By: Dakota Isgrigg | October 25th | @dakota_isgrigg | @BoilerInTexas

Illinois - 7 vs #14 Wisconsin - 45

Illinois fans had a lot to be excited about coming off of one of their best seasons in recent memory. Wisconsin had a lot of uncertainty after losing Jonathan Taylor to the draft after last season, though they did have an exciting young QB come out of camp and were eager to see how the young man would fare in a real Big Ten game.

In the first Big Ten game of the year on a cold Friday night in Madison, Wisconsin showed they are now willing to throw the ball?!? New Badger QB Graham Mertz showed out, finishing the first half perfect through the air, and finishing with only 1 incompletion on the day. He would finish 20-21 for 248 yards and 5 TD’s in an eye opening debut. The Badgers also remind that they are still the running team they always were in tallying 182 yards on the ground to pair with the passing yards. Will be interesting to see if Wisconsin can repeat such a dominant performance.

Illinois on the other hand had a game they would rather forget. Brandon Peters finished 8-19 for 87 yards through the air and actually led the rushing attack as well finishing with 75 yards on the ground on 7 carries. The offense failed to put up points at all with the lone touchdown coming from Tarique Barnes on defense. The Illini will have to figure some things out on both sides of the ball if they don’t want to find themselves falling back on old habits.

Next Up:

Wisconsin - @Nebraska

Illinois - Purdue

Nebraska - 17 vs #5 Ohio State - 52

This uhhhhh, was a game that was played. It became apparent at how rusty the Buckeyes were early on as Nebraska took the opening drive 75 yards in 4 plays to go on top 7-0 early. OSU would respond by putting up 14 straight points to take a 14-7 lead. Nebraska would score once more in the first half to tie the game and get some Buckeye fans sweating slightly. Of course this is still Ohio State we’re talking about as they would score the next 24 points and put the Cornhuskers away from there.

Justin Fields finished near perfect going 20-21 for 276 yards and 2 TD’s on the day. He also finished as the leading rusher for the Bucks going for 54 yards on the ground adding another TD there. In the receiving game it was a two-man show as Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson carried the load finishing with 7 rec for 129 and 6 rec for 104 respectively. It was a great all around day for the Bucks who are looking to compete for a national title once again in 2020.

Nebraska on the other hand had a day they would rather forget. After getting out to a strong start staying with OSU all the way up to a 14-14 tie in the early second quarter, really struggled down the stretch. Adrian Martinez and Luke McCafferey split the duties of QB on the day with each finishing 12-15 for 105 and 4-5 for 55 respectively. Martinez led the Huskers on the ground going for 85 yards on 13 carries adding a TD on the ground. One of the big stories for Nebraska were the untimely turnovers that seemed to come at the worst times. Nebraska will need to clean those up going forward.

Up Next:

OSU - @Penn State

Nebraska - Wisconsin

Rutgers - 38 vs Michigan State - 27

It looks like the Mel Tucker era of Michigan State football may be a slower start than many Spartan fans were hoping. On the other hand, the Schiano era of Rutgers part 2 is already off to a banger start. The Scarlet Knights were a force to be reckoned with and that isn’t something many people were expecting to see out of Piscataway so soon.

For MSU, the story of the day was absolutely the turnovers. The Spartans finished the game having turned the ball over 7!! times. QB Rocky Lombardi had a decent game finishing 31-43 for 319 yards and 3 TD’s, but there were 2 interceptions to go along with them. The rushing game was some Purdue in 2019 level stuff as MSU as a team finished with only 50 yards on 39 carries. This will need to be picked up going forward.

For Rutgers, this game snapped a 21-game Big Ten losing streak and they did it on the road in East Lansing. Noah Vedral, the former Nebraska QB made his first start for Rutgers finishing 18-29 for 169 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. On the ground, the Scarlet Knights finished with 106 yards on 41 carries with a team total of 4 TD’s on the ground. This was a great way to start the season and I’m sure they will be looking to build on this win moving forward.

Up Next:

MSU - @Michigan

Rutgers - Indiana

Purdue - 24 vs Iowa - 20

This was a tense one for Boilermaker fans as we saw many players and coaches be announced OUT for the season opening game vs Iowa. Despite all this, Purdue still marched out into the empty Ross Ade Stadium and was able to do enough to come out on top. For Iowa, this was supposed to be the start of the Petras era under center for the Hawkeyes. It was a shaky start for the new QB as Iowa tried to adjust to the new season.

Purdue played a decent first game while still trying to work out the kinks and settle into the rhythm of a new season. The defense came out swinging forcing a couple of Iowa three-and-outs early before settling into somewhere between successful and failure. In quarters 2 and 3 the defense was getting run over when Iowa pounded the ball and struggled to keep the Iowa RB from getting 3-6 yards a carry. But at the end of the day, they did enough to pull out the win and that’s all that matters. On the offensive side of the ball, Purdue’s bevy of receivers delivered all over the place led by David Bell’s 121 yards and 3 TD’s. It was also nice to see Milton Wright show up having a successful game with 85 yards on 7 catches. I also can’t finish this segment without giving a shoutout to the Purdue OL who really gave AOC all the time he needed to do what he does. The line play was night-and-day better than what we saw in 2019 and I think this could be one of the better offensive lines we have seen in a long time.

For Iowa, Spencer Petras got off to a slow start before ending 22-39 for 265 yards through the air. On the ground Iowa found more success going for 195 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground. It was surprising to see how Iowa moved away from the running game after finding some success in the middle sections of the game. It seemed that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was fine settling for easy plays and leaning on the defense to get the job done. It didn’t work out this time as the defense routinely lost David Bell including not being within 10 yards on the eventual game winner.

Up Next:

Purdue: @Illinois

Iowa: Northwestern

Indiana - 36 vs #8 Penn State - 35 (OT)

In probably the most surprising result of the Big Ten slate, the Indiana Hoosiers finally got over the hump of losing to top-ten teams. It was their first win over a top-10 since 1987 despite many many close calls in recent years. For Penn State, this was not the way Nittany Lion fans saw their season starting. They saw an actual game losing decision happen in real time and it came back to bite them in the end.

We’re not going to talk about anything else besides overtime, because nothing else matters. Well… I will mention how in a wild twist of fate, Penn State lost by scoring a touchdown. PSU RB Devyn Ford, instead of falling down near the goal line which would surely have ended the game, lumbered into the endzone to push the score to 28-20 PSU. Instead of kneeling out the game, the Nittany Lions saw IU march down the field and tie the game up with 22 seconds left. Amazing.

In overtime, PSU scored on the opening possession of OT with a pass to Parker Washington for the 9 yard score. IU would follow it up with an impressive pass to WR Whop Philyor. This is where IU coach Tom Allen went for it all by going for 2 and QB Michael Penix made one of the more impressive plays so far this season barely squeeking into the endzone where it was called good on the field, and the call stood after review. Was it the right call? Who knows. But whether it was or not, IU walked out of there with a Top-10 win and Penn State got nothing. 2020 Y’all.

Up Next:

Indiana - @Rutgers

Penn State - Ohio State

Maryland - 3 vs Northwestern - 43

This was pain for Terrapin fans and they will more than likely like to forget this game ever happened. Northwestern on the other hand, must have been excited to see the team have some offensive success after a 2019 where they found themselves near the bottom of all of CFB in offensive production.

Northwestern: Transfer QB Peyton Ramsey finished 23-20 for 212 and 1 TD in his debut for the Wildcats. On the ground, they finished with 325* yards on the ground and 4 TD’s led by Drake Anderson’s 103 yards on 10 carries. In the receiving game, it was a spreading of the wealth with no one person finishing with over 53 yards receiving. On defense they picked off Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa 3 times and held Maryland to 207 yards total on the game.

Maryland: It was a long day for the Terps and we don’t need to go into much detail methinks. On offense the younger Tagovailoa finished 14-25 for 94 yards and 3 INT’s. On the ground they finished with only 64 yards. They had a fumble lost as well for 4 total turnovers on the game. This was a “throw away the tape, set the bin on fire, and try to regroup later” game. It could be a long year for Maryland.

Up Next:

Northwestern - @Iowa

Maryland - Minnesota

#21 Minnesota - 24 vs #18 Michigan - 49

In what was the biggest matchup to start the day, the Michigan Wolverines went into Minneapolis and walked out with an impressive win on the opening night of Big Ten play. Questions surrounded the Wolverines with new QB Joe Milton making his first start, and how he would fare on the road against a presumed tough Gopher squad. Minnesota was coming off their best season in a while with some high expectations, especially with the return of All-B1G WR Rashod Bateman.

Minnesota, while losing the game, did have a few bright spots in RB Mohamed Ibrahim who finished with 140 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground. Bateman also finished the day with 101 yards on the day but unfortunately didn’t find the endzone. Tanner Morgan had an up and down day through the air finishing 18-31 for 197 yards and a duo of 1 touchdown and 1 interception on the night.

Michigan on the other hand played a complete game and were never really threatened outside of the first couple possessions. Milton in his first start went for 15-22 completions tallying 225 yards and 1 TD through the air, and 52 yards with 1 TD on the ground. At the RB position, Hassan Haskins and Zach Charbonnet led the way for the Wolverines tallying 82 yards and 2 TD’s and 70 yards and 1 TD respectively. On the defensively side of the ball they forced 2 turnovers and held the Gophers in check all night.

Up Next:

Minnesota - @Maryland

Michigan - Michigan State

It was a day of Big Ten football that was months in the making and it had everything from blowouts to upsets. Not sure you can ask for much beyond that!

What did you think of the opening day of Big Ten football?

As Always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!