Big Ten Roundup - Week Two Wrapups & 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
- Week 1

Big Ten Game of the Week

Northwestern 24 … Duke 20
Northwestern got a two-yard touchdown run from Omar Conteh with just over nine minutes to play to take the lead, and then the defense held on with two big stops late in the game. Duke had its chances, but it failed to capitalize with a penalty and a few misfires ending deep drives. Tyrell Sutton ran for two Wildcat touchdowns in the first half, but Duke hung in with two Nick Maggio field goals and a 16-yard Thaddeus Lewis scoring run. Duke outgained Northwestern 472 yards to 328.

Big Ten Player of the Week
Michigan State RB Javon Ringer ran 34 times for 135 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Eastern Michigan

	Conference			Overall
	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Northwestern	0-0	0	0	2-0	54	30	W2
Indiana	0-0	0	0	2-0	76	16	W2
Minnesota	0-0	0	0	2-0	73	44	W2
Ohio State	0-0	0	0	2-0	69	14	W2
Penn State	0-0	0	0	2-0	111	24	W2
Wisconsin	0-0	0	0	2-0	89	31	W2
Iowa	0-0	0	0	2-0	88	3	W2
Purdue	0-0	0	0	1-0	42	10	W1
Illinois	0-0	0	0	1-1	89	73	W1
Michigan State	0-0	0	0	1-1	73	48	W1
Michigan	0-0	0	0	1-1	39	31	W1

Saturday, September 6
12:00	at Ohio State 26 ... Ohio 14 CFN Prediction: Ohio State 40-6  OSU -35
12:00	at Wisconsin 51 ... Marshall 14 CFN Prediction: UW 34-10  UW -20.5
12:00	at Illinois 47 .. Eastern Illinois 21 CFN Prediction: Illinois 51-20
12:00	at Michigan State 42 ... Eastern Mich 10 CFN Prediction: MSU 45-17  MSU -21.5
12:00	at Michigan 16 ... Miami Univ. 6 CFN Prediction: Mich. 31-13  Mich. -14
12:00	at Iowa 42 ... FIU 0 CFN Prediction: Iowa 45-3  Iowa -27.5
12:00	at Purdue 42 ... Northern Colorado 10 CFN Prediction: Purdue 63-17
3:30	at Penn State 45 ... Oregon State 14 CFN Prediction: PSU 37-17  PSU -16.5
7:00	at Indiana 45 ... Murray State 3 CFN Prediction: IU 40-13
7:00	Northwestern 24 ... at Duke 20 CFN Prediction: NU 34-23  NU -6
7:30	Minnesota 42 ... at Bowling Green 17 CFN Prediction: Minn. 37-34  BGSU -6

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - Cal 38 - MSU 31
Sep. 6 - NW 24 ... Duke 20

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - PJ Hill, Wisconsin
Sep. 6 - Javon Ringer, MSU

Conference
Roundup

Illinois …  Last week Juice Williams threw well against Missouri, and this week he ran over Eastern Illinois. However, there were too many turnovers with two interceptions and three fumbles, two from Williams, to keep the game from being even uglier. Daniel Dufrene ran for 99 yards while the team finished with 399 rushing yards and five scores. Expect more of the same next week against UL Lafayette.
Indiana … The more Marcus Thigpen can do, the better. Kellen Lewis is obviously a dangerous runner, and Bryan Payton is a serviceable back, but Thigpen is the home-run hitter who can change the game any time he gets the ball. He all but ended the Murray State game after two carries. Now he needs more work. Used sparingly as a runner, but an elite kick returner, the coaching staff has to invent ways to get the ball in his hands in space.
Iowa … Ricky Stanzi was excellent against FIU. The quarterback debate continues as Stanzi was razor sharp, while Jake Christensen was great when he came in. The Hawkeyes have two decent options and they've both been solid. Getting consistent running from Shonne Greene certainly helps as the Hawkeyes finally have a ground game again after the nightmare of last year, while defensively, the pass rush was tremendous. Now the momentum has to carry over to the Iowa State showdown next week, and the quarterback situation needs to be a bit more settled.
Michigan … The offense isn't working. Miami University has a decent defense with a great linebacking corps, but Michigan is still supposed to be able to line up and smash the ball with the running game. While averaging 5.1 yards per carry is nice, and Sam McGuffie ran well, there were too many third downs and too many misfired s to keep the chains moving. Without top receiver Greg Mathews, the Michigan passing game managed just 103 yards. It's going to be a work in progress overall with the defense needing to carry the team over the next several weeks.
Michigan State … There was talk all off-season that Javon Ringer was going to be the goal line back with Jehuu Caulcrick gone. Five short touchdown runs against Eastern Michigan later, that appears to be true. The Spartans did a nice job of bouncing back from the tough loss to Cal, and while there wasn't the explosiveness shown against the Bears, it was an easy, solid overall performance. The defense did a great job of limiting the Eagle offense, especially through the air. It'll have to do more of the same against Florida Atlantic next week.
Minnesota … Considering Minnesota needed to battle to get by Northern Illinois, and was an underdog against Bowling Green, this was a dominant win over the Falcons. Adam Weber was nearly perfect completing 21-of-25 passes while leading the offense to a fantastic fourth quarter. It’s also worth noting that the defense wasn’t miserable for the first time in a long time. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible and it only allowed seven points in the fourth quarter.
Northwestern … Northwestern is learning how to win. This is a good team with plenty of veteran talent, but it was in for a dogfight against Duke. The Wildcat offense wasn’t humming. C.J. Bacher wasn’t on, the running game was held to 77 yards, and the defense couldn’t get off the field, but still the team came up with the victory in a charged up environment, at least for Duke. 2-0 is 2-0, and while the Cats still have yet to be tested by a mid-level team, as long as they improve each week, they’ll be a player in the Big Ten race.
Ohio State … Uh, was that really what Ohio State could come up with against Ohio? Chalk it up to not having Beanie Wells, and the lookahead to USC factor certainly had to come into play, but the offense didn't have a spark and the defense, despite giving up just 254 yards and forcing five turnovers, had problems early on with the spread. The big problem going into the showdown with the Trojans? The offensive line. It gave up three sacks and didn't dominate for the ground game like it needed to. OSU has good backs; they simply didn't have enough room most of the time.
Penn State … Penn State always bands together when problems strike. Oregon State might not be as good as last year, but it's still a decent team with good speed ad athleticism. The Nittany Lions ripped through the Beavers like they weren't there with a near-perfect offensive balance and enough big plays to throw a scare into the rest of the Big Ten. While defensive tackle will be an issue thanks to the suspensions, the rest of the team is playing really, really well. The one concern might be backup QB Pat Devlin, who hasn't shown much and went 0-for-3 this week. Fortunately, Daryll Clark has taken to the starting role. Syracuse and Temple don't have a prayer over the next two weeks.
Purdue … It might not have been a rock-solid performance in the win over Northern Colorado, but the Boilermakers scored early, showed plenty of balance, and got a chance to tune up for Oregon. There will have to be even more offensive explosion to stay with the Ducks, and the penalties, eight for 54 yards, have to slow down. Curtis Painter did his normal great job of spreading the ball around with Keith Smith and Greg Orton the main targets. No one was the No. 1 man, but that should be Orton going forward.
Wisconsin … This is the game Allan Evridge needed. The Marshall defensive front did a good job of keeping the Wisconsin running game in check, and it did a better job of hitting Evridge. However, Evridge managed to fight through a few sure sacks and make plays and was deadly accurate when given time. The defense was tremendous, especially the secondary, after the first 20 minutes, but to beat Fresno State next week the D will have to come out fired up and rocking from the opening snap. The Badgers won't be able to ease their way into it like they did this week.