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Big Ten Roundup - Week Seven Standings & More

By Staff
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 12, 2008

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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.

Conference Roundups
- ACC | Big East | Big 12 | Big Ten | C-USA | Ind.
- MAC | M-West | Pac 10 | SEC | Sun Belt | WAC
Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Michigan | Michigan State | Minnesota
Northwestern | Ohio State | Penn State | Purdue | Wisconsin
- Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Big Ten Game of the Week

Minnesota 27 ... Illinois 20
The Minnesota defense gave up 462 passing yards to Juice Williams, but it stopped him just short on a fourth and goal run and forced a late fumble, which Simoni Lawrence returned nine yards for a touchdown with just over five minutes to play. The Illini tried to come back as A.J. Jenkins caught a 35-yard touchdown pass, to go along with a 54-yard touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter, but a final Hail Mary attempt got knocked away. DeLeon Eskridge ran for touchdowns from one and 54 yards out for the Gophers, and Eric Decker caught a 25-yard scoring pass. The two teams combined for eight sacks.
Big Ten Player of the Week
Minnesota LB Simoni Lawrence made nine tackles with a sack, two tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery for a score in the win over Illinois

Standings Conference Overall
  W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STK
Penn St 3-0 106 37 7-0 317 77 W7
Ohio St 3-0 70 41 6-1 170 100 W4
Mich St 3-0 95 62 6-1 208 117 W6
Minnesota 2-1 64 61 6-1 209 131 W2
Nwestern 1-1 42 54 5-1 145 99 L1
Michigan 1-1 47 70 2-4 113 149 L2
Iowa 1-2 75 47 4-3 200 76 W1
Illinois 1-2 89 85 3-3 198 175 L1
Purdue 0-2 9 36 2-4 130 141 L3
Wisconsin 0-3 49 95 3-3 151 136 L3
Indiana 0-3 45 103 2-4 141 161 L4
Saturday, October 11
12:00  Minnesota 27 ... at Illinois 20
CFN Prediction: Ill, 34-27  Ill. -12
- Minnesota bowl eligible | Juice throws for 462
12:00 Iowa 45 ... at Indiana 9
CFN Prediction: Iowa 26-17  Iowa -5.5
- Iowa's lines dominate | IU sputters
12:00 Toledo 13 ...at Michigan 10
CFN Prediction: Mich. 34-0  Mich. -17
- Toledo stuns | Michigan gets no O
3:30 Michigan St 37 ... at Northwestern 20
CFN Prediction: MSU 24-20  MSU -3
- MSU gets up early | NU can't overcome errors
3:30 at Ohio State 16 ... Purdue 3
CFN Prediction: OSU 34-20  OSU -19.5
- OSU O ugly | Purdue D fine, O stinks
8:00  Penn State 48 ... at Wisconsin 7
CFN Prediction: PSU 23-20  PSU -5.5
- PSU's Clark is fantastic | UW QB changes?
Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - Cal 38 - MSU 31
Sep. 6 - NW 24 ... Duke 20
Sep 13 - Oregon 32 - Purdue 26 2OT
Sep 20 - Pur 32 - CMU 25
sep 27 - Mich 27 - UW 25
Oct 4 - OSU 20 - UW 17
0ct 11 - Minn 27 - Ill 20		 Players of the Week
 Aug. 30 - PJ Hill, Wisconsin
Sep. 6 - Javon Ringer, MSU
Sep 13 - Javon Ringer, MSU
Sep 20 - Javon Ringer, MSU
Sep 27 - Michigan D line & Derrick Williams, PSU
Oct 4 - Juice Williams, Ill
0ct 11 - Simoni Lawrence, Minn

Conference
Roundup

 Illinois … Juice Williams was brilliant against Minnesota. He was in total command of the passing game, he ran for 41 yards, and he and Arrelious Benn, who caught 12 passes for 181 yards, and A.J. Jenkins were tremendous. But the three turnovers and the lack of a run defense turned out to be a killer. Minnesota kept coming with a decent balance and the key plays in the fourth quarter that Illinois couldn't come up with. The offensive line had one of its worst games of the year, getting little for the running game while allowing four sacks.
Indiana … Kellen Lewis just isn’t making things happen. He’s not getting a while bunch of help from the running game and his receivers aren’t doing much after the catch, but against Iowa, he was able to come up with anything big. The team needs a spark from somewhere. The defensive line isn’t playing up to its potential, and the offense needs to get ready for a shootout against Illinois. Averaging more than 4.5 yards per play is a must.
Iowa … After a tough three-game losing streak, Iowa needed a breather and to get it on the road makes the blowout over Indiana that much better. This might not have been the type of win that’ll propel the way to a huge second half, but it solidified Ricky Stanzi as the starting quarterback after another strong day and the ground game dominated. This was a game for the lines. Mitch King and the Iowa defensive tackles didn’t allow a thing up the middle.
Michigan … The offense hits a new low. Toledo is awful. The Rockets got blown out by Florida International and were just shut out by Ball State, but Michigan still couldn’t do much of anything. The defense was fine, outside of a bizarre inability to cover Nick Moore, who made 20 catches, but if Sam McGuffie is your total offense, you have a problem. The attack needs quarterback. Nick Sheridan and Steven Threet aren’t getting it done. They’re not even close. The rebuilding job Is going to take longer than expected.
Michigan State … Michigan State went into a tough road game at Northwestern and took care of business. Javon Ringer struggled a bit to find room, but he was still effective, while Brian Hoyer had his best game of the year. The Spartan QB was efficient, effective, and he didn’t turn the ball over. After getting the big early lead, the team never let the Wildcats get back into the game. Now the real work begins with Ohio State next week and Wisconsin and Penn State still looming. If the team plays like it did against NU, there might not be a problem.
Minnesota …  The Minnesota defense wasn't a rock for the entire game against, but it came up with the big plays when it had to. DeLeon Eskridge was fantastic, but he had plenty of room to run as the offensive line did a decent job, even if it struggled at times in pass protection. Even though the Gophers allowed 462 passing yards, this was a dream of a game after what happened last year. Last year, the secondary would've given up a bazillion yards but the defense wouldn't have made up for it with a big stop or a takeaway. The team wouldn't have found a way to win, while this year's team is managing to get the job done no matter what. Yes, that 1-11 team of last year is no bowl eligible.
Northwestern … As good as the Wildcats have been, they can’t make mistakes and beat a team like Michigan State. The three turnovers, without forcing any, and with few big deep plays, NU never got any hold of the game. C.J. Bacher was throwing, attempting 61 passes, but he wasn’t able to get the ball in a place where his receivers could do anything with it. Even with the passing game the focus, Tyrell Sutton had a fantastic game. Purdue and Indiana are beatable over the next few weeks. The Wildcats can quickly get back on track.
Ohio State … If Ohio State can wake up, it’ll notice that the chance is there to rocket back up the rankings in a big hurry if it can just start to play better. The offense didn’t have anywhere near the pop in the running game it showed at times against Wisconsin, while Brian Hartline and Brian Robiskie have fallen off the map ever since Terrelle Pryor took over the reigns. The Buckeyes were still able to come up with an easy double-digit win over Purdue, but it’s going to take a whole lot more to get by Michigan State and Penn State over the next two weeks.
Penn State … Yeah, Wisconsin appeared to be defeated even before the game began, but Penn State helped make a bad situation for the Badgers far worse. The offense was good when it had to be, even if it didn’t get too much of a push from the running game. Derrick Williams was his normal explosive self, while Daryll Clark was brilliant. Aaron Maybin is a total unknown, but he could turn out to be the Big Ten defensive player of the year if he keeps getting into the backfield like he has over the first seven games.
Purdue … The Purdue offense has struggled against the big boys for the last few years, and on the current three-game losing streak, the production and efficiency has gone into the tank. Curtis Painter is winging it around, but he’s not getting much in the way of help from the receiving corps. The defense played extremely well against Ohio State, but the special teams and offense didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. All of a sudden, the game next week against Minnesota isn’t a layup. The offense will have to start putting points on the board again.
Wisconsin … Allan Evridge has been given most of the blame for the team’s swift and stunning collapse, and rightly so, but the loss isn’t just on him. Oh sure, he was lousy, completing just 2-of-10 passes, but this was a total team meltdown. Now the Dustin Sherer talk really begins. Is it time to put Evridge on the sideline? Maybe. He’s holding the ball too long and he’s not running as much as he should when the chances are there. Four turnovers, eight penalties (to Penn State’s one), and a sloppy game all around … this is a Badger team in need of a break.