B1G Time: Cracks starting to show in Oregon's facade? Maryland's youth movement might save Mike Locksley

Earlier this season, in this very column, I wrote about how it sure felt like Oregon was back. The 2025 version of the Ducks might have new faces all over the lineup, but it was the same explosive team capable of scorching the Earth beneath its webbed feet. I said all of this after Oregon's 69-3 decimation of Oklahoma State.

Well, we know how things have gone for Oklahoma State since that sunny Saturday in Eugene.

Still, the Ducks are 7-1 and their only loss has come to the No. 2 team in the country in Indiana. I still can't shake the feeling that there are cracks beginning to show in the facade, though. The last few weeks have caused me to reevaluate who the Ducks are.

I'm confident they remain one of the better teams in the country -- particularly when they play well -- but they just haven't played very well lately. I won't make the mistake of discounting their double-overtime road win against Penn State because that's the loss that broke Penn State, and too many people are looking back at that game as if Penn State stunk all along. But we saw some struggles from the Ducks' offense in that game that have continued in the weeks since.

The performance at home against Indiana was far worse than the one against Penn State. While we can dismiss that as Indiana being a juggernaut, we have to do so in the context that Oregon is supposed to be a juggernaut, too. If a juggernaut does that to you in your home, are you actually a juggernaut?

Saturday's performance against Wisconsin didn't ease any fears. Yes, it was windy. Yes, it was rainy. Both of these things had an impact on the game, but while I'm willing to accept that as an excuse for why Oregon struggled to throw the ball, I won't accept it as one for why they struggled to run it. The Ducks' 0.07 EPA per rush against the Badgers was their worst performance of the season outside the Indiana game.

Keep in mind that, weather game or not, this was a decimated Wisconsin team. Look at the Badgers' injury report for the game.

That's a list of 17 names who were definitely not playing in the game, and if Wisconsin had the kind of depth to withstand those losses, it wouldn't be 2-6 on the season. Nor is it a team that had been outscored 71-0 by Iowa and Ohio State at home in its prior two games. So for the Ducks to put up only 21 points on the Badgers at Autzen is a red flag. I'm willing to accept the idea that the Ducks were taking it easy with bigger games coming up. They certainly wouldn't be the first team to do so, but I also think that if the Ducks are serious contenders to make a playoff run, even going half-speed, they should dominate a half-dead Badgers team.

To be clear, I am not trying to make the argument that Oregon isn't good, or that it's not one of the better teams in the Big Ten. It is. It's certainly no worse than the third-best team in the league. However, I am starting to wonder if the gap between it and the top two (Ohio State and Indiana) might be wider than the one between the Ducks and whoever you consider to be the fourth-best team in the league.

Perhaps we'll get further confirmation of that in two weeks when the Ducks go on the road to face Iowa, or perhaps the Ducks will blow the doors off the Hawkeyes and remind us all what they're truly capable of. All I know is that this bye comes at a great time for the Ducks to figure out what isn't working and get it corrected.

Maybe this will fix it:

Maryland's youth movement

Maryland has lost three straight games since starting the season 4-0, which is nothing new in College Park. Since taking over in 2019, this has been the common theme of Mike Locksley's teams.

Now that he's in his seventh season with Maryland, some are wondering if the school might be looking to move on from Locksley. While doing radio hits, it's never the first question that comes to mind, but after initial questions about Matt Rhule leaving Nebraska for Penn State, or what Wisconsin's doing with Luke Fickell, I'm usually hit with a "what's the deal with Maryland?"

I don't know. My gut tells me Locksley will be back, and a big reason why is the youth movement currently taking place with the team.

Malik Washington is the headliner, as he's thrown for 1,716 yards with 11 touchdowns to three interceptions. Good numbers that would be significantly better if his receivers hadn't been credited with 21 drops this year, according to PFF. Washington is far from alone, though.

Maryland's leading rusher is redshirt freshman DeJuan Williams. On defense, true freshmen Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis have combined for 14 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, as both rank first and second on the team. In fact, 12.5 of Maryland's 22 sacks as a team have come via freshmen. Of the 13 players on the Maryland defense to play at least 250 snaps, four are freshmen, and that doesn't include Braydon Lee and Jayden Shipps, who have seen significant time in the secondary as well.

In this era of college football, you have to get the players, and then you have to retain them. It's fair to wonder how confident Maryland would feel about its chances of retaining them all if it moved on from Locksley.

AP Poll thoughts

I thought for sure at least one of Washington or Iowa would be ranked in the AP Top 25 this week, if not both, so I was surprised to see neither in the latest poll Sunday morning. It was even more of a surprise to see USC, which wasn't ranked in last week's poll after a loss to Notre Dame, climb back into the top 25 after being on a bye.

I suppose they had a great week of practices.

Regardless, I'm not here to argue USC shouldn't be ranked (though if it is, it should probably be ahead of the Michigan team it beat), but talk about the ridiculous standards some programs have to meet compared to others.

Washington beat an Illinois team that was deemed worthy of being ranked last week by 17 points. Its only losses have come to No. 1 Ohio State and No. 21 Michigan. Yet that resume isn't worth a top 25 spot when another 6-2 team like Missouri -- which I like! -- remains at No. 19 despite not having a single win over a team with a winning record this season. Its best win is either 4-4 Auburn or 4-4 Kansas.

Or how about Texas? Another 6-2 team that has one win over a ranked team, like Washington (No. 18 Oklahoma), but also a loss against the 3-4 Florida Gators. How is 6-2 Texas, which has needed overtime the last two weeks to beat Kentucky and Mississippi State (a combined 0-9 in SEC play), drastically better than Washington to justify having the Longhorns No. 20 and Washington unranked?

This isn't about SEC bias, either. It's about the bias of a pollster's preconceived notions. Since Texas and Missouri began the year ranked, it's much harder for voters to consider removing them from their ballot altogether to make room for teams that weren't ranked but deserve it more. Then they'd have to admit they were wrong, and if you have ever interacted with another human being, you know how difficult that is for most of us to do.

I will admit, while I would have Iowa on my ballot right now, I at least understand why others still leave it off. The Minnesota win this weekend is Iowa's best win this year as far as the win-loss record is concerned. The Gophers are 3-2, while Iowa's other three conference wins have come against teams that are a combined 1-13 in Big Ten play, and the lone win was Rutgers against Purdue Saturday.

Iowa will have a chance to change all that if it beats Oregon, though.

Going with my gut

Every week I pick the Big Ten games against the spread based on nothing but my gut reaction to the number. No digging into numbers -- just vibes, baby. I even track my record to embarrass myself publicly. Any game not included is due to there not being a posted line at time of publishing.

Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State: There's a part of me who wants Penn State to rise above the adversity and come out of its bye week with its hair on fire, making life miserable for Ohio State. Then there's the other part of me living in the real world who doesn't think that's a very likely outcome here. It's hard to imagine the Penn State offense -- which struggled with Drew Allar -- being much better with its backup QB, particularly against this defense. Ohio State -20.5

Rutgers at Illinois -- Illinois -12.5
No. 2 Indiana at Maryland -- Indiana -21.5
Michigan State at Minnesota -- Minnesota -3.5
Purdue at No. 21 Michigan -- Purdue +20.5
No. 23 USC at Nebraska -- Nebraska +6.5

Last Week: 2-5
Season: 41-35