Jon Joseph Moderator No. 1 Share Posted March 5 ESPN's Preseason B1G Take. Big Ten spring football preview -- Key players, storylines - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM As spring practices get underway, we continue our conference-by-conference previews with the Big Ten. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrw Moderator No. 2 Share Posted March 5 So much for subject matter knowledge, proofreading and accuracy... "The Ducks are losing a ton at the position with the departures of start Jeffrey Bassa and Bryce Boettcher..." 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 3 Share Posted March 5 (edited) On 3/5/2025 at 9:11 AM, jrw said: So much for subject matter knowledge, proofreading and accuracy... "The Ducks are losing a ton at the position with the departures of start Jeffrey Bassa and Bryce Boettcher..." Yeah, that's the first thing I thought as I read that, just come on! I get it if we were someone like Minnesota, but we were the number 1 team in the nation last year, you would expect someone there to know that Boettcher is coming back. Everything else is just standard fluff, nothing interesting at all really, only thing that might be informative is some stuff on the mid level teams. All the site do it, and they all pretty much read the same, but that's me who will most likely skim these types of articles, so they're still getting clicks from me! Edited March 5 by spartan2785 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 4 Share Posted March 5 A few thoughts. The Pony Express has yet to reach Bristol, Connecticut ; however, Friend JRW rides to the rescue, noting that Bryce Boettcher will be back at LB for OBD in 2025. It's tough for ESPN to SEC things straight in the B1G. Moore love for Dak, which is nice, but I also love the shout-out for RB Makhi Hughes. Is he a step faster than JJ? (The Other JJ ) I like the nod to the Illini with 18 starters back from a 10-3 team, two road losses to OBD and Penn State, a light B1G schedule that sees USC and Ohio State playing in Champaign. Nebraska? I'll believe only when I see the Corn Husked and in the barn. USC and Ole Miss mutually canceled the season opener in LA, so the Trojans open with a lesser MO. State team. Followed by Georgia [State,] Purdue and Michigan State; a/k/a 4-0. Then? At Illinois, Bye, Michigan, at Notre Dame, Bye, at Nebraska, before Northwestern pays a visit. Only three games in 2025 between the B1G IV. OBD at Penn State, Ohio State at Michigan, and Penn State's 11/1 visit to Ohio State and a battle of new DCs, PSU's Knowles and TOSU's Patricia. In addition to $3M a year, Knowles may have been enticed to say, 'Goodbye, Columbus,' with eight Buckeyes starters on D off to the NFL. ESPN likes Penn State, Ohio State, and OBD in this order, to win the B1G title in 2025. NOT SO FAST! Steiney and Danno have not left the building. Didn't Tom Brady wait three plus seasons to start for Michigan? He did. No over the table money back in the day , and you had to sit a season out . Today's CFB roster management equals coach crazy-making . New QBs are Springing Up all over the B1G: UCLA transfer Dante Moore at OBD, Bama transfer Julian Sayin at Ohio State, Cal transfer Francisco Mendoza at Indiana, App State transfer Joey Aguilar at UCLA, Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. at Wisconsin, UCLA transfer Justyn Martin at Maryland, Arizona transfer Demond Williams at Washington, 2-time FCS champ at South Dakota State, Mark Gronowski at Iowa, Fresno transfer Mikey Keene at Michigan, SMU transfer Preston Stone at Northwestern, and Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton at Purdue. 11 new starters from the portal. Transfer Luke Altmyer from Ole Miss to Illinois, Transfer Athan Kaliakmanis from Minnesota to Rutgers, Aiden Chiles from Oregon State to Michigan State, and Jayden Maiava from UNLV to USC return in 2025. Four 2nd year starters from the portal. Home Grown: The Veteran, Drew Allar, starting for the third season at Penn State; 2nd season Dylan Raiola at Nebraska, and 1st year starter Drake Lindsay at Minnesota. Get Your Scorecard! Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard! Will the B1G's most experienced QB and his Little Game Coach win a conference title for the 1st time since 2026? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 5 Share Posted March 5 Jon...that is stunning for you to reveal; 15 of 18 B1G starters are NOT developed QBs, but transfer QBs? Maybe my article about going with portal QBs only that seemed to offended some--is not so controversial? Oregon QB Recruiting Strategy: ALWAYS Go Portal? | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM The changes in college football has left us behind what the coaches are thinking and doing, and often as fans we are catching up to the new ways of thinking in… 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 6 Share Posted March 6 People are applying the factors that led to the last two National Champions to crowning Penn State. Problem is Jim Harbaugh and Ryan Day have historically done better on the big stage than James Franklin. People call last year a breakthrough but Penn State didn't beat anybody last year to change that. They lost to Ohio State and Oregon. They got to host SMU and play Boise State in the playoffs. To me that's not breaking through. So to me it's Ohio State, Oregon and then Penn State. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 7 Share Posted Thursday at 09:09 PM On 3/6/2025 at 1:47 AM, GatOrlando said: People are applying the factors that led to the last two National Champions to crowning Penn State. Problem is Jim Harbaugh and Ryan Day have historically done better on the big stage than James Franklin. People call last year a breakthrough but Penn State didn't beat anybody last year to change that. They lost to Ohio State and Oregon. They got to host SMU and play Boise State in the playoffs. To me that's not breaking through. So to me it's Ohio State, Oregon and then Penn State. Yeah, I think they have as good a chance as anyone else but I don't think they are a big favorite, certainly a wide open race in the B1G this upcoming year. PSU just has more certainty, but I don't think Aller is going to take much of a step further, Moore and Sayin probably both have higher ceiling this upcoming year. PSU also doesn't have the receiving talent to really expect them to dominate. Certainly have a good QB and two very good RBs, but I just don't see the receiving talent to blow teams away. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 8 Share Posted Friday at 02:11 AM On 3/6/2025 at 2:09 PM, spartan2785 said: Yeah, I think they have as good a chance as anyone else but I don't think they are a big favorite, certainly a wide open race in the B1G this upcoming year. PSU just has more certainty, but I don't think Aller is going to take much of a step further, Moore and Sayin probably both have higher ceiling this upcoming year. PSU also doesn't have the receiving talent to really expect them to dominate. Certainly have a good QB and two very good RBs, but I just don't see the receiving talent to blow teams away. They've had talent for years. Maybe not Oregon or Ohio State talent, but equivocal to Michigan . They likely have two of the best coordinators in the game today with the addition of Knowles. But they have a coach and a QB who just crumble in big moments. I see all the tools in place to build the house, it's just the contractor and lead foreman I don't trust. But people evolve and Jim Harbaugh had a stigma around him as did Ryan Day before they broke through. They just so happened to have won conference titles and big bowl games at least before their crowning moment. Franklin has won one conference title ten years ago. Since then he hasn't beaten Ohio State once. Imagine Oregon not beating USC or Washington in ten years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 9 Share Posted Friday at 09:09 PM On 3/6/2025 at 9:11 PM, GatOrlando said: They've had talent for years. Maybe not Oregon or Ohio State talent, but equivocal to Michigan . They likely have two of the best coordinators in the game today with the addition of Knowles. But they have a coach and a QB who just crumble in big moments. I see all the tools in place to build the house, it's just the contractor and lead foreman I don't trust. But people evolve and Jim Harbaugh had a stigma around him as did Ryan Day before they broke through. They just so happened to have won conference titles and big bowl games at least before their crowning moment. Franklin has won one conference title ten years ago. Since then he hasn't beaten Ohio State once. Imagine Oregon not beating USC or Washington in ten years. Great take. Franklin did defeat Ohio State in 2016 when Penn State won the B1G title, but one-loss Ohio State went to the PO where it was destroyed by Clemson and conference champ 2-loss PSU did not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 10 Share Posted Friday at 09:11 PM ESPN's Spring Ball Preview of our Advisory Committee 'Buddies,' the SEC. SEC spring football preview: Key storylines, players to watch - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Breaking down spring storylines and players to watch in spring football in the SEC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 11 Share Posted Friday at 11:12 PM Well....I guess it is an improvement from the calling us the University of Oregon Beavers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 12 Share Posted Saturday at 02:36 AM On 3/7/2025 at 2:09 PM, Jon Joseph said: Great take. Franklin did defeat Ohio State in 2016 when Penn State won the B1G title, but one-loss Ohio State went to the PO where it was destroyed by Clemson and conference champ 2-loss PSU did not. That was the year they lost to Pittsburgh by multiple scores before they took off. I think the reasoning was Ohio State ended their season by beating top five Michigan and they only had that one road loss on a blocked kick six at Penn State while Penn State had lost by multiple scores to Pittsburgh and Michigan. Clemson rocked Ohio State and Penn State lost a thriller to USC in the Rose Bowl. I remember people saying USC was back with Sam Darnold and Clay Helton leading the charge. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
