BTN.com staff, July 24, 2014
Raise your hand if you predicted Jeremy Langford to lead the Big Ten in scoring a year ago. There should be no hands. Langford came out of nowhere last season to register a Big Ten-leading 114 points.
Will the talented Spartan defend his scoring crown, or will someone dethrone him?
See Tom Dienhart, Sean Merriman and Brent Yarina's picks below.
SCORING
2013 leader: Jeremy Langford, Michigan State – 114 points
2014 returning leader: Jeremy Langford, Michigan State – 114 points
Tom Dienhart: Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana. Once again, the Hoosiers are going to have one of the Big Ten?s most prolific offenses. And Coleman will do a lot of the scoring. He emerged last season, running for 958 yards (7.3 ypc) with 12 touchdowns in just nine games after injury ended his season early.
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Sean Merriman: Jeremy Langford, RB, Michigan State. It is no secret that Mark Dantonio loves to run the football. Langford led the Big Ten in both carries (292) and scoring (114 points) in 2013, so it's hard to go with anyone else. There are some solid kickers in the conference who should be considered here (Michael Geiger, for one), but I?m siding with the "every-down back" who you know is going to touch the football 20-25 times per game.
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Brent Yarina: Michael Geiger, K, Michigan State. Geiger finished last season with 81 points, despite being the backup each of the first three weeks. There's no doubt who the Michigan State kicker is this season, and it's the accurate Geiger, who drilled 15-of-16 field goals in 2013. Not only is the sophomore one of the Big Ten's best at a position that lends itself to scoring, he kicks for a team that figures to create plenty of scoring opportunities.
