Tuesday B1G Blog Roundup: How Purdue Is Like Cinnamon

Illinois 50, Miami (OH) 14: I'm jealous of this. Illinois took the opportunity to go up against an inferior MAC team, and completely blew them out of the water. Oh, how nice it would have been for Michigan to do that against Akron! Given the victory, though, The Champaign Room isn't completely overjoyed with Saturday's performance. Bill Cubit apparently made some calls that could come in handy against future (and tougher) opponents, but now the cat's out of the bag. However, this isn't 2012 any more, so things may be okay for the Illini. Also, does Tom Fornelli have the scoop on Pat Fitzgerald leaving Northwestern for USC? I just can't help looking at that final score longingly like a high schooler with a crush, and thinking, "That should be our final score." Next up for Illinois: at Nebraska.

Purdue 24, Northern Illinois 55: I don't...know...what...to...say. Northern Illinois could be a great addition the next time the B1G wants to expand, and the MAC would love to have Purdue on a regular basis. I mean, who doesn't want a guaranteed win every year? Travis Miller, over at Hammer and Rails, recognizes that the Boilermakers have hit rock-bottom, and I bet you won't find anyone who will say otherwise. I watched some of that Purdue game on Saturday. Why? Not sure. But, I do know that the next viral phenomenon is going to be people on YouTube trying to sit through a Purdue football game. It'll be like the people who try and eat a spoonful of cinnamon; there will be a lot of gagging and spurting, but it just can't be done. That being said, Travis does see some hope for the future in West Lafayette.

Iowa 23, Minnesota 7: I hate you, Iowa. Floyd of Rosedale will have to spend yet another year in meth-country. JDMill at The Daily Gopher was so disappointed with Saturday's loss that he needed to take 24 hours away from Gopher talk. I don't blame him. It was hard to watch. It was so bad that GopherNation just wanted to talk about bourbon. Next up for Minnesota: at Michigan (keep drinking that bourbon). On the Iowa side, Black Heart Gold Pants has the takeaway from Saturday's game, and they get very, very excited about receiving one vote in the coaches' poll. Next up for Iowa: Michigan State.

Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 24: Joel Stave actually looked pretty good for the Badgers, and he hit his only target, Jared Abbrederis, on a consistent basis. The Badgers proved, even in their loss, that Ohio State is not necessarily unbeatable. Check out B5Q's Monday analysis here. The concerning part for Wisconsin should be that their running game gained only 104 total yards. Next up for Bucky: Northwestern (10/12). Land-Grant Holy Land is excited about Urb's desire for more night games, and they also mention that the final score of 31-24 wasn't as close as it may suggest. So, it was okay for them to take their foot off the pedal at the end of the third quarter, when they were up 31-14? Because there's no way Wisconsin would be able to come back, right? Ohio State didn't score at all in the fourth quarter, but allowed ten points by the Badgers. Yeah, that sounds like Urb's arrogance, but that arrogance may end up burning them somewhere down the line...like maybe on November 30th? LGHL has a recap of Saturday's game here. Next up for Ohio State: at Northwestern.

The Takeaway

Obviously, in conference play a conference team is going to lose. However, it is clear that B1G teams still have a long way to go. Minnesota may not be as good in year #3 under Jerry Kill as people had hoped; Illinois still has issues, but is clearly better than people (including me) had predicted; Purdue is still Purdue, but do they have to do it so spectacularly?; Wisconsin may want to look to throw to someone other than Abbrederis, and Ohio State is definitely beatable.