Where We Are At

[kgilbert78]

I'm looking around at the conference and our team after last Saturday. I think we're a decent team. But I think there are a lot of "decent" teams in the conference. There are a couple at the top--the cream of the crop--like tOSU, Michigan, and probably Wisconsin. I thought MSU and Iowa might be there too, but they have proven me wrong. We are not one of those teams. There are some woeful teams like Purdue, Illinois, and probably Rutgers (but they played Iowa tough). I don't think we are one of those teams either. After that? Teams that on a given Saturday can beat any other team in that group. Look at Indiana's win over MSU, for example. There will be a lot of teams with 5-4 and 4-5 records in the conference this season. 6-7 wins might be pretty good all things considered, and there may be quite a few Big 10 teams with that kind of record.

 

[dclionsfan]

We have the chance to be 9-3 if we get healthy and play consistently. My guess 7-5.

 

[pandaczar12]

The only sure loss on the schedule is OSU. PSU could win or lose every other game. Real shame they handed that game to Pitt, having that win would really help the season look better from a W-L perspective. (not worried about from a recruiting perspective, recruits saw how a hobbled PSU team should have won in front of a 50/50 crowd on the road).

 

[dclionsfan]

Team showed fight

Our oline at center and guard looks bad right now. Probably not going to figure that out this year. We are who we are.

 

[VaNtyLion]

The health of the LBs is such a wild card for how the rest of the season projects. If we can get healthy on D each of the stretch run games in November is winnable.

If we're assuming an OSU loss (not exactly a reach) that basically makes the Maryland game this weekend the difference between 6 or 7 wins and 8 (or if we get some luck) 9.

Looking at matchups:

Maryland - good on offense, beatable on D.
OSU - Need a lot of luck and every player on our team to play their best game ever.
Purdue - Probably worst team on schedule, including Kent
Iowa - Looking increasingly average on both sides of the ball.
Indiana - Definitely a landmine but will probably learn more in the next few weeks. Lost to bad Wake Forest team and beat MSU. They're likely somewhere in the middle of that.
Rutgers - Not as good as Maryland. Not as bad as Purdue.
MSU - Sparty should be coming to town in the last week as a 7-4 team at best.