Ohio State Buckeyes

Big Ten Skill Position Rankings and Key Matchups for Week 10

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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A look at Big Ten skill position players and their rankings.

November has finally arrived.  As the temperatures begin to drop, the Big Ten divisional races are heating up.  It is time to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

The best game of the week delivered.  Wisconsin’s 23-17 overtime win over Nebraska at Camp Randall put them back in the hunt for the Big Ten West division.  The Cornhuskers are still a game ahead, but they still have to face Ohio State and Iowa.

Ohio State rebounded, sort of, with a 24-20 win over Northwestern.  No one is quite sure what is happening with the Buckeyes’ offense right now, but here are my observations.

The offense is playing too slow right now.  J.T. Barrett plays best when he is in tempo and the offense is moving at a faster pace.

It seems like every down the SLOBS are set at the line of scrimmage and Barrett’s checking the sideline, moving the line and backs around and waiting until less than 10 seconds are on the play clock before snapping the ball.

The defenses know the snap count, know the tendencies and are baiting him into certain areas of the field.

He’s also looks determined to be a pocket passer often staying in there a little too long.  I expect him to recognize when to run and several times against Northwestern he could have easily gained 10-15 yards, but he chose to throw.

I cannot recall an Urban Meyer team that did not stick the dagger in an opponent when there was an opportunity.  The offense had two possessions with under two minutes to go in the second quarter against Northwestern getting the ball first in the second half.

In the past, that meant lights out for the opponent.  Not this team.  Both times the offense sputtered and then did the same in its first possession of the third quarter.

It is going on two seasons now that the offense has been wildly inconsistent.  Last year the excuse was the flip flopping of quarterbacks.  This year it is the lack of a deep threat.

How about stop trying to call the perfect play.  If the talent is superior, call a play, get to the line and go.  I am certain the offense will get rolling when it stops getting in its own way.

Back to the rest of the Big Ten.

Michigan looked vulnerable at times in its 32-23 win over Michigan State, but outside of the Spartans’ first drive, the Wolverines were mostly in control.

Penn State managed to win a road game in conference play dominating Purdue 62-24.  Of course you can’t read too much into a win over the Boilermakers, but the Nittany Lions went on the road after an emotional win over the Buckeyes and won.  That’s progress.

Each week, I’ll provide a ranking of the Big Ten’s quarterbacks and running backs and preview the best games.

The formula for ranking each player is pretty simple, mostly based on watching the games and saying this player is good and this one is not so good.  Here we go:

Quarterbacks:

I thought about switching Barrett and Wilton Speight again, but the top remains the same.  Speight was not spectacular in the win over the Spartans, but he managed his first road test pretty well.  Barrett was efficient again and his long run put the game away against the Wildcats, but he did not throw a touchdown pass against a depleted secondary.

Quarterback play in the Big 10 this week was up and down again.  Here’s how they rank:

Stud of the Week:

Tough call because it was more of running back week than a quarterback week.  Trace McSorley looked good again, but he was playing the Boilermakers.  That’s an automatic 50-point deduction.

Perry Hills played well, but lost.  Richard Ladlow won, but did not throw a touchdown pass.  At least his did not throw a pick either.

Jeff George, Jr. looked alright in the loss to Minnesota.  The Fightin Illini are awful though and were blown out by Minnesota.

Clayton Thorsen has the good fortune of throwing to Austin Carr who lit up the Buckeyes secondary, but he still took the loss.

There was no stud this week.  Maybe next week one of the top quarterbacks will step up and have a game worthy of this distinction.

Open the Competition Again:

I was tempted to pick Tommy Armstrong, Jr., but the Badgers’ defense has a way of humbling opposing quarterbacks.

Instead I am going with Alex Hornibrook. His finished the game passing for one touchdown and one interception, but the interception in the third quarter came at a time when the Badgers needed to get the momentum back.  The defense bailed him out, but he needs to have better ball control when the game gets tight.

 Rodney Dangerfield Award:

David Blough threw for 281 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the loss to Penn State.  Can you imagine how much worse Purdue would be without his arm?  Blough is forced to win games through the air because the Boilermakers can find a yard on the ground.  He definitely makes a lot of mistakes, but he’s a good quarterback stuck on an awful team.

Running Backs:

This is definitely the year of running and defense in the Big Ten.  Running backs are sharing the load with quarterbacks and receivers which is keeping them fresh.  The Big Ten’s best stepped up again this week.  Here’s how all of the backs rank through week eight:

Stud of the Week:

The easy pick would be Saquon Barkley who went for 207 yards and two touchdowns.  I am not picking him though because Purdue is terrible and this is the kind of performance we expect against a high school level defense.

L.J Scott also stepped up rushing for 139 yards and a touchdown against the Wolverines No. 15 ranked run defense, but it was in a losing effort.

This week’s award goes to Devine Redding.  Indiana was in a must win situation in their pursuit for back-to-back bowl seasons.  Redding had his best game of the season rushing for 113 yards and one touchdown in the win over Maryland helping break Indiana’s three-game losing streak.

Open the Competition Again:

Hate to sound like a broken record, but Purdue rushed 26 times for 46 yards.  Maybe they should hold tryouts because the guys on scholarship are not working out right now.

Rodney Dangerfield Award:

Hard to argue that Mike Weber gets no respect, but Meyer should have fed him the ball more against Northwestern. The game would have been a little more comfortable.  He rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.  Barrett and Curtis Samuel get all of the attention, but Weber will determine the Buckeyes’ fate in November.

Big Ten Team of the Week:

Wisconsin.  The Badgers have played Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska and LSU.  Four Top 15 teams.  They are 2-2.  Knocking off the Cornhuskers gets them right back into the hunt to win the Big Ten.

The Week Ahead:

The game of the week is No. 9 Nebraska vs. No. 6 Ohio State.  The loser is out of the Big Ten and College Football Playoff race.  This game is huge.

The Buckeyes have to be happy to put October behind them and get focused on building momentum in the stretch run.  They finally get a home game against a ranked opponent.  The practice week should be better and more normal considering they did not have to travel back after a late road game.  Will it help?

After playing a fairly easy schedule through the first seven weeks, Nebraska suffered its first loss of the season. How will they respond going on the road for the second-straight week?    They played well enough to beat the Badgers which should give them confidence, especially since Ohio State’s offense is stuck in the Earle Bruce era right now.

Both defenses are in the Top 15 in scoring so points will be a minimal.  This probably favors Nebraska as it does not want to get into a shootout.  Buckeyes manage to win a close one 20-14.

More from Scarlet and Game

Iowa visits Happy Valley to take on the surging No. 20 Nittany Lions.  The season has not gone as planned for the Hawkeyes and it could get worse.  Besides Penn State, Iowa still has Michigan and Nebraska left to play.  If the Hawkeyes don’t win this game, they will finish 6-6.

To win, the Hawkeyes will need C.J. Beathard to play his best game of the season.  He’s had six games this season where he has passed for less than 200 yards.  Last year he only had four.

Penn State just needs to continue riding the Barkley train.  The Hawkeyes rushing defense ranks No. 54 in the FBS allowing 153.8 yards-per-game.  Feed him the ball and he’ll keep the Nittany Lions on track in the East.

Iowa’s season is done.  Penn State throttles the Hawkeyes 35-10.

Are the Badgers rip for an upset?  They are making the short trip to Evanston to take on the pesky Wildcats for an early 11AM Central kickoff.

Northwestern is not afraid of Wisconsin.  The Wildcats have beaten the Badgers the last two years.  This will be a slugfest.  Wisconsin pulls out a late field goal to win 24-21.

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