Yahoo Autos A Heisman Trophy candidate who cooks on and off the field plus the rest of what we learned on Day 2 of Big Ten football media day
INDIANAPOLIS – The 50th annual Big Ten football media days ended Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium, but not before representatives from the second half of the conference's teams spoke about their upcoming seasons.
On Tuesday coaches and players from Nebraska, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern and Michigan spoke about their teams.
Wednesday, representatives from Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State and Wisconsin had their turn.
Here are a few things we learned on Day 2.
More: The first day of the Big Ten football media days is done. Here is what we learned.
C.J. Stroud cooks up good chemistry
After just one season as the starter, Ohio State sophomore C.J. Stroud is considered one of the nation’s elite quarterbacks. He is also a strong leader.
Recognizing the need to bond with members of the team’s defense, Stroud regularly has been inviting players from the unit to his house for a meal.
“He's cooked for them,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “He's really approached it like a coach, and that's what leaders do, and that's what really good quarterbacks do. For a third-year player to take that kind of approach has been great to see.”
Stroud, of course, has already cooked up something special for the Buckeyes offense. He set 17 school records last season and was a third-team Associated Press All-American.
Familiar name could play large role for MSU
One of the biggest voids that must be filled in the conference is the one left by Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III, a consensus first-team All-American running back last season.
This year two transfers, Jalen Berger, who arrived from Wisconsin, and Jarek Broussard, who came to East Lansing from Colorado, are top candidates to replace Walker. Broussard is listed on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top running back. Berger is the four-star recruit who was dismissed from the Badgers last year during his second season.
If either comes close to matching Walker’s play, Michigan State will have a more-than-formidable ground game. Walker played for the Spartans just one season after joining the program as a transfer and was taken in the second round of the NFL draft by Seattle.
Walker's story might strike a chord with other players considering Michigan State as a program to make a fresh start.
“Obviously, he walked in the door extremely talented, and he raised the level of competition, not just in the running back room, but on the entire football team, and he was extremely productive,” MSU coach Mel Tucker said.
“Then he got what he wanted. He was able to help us win a lot of football games. He was a tremendous leader, a great teammate. ... It's a great story, and that resonates with players.”
Big weekend ahead for Purdue QB
While most players in the Big Ten are enjoying their final days before the start of practice, Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell is preparing for his wedding. The senior quarterback gets married Saturday and reports to camp Monday night.
“Right now, I’m ready. I’m excited," he said. "I know the day of I’ll be excited, my heart is going to be pumping, but right now I’m good to go.”
One of the toughest parts of the wedding preparations was the guest list. With only 200 guests and a locker room filled with teammates, O’Connell had some tough cuts to make.
“That wasn’t fun, but I’ve gotten encouragement from the guys who (I didn’t invite)," he said. "They know I still love them. I know if one day I’m not invited to their wedding I still know they love me.”
NCAA should give Singleton break
Rutgers is awaiting word on an appeal for another year of eligibility for linebacker Drew Singleton. The team’s fourth-leading tackler last season, he declared for the NFL draft after last season but returned to play for the Scarlet Knights after they received a late bowl berth.
Unlike some of his teammates, who declined to play in the game, Singleton suited up. He suffered an ankle injury during the game, a 38-10 loss to Wake Forest. The injury derailed his chance to prepare for the draft.
Due to the COVID season, he would still have eligibility had he not declared for the draft. Rutgers hopes the NCAA considers Singleton’s extenuating circumstances and lets him play.
“It really hurt his development and getting prepared,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said of the injury.
“On top of that, COVID, every NFL executive that I talked to, COVID increased draft boards by about 30 to 40 players. So now all of a sudden, those guys that were late-round draft picks, they became priority free agents. Then the priority free agents became lower free agents. So what happened to those guys that were just lower free agents? They didn't have an opportunity. That's what Drew was.”
Illinois poised for strong start
The schedule lays out nicely for the Illini, who went 5-7 in their first season under Bret Bielema. After opening against at home against Wyoming, a team predicted to finish near the bottom of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West, the Illini open Big Ten play the next week at Indiana.
That matchup will be the Hoosiers’ season opener. It was supposed to be Illinois’, too, but Bielema added the game when the initial schedule, he said, had his team slated to open the season at Wisconsin.
Coaches often note that a team can make significant strides from its first game to the second. With that in mind, Bielema pushed for an earlier game in order to give his team a better shot on the road in Week 2.
“The driving force … was a Big Ten road game,” Bielema said of the Wyoming matchup. “I thought if we could play one game at home, get our feet under us, and get a Week 0 (game) in, and Josh (Whitman), our (athletic director), got it done.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big Ten football media days: what we learned on Day 2
