Scout.com: 2009 CFN Big Ten Week 10 Roundup

2009 CFN Big Ten Week 10 Roundup

By Staff

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Nov 8, 2009

2009 CFN Big Ten Week 10 Staff Picks, Roundup, & More

2009 Big Ten ... Week 10

Big Ten Standings
	Conf.		Overall
Iowa	5	1	9	1
Ohio St	5	1	8	2
Penn St	4	2	8	2
Wisconsin	4	2	7	2
Mich St	3	3	5	5
NWestern	3	3	6	4
Purdue	3	3	4	6
Minnesota	3	4	5	5
Illinois	2	5	3	6
Michigan	1	5	5	5
Indiana	1	5	4	6
Players of the Week 11/7 Cam. Heyward, DE OSU 10/31 Adam Weber, QB Min 10/24 Daryll Clark, QB PSU 10/17 Ryan Kerrigan, DE PU 10/10 Kurt Coleman, S OSU 10/3 John Clay, RB Wis 9/26 Pat Angerer, LB Iowa 9/19 Adam Robinson, RB Iowa 9/13 Tate Forcier, QB Mich 9/5 Tate Forcier, QB Mich. Games of the Week 11/7 NW 17, Iowa 10 10/31 Iowa 42, Ind 24 10/24 Iowa 15, MSU 13 10/17 Purdue 26, OSU 18 10/10 Iowa 30, Mich 28 10/3 MSU 26, Mich 20 OT 9/26 Mich 36, IU 33 9/19 ND 33, MSU 30 9/13 USC 18, USC 16 9/5 Minn. 23, Syr. 20 OT
Scoreboard Illinois 35 at Minnesota 32 Minnesota starts lousy in loss to Illini Illinois loses Juice in strange win CFN Prediction: Minnesota 30-17 Line: Minnesota -6 Wisconsin 31 at Indiana 28 Indiana's comeback falls short in loss to UW Wisconsin runs over Indiana in tough win CFN Prediction: Wisconsin 34-24 Line: Wisconsin -11 Northwestern 17 at Iowa 10 Northwestern shocks Iowa with 4 takeaways Iowa loses Stanzi & dream season to Wildcats CFN Prediction: Iowa 27-13 Line: Iowa -17.5 Purdue 38 at Michigan 36 Purdue & Elliott outgun the Wolverines Michigan loses to Purdue in wild shootout CFN Prediction: Purdue 27-24 Line: Michigan -4 at Michigan State 49 Western Michigan 14 Michigan State nearly perfect in win over WMU CFN Prediction: Michigan State 34-20 Line: Michigan State -18 Ohio State 24 at Penn State 7 Ohio State rumbles over the Nittany Lions Penn State gets stuffed by the Buckeyes CFN Prediction: Penn State 17-10 Line: Penn State -4

GAME OF THE WEEK

Northwestern 17 … at Iowa 10
Marshall Thomas came up with two fumble recoveries including one in the end zone, and Drake Dunsmore caught a four-yard touchdown pass as Northwestern scored 17 unanswered points to ruin Iowa’s dream season. The Hawkeyes started out how with Marvin McNutt taking a Ricky Stanzi pass 74 yards for a score and Daniel Murray hit a 39-yard field goal, but Stanzi suffered an injured ankle and was knocked out of the game. That was it for the Hawkeye offense as backup James Vandenberg completed a mere 9-of-27 passes for 82 yards.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ohio State DE Cameron Heyward made 11 tackles with two sacks and three tackles for loss in the win over Penn State.

CONFERENCE ROUNDUP

Illinois … at Minnesota 35 ... Illinois 32 ... Illinois might not have been perfect, especially in the second half, and the offense didn’t do anything special, but a win is a win for a team in desperate need of them. On a two-game winning streak, a bowl bid is still alive with Northwestern coming to town next week. However, the defense has to keep getting into the backfield, and the secondary has to tighten up even more. Things are starting to turn around, but this is hardly a polished product. Everything will have to break the right way to keep winning.

Indiana … Wisconsin 31 ... at Indiana 28 ... How many more times can IU get its heart ripped out in a close game? The Hoosiers had all their momentum going their way helped by a wonderful day from QB Ben Chappell and the passing game, but they couldn’t get the ball back late as the Badgers were able to close out with a pounding running game and a big third down pass. With a trip to Penn State up next the hope of a bowl game is all but gone, but the team is playing far, far better than a 1-6 record in the last seven games might suggest. RB Darius Willis was lost early on with a leg injury.

Iowa … Northwestern 17 ... at Iowa 10 ... James Vandenberg gave it a shot, but he wasn’t able to come up with the one big throw needed to loosen up the Wildcat defense. The four turnovers turned out to be a killer, but while the offense will get most of the blame for the loss, and many will assume the loss of Ricky Stanzi was the difference, the defense didn’t do its part to step up when the offense was struggling. Iowa has to quickly rebound or the dream season could quickly go into the tank. Beating Ohio State next week keeps the Rose Bowl hopes alive, which is where Iowa would’ve gone if it was unbeaten.

Michigan … Purdue 38 ... at Michigan 36 ... And now the season is in big trouble. Can Michigan somehow get bowl eligible with a win at Wisconsin or an upset over Ohio State? Not if the defense continues to struggle to come up with anything from the pass defense. The offense was explosive against the Purdue D, but the Wolverine D was horrendous in the second half and wasn’t prepared to slow down the momentum once the game started to turn. The team appears to be an emotionally worn out, but it’s still dangerous enough to pull off a big win in the next two weeks if everything goes the right way. That include the turnover margin, the pass rush, everything.

Michigan State … at Michigan State 49 ... Western Michigan 14 ... After disastrous losses to Iowa and Minnesota, Michigan State came back roaring with its best performance of the season. After all the injuries and other issues in the MSU backfield, getting a terrific day from RB Ashton Leggett was exactly what the team needed to settle down. Throw in the near-perfect, 22-of-25 passing day from Kirk Cousins, and this was everything the coaching staff could’ve asked for. Up next is a trip to Purdue with Penn State to follow needing one more win to be bowl eligible.

Minnesota … at Minnesota 35 ... Illinois 32 ... What was that?! QB Adam Weber was miserable in the first half and the offensive line couldn’t come close to stopping the Illinois pass rush. Give the Gophers credit for hanging in there to come back in the second half, but the rushing attack has gone bye-bye and the team is missing a playmaker with Eric Decker gone. Weber was fantastic against Michigan State, and he needs to be tremendous to get the Gophers to a bowl. Don’t assume the South Dakota State game next week is a gimme, especially if Minnesota plays like it did in the first half against the Illini.

Northwestern … Northwestern 17 ... at Iowa 10 ... Northwestern lost its starting quarterback, too. Dan Persa didn’t necessarily play a strong game, and he got hurt, but the Wildcats were able to go on without Mike Kafka thanks to a tremendous day from the defense and limited mistakes. There was a bad interception thrown by Persa in the end zone, but for the most part, Northwestern was able get the job done by not screwing up and letting the floundering Iowa offense sputter. This was easily the biggest win of Pat Fitzgerald’s tenure since it made the Cats bowl eligible, to go along with beating the unbeaten Hawkeyes, and now it’s about gravy. With Illinois and Wisconsin up next, Northwestern needs at least one win to secure a solid bowl.

Ohio State … Ohio State 24 ... at Penn State 7 ... It’s right there for Ohio State to get to the Rose Bowl. The team got the break it needed with Iowa losing, and now it’ll take a win over Iowa to get to Pasadena for the first time in the Jim Tressel era. The big key was the improved play of Terrelle Pryor, who wasn’t always accurate, but he didn’t make any big mistakes, ran well, and led the way to the win. The offensive line was terrific, while the defense stuffed the Penn State running game and never let the game get close in the second half. This won’t be a national title season, but after the way the program was down after losing to Purdue, this is tuning into a magical year.

Penn State …Ohio State 24 ... at Penn State 7 ... Penn State failed its second big test of the year, the first being the loss to Iowa, because the offensive line couldn’t handle Cameron Heyward and the Ohio State defensive front, and Daryll Clark struggled under pressure. He didn’t get any help from a running game that got just 36 yards out of Evan Royster, while the defense didn’t come up with the takeaway needed to turn the game around. As bad as the loss was, the Nittany Lions can rebound against Indiana next and finish up strong against Michigan State to finish 10-2 and in the at-large BCS picture.

Purdue … Purdue 38 ... at Michigan 36 ... Just when it seemed like Purdue was dead after an awful performance at Wisconsin and with a rough first half in Ann Arbor, the offense turned it up a few notches with big play after big play to overcome the big home runs hit by Brandon Minor and the Wolverine attack in the first half. The turnovers continue to be a problem and the run defense is getting ripped apart, but the win keeps bowl hopes alive with winnable games against Michigan State and Indiana to close. If nothing else, Danny Hope has made Purdue football relevant with wins over Michigan and Ohio State in the same year.

Wisconsin … Wisconsin 31 ... at Indiana 28 ... The running game lost John Clay early on to an injury, although it didn’t appear to be serious, and Montee Ball stepped up and kept the production going. However, it took a big third down pass from Scott Tolzien to Nick Toon to help put the game away on the game-sealing drive. While this was a nice win, it took too long to put it away. The secondary was way too soft against the IU passing game, but there’s no reason to worry about getting torched through the air next week against Michigan. However, Northwestern, coming up in two weeks, can throw and Hawaii, as bad as it is, can bomb away.

Saturday, November 14
Northwestern at Illinois
Indiana at Penn State
Iowa at Ohio State
Michigan at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Purdue
South Dakota State at Minnesota

Saturday, November 21
Purdue at Indiana
Minnesota at Iowa
Ohio State at Michigan
Penn State at Michigan State
Wisconsin at Northwestern

Saturday, November 28
Illinois at Cincinnati

Saturday, December 5
Fresno State at Illinois
Wisconsin at Hawaii

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