Week Two: On the road to Kinnick
Northwestern easily warded off Maryland, while the conference has begun to struggle defensively against COVID.
Good morning. Welcome to another edition of the Inside NUsletter as we get you set for the Wildcats and the Hawkeyes tomorrow at 2:30 pm CT. Inside this issue, you’ll find our coverage from last week’s season-opening win over Maryland as well as plenty of preview content for Iowa.
After a wild return of the Big Ten, and COVID stealing headlines this week, it’s sure to be another action-packed Saturday, especially with the marquee matchup of Big Ten East leaders Indiana and Rutgers.
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In case you missed it
Northwestern opened the season with a bang, outclassing Maryland 43-3. Mike Bajakian rolled out his new offense, highlighted by a steady performance from new starting quarterback Peyton Ramsey. The graduate transfer from Indiana went 23-30 with 212 yards in the air, while fellow newcomers Peter Skoronski and John Raine both impressed on their Wildcat debuts.
Due to the volume of impressive performances in all phases of the game, we admittedly struggled on a balanced stock report for Saturday’s contest. The stock of the offensive newcomers, the secondary, the running game, optimism and sanity all shot up, while we nitpicked the depth of the defensive line.
Here are five takeaways from the victory and three notes from Bajakian’s offense. Indeed, the ‘Cats “brought their own juice” as they surpassed 300 rushing yards for the second straight contest (thank you, HAT hero Andrew Marty) and dropped 30 points in a half for the first time since the 2018 opener at Purdue.
Dan Olinger took a look at Ramsey’s debut under center and how he easily handled an unimpressive Maryland defense in the first edition of Peyton’s Passes, a weekly film review of the quarterback play.
What people said about the Big Ten’s return
Things got crazy, and all eyes were on the B1G. We went around the conference, recapping the most significant action, and then put out the second edition of our power rankings.
Here are some different perspectives and takeaways from an entertaining weekend of football:
The Athletic 101 college football rankings: How high should Big Ten teams climb? (This article is included because Chris Vannini ranked NU #24)
The 19 most interesting stats from college football’s Week 8
Stat #4: “Rutgers scored 51 total points in nine Big Ten games last year. The Scarlet Knights scored 38 in a win at Michigan State, snapping a 21-game conference losing streak.”
College football takeaways: How James Franklin botched Penn State's heartbreaking opener
“On Saturday at Indiana, Franklin committed one of the cardinal sins of game management. He took a game that Penn State had won with absolute statistical certainty and allowed his team to lose it when the Nittany Lions showed an abject failure of understanding time and score. It was the type of unconscionable lapse that will be referred to for years, as Penn State invited Indiana back into the game and became their enabler for a historical moment.
The turning point of a dramatic Penn State win to an unforgivable 36-35 loss – Indiana’s first over a top-10 opponent since 1987 – came when the Nittany Lions should have been icing the game for a win.
Up 21-20 with 1:46 left, Devyn Ford burst through the line of scrimmage and didn’t realize Indiana’s defenders were letting him score. Instead off falling on the 1-yard line and taking a knee, he scored on a 14-yard touchdown run on first down that put Penn State up 28-20 after the extra point.” - Pete Thamel
“To understand the impetus behind the number change is to understand the journey of Bateman to Minnesota – the collective scars he has accumulated and the pain that has shaped his perspective the past 20 years. Bateman has experienced the trauma of racism from an interracial relationship in high school and overcome a stepfather who he says physically abused his mother and verbally abused he and his brothers.
He has gone from a trailer in rural Georgia to the cusp of NFL millions because of the strength of his mother, and the unconditional love of godparents who’ve become family. Bateman’s story is one of conquering hate, blazing his own trail and recognizing how much more work needs to be done to help others do the same.
Rashod Bateman could have skipped this season and taken the safe path to the NFL draft. But after opting out in August, he decided to return to Minneapolis because he missed his teammates and saw opportunity to make a difference amid the city’s tumult in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
‘That’s the No. 1 reason, to send a positive message to this country,’ he said of the number change. ‘Me personally, I believe there should be no tolerance for racism.’ - Thamel
Big Ten West SP+ rankings:
4. Wisconsin (+25.5 adjusted points per game)
30. Northwestern (+9.9)
32. Iowa (+9.3)
33. Minnesota (+9.2)
36. Purdue (+7.7)
42. Nebraska (+6.4)
75. Illinois (-2.5)
Wisconsin Badgers football program up to 16 active cases of COVID-19 (so much for a smooth Big Ten season!). Here’s a column from Stewart Mandel about how the conference’s return plan isn’t looking any more prescient than that of other leagues at the moment.
Preparing for the Hawkeyes
Kirk Ferentz's squad lost a frustrating one to Purdue when David Bell caught his third touchdown of the day to put the Boilermakers ahead 24-20 with 2:15 left and first-time starting QB Spencer Petras couldn’t lead his team on a game-winning drive. It’s Iowa’s first season-opening loss since 2013, and the Hawkeyes need a win over Northwestern to keep the Big Ten West race from getting out of reach early on.
More on matching up with Iowa:
Editors’ picks ft. Rodger Sherman
We’re thrilled to have Sippin’ On Purple (the site that became Inside NU) founder and The Ringer writer Rodger Sherman picking games for the Inside NUsletter all season long, and you won’t find his picks anywhere else on our platforms. He’s a great Twitter follow, as well as a very smart writer.
After everyone but Rodger picked NU to beat Maryland, two-thirds of the predictors like Northwestern this week, though no one has the ‘Cats winning by more than a touchdown.
Rodger (@rodger): Iowa 28, Northwestern 20
Last week I was the only one to pick against Northwestern and Northwestern LITERALLY BECAME THE BEST TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. I'm gonna keep picking us to go 0-1 every week as long as we keep going 1-0 every week.
Eli Karp (@karp_eli): Northwestern 26, Iowa 24
I’m uncomfortable projecting these teams to combine for 50 points, something they haven’t done head-to-head since 2017, yet here we are. I believe Iowa will get the things that killed it against Purdue sorted out (10 penalties for 100 yards and two fumbles lost), but that doesn’t mean we’ll see quite the Hawkeye defense Northwestern is used to seeing. There’s rightfully some concern about NU’s thin defensive front, but with wind in the forecast, I like the Wildcats’ short and intermediate passing approach more than I do some of Iowa’s big play threats.
Lia Assimakopoulos (@Lassimak): Northwestern 24, Iowa 20
Maybe it’s a bold move, but I’m taking the ‘Cats this weekend. Northwestern has the momentum it needs to beat down on an already insecure Iowa team who dropped an early game to Purdue last week. Peyton Ramsey will pick apart the Iowa secondary, just like Purdue did, and the running backs will have another standout day. However, Iowa won’t go down without a fight, so this one will go down to the wire.
Colin Kruse (doesn’t have Twitter rip): Iowa 21, Northwestern 20
I’m not going to let optimism get the better of me for this week’s tilt against the Hawkeyes. Northwestern’s lack of depth at defensive line concerns me, with the confirmed absences of Trevor Kent and Jason Gold, Jr. The Fighting Fitzes have historically stifled Iowa’s rushing attack over the past few years, but a depleted defensive front and fewer mistakes from the likes of Mekhi Sargent and Tyler Goodson could swing the balance in favor of Kirk Ferentz’s squad. The ‘Cats’ offense won’t necessarily have a bad game, but, the Hawkeyes will be a little bit sharper than last week on both sides of the ball and pull out a close one in Iowa City.
Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger): Northwestern 27, Iowa 20
Overreacting to one game is a dangerous thing. Look no further than Northwestern’s overmatched week one foe Maryland, who last year vaulted into the AP Top 25 following its demolition of Syracuse, only to lose to every team left on their schedule whose name didn’t rhyme with Schmutgers. In addition, a very reasonable case can be made that Iowa outplayed Purdue in its opening loss, as it averaged more yards per carry and yards per passing attempt, yet lost due to two untimely fumbles in their opponent’s territory. The Hawkeyes have home field advantage and were one of the four losses I predicted on Northwestern’s record. However, watching their defense truly struggle to stop the Aidan O’Connell-David Bell passing connection last week convinced me that Ramsey should have plenty of success through the air and put up enough points for the ‘Cats to pull out a close win.
Mac Stone (@MacStone00): Northwestern 27, Io_a 21
Am I foolishly picking the ‘Cats based on last week’s performance alone? Absolutely. Northwestern has no shortage of weaknesses, most of which weren’t displayed against Maryland (because it’s Maryland). The Wildcats have a thin defensive line and a secondary that has yet to be tested. However, the Hawkeyes are no stranger to weaknesses either, as Io_a’s secondary let Purdue wide receiver David Bell find the end zone three times last Saturday. Look for Ramsey to have a solid day through the air and for the ‘Cats to pull out a tight one at Kinnick.
Good Tweets, Northwestern section
At no point will Mick McCall roasts ever not be funny.
CFB Twitter took notice of Northwestern’s rout.
In response, we had our official Inside NU stat nerd Daniel Olinger run his own calculations, which also returned that Northwestern now has a non-zero shot at winning the West division. We’ll keep you up to date on this groundbreaking story in the weeks to come.
Good Tweets (regular)
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See you next week.
Written by Eli Karp and Colin Kruse.