B1G 10 East - 2022 Team Previews

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Roger l. McNamara

Another September will soon dawn, annually bringing with it what for many is the most engaging and thrilling Sports season of the year --- College Football.  Predictions and outlooks abound.  Below is intended as a peek into the Big 10 Eastern Division squads with current plausible outlooks on how the campaigns may shake out.  Listing the teams from the bottom up as presently rated in consensus pre-season polls:

• Indiana Hoosiers --- glimmers of promise in 2020 ceded to a dismal 2021 campaign in which the Hoosiers put up only two Wins while denting the scoreboard for under 11 points per Big Ten contest.  Tom Allen now prepares his 6th Season at the helm in Bloomington, but he does so minus both the 2021 starting QB and leading receiver.  Hopes are pinned on Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak and the 2,500 yards he aired out last year.  Another half dozen transfers from various Power 5 schools, reportedly a promising blend of athleticism and football savvy, are set to  join the team.  Sober minded estimates still look for a 2-7 mark when facing Big 10 opponents, perhaps 4-8 overall.   

• Rutgers Scarlet Knights --- they kicked it all off with a victory over Princeton back in 1869, from whence  things on the gridiron have steadily deteriorated.  Head Coach Greg Schiano enters the third year of what is now his second stint at steering the Knights, looking for improvement over virtually every facet of last year’s unit.  Four of the eight setbacks were administered by 4 touchdowns or more, and one of the immediate challenges is the replacement of the Knights’ top four tacklers.  In fact a rework of both lines of scrimmage is needed, a running game must be found, and the snaps may well be delivered to Freshman QB Gavin Wimsatt, abundantly talented but obviously untested.  Staring at seven probable Conference defeats, on overall 4-8 record in 2022 is most likely;

• Maryland Terrapins --- something of an offensive machine has emerged in College Park, forged under the leadership of Mike Locksley, a 53 year old native to the nearby Nation’s Capital.  The Terps averaged over 440 yards of octane last Season, producing just a shade under a 30 point-per-game average, good for 4th overall in the Big 10.  Taulia Tagovailoa  returns under center, accompanied by a pair of stellar wide outs in Dante Demus and Florida transfer Jacob Copeland.  Thus are the fireworks set to ignite.  The likely season downfall will again reside with the defense, worst case a replay from a year ago when the program placed 2nd worst in the Conference in yielding 33 points per outing.  A trio of highly likely W’s opens the Season, but the schedule then quickly stiffens with a 3-6 Big 10 slate, 6-6 overall, now in the cards.

• A similar layout prevails up in East Lansing, where 2nd year Michigan State Spartan head coach Mel Tucker doubtless salivates at the return of  strong armed Peyton Thorne and the 3,740 passing yards he logged a year ago, good for 27 end zone visits and a remarkably few 10 picks. But MSU will eventually be required to kick it off, turning things over to a defense that last year was --- to put it charitably --- porous.  The Spartans yielded 337 passing yards per Big 10 showing --- no other team in the Conference was touched for more than 260 --- and the unit ranked 111th (!) in the Nation at season’s end.  If all the bounces and whistles go its way Michigan State may finish 5-4 in the Conference, 8-4 overall.     

• Penn State University --- the Nittany Lions were previewed recently at length in these pages, and this is to re-emphasize the importance of having Sean Clifford back at QB for 2022.  But he is without a couple of favorite targets from a year ago, and the running game is not yet visibly bolstered from the lower end of National rankings.  Still one is advised never to rule out a program of this history and accomplishment.  Many eyes will be trained onto Happy Valley when on October 29 the Ohio State Buckeyes come calling.  Coin toss time is not yet announced, but it is prudent to expect an affair under the lights.  The lone certainty at this stage is that James Franklin and Staff will have the Lions at their best.     

• A six year run of futility for Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines came to a resounding halt last November, in the form of a convincing 42-27 thumping of arch-rival and previously #1 ranked Ohio State. Played before the customary 105,000+ throng at the Big House in Ann Arbor, it moved the Wolves to 11-1 on the season and punched their ticket to the College football playoff.  There on New Year’s Day they absorbed a 34-11 rout at the hands of Georgia’s Bulldogs.   Hopes for another pile of Ws in the coming season rest largely on the shoulders of returning starting QB Cade McNamara, at his best a clever ball handler and accurate passer.  Blake Corum, a 1,000 yard rusher last year, figures to again lead the infantry.  A few questions remain on defense, but the Maize and Blue legitimately rank as contenders for Conference honors.  Tough looking road dates at Iowa City (Oct 1) and Columbus (Nov 26) incline the odds makers to a 7-2 Big 10 slate, 9-2 overall.

• The Ohio State University --- despite coming off a spirited 4th Quarter comeback Rose Bowl win over Utah, the Buckeyes spent the off season on a single focus:  Ryan Day’s talented bunch will host Michigan at the Columbus horseshoe, eager to gain revenge for last year’s setback.  A well stocked bag of tools is at hand.  Heisman finalist CJ Stroud returns following his 4,445 yards of aerial attack last year, good for 44 TDs and a mere half dozen turnovers. Joining him in the backfield will be TreVeyon Henderson, who lugged the pigskin for over 1,200 yards last Fall (7.3 yards per carry), including 15 visits to pay dirt.  Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads a corps of swift and sure handed receivers.  Looking to bolster a sometimes porous defensive side, Day brought on Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State’s nationally 3rd ranked group to coordinate the effort.  Nothing will be given away.  Oho opens the Season at home against pre-season #5 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  There remains a previously noted October 29 visit into the lair of Penn State’s Happy Valley.  And Michigan will bring all it has into Columbus for the annual Conference windup.  Going 7-1 in the Big 10 and 11-1 on the whole are plausible guesses for the moment. 

It figures to be a Season of thrills for boosters to relish.