Big Ten Football: Can East division compete with SEC West in 2021?

The SEC West played very well in Week 1 and it is considered the best division in all of college football but can the Big Ten East contend with it in the argument for the best division in the nation in 2021? The SEC versus Big Ten football argument rages on.

Let’s first take a look at the victories for the Big Ten East results during Week 1 play.

The only Big Ten East team to lose in week one play was No. 17 Indiana which lost on the road to Iowa.

After a slow start, the Buckeyes’ offense went into overdrive in the second half and the Ohio State defense came away with two huge turnovers as well. The Buckeyes played well on the road and showed why they are deserving of a top-four national ranking. The Buckeyes are still the favorites to win the Big Ten title this season.

The Penn State defense played very well, limiting the Badgers defense to zero first-half points. The Nittany Lions also had two interceptions late in the fourth quarter to seal the win against the No. 12 Badgers. The Penn State offense especially their passing game did not turn the ball and had 247 pass yards to help them win on the road against a top-15 team.

Northwestern had a great season last year, winning the Big Ten West, and had hoped to take that momentum going into the 2021 season by opening the season with a victory against Michigan State. The Spartans played well on the road and scored two quick touchdowns to go up 14-0.

Kenneth Walker III guided the Spartans’ offense with four rushing touchdowns in Michigan State’s convincing victory over the Wildcats.

It was a high-scoring first half in which Maryland played well behind the play of quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and the Terrapin defense did not give up a touchdown in the second half to help them defeat West Virginia.

The Terrapins’ defense came away with four turnovers and the offense did not turn the ball over once. The offense had a total of 495 yards and played very well in the victory over the Mountaineers.

The Wolverines offense played well throughout the entire game as they easily defeated Western Michigan at home. The Michigan defense did not give up any points in the second and third quarters and the Wolverines offense produced 551 total yards with 335 of those yards coming on the ground. Three different Michigan running backs scored a rushing touchdown.

Rutgers played well from start to finish and on both sides of the ball. The Scarlet Knights especially were dominant on the ground as four different players had a rushing touchdown with backup quarterback Johnny Langan had two rushing touchdowns and freshman running back Kyle Monangai has two touchdowns on the ground as well. The Scarlet Knights caused five turnovers with two of them being interceptions and they had a safety as well.

Now let’s take a look at how the SEC West teams played in week one.