Sean Gallagher
  • Home
  • About Sean
  • My Work
    • Radio Demo Reel
    • TV Demo Reel
  • SEAN GALLAGHER HAS THOUGHTS
  • More
    • WSYC Sports (Sportscasting)
    • Newspaper Writing
    • Up All Night With WSYC

GALLAGHER'S WORD

A BLOG

The Big Ten Has a Horrible Weekend. Penn State Now a Contender in the Eastern Division? 

9/9/2014

0 Comments

 
The Big Ten Conference had a Saturday they would like to forget.

Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan were three of the teams in the conference that were being asked to carry the torch for the Big Ten in Week 2. But in the end, all three lost games that were said to be crucial for the conferences place in the high ranks of the FBS conferences.

The Spartans acclaimed defense could not hold the fast Duck defense for all four quarters, Notre Dame handed Michigan its first shutout since 1984, and the Buckeyes loss at the Horseshoe to Virginia Tech. 

While everybody focused on those three schools, the rest of the conference had a below average day.
Picture
Nebraska had FCS school McNese State at home and narrowly escaped overtime and a possible defeat that would have been embarrassing for the program.

Iowa rallied to avoid a loss to the MAC's Ball State, and while the Hawkeyes avoided defeat, Northwestern and Purdue were beaten at home by MAC opponents (Northern Illinois and Central Michigan).

Meanwhile, falling into the "meh" category, Maryland, Rutgers, Minnesota and Illionis beat mediocre FBS opponents or FCS teams, and not in an impressive manner either.

Wisconsin and Penn State helped keep the Big Ten afloat as the Badgers beat Western Illinois 37-7 and Penn State defeated Akron 21-3 at Beaver Stadium in James Franklin's home debut.

Yes, the Big Ten went 8-5 in Week 2, but the matchups, margain of victory in those wins and the key losses for the Wolverines, Buckeyes and Spartans made it a bad week for the conference.

With all the negative press the Big Ten has received since Saturday, Monday brought some good news for one of the schools.

Penn State (2-0) saw their bowl ban lifted two years early and their scholarships being reinstated starting in 2015. That also means that there is a new favorite in the Eastern Division now that favorites Michigan State and Ohio State have early season losses.

The Penn State football program was able to stay afloat after the Jerry Sandusky scandal that emerged almost three years ago, that resulted in the late Joe Paterno's firing, and an athletic and administrative clean-out and a four year bowl ban and lost scholarships.

After two years under Bill O'Brien, who kept the program intact and later left for an NFL head coaching job with the Texans, the torch was passed to James Franklin, who has been successful at recruiting and was ready to weather the last two years of sanctions. That all changed Monday afternoon, and Penn State now has a chance to not only go to a bowl if they win six games, but to also win their division and play for a conference title.

It's open season in the Big Ten, especially in the Eastern Division. Penn State opens their conference schedule with new member Rutgers on the road Saturday. Let's see what happens. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    December 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Sean
  • My Work
    • Radio Demo Reel
    • TV Demo Reel
  • SEAN GALLAGHER HAS THOUGHTS
  • More
    • WSYC Sports (Sportscasting)
    • Newspaper Writing
    • Up All Night With WSYC