Big 10 Football Power Rankings | USC A Contender? | Where Does Michigan Stack Up

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football with week one in the books taking a look at where the Big 10 power ranking sit heading into week two a couple significant changes right I think you got to look at this USC team as a legit contender in the Big 10 I think our biggest question mark we had about USC was hey is this defense going to be turned around year one under coach Lynn I think we got that answer in a big way against LSU holding an offense that I think is going to be one of the better offenses that we see in the country they held in 20 points I don't think there's going to be too many other big changes that we have in the Big 10 we're going to get a lot of answers to these big 10 power rankings over the next couple of weeks want to get into where these teams sit after week one fired up to get into it now before we do an as always one let it fly in the comment section I there are a lot of different ways you can stack these big 10 teams would love to hear from you guys in the comments section the support from the Big 10 fans as a Michigan fan myself I love talking this conference so appreciate you guys rocking with it let it fly in the comments section if youall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel without further Ado let's get into this one and let's start with the contenders where there's not necessarily a significant shakeup in teams of dropping out of that Contender category but I did kind of play around with how I evaluate each of these teams in that Contender spot right mve in Ohio state above Oregon now maybe an overreaction right I I was pretty vocal that I picked Oregon to win the Big 10 heading into the 2024 year look Oregon on the scoreboard did not look great against Idaho but I've Doven into that game I don't think it was nearly as bad as you know a lot of national media members would like to say about that Oregon team it was a 10-point game against the FCS Dan Landing made that very clear that that is not the standard for this Oregon program but you look at how that game went there were couple of key plays that you know Oregon just didn't execute on but you kind of dive into the game Oregon had three times as many first downs well over double the amount of total yards Idaho had it was a much more dominant performance for Oregon than what was reflected on the scoreboard and at the end of the day you know Oregon has 15 transfers coming into this football team a lot of which are going to be significant contributors for the Oregon Ducks I think it was fair to you know give Oregon a little bit of leeway in terms of getting all these transfers settled on this roster heading into 2024 and I think you know we're going to get a really big answer in terms of how good Oregon is against a very good Boise State team week two now I bumped up Ohio State you could go back and forth I think Oregon and Ohio State from a pure roster standpoint look to me like the best two teams in the country that being said Penn State Michigan and USC are certainly teams that can win the Big 10 and I want to start with Penn State the biggest question in one of the most underrated conversations really across college football was coach cold Nikki coming in and running this Penn State offense we've known for years that Penn State can win the Big 10 be one of the best teams in the country with how good their defense is my opinion on that has not changed now you look at this Penn State offense yeah the numbers were always okay when they played inferior opponents but when they played Ohio State and played Michigan the offense was not nearly good enough and it I think a large part of it was you kind of lack that explosive offense that you wanted to see from Penn State they go out and get an offensive coordinator who is for a lack of better terms a genius at dialing it up in creating explosive plays and getting his Playmakers in space you look at coach cold Nikki back at Kansas 10.2 yards per pass attempt at Kansas in 2023 that was number two in the country only behind LSU you saw that kind of offense for Penn State against West Virginia and I don't think West Virginia is a cakewalk team in the slightest and again we have seen Penn State put up offensive production against these kind of teams when I went back and watched the football game it looked different like there was a much more of an emphasis on pre- Snap motion getting your Playmakers in space with the football in the hands pushing the ball down the field we never saw that from Penn State over the last couple years I give James Franklin a ton of credit for kind of going what I think is outside his comfort zone on the offensive side of the football to try to get this Penn State team over the top and I think they certainly have a chance to do so you look at Michigan the USC fans I know y'all are going to feed me in the comments section for having Michigan over USC and I don't even know how great I feel about it after watching Michigan against Fresno State now where I would argue that I'm comfortable putting Michigan at four over USC and again it is very close and we're going to get that answer awfully quick Michigan never really looked that Dynamic on offense even when they had JJ McCarthy you know it was never pretty on offense that's just not how Michigan operates as a program I still think that defense is one of if not the best defenses in the country and I think kind of similar to how we talked about Oregon I mean Michigan only returned one starter on the offensive side of the football that was tight end Coulson Loveland a lot of new faces on the offensive line you could tell they weren't entirely jelled I think the biggest concern you have is is Davis Warner quarterback that you can beat teams like USC Penn State Oregon and Ohio State with that's probably the biggest question that us as Michigan fans having we didn't necessarily get the answer against Fresno State right Davis Warren only threw the football 10 plus yards down the field six times he only completed one of those passes as a Michigan fan myself yeah that is a little bit concerning the Run game outside of the fourth quarter left a lot to be desired as well that's probably another one of those things that you're concerned about but but you kind of make no mistake about it this defense is going to allow Michigan to be very competitive in a lot of football games and if you can see that Michigan offense continue to kind of find its rhythm with a lot of new faces I think this Michigan team will be just fine I think we're gonna get a really big answer about this Michigan team week two as they host Texas so we're gonna leave Michigan at four for right now subject to change after that game against Texas really either way you look at USC legitimate Contender I don't think there's a question mark you can have about that where does Miller I would start on the offensive side of the football here and say where does Miller Moss rank as a quarterback in the Big 10 I was extremely impressed with what we saw from Miller Moss against that LSU defense and granted the LSU defense was not very good last year but they made some changes I think they have talent on the defensive side of the football but any way you cut it like Miller Moss I think is much better than a lot of the national media gave him credit for he leads the right now in Big Time worthy throws I think that tells you a little bit about the juice that Miller Moss brings and at the end of the day you kind of just trust Lincoln Riley to get the best out of his quarterbacks I think another thing we learned was the USC wide receiver room is significantly better than what a lot of people gave them credit for you talk about we all know Zachariah Branch but Jobe Lane Kyon Hudson Duce Robinson difference makers on the outside that USC offense has the chance to be one of the best offenses that we see in the Big 10 now the big storyline was and this is kind of why I had USC in the Dark Horse category as opposed to a contender is this defense going to take a step and we were kind of optimistic right we we saw coach Dan Lynn do the exact same thing 12 months ago with the UCLA defense I don't know why it was such a massive question where people kind of just assumed he couldn't do it at USC from what we learned Sunday night he's going to be able to do it at USC as well that defense it and again LSU I thought played a very good game on the offensive side of the football I think G NM is a dude I think their offensive Line's very good I think they got a lot of talented wide receivers on the outside what you learn from USC's defense is they're faster they're playing more physical and they're playing much more disciplined you saw what one blown coverage all game against LSU you saw multiple blown coverages missed tackles pretty much every single game for USC regardless of who they were playing last year I mean I think this USC defense has fundamentally in significantly changed from last year that was the answer we needed and we saw it against LSU on Sunday they are legitimate contender in the Big 10 now excuse me going to the Dark Horse category teams that I think if they kind of if things pan out they're playing for a big 10 championship game in the month of November let's start with the Iowa Hawkeyes we knew that their defense was going to be very good in 2024 we certainly saw that again against the nfcs opponent but I don't think we have any question marks about the defense our big question mark was what do this offense going to look like can it not be the worst offense at the power five level I think you saw that and again n FCS opponent but there were things some things that really encouraged you one the emphasis on creating more space within the offense and the emphasis of pushing the ball down the field I mean like Iowa does not need to have a top 40 offense in the country to compete in the Big 10 just got to be like top 80 I you can't compete in the Big 10 having the worst offense really in the Big 10 in in the country and compete in one of the best conferences in the country I think Iowa showed some flashes of that specifically in the second half if we get an Iowa offense that is you know just somewhat improved with the new offensive coordinator this team's going to be dangerous and I I had my question marks about Iowa's offense and I thought it had a lot more to do with just the lack of personnel than the offenseive play calling and I'm not trying to Def def Brian ference it was a disaster in terms of the play calling that being said I I was more concerned with all right you changed the offensive coordinator but do you have the dudes to really have a good offense more optimistic than I was a week ago in terms of what this Iowa offense can be very similar story with Nebraska we're very confident that this Nebraska defense is going to be very good it was very good last year what is the quarterback position going to look like with true freshman Dylan Rola you can tell it's different this team is operating in more space they're pushing the ball down the field a little bit more you know Dylan Rola gets all the media headlines I think another massive storyline about this Nebraska offense is they got legitimate dudes on the outside I mean last year it was true freshman that clearly were not ready to be contributors in 2023 now you have guys like Isaiah naor and Jamal Banks who I think will be NFL draft picks in less than eight months that matters for Dylan Rola and it's only going to help the Run game I mean you saw this UTP defense had to respect what Nebraska could do working vertically down the field that's something we never saw last year and so just injecting Dylan Rola Jamal Banks and Isaiah neor into this Nebraska offense I think fundamentally changes it they continue to play good defense and Dylan Ola continues to get better as a freshman this team is going to be dangerous and we're going to find out a lot about this Nebraska team Saturday night as they take on Colorado coming in at number eight I'm going with the Washington Huskies this might be a little bit of a uh I wouldn't say overreaction but I might be a little bit higher on Washington than a lot of other National media members not that I'm a national media member definitely didn't mean that why I'm high on Washington uh I trust a quarterback and I think this is a big storyline in the Big 10 where you look at a lot of these quarterbacks in the Big 10 how many do we really like especially kind of at the bottom of the Big 10 right Max brosmer and Minnesota Ethan garbers at UCLA struggled in a big way look Will Rogers has been a very good quarterback in the SEC four years and he's playing for a coaching Jed fish that knows how to dial up an offense and create an explosive offense it's kind of one of the few offenses that I kind of trust in the Big 10 now do you have question marks along the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the football yes absolutely but I'm going to lean with a team that I look at and say I trust the quarterback and that is Will Rogers with Jed fish with maybe some underrated weapons on the outside I thought Jiles Jackson looked awesome in terms of how they were using him a little bit higher on this Washington team coming out of week one going to Wisconsin look Tyler van djk is going to be a huge storyline in the Big 10 like can Phil Longo and Tyler van djk get on the same page Tyler van dijk's a guy that and I've kind of said this plenty of times he's not a processor you have to script up the throws for Tyler van djk but if you do that well like Tyler van djk can make the throws and so can Phil Longo do that for Wisconsin is the biggest question that we have it wasn't necessarily pretty week one for Wisconsin I don't think a lot of us expected it to be pretty week one can this offense continue to get better over the next couple of weeks because I do think they have a quarterback that is extremely talented although was kind of a roller coaster I think they have a very good offensive coordinator and Phil Longo I'm Gonna Leave Wisconsin in that Darkhorse category because I think they have the potential to be a Darkhorse we didn't necess neily see it but I'm going leave them up there going to the teams that impressed me and I wouldn't say even towards the bottom half the Big 10 because I look at the big tenant it's a it's a really fun conference there's some depth here look at Ruckers Ruckers ain't ever G to be pretty and Greg shano knows that he's gonna run the football he's gonna play good defense that's going to be a tough out for a lot of teams in the Big 10 it he's gonna kind of drag those games into the mud he's gonna kind of turn that clock over there's not going to be a lot of possessions and because of that you know Ruckers is going to find themselves in a lot of second half games that are very close I think the big question mark is can Athan CIS be a guy that can win you some of those football games in the fourth quarter I don't think we necessarily saw that on Thursday night against Howard that being said I think they're going to put themselves in a lot of spots that you're gonna be you're GNA be looking up and saying oh we're playing Ruckers and it's a three-point game in the fourth quarter I think Ruckers going to put themselves in a lot of those spots they're going to a tricky out for a lot of different teams going next to Maryland Billy Edwards is a gamer man like I I look at Billy Edwards and say yeah is he not as flashy as tally in terms of the armt yeah absolutely that being said one Maryland I think is has been kind of that underrated team in the Big 10 because they've had to play Penn State Michigan and Ohio state every single year now that they don't I think their record is going to reflect more of how good this program has been under coach Loxley I don't think they're going to contend for a big 10 but I do think they have a gritty quarterback and Billy Edwards I think they have some really interesting wide receivers in Ty Feld and and kayen prayther again one of the offenses that I I might kind of trust in the Big 10 going to Illinois Luke GM Pat Bryan that I wouldn't say it was necessarily an extremely impressive performance for Illinois I think the big question mark I I think the offense will be able to be all right I think they have a really solid offensive line apparently they hit with a guy in JC Davis that left tackle I think the big question is is this def defense taking a step and it took a massive step back in 2023 when you lose coach Ryan Walters and three NFL draft picks that were top 70 dudes absolutely they didn't really Hammer the transfer portal on the defensive side of the football which tells me that they you know might kind of like what they have in the back end they just need to get a little bit more experience we'll kind of see how it goes year two post Ryan Walters on the defensive side of the football Indiana really tough team for me to get a read on it is a brand new ER I still want to see it kind of come together against some better opponents you look at Purdue what Purdue Hudson Carr 24 25 again a quarterback that we've seen play some good football at times I think the talent level is still not great but they did impress me week one teams that we need to see more from Michigan State a really weird one in terms of hey we love the talent of Aiden child but you could tell Aiden Charles is still a young pup at quarterback and I don't necessarily know if they have the guys around them I thought Lynch Adams looked awesome at running back line of scrimmage play I would like to see it be a little that's kind of where my big question mark is on both sides of the football now I thought that Michigan State Defense specifically on the defensive line actually looked a lot better than I thought they would look but I do have question marks about the offensive line and what they can do around Aiden child I think Aiden CH is gonna be a really good football player but you got to put some pieces around him and I'm just not sure they have those pieces yet on the offensive side of the football and Aiden Charles was a little loose with the football too we didn't see him turn the football over during his limited playing time at Oregon State you saw him put the ball in Harmon's way a decent amount of the time for Michigan State week one against the team in FAU that I think solid but not great UCLA probably concerned me the most and this was another one of those teams that was just really hard to get a read on right Ethan Garber is a a talented kid out of high school hasn't played a ton and I think my biggest concern for UCLA especially with DeShawn Foster taking over was all right we think they're going to try to run the football they struggle to run the football against Hawaii which gives me concern can they run the football against teams in the Big 10 and Ethan garbers didn't really strike me as a quarterback that you can rely on to win you football games I thought the defense was okay against the Hawaii offense that's goingon to spread J and throw the football around but the defense concerned me or the offense concerned me I want to see more from them Northwestern Minnesota Northwestern gritty win against Miami of Ohio and then Minnesota didn't run the football particularly well against the UNCC defense that I kind of expected them to run the football Max brosmer certainly didn't impress and I get the weather wasn't great um you got to see more from PJ Fleck and Company that's how the big 10 shakes out for me after week one again next Thursday we're gonna jump on up excuse me update the Big 10 power rankings that's how it stands right now a lot of potential for movement right Michigan is playing Texas you look at Nebraska they're playing Colorado Maryland and Michigan State square off we're gonna get some movement post week two we'll kind of update you guys on Thursday afternoon we'll cut it out there again appreciate y'all rocking with the fellas if y'all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and we'll talk to y'all later peace