The Big 10 conference is home to 14 teams that are split into two divisions. The East Division is home to Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. The West Division is home to Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. At the end of the 2018 season, the Big 10 finished with 5 teams in the top 25 (3 Ohio State, 14 Michigan, 17 Penn State, 21 Northwestern, and 25 Iowa). Here is a look at what has changed for each team heading into the 2019 season, and what each team can do to make improvements.
Big 10 East Division:
Indiana University: Indiana went 2-7 in conference and 5-7 overall. The Hoosiers will return starting Quarterback Peyton Ramsey. Despite completing 295 out of 447 pass attempts and throwing for 19 touchdowns, Ramsey also threw 13 interceptions on the year, which makes his 66% pass completion rate look less impressive. Offensively, Indiana will return 15 players who ran at least one down or caught at least one pass reception. For Indiana to have a more productive year offensively, Ramsey will need to work on his passing game because of the fact that it is hard for an offense to be productive when several interceptions are thrown. The Hoosiers also need to work on their red zone offense as they only averaged 26.4 points per game, which places their offense at 88th in the NCAA. Indiana’s defense was the bigger problem for the team in the 2018 season, and could potentially be the problem for the team in the 2019 season. The Hoosiers gave up a total of 29.9 points per game, which is the 49th worst in the NCAA. Defensively the Hoosiers will return 17 players that had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. For the Hoosiers to have a successful 2019 season, they will need to concentrate on improving their rushing defense specifically.
Roster: https://iuhoosiers.com/roster.aspx?roster=520&path=football
Schedule: https://iuhoosiers.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Maryland: Maryland finished the 2018 season with a 3-6 in-conference record, and 5-7 overall record. The Terrapins are one of the two Big-10 schools that will be under a new coaching staff in the 2019 season. Maryland will be under the coaching staff of Mike Locksley, who is the former Alabama Offensive Coordinator. Locksley also was the interim Head Coach at Maryland in 2015. Maryland will look to name Josh Jackson the starting Quarterback for the Terrapins for the 2019 season. The Terrapins will also return 12 offensive players who had one or more carry/reception in the 2018 season. For Maryland to have a successful season offensively, they will need to work on being more aggressive in their rushing attack. They will also need to find a way to score more, as they only averaged 28.5 points per game which put their offense at 69th in the nation. With Maryland’s new coaching staff, the chance for offensive improvement is strong. Defensively, the Terrapins will return 13 players who had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. For Maryland to have a successful defensive season, they will need to work on defending pass offenses better, as they gave up an average of 206.5 yards passing per game. If Maryland’s new coaching staff can fix these issues, they will finish they 2019 season with a winning record.
Roster: https://umterps.com/roster.aspx?roster=309&path=football
Schedule: https://umterps.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Michigan: Despite losing the Peach Bowl to Florida by a score of 41-15, Michigan still finished the 2018 season ranked at 14 in the final poll. The Wolverines went 8-1 in conference (only loss to Ohio State) and 10-3 overall. Michigan will return starting Quarterback, Shea Patterson for the 2019 season. Patterson had a great season, completing 210 out of 325 pass completions for 2600 yards. He threw for 22 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions; Patterson also rushed for 2 touchdowns in the season. The Wolverines will also return 11 other offensive players who ran for at least one attempt or reception. For the Wolverines to have a successful offensive season, Patterson will need to have another dominating season as he set the tone for both the rushing and passing that the team accomplished. The team also hired a new offensive coordinator (Josh Gattis) to make even more improvements to the Wolverines’ offense. The Wolverines will return 13 defensive players that had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. That is huge for Michigan as they had the 16th most efficient defense last season, only giving up an average of 19.4 points per game. For Michigan to have a successful season as a team, they will need to beat Ohio State which is something they haven’t done since 2011.
Roster: https://mgoblue.com/roster.aspx?roster=3609&path=football
Schedule: https://mgoblue.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
Michigan State University: Michigan State finished their season with a loss in the Redbox Bowl to Oregon by a score of 7-6. The Spartans had a 5-4 record in conference, and a 7-6 record overall. Despite the winning season, the Spartans had one of the worst offenses in the NCAA. In fact, only 4 teams score less total points than the Spartans. Starting Quarterback, Brian Lewerke will start again for the Spartans. Lewerke completed 184 passes out of 339 attempts for 2040 yards. He also threw more interceptions than touchdowns in the 2018 season (8 TD, 11 int). The Spartans will return all but 3 offensive players who had an attempt in the 2018 season. For the Spartans to have a successful season offensively, they will obviously need to find a way to score a lot more than they did in the past season. Averaging only 18.7 points per game will not win teams a lot of games. This past season, Michigan State had 6 games where they scored less than two times and lost 5 of those games. If it weren’t for Michigan State’s defense, Michigan State would have lost several more games. In fact, the Spartans had one of the top defenses in the 2018 season coming in at 8, only giving up an average of 17.2 points per game. Luckily, the Spartans will return 15 defensive players that had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. Unfortunately for the Spartans, their stellar defense will not matter much until the offense takes care of business. However, Michigan State recently made the move towards a better offense with the hire of a new offensive coordinator, Brad Salem.
Roster: https://msuspartans.com/roster.aspx?roster=284
Schedule: https://msuspartans.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
Ohio State University: Ohio State capped off their season with a Rose Bowl victory over Washington by a score of 28-23. The Buckeyes had a 8-1 record in conference and a 13-1 record overall, with their only loss being to Purdue. Ohio State is the other school who will be under a new coaching staff in the 2019 season, following Urban Meyer’s retirement. Interim Head Coach, Ryan Day will take over for the Buckeyes in the upcoming season. Day finished out the season with OSU, and finished with a 3-0 record. As Ohio State lost both their starting and back up Quarterbacks in the offseason (NFL, transfer), the Buckeyes will look to name either Justin Fields or Gunner Hoak. The Buckeyes will return 13 offensive players who had a rushing attempt or reception. The Buckeyes don’t have much to worry about offensively, except for how their new Quarterback will perform. In the 2018 season, only 7 teams had a better offense than the Buckeyes, and fans should expect similar this season. Ohio State’s bigger concern should be their defense. Although their defense was decent for most of the season, there was a few games where they gave up way too many big plays (Purdue and Maryland for an example). If Ohio State’s new Quarterback can dominate on the field, and they can make small adjustments on defense, Ohio State could be looking at a potentially perfect season and a door to the college football playoffs.
Roster: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/roster/
Schedule: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/schedule/
Pennsylvania State University: Penn State finished the season with a loss in the Citrus Bowl to Kentucky by a score of 27-23. The Nittany Lions finished the 2018 season with a 6-3 record in conference, and an overall record of 9-4. Because Penn State will not be returning their 2018 starting Quarterback, they will look for a starting Quarterback in Sean Clifford who will probably get the role as he is the most experienced Quarterback on the team. Penn State will return 12 offensive player that had at least rushing attempt or one reception. For the Nittany Lions to have a successful offensive season, whoever is selected as the starting Quarterback will have to step up big time, as PSU’s former Quarterback also lead the team in rushing touchdowns. Also with several of Penn State’s top scorers not returning, players who had less of a role in 2018 will need to step up and dominate their positions, which is a given. Penn State had one of the top defenses in the 2018 season, however there is still plenty of room for improvement. PSU will return 16 defensive players who had 10+ total tackles in the 2018 season. Fortunately for Penn State, with that much defensive depth, making small adjustments to improve both their passing and rushing defense will not be hard. This is exactly what the Nittany Lions will need to do to have a successful season.
Roster: https://gopsusports.com/roster.aspx?roster=323
Schedule: https://gopsusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
Rutgers University: Rutgers finished the season with a 0-9 record in conference, and an 1-11 record overall. Their record shows that the have a lot to work on. Here is the breakdown. Rutgers had the worst offense in the entire NCAA, only averaging 13.5 points per game. Luckily, Rutgers will be returning 10 offensive players who will have a lot to prove. Rutgers has a lot to improve on in their passing and rushing game, and the coaching staff has not made any moves to improve the offense. This is the first time since 2010 that Rutgers has kept the same offensive coordinator in consecutive seasons. Really all that Rutgers fans can hope for is that the returning players will be fired up and want to make a more positive statement, otherwise fans should expect a similar season in 2019. Rutgers also didn’t perform very well defensively either, as they gave up an average of 31.4 points per game. However, the improvement of the Scarlett Knights’ defense is something that fans can look forward to as Rutgers hired a new defensive coordinator in the 2019 offseason (Andy Buh). They will need to improve both their passing and rushing defense as both were in shambles in the 2018 season. If Rutgers can improve even slightly, I think fans would consider that a win.
Roster: https://scarletknights.com/roster.aspx?roster=2141&path=football
Schedule: https://scarletknights.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
Big 10 West Division:
University of Illinois: Illinois finished they 2018 season with a 2-7 conference record and a 4-8 record overall. With Illinois’ offense and defense being one of the lowest in the nation in both categories, there is a lot that the Fighting Illini can work on to have a successful season. Illinois will look for a staring Quarterback in either Isaiah Williams or Brandon Peters. Fortunately, Illinois will return 17 offensive players who had at least one rushing attempt or at least one reception. For Illinois to have a successful 2019 season, they will definitely need to find a way to score more, perhaps by improving their passing game. Illinois’ starting Quarterback also threw more interceptions than touchdowns in 2018. For Illinois to have a successful 2019 season, they cannot let that happen again. Perhaps strengthening their offensive line will solve most of this problem. Illinois’ biggest problem is their defense. If a team’s offense cannot find a way to score, and your defense can’t find anyway to stop the opposing team from scoring, there is obviously going to be a problem. Illinois’ defense gave up an average of 39.4 points per game in 2018. The defense will return 20 players who and 10 or more tackles in the 2018 season. For Illinois to improve their defense tremendously, they will need to work on rushing and passing defense, with special emphasis on passing defense. They almost gave up 100 more yards per game that Illinois was able to pass for on offense! Fix these issues and Illinois could have a successful season.
Roster: https://fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=football
Schedule: https://fightingillini.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Iowa: Iowa capped of their season with a Outback Bowl victory over Mississippi State by a score of 27-22. The Hawkeyes finished the season with a 5-4 conference record and 9-4 overall record. Iowa will return starting Quarterback Nate Stanley. Stanley played a huge role in the offense’s success as he completed 235 out of 396 pass attempts, throwing for 2852 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Hawkeyes will also return 12 other offensive players who had a least one rushing attempt or reception in the 2018 season. For the Hawkeyes to have a successful offensive season, they will need to work on their offensive line, as they allowed enough pressure for their Quarterback to get picked off of 10 times. The Hawkeyes will also need to work on their rushing offense. Cleaning up their techniques will go a long way for Iowa. In the 2018 season, Iowa had one of the most efficient defenses in the FBS, only giving up an average of 17.8 points per game which is 11th in the nation. As Iowa is returning 14 defensive players who had 10 or more tackles in the 2018 season, these players will know from experience on how to defend both passing and rushing defenses in an effective way. For Iowa to have another successful defensive season, they should just sharpen up on both defenses and adjust their techniques slightly.
Roster: https://hawkeyesports.com/roster.aspx?roster=319
Schedule: https://hawkeyesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Minnesota: Minnesota capped off their 2018 season with a Quick Lane Bowl victory over Georgia Tech by a score of 34-10. The Golden Gophers had a 3-6 conference record, going 7-6 overall. Minnesota will be returning both Quarterbacks who player major rolls in the 2018 season for the team, Zack Annexstad and Tanner Morgan. The Gophers will also return 13 offensive players who had at least one rushing attempt or a reception. For Minnesota to have a successful 2019 season, they will need to strengthen their rushing game, while still keeping their passing game as strong as they did in 2018. Luckily for Minnesota, they will be returning all 4 receivers who scored passing touchdowns (Johnson, Bateman, Douglas, and Paulson). Defensively, the Gophers will return 13 defensive players who had 10 or more tackles on the year. For Minnesota to have a successful defensive season, they will need to shut down their opponent’s passing offense, as that is where the Gophers lost most of their points in games to. As the Gophers struggled on both offense and defense, having a large number or returning players will help Minnesota a lot.
Roster: https://gophersports.com/roster.aspx?roster=528
Schedule: https://gophersports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Nebraska: Nebraska went 3-6 in conference, and had a 4-8 season overall. Nebraska will return starting Quarterback Adrian Martinez. Martinez completed 224 out of 347 pass attempts, throwing for 2617 yards, 17 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also scored 8 rushing touchdowns in the season for the team. Other than Martinez, the team will return 13 offensive players who had a rushing attempt or a reception. For the Cornhuskers to have a successful season, and potentially have a winning record this season, the offense will need to focus on their red zone offense. As they averaged 30 points per game, that’s not awful but to win games against offense heavy teams, they will need to average/score more points per game. Defensively, Nebraska will return 17 defensive players who had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. This is fortunate for the Cornhuskers as these players will have already have faced a majority of the same offenses, thus being more prepared. However, Nebraska will need to work on both their rushing and passing offense techniques as they allowed almost, if not over 200 yards average in both categories per game.
Roster: http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&SPID=22&SPSID=4
Schedule: http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=22&SPSID=3&DB_OEM_ID=100
Northwestern University: Northwestern capped off their 2018 season with a Holiday Bowl victory over Utah by a score of 31-20. The Wildcats finished with a 8-1 in conference record and an 9-5 record overall. Northwestern had one of the least efficient offenses in the 2018 season, only averaging 24.2 points per game. For the 2019 season, the Wildcats will probably name their starting Quarterback to be Hunter Johnson. The Wildcats will return 11 other offensive players who had at least 1 rushing attempt or one reception. For Northwestern to have a more successful offensive season, the Wildcats’ new starting Quarterback will need to keep his passing game under control (Clayton Thorson threw 15 interceptions in 2018). The Wildcats will also need to improve in their rushing game, as they only averaged a little over 100 yards rushing per game. Defensively, Northwestern will return 14 players that had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season. This is huge for the Wildcats because they only allowed an average of 23.2 points per game, which leaves plenty of room for returning and new players to make adjustments in their defense against rushing and passing defenses, resulting in a more productive/successful defense.
Roster: https://nusports.com/roster.aspx?roster=1267&path=football
Schedule: https://nusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
Purdue University: Despite Purdue’s huge upset over Ohio State, the Boilermakers lost their bowl game (Music City Bowl) to Auburn by a score of 63-14. Heading into training camp, the Boilermakers announced that Elijah Sindelar looks to be the starting Quarterback for the 2019 season. Sindelar completed 26 out of 44 pass attempts in the 2018 season. Purdue will only return 7 other offensive players who had a rushing attempt or a reception. For Purdue to have a successful offensive season, Sindelar will need to step up big time, as a majority of the players will be learning just as he is. The players with less experience will also need to step up and find ways to score. While Purdue’s offense was decent in the 2018 season, Purdue’s defense has a lot of work to do. Although Purdue had one of the least efficient defenses, they will return 12 players who had 10 or more total tackles. For Purdue to have a successful defensive season, the Boilermakers will truly need to improve their rushing defense, as they gave up an average of almost 170 yards rushing per game. They will also need to watch what they do on the field, as their defense added 70 yards in penalties to their offenses advantages.
Roster: https://purduesports.com/roster.aspx?roster=232
Schedule: https://purduesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football
University of Wisconsin: Wisconsin capped off their season with a Pinstripe Bowl victory over Miami by a score of 35-3. The Badgers went 5-4 in conference and 8-5 overall. Wisconsin will look for a starting Quarterback in Jack Coan or Graham Mertz for the 2019 season. The Badgers will also return 11 offensive players who had a rushing attempt or reception in 2018. As Wisconsin’s offense is their ‘weak link’, to have a successful season, the named starting Quarterback will need to establish not only a rushing game, but a passing game as that is something that they failed to dominate in last season. The Badgers had one of the most efficient defenses in the 2018 season, only giving up an average of 22.6 points per game. The Badgers did a fantastic job defending rushing offenses in the 2018 season, however for a more successful season, they will need to improve their passing defense as they gave up an average of almost 200 passing yards per game. Luckily for Wisconsin, they will return 13 players who had 10 or more total tackles in the 2018 season which makes improving their defense a lot easier as these players have already faced the same offenses, and therefore becoming more experienced in what they’re facing/what to expect each game.
Roster: https://uwbadgers.com/roster.aspx?roster=240&path=football
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