Big Ten breakdown Illinois has real opportunity for strong November finish
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Nov. 14—Illinois is back in action this week along with almost all of the Big Ten (only Nebraska and Rutgers are sitting it out on a bye). Beat writer SCOTT RICHEY ranks the eight matchups and provides his favorites for Illinois MVP, Big Ten MVP and a postseason Illini projection:
Who's on the call: Rhett Lewis (play-by-play) and Yogi Roth (analyst).
Who wins: USC, 30-17. Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava has thrown for 2,614 yards this season or, put another way, almost 21/2 times more yards than Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski. A contrast in styles to say the least. November in the Big Ten usually means run the ball, but not in Los Angeles.
Who's on the call: Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Robert Griffin III (analyst) and Alexa Landestoy (sideline reports).
Who wins: Oregon, 38-17. The Gophers haven't won a single game away from home this season. The odds of that changing Friday night in Eugene, Ore., are rather slim. The Ducks did lose at Autzen Stadium last month to Indiana, but they're 52-9 at home in the previous 10 seasons combined.
Who's on the call: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Jenny Taft (sideline reports).
Who wins: Michigan, 27-12. Just like last season against Illinois and, to be honest, most Northwestern games no matter the location, expect to see more fans in maize and blue at Wrigley Field on Saturday. Unique location plus Wolverines still in the playoff hunt gives them a reason to show up.
Who's on the call: Noah Reed (play-by-play) and Robert Smith (analyst).
Who wins: Illinois, 31-17. That thing where the Illinois defense got pressure on Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and made his life fairly miserable? More of that. If the Illini can similarly affect Maryland freshman Malik Washington, they can keep their strong November rolling for another week.
Who's on the call: Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analyst) and Kathryn Tappen (sideline reports).
Who wins: Ohio State, 35-13. The feel-good story that was UCLA football has lost some of its luster now that the Bruins have dropped back-to-back games to Indiana and Nebraska. The Buckeyes make it three straight at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Easily.
Who's on the call: Jeff Levering (play-by-play), Jake Butt (analyst) and Brooke Fletcher (sideline reports).
Who wins: Indiana, 42-14. Last week was a rarity in the Hoosiers' unbeaten run — a close game. Wisconsin might be feeling better after beating Washington, but playing in Bloomington, Ind., won't end well. Indiana has posted an average margin of victory of nearly 44 points at Memorial Stadium.
Who's on the call: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (analyst) and Jenny Dell (sideline reports).
Who wins: Penn State, 28-24. Quite the storyline here with a team that already fired its coach facing a team that will likely do the same in short order. There's not enough season left where Jonathan Smith
might get the boot this week, but a seventh straight Big Ten loss will keep his seat extra hot.
Who's on the call: Dan Hellie (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst).
Who wins: Washington, 21-7. Will Jonah Coleman and Denzel Boston play for the Huskies? Washington coach Jedd Fisch at least seemed optimistic they would earlier this week ahead of kickoff in Seattle. They better. Both got hurt last week at Wisconsin, and the resulting loss was not coincidental for Washington.
ESPN pulled a bit of a switcheroo to draw in Illinois fans Wednesday when it included a photo of Luke Altmyer on the home page of as the lead-in to its re-ranking of every Power Four quarterback in the country. Altmyer's actual ranking? That would be 16th overall and fifth among Big Ten quarterbacks — a drop of one spot overall from the original rankings. That doesn't take away from the fact Altmyer is having a career year and is a primary reason the Illini are on track for their best back-to-back seasons in nearly four decades.
Big Ten MVP
Fernando Mendoza kept his Big Ten MVP (and Heisman Trophy) hopes alive last week when Indiana escaped with a win at Penn State. More accurately, Omar Cooper Jr.'s toe kept those hopes alive. The Hoosiers quarterback is still a strong candidate for the conference's best player, but Ohio State's Julian Sayin is starting to remove any doubt about his candidacy. The Buckeyes quarterback is the Big Ten's most efficient passer and has thrown for 1,012 yards, nine touchdowns and just one interception in his last three games.
More than one bowl game prognosticator has Illinois headed to the Big Apple in late December to play an ACC team in the Pinstripe Bowl. Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27 sounds like … not the place to be. But that's where ESPN's Mark Schlabach has the Illini facing Louisville (they've seen Jeff Brohm enough). The same is true for Athlon's Steven Lassan, who is pitting the Illini against North Carolina State (an interesting Bret Bielema vs. Dave Doeren matchup at least). Here's hoping Illinois lands somewhere in Florida.
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