Nebraska football: Big Ten power rankings heading into week 2
Illinois spent most of Saturday likely wishing they could get their game canceled like the Nebraska football team did. The Fighting Illini trailed, at home, against Kent State 17-3.
Lovie Smith‘s revamped offense looked like it was once again being run into the ground. New starting quarterback AJ Bush put the team on his shoulders in the second half.
The former Husker led the team to three scores in the third quarter in order to force a tie ball game. In the fourth quarter, they scored the eventual winning touchdown with three minutes to go in the game.
The win is a good thing. The fact that they struggled to beat a bad MAC team is why they are still in the bottom of the power rankings.
The Scarlet Knights took care of business in their season opener. Rutgers beat Texas State handily, as they were expected to do. In doing so, they showed some sparks both offensively and defensively.
The team also showed it still has some problems. Starting quarterback Artur Sitkowski threw for 208 yards and a touchdown. He also had not one, not two, but three interceptions. It’s those turnovers that bumped the Scarlet Knights down a peg.
Much like Illinois, the Golden Gophers struggled out of the gate. Unlike the Fighting Illini, Minnesota was able to take charge thanks to a shaky first quarter.
After being tied with a bad New Mexico State team 7-7 after the first quarter, the Gophers scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 35-10 lead at the half. The never looked back.
The good news is that Minnesota had some offensive success. New starting quarterback Zack Annexstad threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Star running back Rodney Smith ran for 153 while Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 101 yards on just nine carries.
The bad news is that Annexstad completed less than 50 percent of his passes. It’s hard to tell what Minny has with a blowout win over a bad Aggies team. That’s why they only moved up one spot.
The Hoosiers did what they needed to do. They went to Florida International and beat the Golden Panthers.
What they didn’t do is run away with the game against an opponent that should have been an obviously inferior opponent. Nothing real flashy with this win but they didn’t drop because of how they look, but how teams that are above them looked in their own games.