Michigan-Northwestern matchup starts with a bang

Three of the nation’s top four scoring defenses reside in the Big Ten, and the best of them will meet Saturday when Northwestern visits Michigan. Frogs roll to 6-0. I mean come on, Nothern Illinois (Sub-Par team from the MAC) & The Indiana Hoosiers (Biggest surprise in the Big Ten in my eyes). In what seemed like a subtle move against Maryland last week, Michigan introduced a wishbone offense. Multiple Thursday reports indicated that Edsall is likely to be fired, with one saying it could come as soon as after Saturday’s game. This time around, the Wolverines are looking far stronger and far better, and with Michigan State coming up, a win over the Wildcats would make it all real.

Vernon Adams Jr., who was named the starter just before the beginning of the season but then broke the index finger on his throwing hand in the opener and sat out last weekend’s 41-24 victory at Colorado. He was, at times, really dominant in this game. But that’s going to be the same thing moving forward.

Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt threw a one-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining to upset the Cornhuskers, 14-13. “We have to get after them”. He tied for fifth in the Big Ten in shutouts with three. He wanted to know the best ways to get more players involved to build quality depth like the perennial power in Columbus is known to do. As long as the Gamecocks aren’t allowed 15 defenders, it shouldn’t matter to LSU super back Leonard Fournette where it’s played.

It was an added bonus that the contest was the Nittany Lions’ homecoming game.

A big day by the bottom of Texas’ batting order helped the Rangers overcome an injury to slugger Adrian Beltre in the start of their postseason run. K-State is dealing with major quarterback issues. But never count out the Northwestern defense that shut down a good Stanford offense in week 1, holding them to just 6 points. Army almost caught Penn State by the end of that game, and it can be in part chalked up to Barkley’s absence. Michigan’s formula hasn’t been tough to figure out – get nasty on the offensive front, play great defense, and limit the mistakes as much as possible. “It pains me to see people put that many points on the board … you see teams just slinging it all over the place”. Numbers don’t win games, players who make plays win games. But the victory was totally fueled by a sensational defensive effort.

Most importantly, Michigan finally appears to be back, which needed to happen for the Big Ten to truly return to prominence. There’s a lot of buzz around both of these defenses, which are among the stingiest in the country statistically.

-RB Justin Jackson recorded the10th 100-yard game of his career last Saturday while leading the Wildcat rushing attack for the 17th straight game.

The total opened at 36 points, which is low on its own, but that was the highest the number was all week.

Michigan and Northwestern will battle it out in a matchup of ranked Big Ten teams.

Defense is the staple for both these programs.

What are your keys to the game? What most fail to realize is that Michigan also had to play in Evanston the last two years for the same reason.

Freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson has only attempted 113 passing attempts this season which is less than half of the amount of rushing attempts the team has.

Check the Wolverines’ average of 2.32 yards per carry for evidence of their incredible resilience while facing the rush. The game will be broadcast on BTN Plus.

The heart of Northwestern’s defense is MIKE linebacker Anthony Walker.

[MORE BIG TEN: After surgeries, infection, ICU stay, Matt Frazier finally back to football]. The Wolverines have won four in a row since their opening night stumble on the road against Utah. But the Badgers managed to still look impressive in that loss, despite not scoring a touchdown. Our combination of live events, original and studio production, and national distribution provide us the platform to reach this goal. Both Northwestern and Michigan lead the country in fewest points allowed per game.