Big Ten Roundup - Week One Standings & More

Big Ten conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

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 | Indiana | Iowa | Michigan | Michigan State | Minnesota
Northwestern | Ohio State | Penn State | Purdue | Wisconsin

Big Ten Game of the Week

California 38 ... Michigan State 31
In a wild game with 869 yards of total offense, Cal kept hitting home runs and Michigan State kept coming back. Cal appeared to put the game away late in the fourth quarter with an 81-yard scoring dash from Shane Vereen, but MSU scored quickly with a 29-yard Mark Dell scoring grab to pull within seven. MSU had one last shot, but stalled on fourth down in Cal territory. Kevin Riley threw two touchdown passes and the Bears got a blocked punt for a score, but the Spartans wouldn't go away with a 31-yard Otis Wiley interception return for a touchdown and two Javon Ringer touchdown runs.

Big Ten Player of the Week
 Wisconsin RB P.J. Hill ran 26 times for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Akron.

	Conference			Overall
	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Northwestern	0-0	0	0	1-0	30	10	W1
Indiana	0-0	0	0	1-0	31	13	W1
Minnesota	0-0	0	0	1-0	31	27	W1
Ohio State	0-0	0	0	1-0	43	0	W1
Penn State	0-0	0	0	1-0	66	10	W1
Wisconsin	0-0	0	0	1-0	38	17	W1
Iowa	0-0	0	0	1-0	46	3	W1
Purdue	0-0	0	0	0-0	0	0	-
Illinois	0-0	0	0	0-1	42	52	L1
Michigan State	0-0	0	0	0-1	31	38	L1
Michigan	0-0	0	0	0-1	23	25	L1

Saturday, August 30
12:00	at Ohio State 43 ... Youngstown State 0 CFN Prediction: OSU 38-3
12:00	at Wisconsin 38 ... Akron 17 CFN Prediction: UW 45-16  UW -26.5
12:00	at Penn State 66 ... Coastal Carolina 10 CFN Prediction: PSU 45-0
12:00	at Northwestern 30 ... Syracuse 10 CFN Prediction: NU 37-20  NU -12
12:00	at Indiana 31 ... Western Ky. 13 CFN Prediction: IU 31-20  IU -21
12:00	at Iowa 46 ... Maine 3 CFN Prediction: Iowa 52-9
3:30	Utah 25 ... at Michigan 23 CFN Prediction: Utah 23-20  Mich. -4
7:00	at Minnesota 31 ... No. Illinois 27 CFN Prediction: UM 31-23  UM -8.5
8:00	at California 38 ... Michigan State 31 CFN Prediction: MSU 27-21  Cal -5.5
8:30	at Missouri 52 ... Illinois 42 CFN Prediction: Mizzou 34-27  MU -8.5

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - Cal 38 - MSU 31

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - PJ Hill, Wisconsin

Conference
Roundup

Illinois … The Missouri game was all on Juice Williams' shoulders. Get used to it. The lack of a Rashard Mendenhall running back didn't seem to be that big a problem, Daniel Dufrene ran well, but Williams has to carry the offense and be a steady leader throughout. The offensive line had problems at times allowing five sacks, and going forward, it needs to be far better in pass protection with Penn State coming up in a few weeks.
Indiana … So much for Kellen Lewis being rusty after missing the off-season. He was tremendous against Western Kentucky showing off home run hitting rushing ability along with a good command of the new up-tempo passing game. The defense did its job, without Greg Middleton to lead the charge up front, and did what it needed to do to keep the Hilltoppers out of reach by stuffing the run time and again. One down side to note, RB Marcus Thigpen only averaged 2.2 yards per carry. Bryan Payton was the most effective back.
Iowa … The offense wasn't razor sharp against Maine, but it didn't necessarily have to be. The big key was getting all the parts back and showing balance while dominating with the running game. Jake Christensen was fine, but nothing special under center, and he'll need to be better on third downs and do more to keep drives going against FIU next week before getting into the meat of the schedule. The defense didn't do much to get to the quarterback, but it was swarming against the run.
Michigan … Panic sirens are sure to go off, but before cancelling the season, there are few reasons for the Wolverines to not get too down. First, Utah is that good. This isn't an Appalachian State situation; the Ute talent level is strong. Second, the defense settled down and ended up playing better than the final stats might indicate. The offense wasn't providing much help, and the Wolverine D forced field goals instead of touchdowns, for the most part. And now for the big issues. The offensive line was awful. Utah has a good defensive front, but there was no push for the running game and the pass protection was spotty. The running backs were merely average. That's not a plus against a Miami University team next week that has a great linebacking corps, even if the loss to Vanderbilt didn't show it.
Michigan State … It might have been a rough day for the Spartan defense against the Cal offense, but the Spartans wouldn't quit. QB Brian Hoyer didn't have his best day, and Javon Ringer was held in check, but Mark Dell appears to be a new superstar catching nine passes for 202 yards and a touchdown; he held on to everything. Also coming up with a monster game was safety Otis Wiley, who played like an All-America playmaker. This might have been a loss, but if it's possible, it was a positive loss.
Minnesota … Minnesota might have shown excellent heart and toughness to get the hard yards and the touchdown needed late against Northern Illinois, but it was more of the same from the defense. There were too many big plays, not nearly enough of a pass rush, and too many mistakes. The team was fortunate to get out with a win, but another game like this and next week's trip to Bowling Green will be a loss. The defense still has miles to go.
Northwestern … The Wildcats needed a little while to warm up against Syracuse, and then the offensive line took over and Tyrell Sutton looked like the Tyrell Sutton of old. The defense did a fantastic job of swarming around the Syracuse ground game and didn't allow Andrew Robinson to do much deep with the passing game. Offensively, C.J. Bacher was fine in the new up-tempo passing offense, but he could stand to be a bit more accurate. Give him another week or so and the offense should start humming, but as this game showed, as long as Sutton and Omar Conteh are running well, all will be fine.
Ohio State … Ohio State was nearly perfect against Youngstown State with as good a game as it could've asked for in the season opener. However, if the injury to Beanie Wells turns out to be serious in any way, and all early indications are that his foot should be fine, it'll obviously be a big blow with USC coming up in two weeks. However, Terrelle Pryor looked like the real deal getting his feet wet as he showed off his tremendous rushing ability and good passing touch. He wasn't asked to do too much, but he gave Buckeye fans a glimpse of how good he can be. A bit under the radar was the play of the run defense. It might have just been Youngstown State, but the Buckeye defense front didn't allow a thing holding the Penguins to -11 yards.
Penn State … Penn State was never going to be threatened by Coastal Carolina, so this game was all about seeing what the offense could do through the air. CCU spent the game trying to stop the ground game, with no success, so the Nittany Lion quarterbacks had all day to throw, but even so, give Daryll Clark credit for playing well completing 11 of 14 passes and not making any mistakes. The Oregon State game will be a better test, obviously, and Clark will have to show that he can succeed against a far more aggressive D. The lines were in midseason form against CCU.
Purdue … Didn’t Play This Week
Wisconsin … While the Badgers had little trouble getting by Akron, they have to do a better job of closing. Two bad mistakes, a fumble by P.J. Hill and an Allan Evridge interception, allowed the Zips to stay alive, and UW never quite had the same intensity as it went through the motions in the second half. Against Marshall next week, Evridge will have to prove he can play. He only tried some safe throws and spent the game handing off to P.J. Hill, but he hung his out patterns a bit much and should've had at least two other picks. But the offense is all about the ground game, and the line was tremendous and Hill looked like a quicker, speedier back than last year.