3 Big Ten Football Teams That Will Improve In 2024 | Nebraska, Michigan State, Purdue

Intro I am guilty of hyperfocusing on Michigan football and Ohio State football and the game and that's not necessarily something that's going to majorly change because those two programs are the top two programs in the Big 10 right now I think those two programs are the teams that have the best coaching staffs in the Big 10 from a college football standpoint though Penn State Michigan State Oregon and a few other could certainly challenge them for that as soon as this season and they have controlled the Big 10 with an iron fist for much of the big 10's history and in the big 10's recent memory Ohio State winning the Big 10 from 2017 to 2020 and Michigan winning the Big 10 since 2021 up until the present and we'll see if someone can Dethrone them in 20124 which is looking ever more likely with Ben Herbert leaving Michigan Jim har ball leaving we'll see if anyone enters the portal but that's something that I am guilty of and I confess that and while I don't want to talk less about Michigan and Ohio State I do want to introduce more conversation about other teams we like to talk about Winners because winning is good and losing sucks just ask any Nebraska fan losing absolutely sucks it is life draining I as a Michigan fan a young Michigan fan that who really didn't start paying in-depth attention to college football until 2019 I have not experienced a ton of losing especially in the previous three seasons but in the 2020 season I was totally disconnected from the sport I entered that season with so much passion and then Mel Tucker beating Michigan in an empty stadium and Michael penics making Don Brown's defense look disgusting and Paul Christ ramming our program into Oblivion in the big house one and three start totally discombobulated me and the Penn State game which turned out to be the final game of Michigan's season in 2020 well by then I'm like okay I'm done losing to an 0 and5 pen State team but I don't want to get too off track on that the point that I'm trying to make is we like to talk about Elite teams the near Elite teams the great teams the legendary head coaches like Nick Sabin we don't talk about disasters at head coach all that often Brady H for example but what I want to do today is I want to talk about three teams that in one frame or another were losers or disasters in 2023 from a big 10 perspective that I think will improve that I'm confident will improve in 2024 not all confidences are created equal I am more confident in some of these teams than I am others but I think these teams are destined to get better this season as opposed to last season Nebraska finished 5- seven with a three- six record in conference they were tied for last with Illinois Minnesota and Purdue all those four teams three and six in Conference record Purdue overall had the worst record at 4-8 again three- six in conference Michigan State went 2-7 in conference with a 4-8 record and they had the 131st scoring offense in the country only scoring I think 15 15.8 I think is the exact number points per game so we're going to dive deep and I know this is a long introduction but I want to spend about five or so minutes talking about about each of these teams and why I think they will improve entering what is going to be a big year a year full of massive change not just for the Big 10 but for college football as a whole and with the 12 team playoff I have to interject it and I probably will in every 2024 college football video because it's a big change there's going to be so many playoff games to cover so many reactions so much conversation and that really excites me but welcome back Football Fanatics it's your host college football with Sam and before we dive deep into these teams in a few seconds I encourage you and direct you to that Thumbs Up Button the like button please click it and the big red subscribe button if you're a Nebraska fan you already know what to do hit that to essentially say to me go Big Red to show that you're a Nebraska fan if you're a fan of any other team whether red or not you can still show support to your team and to this channel the best Big 10 football channel on YouTube by clicking that subscribe button and hitting the notification Bell so that you can get notified when I release more content please comment three teams of your own whether they're all from my list some are from my list or they're totally different teams that you think will improve in 2024 not just from the Big 10 give me some of your own perspective on teams across the country and finally if you want to support the channel you can check out my patreon page VI the link in the description or the pinned comment same with my merchandise store where you can get any big 10 team themed t-shirt not with the logos or anything because that would be copyrighted but with the colors with USC UCLA Washington and Oregon themed college football with Sam t-shirts being released soon first and Purdue foremost I want to dive in and talk about Purdue Purdue returns I believe this is a very rough estimate but 12 total starters four being on offense including Center Gus Hartwig and two other offensive linemen and quarterback Hudson card who is one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 10 West a division that was just atrocious at that position six starters return on defense I think that Purdue's defense last season while disastrous at times obviously I think that there are players there with some upside I'm not going to lie I think Dylan thaman is one of the better secondary players in the Big 10 in the country he's young registered 106 total tackles two passes defended six interceptions and two forced fumbles you could have a sophomore slump there just by virtue of how impressive he was at Purdue but even with a little bit of a coming down to reality if he does I think you'd still get good play out of him kaidon Jenkins returns he had seven and 1 half sacks he was second in the team in that category behind Nick scorton who transferred to I think it was Texas A&M looking at Oklahoma as well and there are some other players who are making a return on the defensive side of the balls well including another young player in will held who had 12 total tackles and made some starts later in the season or was at least up there on the depth chart at the end of the season do had so many players exit through the transfer portal but they do have a top 15 portal class and I said last season entering 2023 that I liked Ryan Walters from his introductory press conference the way he carries himself how he coordinated an elite defense specifically an elite secondary at Illinois in 2022 and I thought that it was intriguing to have him pairing up with an Air Raid Offense I thought that that was intriguing him pairing up with Graham herrold and entering 2024 from what I know Ryan Walters he's retained his staff Graham Herold and Kevin Kane will be there at Purdue for the second season this is a team that is rebuilding like Nebraska for example clearly a rebuild year 4-8 3- six Purdue did have some upsets on their hands like crushing Minnesota 4930 beating Indiana in a shootout though I don't think that was an upset beating Illinois 44 to9 and winning on the road against a Virginia Tech team that went 7even and six and really was pulling everything together at the end of the season at the end of the year looking at their final six games they went or final seven including the bowl game they went 5-2 played competitively with NC State handily beat Wake Forest Syracuse Boston College Virginia and to Lane they had a bad loss on the road at Louisville but Louisville when Louisville was humming and this is the case with Jeff Braum when they're humming and when they have a game plan they're Unstoppable but they don't always have a game plan and they're not always humming and and part of that also relates back to the fact that Jeff brahs never coached a team with the talent like Ohio state Alabama Georgia or even Michigan Texas Oregon but whatever want to talk about the current Purdue head coach not the former Purdue head coach Purdue suffered tons of attrition for example they lost TJ Sheffield to Michigan State in Conference team they lost Dion Burks who's just an awesome wide receiver to Oklahoma who will have one of the better wide receiver rooms in the country next season they lost some good players they lost cord sidor I think that's how you say his name to Vanderbilt Garrett Miller tight end to Texas S&M he went there with Nick scorton and there were some other players who Departed the program as well but most of them are going to group of five or non FBS program Purdue is 15 incoming transfers the 14th best transfer portal class they're bringing in Nyland green cornerback from Georgia denyen moriset wide receiver from Georgia CJ Madden Edge from Georgia they're bringing in a a good amount of power five players now along with CJ Smith another wide receiver from Georgia these were not starters but still a backup in the SEC specific Ally at Georgia really just a backup at Georgia or those higher programs will in my mind if utilized correctly could ball out at a school like Purdue especially given the fact that Purdue well they're going to have a tough schedule next season I think they play Michigan and Ohio State again but I don't know for certain they they do have areas where they can win they can they can go bowling next year with the talent that they have and I think they'll improve they're bringing in a few four stars they're bringing in Reggie Love III from Illinois they're bringing in some offensive lineman from I think that's what is it Wolford no New Mexico and DJ Wingfield got that logo wrong Joshua sales Jr Corey Stewart from Ball State I like what Purdue's doing in the transfer portal and I believe in the direction of the program that Ryan Walters is on along with his team so I think Purdue I'm not as confident in them improving as I am Michigan State Michigan State and Nebraska but I do have a level of confidence where I'm going to say they will improve next season not can they improve next season I'm going to put a way too early prediction in and say that Purdue does improve from their 4 and8 record and whether that means they go 5- seven 6- six or maybe they go 4 and8 again or just barely improve at five and seven but they look better they play teams closer and they're more consistent that's what I mean by improving for Michigan State I'm more confident that you're going to see them take not just small steps forward not just them staying on the path instead of waddling on and off and pivoting I'm confident that Michigan state will go bowling in 2024 I am I think they're done conference schedule is easier I think their schedule period amen is easier because they're not facing Penn State Michigan and Ohio State in the same season some of those tougher opponents got rotated out and the Spartans heck they returned 16 starters and it's better that they return the majority of their starters on defense compared to offense because the offense stunk last season it did the offense was the inferior part of the team and it was again in 2022 what we learned last season is that while Mel Tucker and that whole sexual harassment Scandal was bad it was you could also look at it in a positive light from a football standpoint only we don't like it when bad stuff happens to anyone from a football standpoint if you're Allen Hower you look at how the team performed in 2023 and it's clear that Mel Tucker wasn't building anything so if he wasn't building anything it's better that you get all your money back and that you could kick him right out the door and that's exactly what happened essentially in fact Allen howler wanted to suspend him before the season even began but the Michigan said I believe it was the board didn't go along with that and whether that would have made all that much of a difference I don't know but the fact is Michigan State returns players and many of them I think are underrated players dare I say it Michigan State for example returns Simeon Barrow who I think's a good defensive tackle they return Jordan Hall true freshman linebacker who picked up four and a half sacks Simeon bar by the way had three and a half sacks Derek Haron comes back at defensive tackle he had 40 total tackles and also a pass defended and a forced fumble Michigan State's defense and Scotty hazelton's defense more specifically as Joe rosi's defense coming in is going to be different in one way or another Scotty hazelton's defense last year I thought was better than the defense prior now I don't think Hazelton is a good coordinator by any stretch of the imagination but Hazelton didn't leave the cupboard bare I don't think particularly at defensive line and I think that this secondary last season despite once again being a bad unit to be frank at least has higher ceiling players higher quality players compared to any previous melt Tucker secondary I think you can build a dantonio esque secondary based off the talent that is in this defensive back room right now I do um for example you have players like Dylan Tatum who's a fourstar out of high school you have Charles Brantley is coming back you have I forget if it's jiren or yeah not jiren mangham Jaden mangham their brothers jiren mangham is a running back who announced his return he's good in short yardage Michigan State also returns Nathan Carter but we're talking about defense here for a few more seconds there's a lot of potential that Michigan state has and with a a coaching staff and a head coach that I think in every category or most categories are top 10 I think it's an elite staff one of the best overall staffs in the country they will compete in the Big 10 starting next season will they compete for the Big 10 title absolutely not barring an act of God next season but they will compete in games I think that they will exceed preseason expectations and with improvements made to the coaching staff and the roster again through the portal Aiden Chiles is coming in he's better than Noah Kim Kon Hower and Sam lit Tanner Miller all Pack 12 offensive lineman transferring in from Oregon State he's transferring in Jordan Turner linebacker coming from Wisconsin Jack velling an elite tight end Tommy Schuster transferring in to ad quarterback depth Luke Newman coming in from Holy Cross at offensive tackle and TJ Sheffield transferring in from Purdue he was Purdue's second best receiver behind Dion Burks last season and that's no shame in that because Dion Burks is a great wide receiver so with and M ments made to the roster with retaining experience all this goes together and how can Michigan State not improve I guess is my question I don't think there's any reason to believe that this team won't improve and this offensive line for Michigan State a lead offensive line coach Ving is a great tight end and Nathan Carter I me the fact that he was only 202 rushing yards short of a th behind an off offensive line that gave up 25 sacks and an offense that didn't even score 17 points a game it says a lot Nathan Carter's a good running back and you saw that from game one where he was making something out a nothing he's not Kenneth Walker at least he wasn't last season but if Smith can give him a good scheme and a good offensive line he's easily a 1,000 yard rusher next season and combining him with jiren Mangum Jaylen Berger and Charles as a mobile quarterback Michigan State could have a Run game that is a force to be reckoned with next season so I think the Spartans Nebraska improve I'm confident in that next up we have the Nebraska Corn Huskers Nebraska was so close so close to going bowling they entered November with a five and3 record any power ranking system imaginable would have projected them to go bowling just from a m mathematical probability standpoint nope 0 and four in November they lost to that same Spartan team that I just told you a few seconds ago didn't even score 17 points a game they lost to that team and that Spartan team passed the ball on them ran the football on them they sacked Hinrich harberg like almost I think it was more than five times they did toin R carberg what Nebraska did for context to shadur Sanders where they just they they constantly got to him gobs and gobs of sacks and the Maryland game the the turnovers just utter embarrassment and then when the Huskers got good QB play with chubba perie well what happened there well then Wisconsin and Iowa physically imposed their will in the ground game and used their offense to abuse what was and is a good great Nebraska defense but Nebraska was suffering through injuries and look last year was obviously going to be a rebuild I didn't think Matt rule needed to go seven and five or8 and4 to have a good season and I didn't expect him to go eight and four I predicted seven and five and was wrong but I predicted it with the mindset that this schedule was more doable than in previous seasons and they didn't go seven and five they went the inverse of s and five they went 5- seven but it's clear that Matt rule wants to be physical it's clear that the strength and conditioning is working this time that offensive line development is working that the defensive coaches are doing a great job these were all things that weren't evident or obviously evident in the previous tenure that of Scott Frost and returning 19 total starters two on special teams by the way I forgot to mention this for Michigan State but Jonathan Kim coming back not going to mention it too much because we're talking about Nebraska now but that's big I mean Jonathan Kim was a good kicker last season and having him back provides a big boost for a team that will probably find themselves in plenty of close games where they need a kicker to win or to extend the game 19 total starters return though nine on offense eight on defense and and by starter I mean players that have started in five six seven games or by the end of the season were in starting roles for Nebraska offensively none of the starting quarterbacks except Hinrich harberg return but he counts as a starter because he was the quarterback that was played the most in fact he led the team in rushing yards which is just insane at receiver Alex Bullock returns Malachi Coleman returns he started six games so he counts as a starter Thomas fedoni at tight end returns uh Ben Scott at Center returns same with Turner corkran and Bryce benhart on the offensive line and some others there Micah mesua comes in from the transfer portal from Florida at running back EMT Johnson returns along with the previously injured Gabe Irvin Jr ramir Johnson Joshua fleeks comes back I I think Anthony Grant no I don't I don't know if he's eligible or not I don't think he is I don't think he's eligible but Nebraska is going to have a lot of depth on offense and through the transfer portal again there's a common theme with all of these teams that they're using the portal well Nebraska has the lowest ranked transfer portal class but with how much production they're returning and how close they were to let's say going 8 and four last season and they have a good recruiting class I can understand why they're being more selective about the portal this time around Nebraska's bringing in Jamal Banks from Wake Forest all ACC honorable mention wide receiver they're bringing in Isaiah ner at wide receiver from Texas Dante daull is transferring in from Oregon the bringing blly Hill at cornerback from uh St Francis and they're bringing in Stefan Thompson from Syracuse at linebacker and again Micah mesua who I think's probably outside of Jamal Banks the best income transfer for this Nebraska team are at least the most impactful Brian busini and Tristan alvano punter and kicker return on special teams and on defense Nash hutmacher returns MJ Sherman returns Tommy Hill comes back mares Buford returns and there are other players who I'm not even not even mentioning on defense who come back to shun Singleton for example I think that Nebraska with this much returning production with their identity continuing to be constructed by the staff Matt rule retaining Tony white that was huge and then he brought in Glenn Thomas to help Marcus sadder field out with the offense and also take the responsibility of coaching the quarterbacks which I think is good and that's a move that I respect especially when you have Dylan riola a fstar quarterback coming in as a part of the 2024 recruit class when you have him coming in you need to make sure that you develop him right because if Dylan Rola doesn't win anything of significance and by that I mean he doesn't bring Nebraska football back while he's there that's going to be put on Matt rule so I like him taking initiative in this program taking initiative last year was A Foundation Building season for Nebraska I think they can break through this year and by breakthrough I mean top 25 team am I that confident that I'm going to say they will be a top 25 team this year no maybe I will be by Spring but I'm confident that like Michigan State Nebraska is going to go bowling which means at minimum six and six and I'm thinking they're going to be better than six and six given what should be a relatively easy start to their schedule where their September and early October slate they could go undefeated in their first I think six or seven games I think Ohio State is their eighth game or maybe their seventh I forget but that's what I Outro wanted to talk about in this video is three teams in the Big 10 Purdue Michigan State and Nebraska that I am confident will improve next season thank you all so much for watching this video remember to like subscribe and hit the notification Bell thank you to crash 2488 for sponsoring this video as a Heisman Patron thanks to Spencer Bringhurst for sponsoring this video as an All-American 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