Click
on each team for game recaps, thoughts,
schedules and more and scroll down for
the games, results, players of the week
and the conference roundup.
Illinois
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Indiana
|
Iowa
|
Michigan
|
Michigan State
|
Minnesota
Northwestern
|
Ohio State
|
Penn State
|
Purdue
|
Wisconsin
Big Ten Game of
the Week
Wisconsin 37
... Michigan State 34
In what was supposed to be a bit of a
defensive slugfest, the two teams
combined for 1,025 yards of total
offense with several huge plays. The
Badgers hung on, as MSU PK Brett Swenson
missed a 53-yard field goal late, and
later had a chance to drive deep, but
misfired on a fourth down pass. The
Spartans got 145 rushing yards, and 88
receiving, from Javon Ringer, who set up
two, two-yard Jehuu Caulcrick touchdown
runs. The two teams traded haymaker
after haymaker, highlighted by a second
quarter stretch when MSU answered a
64-yard Kyle Jefferson touchdown with an
80-yard Devin Thomas touchdown on the
next play from scrimmage. Donovan threw
two touchdown passes and P.J. Hill added
two short scoring runs, but it was
Taylor Mehlhaff's field goals from 35,
47 and 22 yards that helped the Badgers
stay ahead.
Big Ten
Player of
the Week
Indiana QB Kellen Lewis was 19-of-26 for
322 yards, three touchdowns, including a
71-yard fumble recovery for a score, and
an interception, while running for 20
yards on four carries in the 38-20 win
over Iowa.
Conference Roundup
Illinois
…
Now is it time to call Illinois legit? It might be, and
it couldn't come into next week's Wisconsin showdown on
a higher note. Beating the Penn State signals the first
big win for Ron Zook, and it also showcased the young
talent with Arrelious Benn coming up with the huge plays
everyone was hoping for when he came in as one of the
nation's top recruits. Now, Juice Williams has to do
something, anything, to be more accurate, and he has to
avoid interceptions.
Indiana … Indiana did exactly what it had to do
against a punchless Iowa team. Get up early, force the
Hawkeyes to press, and hang on. It would've been nice if
the running game had worked better, but that's a good
Hawkeye defensive front it had to deal with. Kellen
Lewis was phenomenal, and James Hardy was typical James
Hardy against Iowa, catching four passes for 113 yards.
Bowl eligibility is suddenly within range, but a win
over Minnesota next week is a must for that to happen.
Iowa … Iowa can't fall behind right now. The
offense did the best it could with the receivers Jake
Christensen has to work with, and while there were
several diferent targets involved, there wasn't enough
happening in the loss to Indiana. The real problem is
the offensive line, which gave up nine sacks and didn't
get enough of a push for the ground game. Now is when
the defense has to become a brick wall, and it wasn't in
the first 23 minutes. The formula has to be running
game, tough defense, force turnovers, repeat.
Christensen is certainly a talent, but he needs more
time to work, and he needs Albert Young to get on a
roll.
Michigan … Michigan faced a spread offense and
survived. Northwestern doesn't use a running quarterback
like Appalachian State or Oregon, but at least the
Wolverine defense showed it could handle the attack.
Sort of. The Wildcats outgained the Wolverines 417 yards
to 380, but turnovers proved to be the difference. Chad
Henne played a tight, relatively conservative game, not
taking any big chances. That's what a veteran does,
making the plays needed to be made and not turning the
ball over. Now the team has use the Eastern Michigan
game to work on being more explosive.
Michigan State … Don't start assuming Michigan
State is the same, flaky program that would usually go
into the tank after a tough loss like the one against
Wisconsin. This was a tremendous game for the offense,
hitting several home runs and doing a fantastic job of
keeping the Badger defense on its heels. It was a game
that could've gone either way, and MSU just came up
short. This is a strong team that'll make a whole bunch
of noise in the Big Ten race this year.
Minnesota … Playing Ohio State's defense isn't
exactly what the Minnesota offense needed, but now
things ease up with Indiana, Northwestern and North
Dakota State up next. The running game has to find a
back it can count on, as Amir Pinnix barely say the
field against the Buckeyes and Duane Bennett was
ineffective. The Gophers got behind so quickly that they
had to start bombing, and while the line did a good job
in pass protection, there wasn't anywhere for Adam Weber
to go with the ball for any plays of significance.
Northwestern … Despite not having Tyrell Sutton
to count on, the Northwestern running game had its
moments against Michigan. It wasn't consistent, but Omar
Conteh busted off a big scoring dash and made things
interesting early on. C.J. Bacher isn't enough of a
rushing threat to throw a scare into anyone, so if he's
not bombing away effectively, the offense isn't going to
move for a full 60 minutes. After the Ohio State
debacle, the defense did a great job this week, but
it'll have to toughen up in a big way or Michigan State
will run wild next week.
Ohio State … The defense keeps on rolling.
Minnesota's running game is as effective as any in the
Big Ten, but it was completely shut down by the OSU
linebackers. James Larinaitis has been great all year,
but he hasn’t put up the big numbers. That changed
against Minnesota, as he was all over the field with a
dominant performance. Offensively, Todd Boeckman
continues to progress, but it helps that Brian Robiskie
continues to be unstoppable, and the O line is playing
at another level. Now the D gets its first real test
with Purdue coming to town. To win that in a walk, there
will have to be more of a pass rush than this week.
Penn State … Losing to Michigan at Michigan is one
thing. Losing at Illinois is a whole other problem,
especially the way the defense failed to hold up against
the run for the second week in a row, and with a mere
129 rushing yards. At least the offense opened it up a
bit when it had to, with Anthony Morelli bombing away
more than he did last week. However, he didn't keep the
chains moving, and he threw three picks, with one coming
on the late desperate heave. The D clamped down in the
second half, but it was too late.
Purdue … There has to be a little bit of a
concern over how the defense let Notre Dame back into
the game in the second half, and there will be some
yelling this week in practice over how the offense
didn't keep its foot on the gas after halftime, but 5-0
is still 5-0, and now the Boilermakers are coming into
the two-game make-or-break part of the schedule against
Ohio State and Michigan as hot as can be. That the
Boilers pulled this off without getting a huge game from
Curtis Painter and the passing attack might actually be
a plus as the season goes on.
Wisconsin … Wisconsin's offensive line did a
surprisingly great job against the tremendous Michigan
State defensive front, with the most physical
performance the front five has played all year. However,
the defense had yet another poor tackling game, and
there has to be a big concern for the Illinois game next
week that there have been way too many big plays
allowed. The offense needs the receivers back. Injuries
and other problems meant the Badger passing game was all
Travis Beckum. The team keeps on winning, but
eventually, the breaks won't go the right way if it
keeps playing like this.
| |
Conference |
Overall |
Home |
Away |
| |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
STR |
W |
L |
W |
L |
|
Ohio State |
2 |
0 |
88 |
14 |
5 |
0 |
179 |
36 |
W5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Wisconsin |
2 |
0 |
54 |
47 |
5 |
0 |
161 |
112 |
W5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Illinois |
2 |
0 |
54 |
34 |
4 |
1 |
150 |
94 |
W4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Michigan |
2 |
0 |
42 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
119 |
98 |
W3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
Purdue |
1 |
0 |
45 |
31 |
5 |
0 |
227 |
102 |
W5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Indiana |
1 |
1 |
52 |
47 |
4 |
1 |
185 |
105 |
W1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Michigan State |
0 |
1 |
34 |
37 |
4 |
1 |
165 |
99 |
L1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Penn State |
0 |
2 |
29 |
41 |
3 |
2 |
164 |
75 |
L2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Iowa |
0 |
2 |
33 |
55 |
2 |
3 |
97 |
73 |
L3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Northwestern |
0 |
2 |
23 |
86 |
2 |
3 |
100 |
137 |
L3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
Minnesota |
0 |
2 |
38 |
75 |
1 |
4 |
149 |
184 |
L3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
Saturday,
September 29 |
| 12:00 PM |
at Illinois
27 ... Penn State 20
CFN Prediction: PSU
20-14 PSU -3 |
| 12:00 PM |
Michigan
28 ... at Northwestern 16
CFN Prediction: Michigan 31-17 UM -17 |
| 12:00 PM |
at Purdue
33 ... Notre Dame 19
CFN Prediction: Purdue 38-20 PU -21.5 |
| 12:05 PM |
Indiana
38 ... at Iowa 20
CFN Prediction: Iowa
23-17 Iowa -11 |
| 3:30 PM |
at Wisconsin
37 ... Michigan State 34
CFN Prediction: MSU 17-16 UW -7 |
| 8:00 PM |
Ohio State
30 ... at Minnesota 7
CFN Prediction: OSU
45-20 OSU -23 |
Past
Big Ten
Games of the
Week
Sept. 1 - Appalachian State 34 ... Michigan 32
Sept. 8 -
Minnesota 41 ... Miami Univ.
35 3OT
Sept. 15 - Duke 20 ... at
Northwestern 14
Sept. 22 -
Michigan
14 ... Penn State 9
Sept. 29 - Wisconsin 37 ...
Michigan State 34
Past Big Ten Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Wisconsin WR Luke Swan
Sept. 8 - Penn State LB Dan Connor
Sept. 15 - Wisconsin RB P.J. Hill
Sept. 22 - Michigan RB Mike Hart
Sept. 29 - Indiana QB Kellen Lewis