Big 10 - Week 4

[Former Wildcat]

First, I don't know how you can say they are better than Iowa after Saturday. Ferentz has had troubles of late, but he also had some great teams in the earlier part of the decade. Maybe this team is like one of them.

You say that PSU has the best QB and RB in the Big 10, but they have not excelled behind this line. Last year, they had the best line in the league. That tends to make a QB and RB look better than they are. I am not sold on Clark anyway. Maybe it is just when I have seen him but he never looks good against good competition.

If PSU had trouble at home with Iowa's D-line, how will they do against OSU's line, which dominated against USC? OSU also has a better secondary than Iowa, so if their WR's were not open against Iowa, what will happen against OSU.

I think PSU is probably the third best team in the Big 10, but there is no evidence to base that on. From what we have seen, they can't be rated higher than 5th.

[abpk2903]

If you are basing this on evidence, then no team really should be rated above 5th except Iowa. I think all this league has figured out to this point is that the best 6 teams are Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. Other than that the league is a crap shoot. Wisconsin has some real hogs up front, Ohio State is the most talented, Michigan has a quarterback to fit their system, Penn State may have the best defense, and Iowa seems very solid in all areas. Minnesota is the only team of those six we really haven't figured anything out about yet. Remember Penn State had their best defensive player hurt against Iowa but at the same time Iowa was missing their best lineman so both of those teams were not even at full capacity. I think all we know to this point is who is going to be in the top 1/2 of the conference. Each week will start to take some teams off this list but right now those are the teams that even have a remote chance at winning the conference.

[The Ancient Enemy]

I said that in the preseason, PSU was returning the best QB and RB. Is that not still true? Who's the best QB?

Pryor is up and down. Stanzi is a game manager and is inaccurate, thank Christ. Cousins is mentally retarded and plays the way Joe Germaine looks. Williams is all over the place. Forcier is a system QB who isn't quite there yet, still gets benched b/c he makes mistakes. Weber looks pretty good. Tolzien at Wisconsin was lights out Saturday but he's a new quarterback. Who else is worth mentioning? I'd personally take Clark at this point. Not saying Pryor might not be better in a year or so, but right now Clark is the best QB in this conference.

In addition...

You are totally right about the line being better in 2008, making Clark look better. The sad truth is that he was just as off-target in 2008 as he is in 2009. He was very justifiably rattled Saturday. I honestly think he will be okay.

Today, JUCO mercenary Nerraw McCormack has officially replaced Deon'Tae Pannell at RT. McCormack was much better in the 2nd half vs Binn than Pannell was in the 1st. Pannell is young. He has a lot of upside but was outmatched by a future NFL DE.

Guys, that Iowa OL and Iowa DL is maybe the best in the conference. People were making this game out to be "revenge, revenge!". No, dude. Iowa is not Middle Tennessee State. Iowa is one of the toughest programs in the nation when they are prepared. Ferentz has a justifiable rep as a guy who is inconsistent. This Iowa team is NOT the best team in the B10. They have great DEs and a very good OL, but what else?

Stanzi is erratic and inaccurate. Those RBs have a lot of promise but they relaly are not all that great yet. The receivers were virtually non-existent Saturday. Do you realize that Iowa's offense relaly only scored 3 points against the PSU defense? Iowa is not a world-beater. They are very, very well prepared against PENN STATE each season.

How about this for a compliment, though: People say Penn State sucks, but then Iowa beats them and now Iowa is awesome? So does that mean Penn State is good? Aye carumba!

Penn State has a young team, as does Ohio State. We only lose 3 offensive starters after this year: Clark, Landolt, and maybe Royster. Playing a team who is kryptonite to you, in the first real game, is a terrible idea. They got killed in the trenches. OSU's lines are probably a little better than PSU's at this point, but I think PSU can win the game in Happy Valley. In Columbus, no.

There is no one else in the conference who presents a match-up issue for PSU other than Iowa and Ohio State. Good thing about the B10 is that they give you a free one. Penn State wins out, they go to the Rose Bowl.

[Former Wildcat]

The problem is that Iowa might not be that good. They hadn't really done anything before the Penn State game and did not look good in their first two games. I look at Iowa and what they did to Penn State in Happy Valley at night and I can't believe that OSU won't do the same thing. OSU's defense this year is better than people realize. They have only given up one touchdown drive in the past three games (the game-winner to USC) because I don't consider a 4 play 3 yard drive to be a touchdown drive. They have absolutely mauled the past two o-lines they have faced and PSU's o-line is not that great.

OSU's offense has not been bad. Tressel tightened things up too much against USC after the team moved the ball well early on. Tressel has a tendancy to do that in big non-conference games, but not so much in conference games. I think if he lets Pryor and the offense open things up, they will move the ball against PSU. PSU has great linebackers, but their secondary is inexperienced.

[abpk2903]

Actually Iowa hasn't struggled at all other than week 1 wildcat. They beat in-state rival Iowa State by 5 touchdowns in week 2 and Arizona by 10 points in week 3. They honestly have one of the nicest resumes in the country right now even with the week 1 performance on it.

[deliverance]

They honestly have one of the nicest resumes in the country right now even with the week 1 performance on it.

From what win? We have no idea how good PSU is since the only true test they have had, they got embarrassed. The other teams that Iowa beat are awful. How does that give them a great resume? We'll find out how good they are when they play someone good. Wait, do they play anyone that is any good? Maybe they'll make a BCS Bowl like PSU last year and get a royal beat down.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Iowa will lose a couple games, is what the problem is. They are not good enough to win the conference.

It was the perfect storm for them Saturday night. They needed a lot of production up front on defense, they needed to keep PSU in their own end, they needed a wet field, they needed their special teams to play very well, and needed Stanzi to refrain from throwing 76 INTs. They got all of that. Pathetic.

Like I said... at home, they can beat OSU. Away, not so much.

[abpk2903]

Maybe the fact they beat the piss out of one of your Big 12 teams in Iowa State, PAC 10 team in Arizona, and now a Big Ten team in Penn State. Surely to God you think one of those teams are credible. Sorry they haven't beat perennial powerhouse UTEP like your boys Texas. Name me a team that has solidly beat 3 different BCS conference teams from 3 different BCS conferences. My goodness you really don't have a clue. I agree with the fact they will lay a few eggs along the way but to this point name me a team that has proven more.

[deliverance]

How can you prove a lot when we are four weeks into the season? You don't really know if it's a good win for at least another 3-4 weeks, hence the reason the BCS doesn't come out in Week 2. Iowa has a nice win at Penn State. That's it. Don't tell me how great wins over Iowa State and Arizona are because they aren't big wins. They're as meaningful as wins over Temple and Syracuse. Many other teams have one big win on their resume. Some even have two. I'm not clueless. That's you, bud. You're trying to make an argument about how great Iowa is to make yourself feel better. They're not that good and you will see that as the season rolls on. I have nothing against Iowa. I'm just being honest. They are not BCS worthy. You will see.

[El-Moldo]

How can PSU really be judged when they haven't played a regular season AWAY game since 11/08/08?