Big Ten teams with something to prove in 2024 season | Big Ten Talk | NBC Sports

rapid fire fill in the blank here let's start with UNCC at Minnesota we saw how good Darius Taylor was last year I mean that dude was an absolute stud for the Gophers so Darius Taylor can be blank for the Gophers here in 20124 he can be their bcow you know I mean this is a team that is built around the running game and the running back and most teams in college football feature the quarterback this is a team that features the tailback and everything kind of flows off of that Kirk saraka you know I mean his system I mean that the way they play uh it's built around the running game and so um you know they've got a new quarterback and Max brosmer who comes from the FCS level was highly decorated at that level but make no mistake Minnesota lives and dies wins or loses based on how well they run the football they will be skew mying all the way through on the ground so they they'll make it happen for sure uh second one to move on here is Indiana State at Purdue Hudson card came over he was very much anticipated to be a guy that can help lead the charge offensively I mean Aiden oconnell was outstanding in his time at quarterback at Purdue and I think Hudson card was underwhelming to a certain degree last year in his first season but similar to what we talked about year two versus year one is a very different thing so Hudson card needs to blank in order to help Purdue Rebound in 2024 he just needs to be a more efficient quarterback you know know I mean now he's got a year under his belt okay so he has a full year of being a starter the ups and downs of that he needs to take care of the football not throw as many interceptions I think he had eight last year he did some good things he just has to do it on a more consistent basis you know put his team in favorable situations play complimentary football you know his head coach is a defensive minded guy so take care of the football don't put the defense in bad ways and and the big plays will happen but be efficient running the team so we talked about Wisconsin last year and Luke fickles do process of kind of revamping the offense a little bit and trying to modernize what the game looked like for Wisconsin with the new teams joining the Big 10 this year and obviously the West Coast style is a lot of spread a lot of uh West Coast offense and all of the air raid that comes with that so we saw that a little bit in Madison last year but the air rate offense will blank under Tyler van djk now at quarterback and Luke f second season in Madison I think it'll take a big jump in in the right direction uh not just because I you know Tyler band Dyke I just think all these players now have two years in the system right it's the second year through really when when Malachi was was was pretty healthy or morai was healthy last year they they were pretty good they were starting to get on a roll then he got hurt and they had a couple receivers get nicked up then they lose running backs you know that they lost key pieces right as their offense was starting to gain some some traction so I think just having things in the second year will be better they've got to keep their guys healthy but I do expect that they'll take a step forward and I think for a quarterback like Tyler Mandy there's so many transfer quarterbacks across the landscape of college football a new start a breath of fresh air for him uh it might be a little chillier air in Madison than he's used to in Miami come October and November but I do think it's a good opportunity for him to start over uh 1,00% last one before we move over to fourth down here today Nebraska you were very high on Nebraska last year it looked like they were going to achieve your prediction of Bowl eligibility in year one under Matt rule they falter the last three weeks of the Season finish five and seven but you look at at what they've got this year they have UTEP to open the season uh they've got a lot coming back defensively they've added a lot offensively a very talented freshman starting at quarterback so Matt R Squad is capable of winning blank games this season I think at least eight I really do I think they can win eight games um and for the reasons you said I mean that's a lot of pressure to put on a freshman quarterback you know even if he's a festar all everything you know kind of a legacy player at Nebraska but uh I say that because of their defense their defense was outstanding Tony white their coordinator you know this is the second year for his system he's got a couple horse up front maybe second only to uh you know to the guys that Michigan have in that League to kind of anchor that defense uh but this is a really good defensive football team they're very stingy they're going to keep Nebraska in every game and the biggest thing is Nebraska just has to turn the whole turnover thing the other way around last year it was their undoing probably two or three games they should have could have won if they take care of the football even if they finish even in the turnover Marg in a couple games they win those games so uh that's the biggest challenge for them they can win eight games they can go to a bowl game they got to be Plus in the turnover margin when it's all said and done if the two guys at Michigan are the best two interior defensive linemen in the conference it is absolutely a worthy discussion to say Nash hot maker is number three I mean the guy was so good last year he comes back so I think they're going to be fun I'm excited to see what they look like and obviously the big game week two which will be NBC Prime Time Big 10 Saturday night Nebraska hosting Colorado in a rematch of one of the most fun back and forths from last year uh within this conference as well