The Big Ten Report – Opening Weekend

The 2006 soccer season got off to a strong start this past weekend and all 11 Big Ten teams came out to play. The conference posted 11 wins for the week, with only one game being competitive. This is a fantastic start for the Big 10 in a season where they should have no problem finding teams for their seven allotted bowl deals.

That said, most of the 11 wins were against the Mid-American Conference Major Major and each of the Big Ten teams was the favorite. Essentially, they were supposed to win 11 games last weekend. But the competition is about to get a little tougher in week two and certain teams competing for the BCS Championship Game in Glendale will need to find an additional team to keep those title hopes alive.

Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights from last weekend, as well as a look at what’s in store for the Big Ten Conference:

– Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema had a successful debut when his team defeated Bowling Green 35-14 in Cleveland. He has some big shoes to fill following the legendary Barry Alvarez, but he proved himself up to the task in week one. This was the second game in a home-and-home series in the past two seasons between the two schools. But Wisconsin got a short break when the game moved to Cleveland, two hours from the Bowling Green campus. For those of you who watched the game on ESPN GamePlan, you could see that the stands were only one-third full, depriving the Falcons of any home-court advantage.

Bowling Green started hot with a 10-play drive that led to a touchdown after quarterback Freddie Barnes ran a tying play up the middle from 21 yards. That had to scare the Badgers, but they responded immediately when their own 10-play drive was capped by Dywon Rowan’s 7-yard run. The Badgers didn’t look back and would go on to win the game handily with a score of 35-14. As for the Falcons, they may want to reconsider their extended punt formation, as this led to problems all night, including a blocked punt that Jonathon Casillas caught for a touchdown. They need to kick the ball like a normal team and not worry about trying to be creative.

The next step for Wisconsin is a home date with western Illinois. There is no line in this game due to the fact that the Fighting Leathernecks are a 1-AA team from the Gateway Conference. The Badgers host San Diego State the following week, and should be 3-0 when they head to Ann Arbor on Sept. 23.

– For years, northern Illinois has held its own against the bigwigs of the Midwest. With Texas on the horizon, we saw this as a perfect situation to go against Ohio State with a 5-point pick. Since the Huskies didn’t have the advantage in talent, it was important that they get off to a good start in the Horseshoe. Obviously they didn’t. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 lead after a quarter of a game. Quarterback Troy Smith threw touchdown passes of 5 and 58 yards to Ted Ginn Jr. on the first two possessions as the Buckeyes prepared for next week’s matchup at Texas with a 35-12 win.

We almost had a chance to cover the back door when coach Jim Tressel switched quarterbacks inside the 10-yard line and the Huskies recovered a Justin Zwick fumble on the next play. Hopefully the coach has learned from this, and from last year’s game with Texas, that Zwick has trouble holding onto the ball and he shouldn’t be playing this season. The Huskies have a star in the making in RB Garrett Wolfe, who rushed for 171 yards and caught a touchdown pass. This is a good soccer team that will win a lot of games in 2006. You can expect to see them as a team again in the near future. On a personal note, it’s interesting to see that NUI’s defensive backs are Adreil and Alvah Hansbro. These brothers went to high school in Madison, Wisconsin, and I played high school basketball against both of them.

The next step for the Buckeyes is a trip to Austin to take on the Horns and complete this home-and-home series. This was a great game last year and I would expect a similar result in 2006. The front row has the Horns favored 2.5. I would say that this is a game that we will stay away from when making a selection. We feel like this is a situation where a team has a clear advantage, but we don’t feel confident enough to consider it a big advantage play. Let’s just say there may be a new No. 1 next week.

– Finally, it was an emotional night in Oxford, Ohio, as former Miami, OH and Northwestern coach Randy Walker was honored before kickoff. As we all know, Walker tragically passed away, leaving former standout Pat Fitzgerald as the new Wildcats coach. We used Northwestern as the pick and they did not disappoint, allowing only three points in the game. However, the offense was out of sync and thus managed only 299 total yards. In fact, Northwestern’s offense didn’t put any points on the board until they blocked a punt early in the third quarter. Quarterback Mike Kafka picked up some rhythm after this play and did enough to put this game out of reach.

The most surprising thing about this game was the Wildcats’ defensive display. Credit must be given to Fitzgerald (a defensive guy) for this change. With Walker, this team could score at will, but had trouble stopping teams. It will be interesting to see if this new mindset will cause a change in the win/loss column.

The next step for the Wildcats is a game against New Hampshire. I didn’t know the NH Wildcats played football, but a closer look at the show shows they went 11-2 in I-AA and can give the Chicago Boys a game. There’s no line in this game either, but remember what the state of Montana did to Colorado a week ago.

– The other big game next week features Jo Pa and Penn State heading to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Lions lost most of their attacking power a year ago and it will be interesting to see if they can move the football against this improved Irish defence. The front row has the Irish favored for more than a touchdown and I expect Coach Weiss to make a statement in this game.

Three thoughts on college football

1) We need to stop putting the FSU/Miami game in prime time on its own. The past two seasons have turned college football back 30 years and neither of them will compete for a national title this year. Where have Charlie Ward, Ken Dorsey and the whole offense gone?

2) After years of scheduling games against schools you can’t even pronounce, Minnesota is actually playing a tough non-conference schedule this season. The Gophers opened with a win at Kent State and now head to Berkeley to take on an angry Bears team that embarrassed themselves in Tennessee last Saturday. You will hear from us about this game next weekend.

3) Kudos to the college football panel who came up with the idea to shorten the game by starting the clock on the change of possession. Many games lasted around three hours on Saturday and stations were able to keep their games on time. This is a rule that must remain in place.

Remember our early bird package is still in effect and we encourage you to sign up and put 35 years of experience to work for you. Free Pick: Take Arkansas State +14 ½ over Oklahoma State: 18-6-2 record over the last 2 years.