? That remains to be deter- mined. One of the team's most glar- ing concerns is at tailback. Fitz Tous- saint was arrested for drunken driv- ing over the summer, and his status was in doubt as of this writing. If Toussaint misses action, the Wolver- ines will turn to sophomores Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes and senior Vince Smith. OUTLOOK Michigan has long been known for playing a tough intersec- tional schedule, and this year's open- er is a doozy: a neutral-site clash in Dallas against defending national champ Alabama. Things can't help but lighten up after that, maybe enough to propel the Wolverines, with their revived defense and electrifying senior quarterback, to a conference crown. QUOTABLE Hoke, when asked what he thought of Michigan's status as the divisional favorite: "Not much. I think we were picked fifth in our division a year ago." 2. MICHIGAN STATE 11-3, 7-1 STRENGTHS The defense is looking good, thanks in large part to a veter- an secondary featuring Johnny Adams, Isaiah Lewis, C.J. Barnett and Ricardo Allen. The Spartans also have a strong linebacker corps led by Max Bullough, who finished with 3.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss last season. In addition, they boast more depth on their offensive and defensive lines than they've had in the past, with eight returning offensive line- men having made at least one career start. That's a key development as coach Mark Dantonio looks to main- tain the program's upward trajectory. CONCERNS Dantonio concedes that the Spartans have "a void in our leader- ship." That's because stalwart quar- terback Kirk Cousins has graduated. His replacement is junior Andrew Maxwell, who attempted only 51 passes in his previous two seasons. Michigan State also has some ques- tions about who will be on the other end of those passes. It suffered some big losses in the receiver corps and may have to rely on a freshman or two this fall. OUTLOOK The Spartans have made the postseason each of the past five sea- sons and have won 11 games each of the past two seasons. This year? They've got plenty of talent returning, and that should ease Maxwell's tran- sition into the starting lineup. They will find out just how good they are before they even get to open the Big Ten season, thanks to a nonconfer- ence schedule that features Boise State and Notre Dame. QUOTABLE Dantonio: "We've got new scoreboards, $10 million worth of scoreboard space, so hopefully we'll put something good up there." 3. NEBRASKA 9-4, 5-3 STRENGTHS The Cornhuskers return al- most their entire team, with eight starters back on offense and seven on defense. Quarterback Taylor Martinez "seems like he's been around forever," coach Bo Pelini said, but in fact he's only a junior. The other star on of- fense is multipurpose running back Rex Burkhead. He had seven 100- yard games as a junior and finished with 1,325 rushing yards, the most by a Cornhuskers player since 2002 and the most by a running back since 1997. CONCERNS While the defense looks sol- id overall, the Cornhuskers have suf- fered some big losses at a couple of