Crazy Weekend Shakes Up Big Ten Football In A Big Way

This past weekend saw the Big Ten Football Conference encountered a bit of a whirlwind that most people at the beginning of the season would not have seen coming. I think one of the more predictable things would have been that the Minnesota Golden Gophers would have been sitting where they are right now at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play after a come from behind homecoming win Saturday night against Purdue.  

To quote the broadcast team from the Gophers radio broadcast Saturday night, “the Boilermakers are doing everything in their power to give the game to the Gophers, Minnesota just needs to go take it”, and that’s exactly what they did. 

The Gophers are now just two wins away from being bowl eligible.

The Big Shake-Up 

I’m not sure anyone would have guessed that Penn State would have lost three games in a row, especially losing to UCLA and Northwestern in the last two weeks. But it was even more unlikely that anyone would have guessed that after six games the Nittany Lions would have fired their Head Coach, James Franklin, but that’s exactly what has happened. 

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After 12 years as the leader of what is considered to be one of the most attractive schools and brands in college football, Franklin was let go yesterday after appearing in last year's National Semi-Final game then seeing his team hit a tailspin this season that will keep them from appearing in the playoffs this year. 

Franklin’s record of 4-21 versus Top 10 teams, and 1-18 against Big Ten teams that were ranked in the Top 10 simply wasn’t good enough anymore. There is some speculation that Adidas influenced the firing because the school will switch from Nike to Adidas next season and the shoe and appeal brand wants their logo on a winning team. And maybe more importantly, a team that can win the big games. 

Firing Franklin now has caused agents to begin to contact the folks in Happy Valley on behalf of their coaching clients. This will be a massive search and hire, stay tuned.  

Curt Cignetti Proves His Doubters Wrong 

When everyone woke up Sunday morning, the biggest headline in college football was Indiana going on the road and knocking off Oregon on their home field snapping their 23 regular season game winning streak and 18 game home winning streak.  

Coach Cignetti coached with fire and confidence in the upset and should have silenced his critics by winning at one of the toughest places to play in the NCAA.  Last season’s playoff appearance was called a fluke by many, saying the Hoosiers didn’t deserve to be in the top 12. 

Then this season started with writers and talking heads alike taking shots at Cignetti over their schedule changes and that he was out of his depth. Where are those talking heads now? 

Some of them over the weekend spent some of their time trying to convince everyone that they knew this was possible all along. The backpedaling and course correction that has taken place coming from people who don’t know Curt Cignetti, or have even had a conversation with him, is rather enjoyable for those of us who do know Cignetti, and know that he knows football about as good as anyone in the game.  

Now the rest of the country is getting to know that too.  

Now, those same talking heads are saying that Indiana needs to back up the truck and give Cignetti what he wants, even though he received a handsome extension and raise last year.  

The one thing I know about Curt Cignetti is that money is important, but now that he’s getting what he deserves, he wants to build something. Indiana has made a commitment to him and the program, and for the first time in his head coaching career he’s got everything; salary, resources, and to be in position to get the attention of nearly every college recruit in the country.  

I’m not saying Curt Cignetti will retire from Indiana, he may indeed find another job that he believes is better for him. But I know personally he’s loyal. Loyal to his staff, several of them have been with him going back a few stops along the way. He is loyal to his players, many from his time at James Madison followed him to Bloomington- much to the chagrin of my friends at JMU.  

Indiana has evolved quickly into a championship contender, and that is a powerful position to be in. I guess time will tell where this situation goes from here.

There’s still a lot of football to be played in the Big Ten this year, but if the rest of the season matches all that has transpired thus far, I’d say buckle up and get ready for what comes next.