Daily briefing: On Ohio State’s defense, Jacoby Windmon and Oklahoma’s winning streak
Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:
Big Ten might be down, but not Ohio State’s defense
It’s a down year for the Big Ten. The ACC and the Pac-12 have more teams (five) in the initial College Football Playoff rankings than the Big Ten (four). And it’s easy to take No. 2 Ohio State’s dominance for granted, especially when the Buckeyes didn’t get tested in the fourth quarter until last Saturday at Penn State (four touchdowns in six minutes means they passed the test). But stop and take a look at the change in Ohio State’s defense from a year ago. Ohio State is allowing 103 fewer yards per game. The third-down conversion rate has dropped from .414 to .264. And they’re giving up six fewer points per game. Whoever beats out defensive coordinator Jim Knowles for the Broyles Award will have had a helluva year.
Jacoby Windmon suspension more of a bad thing at Michigan State
Man, did Michigan State senior Jacoby Windmon screw up a good thing. Windmon, another of Mel Tucker’s portal finds (from UNLV), is just the sixth player in Big Ten history to be named Defensive Player of the Week three times in a season, joining legendary players like Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern (1995) and Paul Posluszny of Penn State (2005). Windmon moved from linebacker to defensive end for the first half of the season because of injuries. He moved back to linebacker for the past two games against Wisconsin and Michigan and made 23 tackles. He leads the Spartans with 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. And now Windmon has been suspended indefinitely in the second wave of discipline by the university following the tunnel fight after the Michigan game. The university has suspended eight players, all on defense, three of them starters. And the Spartans play at No. 16 Illinois on Saturday. Bad for the team, bad for the school. Just really bad.
Oklahoma could use another win
It all depends on perspective. It’s been a long time since Oklahoma winning three consecutive games seemed like a big deal. But if the Sooners (5-3 overall, 2-3 in the Big 12) win at home Saturday against Baylor (5-3, 3-2), that will make them 3-0 since the disaster against Texas. A loss would be Oklahoma’s second this season at home. Lincoln Riley lost two games at Gaylord Memorial Stadium in his five seasons. The Bears will be a good yardstick by which to measure the Sooners’ progress. Oklahoma may have won five games, but Kansas is the only team that Oklahoma has beaten with a winning record. The Sooners need one more win to qualify for a bowl and the 15 practices that coach Brent Venables surely wants. But after Baylor come trips to West Virginia and Texas Tech wrapped around Bedlam vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State. Oklahoma could use a win.