The upcoming college football season owns many big questions, one of them being how well the Big Ten will fare after a great 2016 regular season. The ACC was the best conference in the bowls, but the Big Ten had the best regular season, placing four teams in the New Year’s Six bowls, a record the SEC has failed to match. How will the Big Ten’s best teams, and also some of the teams in the middle of the league, find solutions which can either create improvement or maintenance of favorable trends?
Ohio State
The Buckeyes’ biggest asset is their depth. Much like Alabama in the SEC, the Buckeyes stockpile depth and load up their roster in ways that minimize the impact of injuries. When one elite prospect gets hurt, another one is there, waiting to step up. Mike Weber is the foremost member of the Ohio State backfield, the man who is next in the line of succession. Most eyes will be on him as he tries to lead Ohio State back to the College Football Playoff for the second straight season and the third in four years. However, he has a fleet of backs supporting him, giving Heisman-contending quarterback J.T. Barrett so many options to turn to. What will also help is that new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson should be able to figure out ways to distribute carries and touches among the Ohio State running back group. It’s a very promising situation on many levels.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions don’t have the depth that Ohio State does, which is why they are second on the list. However, they have the best single running back in the Big Ten, Saquon Barkley. It was Barkley who tore off a long and dazzling touchdown run in the Rose Bowl versus USC, a showcase of his incredible talent. Barkley is a tremendous performer whether as a setback or when used as a receiver. He can run between the tackles but also operate in space. There’s no one quite like him in the Big Ten, and that’s why Penn State has a great chance to defend its Big Ten championship. The problem is simply that if Barkley is injured or ineffective, the Nittany Lions aren’t likely to have a Plan B which can adequately replace him and create the same amount of production.
Wisconsin
When Wisconsin takes the field every season, the name of the running back almost doesn’t matter. Wisconsin as a program commits itself to the running game. The Badgers have relied on the running game for the past 25 years. They always recruit outstanding offensive linemen and shape their game plan to run the ball with power into the teeth of a defensive line. They use a ball control formula so that they can play a field position-based game and rest their defense. They constantly recruit in accordance with this general focus. A Wisconsin running game will always be worth taking seriously. The Badgers will never suffer until their recruiting trails off, which it hasn’t. This year, Bradrick Shaw and Chris James will try to shoulder the workload in the backfield. Expect them to contribute, just as their predecessors did.
Maryland
The work of coach D.J. Durkin was good enough to lift Maryland to a bowl game last year, and the Terrapins are viewed to be a team which should be able to get back to a bowl game again. The Terps should be in good shape with Ty Johnson returning to the backfield. He was the center of the Maryland running game last season, and he should be able to improve on his 2016 performance this year.
Maryland is viewed as a team on the rise in the Big Ten but they might not get much attention in the East Division. With Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, the Terps have a long way to go before they get back to relevancy. They were just 3-6 in conference play last season and 6-7 overall. They have a tough schedule in 2017, which features a road trip to Texas to start the season along with road games at Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State this year.
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