6A — Thursday, September 28, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN STATE
REMAINING BIG TEN SCHEDULE
MARYLAND
WISCONSIN
OHIO STATE
MINNESOTA
INDIANA
PENN STATE
RUTGERS - HOMECOMING
7:30 P.M. EST
TBA
TBA
12 P.M. EST
TBA
12 P.M. EST
TBA
12 P.M. EST
October 7 / Michigan Stadium
November 11 / College Park, MD
November 18 / Madison, WI
Nov 25 / Michigan Stadium
November 4 / Michigan Stadium
October 14 / Bloomington, IND
October 21 / State College, PA
October 28 / Michigan Stadium
A look around the Big Ten without Michigan
It seems like it’s been a year
since redshirt freshman kicker
Quinn Nordin hit those two
50-yard field goals in Dallas.
Yet it’s been just four weeks,
and somehow — through a
blur of scary moments and
unsettling
games
—
the
Michigan football team (4-0) is
still undefeated.
Now,
the
eighth-ranked
Wolverines head into their bye
week. Without a game until
Oct. 7, the Daily looks outside
Ann Arbor at the rest of the Big
Ten.
Here’s a breakdown of what
Michigan’s future opponents
are up to this weekend:
Michigan State (2-1)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Oct. 7
Next Opponent: Iowa (3-1)
Despite moving the ball for
nearly 500 yards of offense,
the Spartans were handed their
first loss last weekend against
Notre
Dame.
The
Fighting
Irish scored 21 points off three
Michigan State turnovers (one
pick-six
and
two
fumbles),
and in addition to giving up 97
yards in penalties, the Spartans
did little to help themselves.
Michigan State quarterback
Brian
Lewerke,
now
a
true
sophomore,
has
four
touchdowns
and
two
interceptions
this
season.
His next opponent, Iowa, has
allowed nearly 250 passing
yards every game, which is
exactly what Lewerke averages
so far. If the young Spartan
quarterback
cleans
up
the
mistakes,
Michigan
State
should be able to ride out a win
at home before they come play
at the Big House.
Indiana (2-1)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Oct. 14
Next Opponent: No. 4 Penn
State (4-0)
The Hoosiers inevitably got
thrown to the bottom of the
dog pile when they opened
their
season
against
Ohio
State. Indiana has had two
comfortable wins since playing
the Buckeyes, but they’ve also
become riddled with injuries.
Against a top-five team like
Penn State, that will be an
issue.
Quarterback Richard Lagow
left last weekend’s game early
with a leg injury, but the
main cause for concern is on
defense.
The
Hoosiers
lost
three starters in their win over
Georgia Southern: cornerback
A’Shon Riggins, defensive back
Marcelino Ball and defensive
tackle Nate Hoff.
All three are questionable
for
this
weekend,
which
significantly
reduces
their
chances against the Nittany
Lions, who average 496 yards
per game.
No. 4 Penn State (4-0)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Oct. 21
Next Opponent: Indiana
(3-1)
The
Nittany
Lions
are
living up to all the offseason
hype since last year’s Rose
Bowl, and the credit is due to
running back Saquon Barkley.
Though it’s still early in the
season, Barkley is the Heisman
frontrunner and a potential No.
1 draft pick.
He
leads
his
team
in
both rushing and receiving
yards
with
518
and
335,
respectively. Barkley has six
total touchdowns — four on the
ground and two in the passing
game. Few teams, certainly not
Indiana, will be able to stop
him.
And even if a team can find
a way to halt the running back,
it would still have to deal
with Penn State quarterback
Trace McSorley. McSorley has
thrown for over 1,000 yards
and 10 touchdowns, completing
66 percent of his passes.
It would take a miracle for
a handful of Indiana second-
string
defensive
players
to
stop the runaway train that is
Barkley, McSorley and Penn
State.
Rutgers (1-3)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Oct. 28
Next Opponent: No. 11 Ohio
State (3-1)
It was actually a decent
weekend by Rutgers’ standards
during a 27-17 road loss to
Nebraska. For starters, the
Scarlet
Knights
didn’t
get
blown out. A pick-six from
Rutgers defensive back Kiy
Hester gave Rutgers a lead in
the third quarter, but Nebraska
rallied to come back for the
win.
It was the Scarlet Knights’
15th consecutive Big Ten loss.
No. 16 will likely come this
Saturday against Ohio State.
Rutgers
quarterback
Kyle Bolin has thrown six
interceptions and just three
touchdowns
so
far.
His
performance
might
give
true
freshman
quarterback
Johnathan Lewis a fair amount
of playing time against the
Buckeyes.
Lewis,
a
dual-threat
quarterback,
handled
the
majority of the workload in
Rutgers’ sole win over Morgan
State, but besides that, he
hasn’t taken many snaps.
Ohio States’ defense would be
Lewis’ biggest test yet. But why
not play him? There’s nowhere
to go but up for Rutgers.
Minnesota (3-0)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? November 4
Next Opponent: Maryland
(2-1)
New coach P.J. Fleck has the
boat rowing in Minneapolis.
The Golden Gophers have won
three straight games, including
a dominant win over Pac-12
opponent Oregon State.
The Golden Gophers’ best
offensive threat is their depth
in the run game. Running back
Shannon Brooks leads the team
with four rushing touchdowns,
but Minnesota has done well
in rotating the tailbacks. Its
other running backs, Kobe
McCrary and Rodney Smith,
have over 100 yards on the
season and have combined for
four touchdowns between the
two of them.
Michigan’s former defensive
coordinator
D.J.
Durkin
coaches
Minnesota’s
next
opponent,
Maryland.
The
Gophers’ rush offense against
the Terrapins’ rush defense
should make for a decisive
battle on Saturday.
Maryland (2-1)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Nov. 11
Next Opponent: Minnesota
(3-0)
It’s a bad year to be a
quarterback at Maryland.
Just
three
weeks
after
starting quarterback Tyrrell
Pigrome tore his ACL against
Texas, the Terrapins’ backup,
freshman Kasim Hill, suffered
the same injury. Neither will
return this season.
The injuries dampened what
was once a great start to the
2017 campaign, which included
a big win on the road at then-
No. 23 Texas.
Now, the Terrapins will turn
the reigns over to sophomore
Max
Bortenschlager,
the
only
healthy
scholarship
quarterback left on the roster.
No. 10 Wisconsin (3-0)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Nov. 18
Next
Opponent:
Northwestern (2-1)
True
freshman
running
back Jonathan Taylor leads
the Big Ten with five rushing
touchdowns.
He
broke
out
against Florida Atlantic for 223
rushing yards and three scores
and followed that up with
another 100-yard outing on the
road against Brigham Young.
At quarterback, Wisconsin’s
Alex Hornibrook has shown
major improvements from last
season.
Last
year,
Hornibrook
threw nine touchdowns and
seven interceptions with just
a 58-percent completion rate.
Through three games this year,
he has eight touchdowns and
only one interception and has
completed 70 percent of his
passes.
The Badgers are a 15.5-point
favorite
over
Northwestern,
and should come away with
another big win if all goes
according to plan. For a second
straight year, the Big Ten West
really is Wisconsin’s to lose.
No. 11 Ohio State (3-1)
When
do
they
play
Michigan? Nov. 25
Next Opponent: Rutgers
(1-3)
Yes, the Buckeyes are going
to beat Rutgers. See you next
week.
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s team will have a bye week, which he has dubbed an “improvement week,” after winning the first four games of their season.
With the Wolverines sitting out this weekend, the Daily examines the rest of the conference
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
BY THE NUMBERS
Notable Big Ten Stats
1
Number of teams besides Michigan
with a 4-0 record
10
Touchdowns scored by Penn State
quarterback Trace McSorley alone
15.5
Point favorites the Badgers are over
Northwestern this weekend
496
Yards gained by Michigan State in
20-point loss to Notre Dame