I am expecting a down year all around in our division next year, with the exception of Michigan. They don't lose anyone in Ann Arbor next year and O'Korn (remember him from Houston) is eligible. They are winning each conference game and any result other than a playoff appearance will be a disappointment. But other than them look around:
tOSU is literally losing everyone. Jalin Marshall is leaving early and Michael Thomas most likely will as well. Zeke is gone (thank God), Braxton Miller is gone, and a lot of those stud juniors on defense are leaving early. Teams like them reload, but that is a lot of experience to be giving up.
Mich St will be in it till the end, and they always seem to have another QB waiting in the wings, but let's be honest: this was a flawed team this season that got as far as they did because of a crazy botched punt, almost lost to US, and beat tOSU in a game where the coaches forgot they had the best RB in the country. I expect them to take a step back as they can't get that fortunate two years in a row.
PSU will be fine with Barkley making plays. But it'll be tough to replace Nassib, Zettel AND Johnson. I don't think they can improve much from last year.
Indiana loses their star QB and RB. Diamont played some this year and showed progression, but you cannot hide that their defense is awful. I hope they enjoyed their bowl experience this year.
Maryland I don't have much of a handle on. The recruiting class is really strong but I don't put much faith into any freshmen being a impact right away. They will probably be better in November than they are in September.
And then there is us. Lose a lot of defense at the LB position. Bring back some young kids in the secondary like Hester, Wharton and Austin that'll be better. But that front 7 is going to have some pains. And we have to replace Carroo who we were clueless without this year.
The crux of this post is this: Are we ready to stick out our chests and say we are ready to compete for a championship. Hell no. But can we navigate this schedule and win some ballgames. Absolutely.
tOSU is literally losing everyone. Jalin Marshall is leaving early and Michael Thomas most likely will as well. Zeke is gone (thank God), Braxton Miller is gone, and a lot of those stud juniors on defense are leaving early. Teams like them reload, but that is a lot of experience to be giving up.
Mich St will be in it till the end, and they always seem to have another QB waiting in the wings, but let's be honest: this was a flawed team this season that got as far as they did because of a crazy botched punt, almost lost to US, and beat tOSU in a game where the coaches forgot they had the best RB in the country. I expect them to take a step back as they can't get that fortunate two years in a row.
PSU will be fine with Barkley making plays. But it'll be tough to replace Nassib, Zettel AND Johnson. I don't think they can improve much from last year.
Indiana loses their star QB and RB. Diamont played some this year and showed progression, but you cannot hide that their defense is awful. I hope they enjoyed their bowl experience this year.
Maryland I don't have much of a handle on. The recruiting class is really strong but I don't put much faith into any freshmen being a impact right away. They will probably be better in November than they are in September.
And then there is us. Lose a lot of defense at the LB position. Bring back some young kids in the secondary like Hester, Wharton and Austin that'll be better. But that front 7 is going to have some pains. And we have to replace Carroo who we were clueless without this year.
The crux of this post is this: Are we ready to stick out our chests and say we are ready to compete for a championship. Hell no. But can we navigate this schedule and win some ballgames. Absolutely.
