B1G Dawg/Pussycat of the week

Each week, I will bring you the Dawg/Pussycat of the week from the Big 10. This could be a player, coach, or school who had an outstanding performance, a great recruiting week, or just an amazing week in general. Opposite of that will be the pussycat of the week. This will be the player, coach, or school who failed to get the job done from the prior week. The only rule is it must be an event that has happened inside the B1G from the previous week.

Credit: Mark Kesling via Flickr

---

The B1G Dawg of the week is Ohio State's Ryan Day for bringing in another 5-star commitment

It’s just another 5-Star heading to Columbus for head coach, Ryan Day, putting the country on notice that OSU is not going anywhere anytime soon. Day traveled down to Buford, GA to pull 5-star DL, Eddrick Houston right out of the heart of SEC territory.

A high school 3-sport athlete (football, wrestling, and track and field), Houston already shows he has the strength and athleticism to play at the college level. Houston heads to OSU at 6’4”, 275lbs, ranked 21 nationally, 5th out of the state of Georgia, and 4th at the defensive line position according to On3.

With the addition of Houston, Day just added to an already impressive class. Thanks to the Houston commitment, OSU now has five 5-star athletes in the 2024 class led by Jeremiah Smith and Justin Scott. OSU now has the 2nd rated class in the nation and 1st in the Big 10. Unlike their rivals TTUN, they're showing no signs of slowing down on the recruiting trail.

---

The B1G Pussycat of the week is the USC defense

USC head coach, Lincoln Riley entered week zero with a Trojan team who had the 6th best odds to win a national championship and is the favorite to win the PAC 12. With an abundance of talent on offense, the biggest question fans had was if Defensive Coordinator, Alex Grinch, improve on his defense from a year ago. After their first contest, the best way to answer that question is they were underwhelming at best.

San Jose State was able to come into LA Memorial Coliseum and put up 396 yards of offense and averaged 6 yards per play. SJSU was able to take the top off the D a few too many times, Nick Nash a converted wide receiver from quarterback had 6 catches 3 being for touchdowns.

This could be an early warning sign for USC as SJSU quarterback, Chevan Cordeiro, scrambled for a 28-yard gain on a 3rd and 22, and was able to total 52 rushing yards in the game. Could this be a sign that USC could have a big problem stopping dual-threat QBs this season?

The good news for USC is their next 5 games come against Nevada, Stanford, Arizona State, Colorado, and Arizona. This should give DC Alex Grinch lots of time to get it right before their first big game against Notre Dame on October 14.