#Ohio State Buckeyes #Northwestern Wildcats #Penn State Nittany Lions #Michigan State Spartans #Wisconsin Badgers #Nebraska Cornhuskers #Minnesota Golden Gophers #Rutgers Scarlet Knights #Maryland Terrapins #Michigan Wolverines Artoo #Indiana Hoosiers #Illinois Fighting Illini Let's do it
I think this is very possible too. I think OSU and Wisconsin will be the only two games we’re underdogs.
Nebraska will have to find some sick kids to wave at us from a hospital above the stadium or find a cancer stricken superfan. Everyone knows the Iowa/Purdue blueprint to beat Ohio State.
I guess what I'm saying is that we're going to have to step outside the box if we're going to compete here.
We are ready to be disappointed once again, our defense should be among the best in the conference again but our offense will be productive just enough to get us 8 wins and probably knock off a top 15 team along the way.
West is gonna be a dogfight in 2019. Feels like everyone is gonna be projected at 7-8 wins except Illinois. I expect big jumps for Nebraska and Minny
People are guessing it’s a 50/50 chance, he was quoted saying the decision has kept him up at night for a few weeks, I really hope he doesn’t cause if he goes we have no real proven passing threat.
I can see Nebraska making a big jump to 8-4 9-3 but I just don’t see Minnesota improving that much, especially if their wr goes to the draft.
Thought Minny was a young team that was returning a ton? Rabid mtsucalico85 Seems like Purdue is going to take a step back in 2019 before Brohm rebounds again with the talent he's bringing in.
Our entire offense returns outside of two of our OL (Greene and Weyler, and Greene didn't play in the bowl game) and an H-Back type or two, and we'll have Smith and Brooks back from injury to go along with Ibrahim to give us a nice group of 3 at RB. It isn't a done deal, but it seems more likely than not that Johnson will return for his senior year. Who starts at QB between Morgan, Annexstad, and incoming freshman Jacob Clark will be our biggest question on offense. We lose a little more on defense, with Cashman and Jacob Huff our biggest losses, but we will get Winfield back from injury. And we'll have a full year of Rossi as our DC instead of Rob Smith. Our safety play outside of Winfield is my largest concern on this side of the ball.
I need a baseline, improving from Illinois/Maryland/Neb or Wisc/Pur/GT performances? We were widely divergent on our performances, as Bill Connelly pointed out, in 6 games our advanced metrics looked like Georgia and in the other 6 they looked like UConn. I certainly don’t expect to be the team we were in our best games but our floor should be higher. We started 8 freshman, 1 sophomore, 1 junior and 1 senior on offense in the bowl game and the other senior that generally started missed about 3-4 games so this was pretty typical. I would be surprised if our offense didn’t improve even if Tyler Johnson left (which I don’t expect) just by getting stronger and more reps and getting Rodney Smith & Shannon Brooks back. I’m not sure what to expect from the D. We suddenly became a really good D when we switched DCs from 43 ppg allowed to 14 ppg allowed against B1G opponents & GT) but it’s hard to believe we can maintain that level with more film on us. Our schedule is favorable next year too (replace @ OSU with home vs PSU and Ind home with @ Rutgers and switch @ Maryland to a home game). I would have set the 2018 O/U at 5.5 and at present I would set 2019 at 7.5 and I’d be disappointed at not getting 8 wins.
Defense will take a step back (from its first 11 games, not the shit-fest that was the last two). Having LaVert Hill return at corner was an unexpected surprise, hopefully between him, Ambry Thomas and our horde of true/redshirt freshmen we'll be solid at corner (Brandon Watson is also gone, sorry Ohio State). Safety might actually be a strength for once, with Metellus and Dax Hill back there and Kinnel (another Buckeye victim) gone. Losing Bush at LB will be the toughest loss to overcome -- the way he'd close on guys in the second level really bailed our defense out and the Florida game was perfect example of what could happen without that element. Should be alright at defensive end even without Gary and Winovich (Paye and Hutchinson got a lot of experience and Uche will be back as the pass-rush specialist), but we desperately need one of our freshmen to step up at DT. Losing Solomon sucked. On offense, we have great weapons to throw to (DPJ, Collins and Black at WR and Eubanks at TE) and a capable quarterback to do it, but our playcalling will probably be shitty and squander matchup advantages. The OL, while not elite by any means, improved last year and should be better as we have five guys returning with significant starting experience. We need an RB to step up to replace Higdon -- Evans is a third-down back, Wilson is a walk-on with a limited ceiling, and Turner is inexperienced. Hopefully Zach Charbonnet avoids the highly-rated Michigan running back curse and becomes the man by midseason. Our schedule is very backloaded next year. Army in Week 2 will be annoying and starting the Big Ten season at Camp Randall is tough, but the last six weeks sees us play at Penn State (Oct. 19), a weird mid-to-late-season nonconference game with Notre Dame (Oct. 26), Michigan State (Nov. 16) and Ohio State (Nov. 30). Having all the rivals at home will be nice (along with having Iowa come to Ann Arbor in early October), but unless we join the 1990s in offensive philosophy (much less the 21st century) we're bound to squander that advantage.
What is with the scheduling date of the Notre Dame game?!? That is a weird time of year for a Big Ten out of conference game.
We were supposed to play Arkansas in Week 3 before we opted out of that home-and-home to play ND. Notre Dame plays at Georgia Week 3, so Oct. 26 was the other date that both schools had open. Makes for a weird schedule -- we start with Middle Tennessee and Army at home, have a bye in Week 3, then start B1G play at Wisconsin.
I do see Minnesota improving but not a drastic jump to something like 10-2 or 11-1. I do see you guys winning 8-9 games next year as long as your QB play improves. Thats the only reason I said Minnesota won't be dramatic improvement. I see the West being a struggle between 4 teams, Iowa, Northwestern, Wisky and Nebby will all have a say in who wins it.
For Ohio State, we’re just waiting until QB Haskins declares. If he stays, we’ll make a run at Alabama. If not, it all depends upon unknown Tate Martell at QB (possibly Justin Fields if the stars align). JK Dobbins is back, with two 1000 yard seasons at RB. We lose Campbell, Dixon, and McLaurin at WR, probably will have KJ Hill declare early too. Austin Mack, Ben Victor, and Olave return. Tons of young talent here waiting to play. All TEs are back. Farrell became a weapon as the year wore on. The OL should be solid. We lose Isiah Prince RT, Malcolm Pridgeon LG, and Demetrius Knox RG, but all three hit their ceiling. Knox got hurt late in the year and Wyatt Davis replaced him (played well). Neil Petite Frere should replace Prince. Brandon Bowen was a 2017 starter who missed 2018 and returns. Josh Alabi also played a lot, including some spot starts due to injury. We have decent depth. 5/11 starters return, assuming Haskins and Hill both declare. Defense has to improve. Everyone in the DL two deep returns except DT Dremont Jones. They were good in 2018 and should be great in 2019. LB was a dumpster fire in 2018. Everyone returns. Desperately hoping their position coach does not (best man from Urban Meyer’s wedding). DBs were really good at times and had big lapses at others. Freshmen CB Okudah and freshman S White played fantastic in the Rose Bowl. White was MVP. No one yet has declared early. We return the entire two deep if no one does. Should have 10/11 starters returning on defense. Kicker and punter return. Punter will be a Ray Guy finalist.