Big Ten Roundup - Week 10 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.

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
- Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9

Big Ten Game of the Week

Northwestern 24 … Minnesota 17
Minnesota came into the game as the nation’s leader in turnover margin, but it turned out to be a late interception that lost the game. Tied at 17 and pushing for a possible late game-winning score, Gopher QB Adam Weber’s pass was tipped into the hands of Brendan Smith, who weaved and worked his way 48 yards for the touchdown with 12 seconds to play. That big defensive moment overshadowed the terrific game from Mike Kafka, the Wildcat quarterback who ran for 217 yards and threw a perfectly lofted 36-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ebert along with a two-yard touchdown pass to Josh Rooks. Minnesota got a pick six of its own with a perfectly timed play from Traye Simmons, who took a Kafka pass 23 yard for a second quarter score. Neither offense scored in the second half.

Big Ten Player of the Week
Northwestern QB Mike Kafka completed 12-of-16 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, and he ran 27 times for 217 yards in the 24-17 win over Minnesota.

	Conference			Overall
	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Penn St	5-0	165	60	9-0	376	100	W9
Mich St	5-1	162	152	8-2	275	207	W2
Ohio St	4-1	121	61	7-2	221	120	L1
NW	3-2	133	118	7-2	236	163	W1
Minn.	3-2	98	91	7-2	243	161	L1
Illinois	3-3	188	149	5-4	297	239	W1
Iowa	2-3	137	90	5-4	262	119	L1
Indiana	1-4	79	177	3-6	209	272	L1
Purdue	1-4	89	143	3-6	210	248	W1
Michigan	1-4	127	199	2-7	193	278	L5
Wisc.	1-5	116	175	4-5	218	216	L1

Saturday, November 1

at Michigan State 25 ... Wisconsin 24
CFN Prediction: UW 26-23  MSU -5
- MSU rallies late | UW gags again

Central Michigan 37 ... at Indiana 34
CFN Prediction: IU 27-23  IU -2.5
- Indiana loses late to CMU

Northwestern 24 ... at Minnesota 17
CFN Prediction: Minn. 26-17  Minn. -5.5
- UM has to rebound | NU gets pick-6 for win

at Purdue 48 ... Michigan 42
CFN Prediction: Mich. 20-16  PU -1.5
- UM out of bowl hunt | Purdue gets tricky

at Illinois 27 ... Iowa 24
CFN Prediction: Illinois 23-16  Ill. -1.5
- Illinois | Iowa

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
Oct 18 - PSU 46 - Mich 17
Oct 25 - PSU 13 - OSU 6
Nov. 1 - NU 24 - Minn. 17

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
Oct 18 - Shonn Greene, Iowa
Oct 25 - Novorro Bowman, PS
Nov. 1 - Mike Kafka, NW

Conference
Roundup

Illinois … All of a sudden, the team knows just how important Daniel Dufrene is. After missing the Iowa game due to personal reasons, Dufrene needs to get back into the mix to breathe some life into the Illinois running game that only averaged 2.1 yards per carry and gained 60 yards. There weren’t any big plays. Juice Williams wasn’t great, but he was great when he had to be and hit the throws he needed to make. Now that the losing streak is over, and a bowl game is still in sights, getting by Western Michigan, in Detroit, is a must before facing Ohio State. The Illini don’t want to get into the Northwestern game needing a win for a bowl game.
Indiana … Indiana now needs to win out to become bowl eligible, and that’s just to get to 6-6. In other words, a second straight bowl season isn’t going to happen after the loss to Central Michigan. The pass rush was incredible, cranking out seven sacks with Matt Mayberry coming up with four, along with 13 tackles, but the offense struggled, especially in the fourth quarter. Ben Chappell isn’t Kellen Lewis, and Kellen Lewis isn’t Kellen Lewis at the moment, getting sacked three times before giving way to CHappell. There was some offensive pop with Marcus Thigpen running well when he got the chance, but he only ran six times for 109 yards and two scores. With Wisconsin, a trip to Penn State, and Purdue in Joe Tiller’s last game, the season isn’t going to end on a pretty note.
Iowa … Iowa’s offense struggled to move against Illinois on third downs and didn’t get into the end zone until late. There were deep drives into Illini territory that led to three short Trent Mossbrucker field goals when there should’ve been touchdowns. Shonn Greene continues to be a tremendous playmaker who can’t be stopped, but to beat Penn State next week, Ricky Stanzi has to do a far better job throwing the ball. He can’t go 11-of-29 like he did against the Illini.  Getting the ball to Andy Brodell on a more regular basis would be a plus. Three catches are too few.
Michigan … At least the offense worked a little bit against Purdue. Michigan is going to a bowl for the first time in 33 years, and maybe that could take the pressure off. While this is a lost season results-wise, there’s no reason the team can’t work on things going into next year. It’s a learning process under Rich Rodriguez, and at this point, simply trying to win games doesn’t really matter. The coaching staff needs to know once and for all if Steven Threet is the type of quarterback to build around for next year. After giving up 522 yards of Purdue offense, who can play defense? The Minnesota and Northwestern games will be interesting learning opportunities before facing Ohio State.
Michigan State … The running game wasn’t working, the defense was steamrolled over, and Brian Hoyer completed just 19-of-44 passes, but Michigan State still managed to come up with the win over Wisconsin when the chances were there to take. This is the type of win that can rally the team down the backstretch to show that this really might be a special year. The goal is to get through the Purdue game without looking ahead to Penn State. There’s a week off between the Boilermakers and Nittany Lions, so expect a steady dose of Javon Ringer.
Minnesota … Now we’ll see what this Minnesota team is made of. After being the shocking story of the Big Ten season by playing crisp on offense and aggressive on defense, the Gophers have to rebound after the heartbreaker to Northwestern and beat a bad Michigan team at home. The running game has to be far better after it was all Adam Weber both on the ground and in the air. Don’t blame the late play-calling and the aggressiveness for the loss. That’s the way Tim Brewster has coaches all year long.
Northwestern … All of a sudden, Northwestern goes from left-for-dead after a loss to Indiana, and with C.J. Bacher and Tyrell Sutton out, to right in the hunt again for really big things after the stunning win over Minnesota. With seven wins, Northwestern is going to a bowl game for sure; it’s all gravy now. It’s time to get greedy with Ohio State, at Michigan and Illinois to go. Win two of the three and a New Year’s Day Florida bowl is possible. Win all three and (gasp!) an at-large BCS spot is actually in play.
Ohio State … Didn’t Play This Week
Penn State … Didn’t Play This Week
Purdue … While the team will still focus on getting bowl eligible after the shootout win over Michigan, realistically, the team just has to go cliché and take it one game at a time. At the same time, it’s time to let it all hang out. The hook-and-lateral to beat the Wolverines is just the type of wacky, creative play the team needs to go with from here on. Have fun, do whatever it can to move the offense, and along the way, try to stop Javon Ringer and the MSU running game. Good luck with that after allowing 118 yards to Brandon Minor.
Wisconsin … The loss to Michigan State wasn’t like the Michigan collapse for the Badgers, but it wasn’t far off. 12 penalties for 121 yards proved to be a killer, and the inability to empty out the clock late provided new life when the game should’ve been over. The Badger secondary had way too many breakdowns up the middle of the field in key moments to ruin a fantastic day from the offense and the running game. For about 50 minutes, this was Wisconsin football. Now its just about getting to a bowl game, needing to win the final three games against Indiana, Minnesota and Cal Poly to be assured of a 13^th game. 6-6 might not do it.