Mike Cagley, Co-Host of the Big Sports Radio Show
October 25, 2022
The Big Ten goes into Week 9 with four teams in the Top 25. Ohio State sits at #2, Michigan at #4, Penn State trails those two at #13 and the surprising Fighting Illini at #17. Despite this being the final week of four teams having byes in the schedule, each of the week’s five games each have their own intrigue. Let's look at the two biggest along with a complimentary movie review for guys who like escapist movies.
C.J. Stroud (8) versus Iowa
Ohio State’s offense has been devastating this season. Averaging a whopping 49.6 points per game (2nd in the nation) and 517.4 yards of offense a game (4th in the nation), the Buckeyes have been on a roll lately scoring 52, 49, 49, and 54 against it's last four Big Ten conference opponents. It's easy to see why the offense is getting all the attention. The hiring of new Defensive Coordinator & Linebackers Coach Jim Knowles has also revitalized the defense which is allowing on 14.9 points per game (5th in the nation) and 239.9 yards per game (2nd in the nation) with 149 yards per game in the air (3rd in the nation). The Buckeyes are tearing through the Big Ten and next in their sights are the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State comes into the game with one blemish on their slate, a horrific loss to Michigan by 41-17. That score is bad but the game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. To make things worse, it seems like there is a bit of a coaching feud starting between Coach Franklin and Coach Harbaugh about a confrontation between teams in the tunnel to the field at Michigan. Harbaugh has placed some of the blame at Coach Franklin's feet. The Penn State coaching staff needs to make sure the team is focused on the Buckeyes and not looking to the past and the Wolverines match up that clearly did not go well for Penn State.
Penn State wants to demonstrate to the country that the Michigan game was an outlier, not a pattern of performance against Top 5 teams. Penn State will have to shore up their defense against one of the nation’s premiere offenses. This is not the best time to have to "fix" things. The Buckeyes have shown little signs of weakness and now the Nittany Lions must see if they can keep up with, or even slow down, the Ohio State juggernaut.
Tommy DeVito of Illinois against Minnesota.
The Illini are coming off their bye week at 6-1. This record comes as a surprise just about every other person except for Bret Bielema who had confidence in his team and in the abilities of his coaching staff. Nebraska’s defense has been its weak spot giving up 471.7 yards per game (9th worst in the nation) and yielding 31.3 points per game which is almost two points more than Nebraska scores each week. This isn't your grandfather's Nebraska Cornhuskers.
On the flip side, the Illini defense has been ferocious allowing only 8.9 points per game (#1 in the nation), only 221.1 yards of total offense by their opponents (#1 in the nation), a measly 77.9 yards on the ground (#1 in the nation) and only 143.3 yards through the air (#2 in the nation) each week. As if that wasn’t enough, Chase Brown leads the country in yards rushing with 1059 yards. With the Illini having a 6-1 record, he is beginning to get noticed on Heisman candidate lists. The only way he gets a chance to finish high in the voting is for the Illini to take care of business and win as many games as possible. Tommy DeVito, the Illini quarterback courtesy of the transfer portal from Syracuse, has played well and made defenses honor the pass which has provided Brown with space to maneuver, as well.
Despite their defensive challenges and living through the firing of their head coach, Nebraska sits tied for second place in the Big Ten West, one game behind the Fighting Illini. Nebraska will have all the motivation in the world to pull a massive upset over the Fighting Illini. For the Illini's part, they will have to go and play in front of a loud and hostile Nebraska crowd. Their best bet is to jump out early on the Huskers and flip the crowd, getting the fans to take out years of their frustration on the home team. An early Illini lead would make this a much easier venue to play in for Illinois.
For some reason the critics have seen fit to crush the Rock’s latest movie, a superhero film featuring DC’s anti-hero (he's really a supervillain) Black Adam. This is not a great movie (superhero movies rarely are), but it has a plot unlike the journey of the typical superhero movie protagonist. Black Adam just isn't a nice guy and he's not willing to sacrifice his beliefs and replace them with the values of those around him. In essence, there's no "face turn" to make Black Adam into a good guy at the end.
Duane "The Rock" Johnson as Black Adam courtesy Warner Brothers
The Rock plays a man given superpowers thousands of years ago, who misuses them, is banished in some mystical form of suspended animation, and is awakened in our modern age to stand up for his countrymen. His country is different than the one he left so long ago. His nation has spent the better part of the last nearly 5000 years being subjugated by one foreign power or another. There is a lot to unpack there, and it's not easy at times to follow the huge amount of change that Black Adam has to deal with to acclimate himself to the modern world.
The Rock does not depict a particularly nice individual, nor a particularly funny individual. Unlike Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark, where Downey wisely avoided the womanizing alcoholic depiction of Stark in comics to create a super-quippy and uber-rich version of Peter Parker, the Rock in this movie has stayed true to the comic book portrayal of Black Adam. He is a brooding, angry and violent man. No one knows what will set him off and how strongly he will react in his anger. Because of Black Adam's deficiencies as a main character in the movie, the script utilizes his superhero opponents to provide the characterization and humor needed for such an endeavor. The biggest flaw in the movie is not having the main antagonist really show up until the last 10 to 15 minutes of the movie.
As someone who has often complained when the movies abandon the comic book characters that are the inspiration for their films, its hard for me to complain about Duane Johnson choosing to not “Rockify” the role of Black Adam. Think of the menace that was Arnold in the first Terminator movie. That’s what the Rock was going for and he did a good job. No one is denying making Black Adam a wise cracking funny guy might have been a cleaner strategy to sell even more tickets as it plays into Duane Johnson's strength, but to do that would have also meant that there was no "real" Black Adam present in the movie. I think they made the correct choice for this character.
This movie won’t change your life, but for two hours, it keeps the audience engrossed and provides a diversion from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
Mike’s Score: 7 out of 10
