Ohio State Buckeyes

Big Ten Skill Position Rankings and Key Matchups for Week 11

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

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Oct 24, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of Big Ten logo on field prior to a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Indiana Hoosiers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

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

Although the biggest games in the Big Ten in week nine turned out to be duds, at least they were better than the 10-0 performance Alabama and LSU put on in Death Valley. Zero points after three quarters for the No. 1 team is embarrassing.

Guess the smirk on coach Urban Meyer’s face all week was telling. His offense erupted barreling over the No. 10 Cornhuskers 62-3. Coupled with a defense that scored 14 points, Ohio State played its most complete game of the season. It is now ready to win the Big Ten.

Memo to Michigan. This is what happens to a team that plays back-to-back road games, at night, against highly ranked teams. Nebraska was flat and not prepared for the physical pounding.

I am buying that No. 3 Michigan is better, but not having to go on the road in consecutive weeks against good competition does cast some doubt. I understand that the Wolverines pummeled another vastly inferior team and have yet to play a down game, but playing on the road is much more difficult than the comforts of Ann Arbor.

As much as they don’t want to admit it, Ohio State has to root for Michigan because Indiana, Michigan State and Rutgers are not going to beat Penn State.

Most were shocked to see the Nittany Lions ranked No. 12 in the first CFP Committee release last week, but unlike Texas A&M, they proved they belong in the discussion by running over the Hawkeyes 41-14.

Penn State will be rooting hard for Maryland and Michigan State over the next two weeks to pull an upset over the Buckeyes.

No. 8 Wisconsin broke a two-game losing streak to Northwestern winning 21-7 in Evanston. The Badgers are now in the driver’s seat for winning the West Division. Barring an upset, they will get a rematch against Michigan or Ohio State in the championship game.

On a side note, I am wondering if the epic beat downs that Iowa and Michigan State received in the Rose Bowl and Playoff semifinal carried over mentally into this season. Both teams lack confidence and look lost.

Each week, I’ll provide a ranking of the Big Ten 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:

Big Ten Quarterbacks:

For the second-straight week, I thought about switching J.T. Barrett and Wilton Speight, but the top remains the same. Speight was efficient in the win over the Terps and Barrett was lights out against the Cornhuskers.

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

QB	Team	Attempts	Completions	Yards	YPC	TDs	INTs
Wilton Speight	Michigan	231	149	2053	13.78	15	3
J.T. Barrett	Ohio State	265	171	1965	11.49	21	4
Trace McSorley	Penn State	241	134	2058	15.36	14	3
Tommy Armstrong Jr	Nebraska	232	119	1838	15.45	11	8
Clayton Thorson	Northwestern	341	193	2219	11.5	16	6
Alex Hornibrook	Wisconsin	150	86	1040	12.09	6	7
CJ Beathard	Iowa	227	136	1584	11.65	13	5
Richard Lagow	Indiana	311	191	2574	13.48	15	13
Tyler O’Connor	Michigan State	198	121	1341	11.08	12	7
David Blough	Purdue	406	236	2737	11.6	20	13
Perry Hills	Maryland	144	97	1143	11.78	10	3
Mitch Leidner	Minnesota	209	121	1505	12.44	5	6
Jeff George, Jr.	Illinois	78	33	391	11.85	4	1
Giovanni Rescigno	Rutgers	91	52	598	11.5	5	3

Stud of the Week:

Barrett’s play has been criticized for weeks. He responded by torching a good Nebraska secondary for 290 yards and four touchdowns. The amazing thing is he missed a couple of wide open opportunities to tack on more.

If he continues to play this way, the Buckeyes will be a tough to beat.

Open the Competition Again:

The Golden Gophers are tied for first place in the West with games against Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin remaining. There is zero chance that Minnesota will win any of these games getting the production that Mitch Leidner is providing.

Minnesota is all about running the football, but it needs a little bit of balance to compete for the West Division. Leidner’s five touchdowns and six interceptions on the year are terrible for third-year starter.

Rodney Dangerfield Award:

All of Penn State’s highlights feature Saquon Barkley, but Trace McSorley is putting together a successful season. He passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes and has 14 touchdowns and just three interceptions on the year. He’s a huge reason why the Nittany Lions are probably the most improved team in the all of college football from September to November.

Big Ten Running Backs:

The Big Ten has always had great running backs, but this may be the deepest set of backs the conference has seen in years. Most of them delivered this week. Here’s how all of the backs rank through week 10:

Running Backs	Team	Carries	Yards	YPC	TDs
Mike Weber/Curtis Samuel	Ohio State	216	1441	6.67	12
De’Veon Smith/Chris Evans	Michigan	166	1020	6.14	12
Saquon Barkley/Miles Sanders	Penn State	181	1352	7.47	12
Corey Clement/Dare Ogunbowale	Wisconsin	260	1155	4.44	9
Terrell Newby/Devine Ozigbo	Nebraska	223	988	4.43	9
Justin Jackson/John Moten IV	Northwestern	224	992	4.43	6
LeShun Daniels/Akrum Wadley	Iowa	228	1306	5.73	14
Rodney Smith/Shannon Brooks	Minnesota	270	1426	5.28	18
Ty Johnson/Lorenzo Harrison	Maryland	157	1268	8.08	9
L.J. Scott/Gerald Holmes	Michigan State	203	1017	5.01	9
Devine Redding/Tyler Natee	Indiana	217	986	4.54	5
Kendrick Foster/Reggie Corbin	Illinois	151	1017	6.74	8
Markell Jones/Brian Lankford Johnson	Purdue	143	705	4.93	5
Robert Martin/Justin Goodwin	Rutgers	183	896	4.9	1

Stud of the Week:

Saquon Barkley put on another show rushing for 167 yards and a touchdown against Iowa. In his last four games, Barkley has 675 yards and four touchdowns. Penn State’s next three opponents are Indiana, Michigan State and Rutgers who are currently ranked No. 60, No. 61 and No. 122 in rushing defense. My guess is Barkley will break 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns giving him a legitimate shot at winning the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Open the Competition Again:

Justin Jackson, like many running backs this year, was humbled by Wisconsin. No real shame in that, but 42 yards for the Big Ten’s third-leading rusher is not getting the job done. Good news is he gets to play Purdue next week. That should get him back on track.

Rodney Dangerfield Award:

Illinois has not had much to cheer about this season, but Kendrick Foster is a good back stuck behind a bad offensive line.

Foster rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan State keeping the Fightin Illini’s slim bowl hopes alive and earning him some respect this week.

Big Ten Team of the Week:

Ohio State. The Buckeyes needed a game where they pushed the reset button for the offense and they got it. They need to stay focused and take care of Maryland and Michigan State before the final showdown against Michigan on November 26.

The Week Ahead:

Not an exciting week in the Big Ten, but the top three teams in the East hit the road. All three should win comfortably.

10 weeks ago, it looked like the game in Iowa City might be one that could trip up the Wolverines. Unfortunately, Iowa has reverted back to being an average team.