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2010 CFN Big Ten Week 1 Roundup
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Sep 7, 2010
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2010 CFN Big Ten Week 1 Recaps, Standings, Roundup, & More.
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2010 Big Ten ... Week 1
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Illinois |
Indiana
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Iowa
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Michigan
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Michigan
State
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Minnesota
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Northwestern
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Ohio State
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Penn State
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Purdue
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Wisconsin
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GAME OF THE WEEK
Northwestern 23 … at Vanderbilt 21
In a surprisingly wild and fun game, Dan Persa completed 19-of-21 passes and led Northwestern with 82 rushing yards while hitting Drake Dunsmore on a nine-yard touchdown pass in the third and Josh Rooks from two yards away late in the fourth for a 23-15 lead. Vanderbilt moved the ball well through the air, and got a 33-yard Zac Stacy touchdown run with 2:25 to play. Down two, the Commodores missed on their second two point conversion attempt of the day on a bad snap. The defense appeared to come up with a stop for one final shot, but the defense was flagged for a high hit on Persa and the Wildcats ran out the clock. Larry Smith threw for 240 yards and a 36-yard score to Brandon Barden for the Commodores.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Michigan QB Denard Robinson completed 19-of-22 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown, and he ran 29 times for 197 yards and a score in the win over Connecticut..
CONFERENCE ROUNDUP
Illinois … Even with all the problems the offense had, with Nathan Scheelhaase having a rocky debut against Missouri, there were positives. The running game actually worked, and once Scheelhaase provides more of a threat throwing the ball down the field, the lanes will open up that much more for Mikel Leshoure and the backs. The defense did a decent job of keeping the high-powered Tiger attack from blowing up, and the game was close until late, but the offense simply didn’t work in the second half. Illinois isn’t good enough to lose the turnover battle 4-1 to a team this good.
Indiana … It was a nice, easy, effective day for the Hoosiers in an easy win over Towson, but there are things to work on. The third down efficiency wasn’t good, converting just 2-of-10 chances, and the defense gave up 392 yards, but the game was basically over after the first quarter. RB Darius Willis was fantastic and QB Ben Chappell didn’t make any mistakes, and if those two are great, the IU offense will go far. Tyler Replogle came up with ten tackles and an interception.
Iowa … The only concern was a scare when QB Ricky Stanzi fell to the turf after an apparent ankle injury, but he came back and turned out to be fine. The ground game was terrific against EIU with Adam Robinson coming up with an effective and efficient performance, even if it wasn’t spectacular. Going 7-of-11 on third down plays was a nice start for an attack that wanted to get off to a hot start considering last year’s opener against Northern Iowa was so shaky.
Michigan … Much will be made about Denard Robinson’s record-setting day, and rightly so, but he was able to come up with a big performance partly because the offensive line was fantastic. There were plenty of big holes to run through and there was lots of time to operate. The defense gave up yards, but the front line was terrific and held firm for most of the day. This was the best performance against a good team that a Rich Rodriguez Michigan team has come up with, and now it’s about being consistent and continuing to play well against Notre Dame next week.
Michigan State … Michigan State is going to throw the ball this year, and it might end up having the Big Ten's top passing attack, but it needed to show early on that it could power the ball when it wanted to and it did just that against Western Michigan. Le'Veon Bell was terrific showing great quickness and a burst in the open field, while Edwin Baker also ran extremely well. The offensive line came up with a dominant performance, and now there's one more game (Florida Atlantic) before dealing with Notre Dame. Before getting the Irish, the penalties (11 for 69 yards) have to slow down and the third down conversions (3 of 11) have to be better.
Minnesota … Minnesota needed to work too hard to get by Middle Tennessee, but for the first time since Tim Brewster took over, the offensive line was tough and physical and Duane Bennett looked like the type of back the attack could work around. Adam Weber was hardly fantastic throwing the ball, and the defense didn’t come up with a few key spots in the middle of the game, but this was a dangerous trip that the Gophers survived. Going forward, the offense has to show more balance.
Northwestern … While Dan Persa might not be Mike Kafka quite yet, he appears to be the next strong Northwestern quarterback after a nearly perfect effort against Vanderbilt. The running game is a problem when Persa wasn’t taking off with the backs struggling to produce, but the passing game picked up the slack. The pass defense was a scary issue as a horrible Vandy passing attack looked moved the ball way too easily at times on the way to 240 yards. The defense wasn’t up to snuff and needs to use the Illinois State game to tighten up or the game at Rice could be scarier than expected.
Ohio State … Ohio State looked more than ready for Miami. Outside of the blocked kick allowed for a score, everything was humming for the Buckeyes, and while Marshall wasn’t expected to be much of a challenge, it’s not like past years when OSU sputtered and coughed a bit out of the gate against an inferior opponent. Terrelle Pryor was in command as he was allowed to make the passing game go, while the running game wasn’t ignored thanks to a great game from the O line. However, the attack has to be better on third downs after making good on just 4-of-12 chances.
Penn State … Penn State played a freshman at quarterback, and the sun will still come up tomorrow. Bolden showed off his strong arm against Youngstown State, and he did a great job of keeping the mistakes to a minimum, but the running game struggled way too much against an FCS defense. If the Nittany Lions can only run for 132 yards and average 4.6 yards per carry against YSU, what are they going to do against Alabama? The Penguin short passing game was way too effective against the PSU defense.
Purdue … The Boilermakers needed an explosive element that wasn’t there. The running game clearly suffered with Ralph Bolden not around, and Keith Smith wasn’t able to get free against the Notre Dame secondary to do anything big despite making 12 catches (they only went for 80 yards). The defense was fine, but it didn’t get in the backfield enough despite a great game from Ryan Kerrigan; this game was on the offense. Robert Marve threw plenty of passes (42) and he showed decent mobility, but he took four sacks and didn’t get the ball down the field. The team needs work. That's what the Western Illinois game next week, and the Ball State game the week after, are for.
Wisconsin … Wisconsin beat UNLV more impressively than the final score might indicate. There were two big turnovers that led to Rebel scores to make the game interesting, but the Badger offensive front decimated the UNLV front line while the defense erased anything the Rebel offense tried to do until the game was well in hand. The only possible negative is that the team let up in the fourth quarter, a bad trend that almost proved costly last year, but it only allowed one good drive and a short touchdown pass. Going forward, opposing teams are going to have to worry about the deep ball more after Scott Tolzien pushed it deep early. That only loosened things up that much more for the ground game.
Saturday, September 11
1. Penn State at Alabama
2. Miami at Ohio State
3. Michigan at Notre Dame
4. Iowa State at Iowa
4. San Jose State at Wisconsin
5. Florida Atlantic at Michigan State (in Detroit)
6. San Jose State at Wisconsin
7. South Dakota at Minnesota
8. Southern Illinois at Illinois
9. Western Illinois at Purdue
10. Illinois State at Northwestern
Saturday, September 18
1. USC at Minnesota
2. Iowa at Arizona
3. Notre Dame at Michigan State
4. Arizona State at Wisconsin
5. Northern Illinois at Illinois
6. Northwestern at Rice
7. Ohio at Ohio State
8. Ball State at Purdue
9. Kent State at Penn State
10. Indiana at Western Kentucky
11. UMass at Michigan
Saturday, September 25
1. Central Michigan at Northwestern
2. Northern Illinois at Minnesota
3. Toledo at Purdue
4. Bowling Green at Michigan
5. Temple at Penn State
6. Akron at Indiana
7. Ball State at Iowa
8. Eastern Michigan at Ohio State
9. Austin Peay at Wisconsin
10. Northern Colorado at Michigan State
Saturday, October 2
1. Penn State at Iowa
2. Wisconsin at Michigan State
3. Ohio State at Illinois
4. Northwestern at Minnesota
5. Michigan at Indiana
Saturday, October 9
1. Michigan State at Michigan
2. Minnesota at Wisconsin
3. Illinois at Penn State
4. Purdue at Northwestern
5. Indiana at Ohio State
Saturday, October 16
1. Ohio State at Wisconsin
2. Iowa at Michigan
3. Minnesota at Purdue
4. Illinois at Michigan State
5. Arkansas State at Indiana
Saturday, October 23
1. Wisconsin at Iowa
2. Purdue at Ohio State
3. Michigan State at Northwestern
4. Penn State at Minnesota
5. Indiana at Illinois
Saturday, October 30
1. Michigan at Penn State
2. Michigan State at Iowa
3. Ohio State at Minnesota
4. Purdue at Illinois
5. Northwestern at Indiana
Saturday, November 6
1. Northwestern at Penn State
2. Wisconsin at Purdue
3. Illinois at Michigan
4. Minnesota at Michigan State
5. Iowa at Indiana
Saturday, November 13
1. Penn State at Ohio State
2. Iowa at Northwestern
3. Michigan at Purdue
4. Minnesota at Illinois
5. Indiana at Wisconsin
Saturday, November 20
1. Ohio State at Iowa
2. Wisconsin at Michigan
3. Indiana vs. Penn State (in Landover)
4. Illinois at Northwestern
5. Purdue at Michigan State
Saturday, November 27
1. Michigan at Ohio State
2. Iowa at Minnesota
3. Northwestern at Wisconsin
4. Indiana at Purdue
Saturday, December 4
1. Illinois at Fresno State
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