Week 3 will tell us a little more about the Big Ten.
Through two weeks, we haven't learned much. The two preseason favorites — Ohio State and Michigan — rolled in both games against sub-par opponents. Michigan State played just once and it came against an FCS school. Iowa and Wisconsin look like the top teams in the Big Ten West, which is what we kind of thought all along.
Penn State still can't block anybody.
So, yeah, nothing really all that new. We'll find out much more about the conference this weekend, though, as there is a pretty strong slate on tap for the last week of games before Big Ten play begins.
The matchup that's likely to generate most of the headlines is Ohio State at Oklahoma. The third-ranked Buckeyes face their first true test of the season when they travel to play the No. 14-ranked Sooners.
Ohio State is not the only Big Ten team with its hands full, however.
After a rare bye week in Week 2, 12th-ranked Michigan State travels to South Bend, Indiana to take on No. 18 Notre Dame. Nebraska, which currently sits at 2-0, has a chance to announce its presence in the Big Ten West as it welcomes 22nd-ranked Oregon. Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Maryland all additionally look to finish nonconference play undefeated in Week 3.
But while it's still too early to answer a ton of big-picture questions, there is still some stock to buy and/or sell after the first two weeks of the season. That's exactly why we're here today: for this week's version of Stock Up/Stock Down.
Let's take a look around the Big Ten, shall we?
Stock Up
Ohio State's secondary
The Buckeyes had just 12 interceptions as a team the entire 2015 season. Through two games this year, Ohio State already has seven and all of them have come from members of the secondary.
Saturday was a long day for Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans. He was picked off four times by the Buckeyes and had two of those go the other way for touchdowns. Ohio State forced six total turnovers in its 48-3 rout of the Golden Hurricane.
Malik Hooker leads the way with three picks, while Marshon Lattimore — reigning Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week — has a pair.
Maryland
I'll give the Terps some credit here.
Now, they've beaten nobody — a pair of wins over Howard and Florida International — but the start to the DJ Durkin era went a bit better than I expected. Maryland blew out both of its opponents thus far and has a chance to go 3-0 in the nonconference if it can beat Central Florida this weekend.
Looking at the schedule — with Purdue, Minnesota, Indiana and Rutgers on the Big Ten docket — there's a real shot the Terrapins wind up bowl eligible at the end of the year and a 7-5 record is totally in play. That's progress.
Wilton Speight — Michigan quarterback
Again, it's two games against two bad teams so we really don't know about Wilton Speight yet, but there is no denying his first two performances have been impressive. They've certainly exceeded my expectations for him, anyway.
Speight is completing 70 percent of his passes and has thrown seven touchdowns to just one interception through two games. It may be a few weeks before he's actually tested, but it's important for Speight to get this experience under his belt before Michigan's tough games begin.
Stock Down
James Franklin — Penn State head coach
Stop me if you've heard this before: Penn State lost a big game under James Franklin.
The Nittany Lions fell to Pittsburgh on Saturday in a game that received a bunch of added attention based on a bad #take by a Penn State student news organization. Still, the Penn State–Pitt rivalry is an important one and it's not a great look for Franklin to lose, especially when you consider Penn State lost to another in-state foe just last season in Temple.
Speaking of the Owls, they'll travel to Beaver Stadium this weekend to play the Nittany Lions. It'd probably be wise for Franklin and Penn State to win that one.
Northwestern
What are we doing here, Pat Fitzgerald?
I put you on this list last week after the season-opening loss to Western Michigan, but I didn't envision things getting worse from there. What did you do, though? Oh, you lost to Illinois State — an FCS school — at home in a game in which you scored seven points.
The Wildcats won 10 games last year. I'm not quite sure how. This Northwestern team is currently 0-2 with Duke coming to town Saturday. It better win that one because a three-game start to the Big Ten season of Nebraska, at Iowa and at Michigan State is less than ideal.
Illinois' Defense
I didn't really have high expectations for Illinois so I'm not sure it's fair for me to include them here but I'm going to do it anyway because giving up 48 points at home is not a great look even when facing a high-powered offense.
And, oh yeah, isn't Lovie Smith supposed to be a defensive guy?
