2009 Big Ten
Spring Preview
By
Pete Fiutak
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2009 Big Ten Spring - Does
the Big Ten Stink?
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2009
Early Lookaheads - Big Ten
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2008 Big Ten Lookbacks &
Recaps
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2009
Recruiting Recap - Big Ten
Illinois
Begins: March 31 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... Off the field, the news
mostly surrounded LB Martez Wilson’s stomach after being stabbed. He’s
healed up and ready to go, and now he’ll be one of the leaders of a
good-looking defense that has the most work to do at linebacker. While
there might not be the excitement around the program there was last year
following the run to the Rose Bowl, this could be one of the Big Ten’s
bounce-back teams in what should be a down season for the conference.
Now is when all the good recruiting classes are expected to pay off. On
the field, the spotlight will be on offensive coordinator Mike Shultz
who takes over for now-New Mexico head coach Mike Locksely. Don’t expect
much of a change in style, but more will be asked for from the running
game.
The big spring question is ... Where’s the team’s head?
The Illini were more than good enough to go bowling last year but there
were too many mistakes and too many missed opportunities. Good enough to
be a hot Iowa team, Illinois came back the next week and clunked against
Western Michigan and ended up getting blown away by Northwestern in the
season finale. The team crumbled whenever there was the slightest bit of
adversity, and now with a veteran squad returning, it needs to be
tighter.
The most important position to watch is ... Running
back. The Illini ran the ball far better than expected considering
Rashard Mendenhall took off early for the NFL. Juice Williams did his
part with his second straight season with more than 700 yards, while
Daniel Dufrene was solid with 663 yards, but he didn’t score on the
ground. Dufrene will be asked to do even more, while Jason Ford, who ran
for 172 yards and three touchdowns against Indiana, but gained just 122
yards against everyone else, will look to be more than just a scorer as
he pushes to take over in key situations. If these two shine, Williams’
life will be much easier.
Spring attitude... Be ready to hit
the ground running. Missouri is in a major rebuilding phase, so it could
be uh-oh time if the Illini can’t win the season-opener in St. Louis.
The first three games of the Big Ten season: at Ohio State, Penn State,
Michigan State. Win two of those three and it’s game on for a possible
run to the Big Ten title. Lose them all and it’s time to pray for the
Alamo. Win them all and it’s time to give a serious thought about
Pasadena and not just on January 1. Of course, that’s thinking way too
big, but if the Illini can be ready and jelled to start the season, and
if they can come away with an upset at Ohio State, this could be an
interesting year.
Indiana
Begins: March 24 Game:
April 18
The early spring buzz ... Despite a horrible 3-9 2008
season with only one win over an FBS team (Northwestern), there’s a
positive vibe around the Hoosiers. The coaching staff came up with a
surprisingly nice recruiting class, Kellen Lewis isn’t an off-the-field
issue this year, and there’s a general sense that last season was mostly
a disaster because of early injuries and an inability to ever play
consistently from one quarter to the next. If everyone stays healthy,
and if Lewis is a playmaker again, then it might not take much to get
back to the bowl level of 2007.
The big spring question is ...
Where’s Lewis going to play? The team’s most dynamic playmaker, Lewis
was never quite right last season with various bumps and bruises. He’s a
special player when he’s under center, but if Ben Chappell steps up his
passing this off-season and becomes a better leader for the offense,
Lewis could move to receiver or even running back for stretches just so
he can get on the field and produce. In
a perfect world, IU finds a running back who can produce so Lewis can
stick at quarterback.
The most important position to watch is ...
Defensive end. Safety will be a spring problem with Nick Polk and
Austin Thomas hurt, running back will be focused on with Bryan Payton
trying to show what he can do until Demetrius McCray is ready, but the
key to the season will likely be the defensive line. Jammie Kirlew came
up with an All-Big Ten caliber season, but Greg Middleton took a
surprising step back after a huge 2007. If these two come out of the
gate roaring, they’ll set the tone for the IU defense as the league’s
best pair of ends.
Spring attitude... Get back to a bowl.
It’ll take some work, but starting off the season against Eastern
Kentucky, Western Michigan and Akron should help. To get a 13th
game, the Hoosiers have to spend this spring working on the basics on
defense. The front line will get into the backfield on a regular basis,
but the veteran front seven has to focus on how to stop the run. The
attitude has to be positive from the start, and there can’t be a major
quarterback controversy or a slew of big injuries.
Iowa
Begins: March 25 Game:
April 18
The early spring buzz ... Following a shocking
turnaround season with nine wins and a New Year’s Day bowl, the Hawkeyes
have to show some staying power. After a special year that got better
and better as it went along, the team will be looking for new playmakers
and new starters on the defensive front, while hoping for a few relative
unknowns to step up and shine. With mediocre recruiting classes when it
comes to talent, including this year’s haul, the program is able to get
production out of players who normally wouldn’t fit anywhere else.
The big spring question is ... Who’ll take over for Greene? The
100-yard-a-game back will be sorely missed meaning more will be needed
from QB Ricky Stanzi and the backups who were little used last year.
Jewel Hampton is a good talent who wasn’t able to see too much time with
Greene carrying the offense, but he still ran for 478 yards and five
touchdowns. With a strong offensive line returning, Hampton could be a
breakout star. Even so, the spotlight will be on Stanzi this spring to
see how much he has progressed after having to battle for the job last
year at this time.
The most important position to watch is ...
Defensive tackle. Hampton isn’t going to be Greene, but the running game
will be fine. The big issue is in the middle of the defensive line where
Mitch King and Matt Kroul might be irreplaceable. King never got the
national spotlight, but he might have been the Big Ten’s best all-around
defensive lineman last year. Karl Klug was a decent backup and should be
fine with more time, but he’s only 255 pounds. Klug will be a factor,
but it’ll be an open casting call for the two spots.
Spring
attitude... September 26. With so much experience returning on
defense and so much potential for the offense, Iowa should be one of the
league’s top four teams going into the season. Whether or not the
Hawkeyes can get to the Rose Bowl might be figured out on September in
the Big Ten opener … in Happy Valley. The Big Ten road slate is as nasty
as could possibly be with dates at Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio
State, but the team needs to get ready for the revenge game against Penn
State first. Iowa likely can’t win the title without coming away with
the win, so everything about spring ball, and the opening three games
against Northern Iowa, Iowa State and Arizona, has to be about preparing
for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan
Begins: March 24 Game:
April 19
The early spring buzz ... There might not be a more
interesting team to keep an eye on this off-season. Rich Rodriguez was
supposed to be granted a little bit of a grace period, but that all went
out the window with the 3-9 season. There was an interesting recruiting
class full of athletes and speed, a new defensive coordinator coming in
(Greg Robinson, formerly the Syracuse head coach), and a major sense of urgency all across the board. The team is
going back to the basics this spring with the defense starting from
scratch, but all the focus will be on the offense. Rodriguez won’t be
canned if he has another disastrous season, but he has to show that
there are signs that things are pointed in the right direction. However,
it’ll be another long, long
year unless RichRod can answer one big question …
The big spring
question is ... Is there a quarterback who can play? Everyone is
saying all the right things about Nick Sheridan being the man to beat,
but that’s lip-service. New recruit Tate Forcier has the weight of the
entire program on his shoulders, and his legs, while Denard Robinson is
a speedy, dangerous prospect who could’ve gone to Florida as a receiver
or a defensive back. One of them had better look Pat White-like this
off-season with Forcier needing to take the job by the horns this
spring. Robinson won’t be joining the team until fall practice.
The most important position to watch is ... Running back. Obviously
the quarterback situation is the most important issue, but the offense
desperately needs a Steve Slaton to emerge. That could be Brandon Minor,
who showed flashes of greatness at times but couldn’t stay healthy.
There are several other options to keep an eye on, and it might be
running back-by-committee at times, but there has to be more than 147
rushing yards per game no matter how the production comes.
Spring
attitude... Don’t press. That’ll be tough considering the attention
and focus on last year’s disaster, but with so many young players being
thrown into the mix right away, and with more on the way this summer,
it’s going to take a year before there’s any sort of consistency. The
first four games of the year are at home, and while the Toledo loss last
year showed that the program can’t take any MAC team lightly, only Notre
Dame should be a problem before going to Michigan State and Iowa. A slow
start would be disastrous for both the psyche and the record with Penn
State, at Illinois, at Wisconsin and Ohio State still to deal with.
Michigan State
Begins: March 24 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... After a great season that
saw the Spartans have a chance at the Big Ten title in the final week,
they have to take another step forward by showing some consistency. It’s
one thing to come up with a nice record, and it’s another to produce
when new starters are needed at quarterback, running back, and on the
defensive front. After pulling in a tremendous recruiting class, this is
becoming one of the Big Ten’s hot programs with the potential to have
the staying power to be a yearly player in the title race. However, this
year could be a bridge until the really big things start to happen.
The big spring question is ... Can the Spartans beat a good team?
The best win last year was a 16-13 home battle with Iowa, and that was
just before the Hawkeyes started to figure out what it was doing. Yeah,
there were wins over Wisconsin and Notre Dame, but those only helped to
prove that MSU was just good enough to be above the mediocre. In the
four games against the top-shelf teams, the Spartans lost to Cal, Ohio
State, Penn State and Georgia. Three of those games were on the road,
but the fourth, against the Buckeyes, was a 45-7 steamrolling.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. The winner
of the derby will have a rising, talented receiving corps to work with.
Kirk Cousins was the backup last season, and he was solid
completing 32-of-43 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns with an
interception. However, he’ll have to battle to move up to the full-time
No. 1 slot with Keith Nichol, who originally committed to MSU, left for
Oklahoma, and then came back when some guy named Bradford started to
play well, adding more mobility to the mix.
Spring attitude...
The program has gone through worse. The one thing head coach Mark
Dantonio has been able to do above all else is kill the flake factor.
This isn’t your older brother’s Michigan State team that ran and hid
under the piano at the slightest bit of adversity. Needing to replace RB
Javon Ringer, QB Brian Hoyer, SS Otis Wiley and DT Justin Kirshaw is
hardly that big a deal with the talent level improving. If the backfield
can be a positive, it’s all there for a run at the Big Ten title with no
Ohio State on the schedule and the four league road games against
Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue.
Minnesota
Begins: March 24 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... All the excitement is about
the new, shiny stadium that takes the Gophers outdoors again and will
potentially give the program a shot in the arm. Tim Brewster had to come
up with a few new assistants with defensive coordinator Ted Roof leaving
for Auburn. Kevin Cosgrove comes in from Nebraska to combine with Ronnie
Lee to handle the aggressive defense, while Jedd Fisch will take over
the offense after serving as the wide receiver coach for the Denver
Broncos last year.
The big spring question is ... How did the
team that was so good over the first half of the season become so bad in
the second half? The defense that was forcing turnovers at an alarming
rate struggled to come up with the same big plays, while the tight
offense that didn’t give away a thing started to make mistakes. It also
didn’t help that Eric Decker, the team’s star receiver, was hampered by
an ankle injury after the Northwestern game. There were ten turnovers
over the final five games and 11 in the first seven, but the big issue
was the lack of run defense. Over the first seven games, Minnesota gave
up more than 150 yards once, and that was the lone loss coming to Ohio
State. Over the five game losing streak to close things out, the Gophers
gave up 200 yards or more three times and got lit up through the air in
the other two games against Kansas and Wisconsin.
The most
important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Running back is a
vital position to keep an eye on this spring as the Gophers search for a
No. 1 option to balance out the attack, and the defense needs to get its
mojo back with a veteran group returning, but the quarterback will get
all the headlines. No, it’s not Adam Weber, who’ll be the starter once
he returns from a shoulder problem. This off-season it’ll be the
unleashing of MarQueis Gray, the superstar recruit who wasn’t allowed on
the team last year after an issue with some test scores. Weber is good,
but Gray is the type of player who could turn out to be the face of the
program sooner than later.
Spring attitude... Get off to a hot
start. After the way last season ended, the Gophers need to come up with
a few early wins to show that things have changed. A loss at Syracuse
would be a disastrous opening, and there needs to be a win over Air
Force to open up the new TCF Bank Stadium before California comes to
town. The Penn State and Ohio State games would be likely losses anyway,
so getting them back-to-back on the road isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The schedule isn’t all that bad, so the potential is there for another
bowl season as long as the team is as strong as it was early on in 2008.
Northwestern
Begins: March 30 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... The program is starting to
become consistently strong. Pat Fitzgerald has gotten past the newness
and the growing pains after being thrown into the job under the harshest
of circumstances. Now, the Wildcats have depth, talent, and the
expectations that a lot more can be done after getting to the Alamo Bowl
last season. Injury-wise, all-star DE Corey Wootton, who hurt his knee
in the Missouri game, is expected to be back by the start of the season,
while LB Malcolm Arrington wasn’t able to get a sixth year of
eligibility after suffering a
knee injury.
The
big spring question is ... Can Mike Kafka throw the ball? C.J.
Bacher was the steady leader for the offense over the last few years,
but Kafka provided a spark for the offense for two games when Bacher was
hurt. Kafka is a good passer, he completed 12-of-16 passes in the win
over Minnesota, but his strength is running with 217 yards against the
Gophers and 83 against Ohio State. He’ll have to be a steady passer from
the start this spring with a young and untested receiving corps to work
with. Even so …
The most important position to watch is ...
Running back. A No. 1 receiver has to emerge, but the real concern will
be at running back with Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh gone. Stephen
Simmons was counted on late in the season when injuries hit Sutton and
Conteh, and he was decent running for 178 yards and two touchdowns
against Ohio State, Michigan, and Illinois. Mostly a kickoff returner so
far, this is his chance to show he can to do more and he can be the back
the offense can count on.
Spring attitude... Live up to the
internal expectations. Fitzgerald is unblinking when he says he believes
Northwestern can go to the Rose Bowl and be a regular in the Big Ten
title chase. Maybe it’s because Fitzgerald was able to see that happen
as a player, and maybe it’s because he really does believe he has the
pieces in place to make Northwestern become dangerous. The schedule is
there to demand another bowl bid with the toughest game over the first
half of the season a home date against Minnesota and with no Ohio State
or Michigan to deal with.
Ohio State
Begins: March 30 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... There might be major
turnover to deal with on both sides of the ball, and there might not be
a recognizable returning starter on defense, but help is on the way.
Even with the struggles in big games over the last few seasons, elite
recruits are still flocking to Columbus in droves. If Ohio State wasn’t
the big dog of the Big Ten before, it has all but assured itself of
being the one to beat for the next few years with yet another tremendous
recruiting class. The big haul of new four and five-star talents means
this spring could be more spirited than normal. Last year was about fine
tuning with all the veterans returning from the team that lost to LSU in
the 2008 BCS Championship game. This year is about filling holes, and
there will be several players coming in this summer with a realistic
goal of being in the mix when Navy comes to town on September 5th.
The big spring question is ... How will Terrelle Pryor advance
and improve? Kept under wraps when it came to the passing game last
year, Pryor will have to show early on that he can do more to push the
ball down the field, and he’ll have to show he can do it without Brian
Robiskie and Brian Hartline to work with. Pryor has been doing his part
to work on his mechanics and his consistency, and he should be doing a
lot more when he hits the practice field.
The most important
position to watch is ... Offensive tackle. The pass protection was
miserable last season as defenses teed off when Todd Boeckman was in the
game and was able to get to Pryor on a regular basis. Even though Alex
Boone had a rough year, he’s still an NFL talent who’ll be missed.
Bryant Browning was a starter on the right side, but J.B. Shugarts, Josh
Kerr and Mike Adams are big blockers with upside. Whoever gets the
starting job will have to give Pryor more time.
Spring attitude...
USC on September 12. USC on September 12. USC on September 12. The
Trojans have to do even more rebuilding than the Buckeyes do and they’re
not likely to be fully jelled when they come to Columbus early in the
season. If Ohio State is ever going to shake the recently earned tag of
not being able to win the big one, it has to hold serve on its own turf
against the Pac 10’s superpower. Outside of a road trip to Penn State in
early November, Ohio State will be the favorite in every other game, so
if it can pull off the win over the Trojans, a 9-0 start is almost a
lock before dealing with the Nittany Lions.
Penn State
Begins: March 30 Game:
April 25
The early spring buzz ... Sean Lee is back … soon.
Penn State might suffer some major losses on defense, losing Aaron
Maybin, Maurice Evans, Josh Gaines, Tyrell Sales, and the entire
secondary, but it gets back, arguably, the best linebacker in college
football. Sean Lee was expected to be a sure-thing All-American and the
leader of last year’s defense before he tragically tore his ACL in
spring ball of last year. He won’t be playing this spring, still taking
it easy and working out on his own, but he’ll be back and ready to roll
this fall when he moves to the inside. It’s not a stretch to say his
return could be the difference between Penn State being an also-ran and
a possible Big Ten champion.
The big spring question is ...
Just how stocked are the shelves? The recruiting has been good, but
there’s a lot of big problems and concerns. The defense suffered some
major losses last year and still turned out to be special. That’s
nothing like the replacements needed this year, while the offense will
have even bigger problems with three stars gone off the line and the
long-time starting receiving trio of Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood
and Deon Butler are gone. Penn State usually needs a year or two to
build up the program for a huge run, and last year was that big season.
However, the Big Ten is average and is there for the taking.
The
most important position to watch is ... Backup quarterback. The
defense, even with all the new starters, will be more than fine. The
receiving corps needs a lot of time and will be a work in progress, and
three new starters are needed to replace center A.Q. Shipley, OT Gerald
Cardogan, and OG Rich Ohrnberger. However, the biggest spotlight could
be on Kevin Newsome, the star recruit who’ll be thrown to the wolves
right away to get him ready in case there are any problems with Daryll
Clark. Clark is the unquestioned team leader and will be the star of the
show, but last year the team needed Pat Devlin to come up with a big
late drive to pull out the win over Ohio State. Devlin bailed,
transferring to Delaware, meaning that Newsome has to prove he can
handle the work this April. If he can’t, the offense might have to be
more conservative to keep Clark from getting popped.
Spring
attitude... Win the Big Ten title again. There might be
ten-mile-wide holes to fill, and this isn’t going to be anywhere near
the team that went to the Rose Bowl last season, but that doesn’t mean
this can’t be a special year. The schedule could not possibly be more
favorable, until late, with the toughest non-conference game a home date
with Syracuse. In Big Ten play, the road game at Illinois isn’t going to
be easy, and going to Michigan and Northwestern won’t be walks in the
park, but Penn State will be favored in every game until the early
November game against Ohio State, which will be a toss up. The fly in
the ointment could be the regular season-ender at Michigan State, but if
Penn State wants to win a title, that’s a game it needs to come up with.
Purdue
Begins: March 25 Game:
April 18
The early spring buzz ... Danny Hope is ready to hit
the ground running. After being part of the transfer process last year
during Joe Tiller’s final tour of duty, Hope was able to go out and hit
the recruiting trail hard and he’s taking charge of the program by
naming some new assistants. Most notably, Donn Landholm will take over
the defense. While Hope was brought on in the first place to continue
the style of the Tiller era, this spring will be all about the new team
with a new energy. There will be plenty of spirited position battles and
this should be a lively off-season.
The big spring question is ...
How is Hope going to do things differently? He’s not going to change
things offensively too much, if at all, because he’s a Tiller guy.
Hope’s real worth should come down the road when it comes to recruiting.
He did a decent job this year and he should be more aggressive to bring
in more talents rather than just pick and choose guys to fit the Purdue
system. Tiller never believed he could get the top-shelf talents to West
Lafayette, and he did a great job of developing the talent he brought
in. Hope will try to own Indiana and will try to make a bigger push in
the Midwest.
The most
important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Purdue needs to find
a steady running back, could use more explosion at receiver, and needs a
few more killers to emerge on defense, but all the focus will be on the
quarterback situation. Curtis Painter is gone, and while Joey Elliott
was the top backup over the last few years, he’s hardly a lock to win
the job. Justin Siller is a dynamic option who’ll add far more to the
attack, but he’ll have to be consistent. This will be the first big
decision in the Hope era, and the last thing he needs is to have an
ongoing controversy.
Spring attitude... Go bowling. This was a
bad team last year that couldn’t do much against the better teams and
struggled against the bad ones. Even so, there are just enough winnable
home games to match the four-win total of last year without a problem.
Getting to six wins will require a few upsets, and they’ll need to come
early with a tough second half of the season. Even with all the
replacements, there should be just enough firepower to show a bit more
pop.
Wisconsin
Begins: March 24 Game:
April 18
The early spring buzz ... All talk of Bret Bielema
being on a hot seat after a tremendously disappointing season has been
squashed for the time being after his contract has been extended through
2013. Now he has to get the program back to the level that made New
Year’s Day bowl appearances a yearly occurrence. 2008 was supposed to be
the big season with so many veterans returning and so much promise that
the next step was going to be taken on the way to the BCS. It didn’t
happen, and now there’s a ton of turnover and plenty of big decisions
needing to be made at several key spots. This will be a very, very
interesting off-season with several good position battles.
The big
spring question is ... Can anyone tackle? For all the issues all
across the board in last year’s disappointment, the biggest problems
were in the defensive meltdowns against Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa
and Florida State. The defensive line was dominated in key stretches,
and now some big replacements need to be made with tackles Jason Chapman
and Mike Newkirk gone along with end Matt Shaugnessy. After last year’s
problems in the big games, and with little pass rush, expect plenty of
work on being more aggressive and a lot tougher up front.
The most
important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Allan Evridge became
the scapegoat for all the problems early on, but the losses weren’t his
fault. He wasn’t good, but he wasn’t the only problem. In came Dustin
Sherer to provide a bit more consistency, even if there wasn’t any pop
to the passing game, and he showed severe limitations throwing outside
the hashmarks. Even though Evridge is gone, Sherer is hardly the
sure-thing to be the No. 1 guy going into the fall with Curt Phillips
and Scott Tolzien neck-and-neck options. True freshman Jon Budmayr might
be the No. 3 going into spring ball, but he’ll get his chance to show
what he can do this spring after enrolling early.
Spring
attitude... It’s time to flex more muscle. It might be easy to say
that last year could’ve been far different had the Badgers been able to
avoid the collapse against Michigan, stopped Terrelle Pryor late in the
Ohio State loss, and not given up a big late pass in the loss to
Michigan State, but being so close to winning those three games only
goes to show just how galling some of the near misses were. The Badgers
would’ve lost to Cal Poly at home if it weren’t for three missed extra
points. Minnesota struggled against everyone late in the year but gave
the Badgers a push in Camp Randall. Even the 38-17 opening day win over
Akron didn’t tell the whole story. To set the tone, UW needs to come out
and blast Northern Illinois, Fresno State, and Wofford at home in the
first three games before hosting Michigan State. That’ll be far easier
said than done.