Devin Gardner was a playmaking machine against Notre Dame. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
There weren’t many big games in the Big Ten during the second weekend of the season, but a conference team prevailed in the biggest one.
Michigan’s 41-30 victory over Notre Dame before 115,109 — the largest crowd to witness a college football game — solidified the Wolverines as a front-runner to reach the Big Ten championship game and a potential national contender along with Ohio State. Quarterback Devin Gardner was dynamic against the Irish and he looked good, too, wearing a number 98 jersey as a tribute to Michigan’s 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon.
“This isn’t the game that we want — the Big Ten championship, the Rose Bowl game — (but) this is a pretty big game,” Gardner said. “115,109, that’s how many people were there, not to mention the people that were watching on TV, the only game on. It’s amazing to be able to participate in something like this, but this isn’t the big one that we really want.”
The big news with the Wolverines’ biggest rival concerns Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, who went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of the Buckeyes’ 42-7 home victory over San Diego State. Backup Kenny Guiton was more than adequate as a replacement, but Miller’s health will be a concern going forward for Ohio State’s Big Ten and BCS championship hopes.
The most surprising outcome from the weekend had to come from Champaign, Ill., where Illinois put it on Cincinnati 45-17 and moved to 2-0. Cincinnati had routed Purdue 42-7 a week earlier, making the Fighting Illini’s victory stand out even more, especially after they finished with a 2-10 record a year ago and lost their final nine games.
Perhaps the most disappointing result for a Big Ten team with heightened expectations this season was Indiana’s 41-35 loss at home to Navy. The Hoosiers showed offensive prowess for the second consecutive week, but the defense continues to be suspect after the Midshipmen ran wild with their triple-option attack.
Indiana was the only conference team to lose in Week 2. Nine of the 12 teams are 2-0. All 12 have at least one win.
FIVE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM WEEK 2 IN THE BIG TEN
1. Michigan’s offense looks to be potent as anyone’s in the conference with Devin Gardner at quarterback.
Gardner, a wide receiver for much of last season, performed on a huge stage against a competent Notre Dame defense. It’s one thing to put up big numbers against an FCS opponent, but his four touchdown passes and a rushing TD against a team that played for the BCS championship in January makes a statement.
Michigan’s 41 points were the second most the Wolverines have scored in the 41-game rivalry with Notre Dame.
“We’re going to be multiple enough personnel-wise and also multiple enough from a formation standpoint, with two backs, three backs, whatever it takes, another offensive tackle in, a lot of different things that we like to do,” Michigan coach Brady Hoke said of the offense. “This was more like what we want to do.”
2. Illinois might not be as bad as some thought going into the season. A resounding win over a Cincinnati team that pounded Purdue a week earlier gave the Fighting Illini a 2-0 record under second-year coach Tim Beckman and turned a few heads in the process.
Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase has shown flashes of ability during his career but finally might have an offense that utilizes his talents. The Illini totaled 522 yards against Cincinnati.
Beckman, who has been criticized in some corners as a bad choice for the job, has to feel a little better about the direction of his team. But two of the Illini’s next three games are against ranked teams — Washington and Nebraska — which will be a better gauge of how good they really are or whether the first two games are simply a mirage.
3. Michigan State’s quarterback situation has more controversy than clarity after the unspectacular win over South Florida on Saturday. Connor Cook, Tyler O’Connor and Andrew Maxwell all played and none distinguished himself in any way.
“We’re evaluating things day to day. Practice to practice, as it should be,” coach Mark Dantonio said. “Nobody’s out of the mix. I don’t care how many people boo me or boo us. Nobody’s out of the mix; everybody has an opportunity. The bottom line is you have to be productive.”
Dantonio is so concerned that he called a Sunday practice for skill position players. MLive.com reported that freshman Damion Terry is also in the quarterback mix this week.
MSU quarterbacks have completed just 47.5 percent of their passes in the first two games.
4. Don’t punch Indiana’s ticket to a bowl game just yet. While the offense offers optimism, the defensive deficiencies rekindle old concerns about the Hoosiers’ inability to stop opponents.
Granted, Indiana won’t face another triple-option team like Navy, but Big Ten teams such as Wisconsin and Ohio State, to name two, do have the ability to run the ball.
After the Hoosiers gave up 444 yards rushing to the Midshipmen, an Indianapolis columnist wrote, “Three years into the Kevin Wilson era and they are still a defensive embarrassment.”
That might be a bit overstated, but the defense definitely has yet to catch up with the offense under Wilson.
5. Northwestern showed its diversity on offense with a downfield passing attack in a 48-27 victory over Syracuse on Saturday. Coupled with a solid running game, the Wildcats become more difficult for defenses to handle.
“When you look at something we tried to fix coming into this season, it was definitely getting the ball downfield and having some big games in the passing game and we’ve got some guys outside that can make those big plays,” Wildcats quarterback Kain Colter said. “This year, in particular, we’ve just got weapons on the outside and we felt like that’s something we wanted to capitalize (on) and something we didn’t do in past years.”
One of the deep threats for Colter and quarterback sidekick Trevor Siemian is wide receiver Tony Jones, who had nine receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown against the Orange to boost his totals after two games to 255 yards receiving and two TDs.
“After two weeks, I’d like to think that we’re as balanced as anybody. We’ve got two very dynamic quarterbacks,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “They’re really playing well within the framework of what we’re doing and complementing each other really well.”
