Written by In The Bleachers
| 05 October 2007
This week in the Big Ten has two games were teams that are undefeated in the Big Ten play each other. It will do a lot to shape the Big Ten not only at the top, but in the middle tier of the conference.
Eastern Michigan at Michigan - The Wolverines look like they are back on track after three consecutive wins. They struggled a bit with Northwestern last week, but came away with the all important W. Henne is back at full force and Michael Hart is still running circles around teams. This should be a game where they are able to fine tune their offense and defense for the rest of the season because remember they are still in it for the Big Ten title. But we all thought ASU would be a fine tuning game for the Wolverines.
Michigan 31-10
Minnesota at Indiana - Indiana bounced back after their opening week loss to beat Iowa. This was a big win for the Hoosiers programs since this was a game they were not expected to win. Kellen Lewis leads the Hoosiers on both the passing and rushing front so it would not be a stretch to say to beat Indiana, the Gophers have to stop him. The Gophers have struggled in Big Ten play losing to both Ohio State and Purdue, two undefeated teams. In their OOC games, they have not looked that good either. Offensively the Gophers have the horse, but they lack on the other side of the ball. If Indiana protects the ball they will have a victory.
Indiana 27-17
Northwestern at Michigan State - The Spartans took Wisconsin to the wire, but lost last week in Madison. They played a good game offensively but if I were the head coach, Javon Ringer would have gotten more touches in the game. Northwestern led against Michigan for the better half of the game, but could not hold on in the end to pull off the upset. This could be a tough game for the Spartans, coming off that tough loss from last week and it is usually after that kind of loss that the team would go into the tank. This is a new team and a new year. The Spartans have too much fire power on the offense for the Wildcats to keep up with. Northwestern will get its points but not enough in the end to win.
Michigan State 37-20
Iowa at Penn State - I did not expect to write that in four combined Big Ten games, these teams have a combined 0 wins. Penn State looked like they were going to bounce back after that tough Michigan loss, but turnovers and bad defensive play allowed Illinois to have a seven point victory. Iowa on the other hand just looked flat all around against Indiana. Both these teams have good defenses, and both have struggling offenses so I expect a low scoring game, but hopefully not the 6-4 snoozefest from two years ago. The Nittany Lions have not beaten the Hawkeyes since 1999 and I have been hearing rumblings that if Kirk Ferentz does not right the ship his job could be in trouble. I give Penn State the upper hand on the defensive side of the ball and they will win a close one.
Penn State 17-13
Wisconsin at Illinois - The Badgers seem to just do enough to win each week. This will be their second trip away from Madison, and in their first trip they barely pulled off a victory against UNLV. PJ Hill has been running through and around opposing defenses for the Badgers. Illinois can be called the surprise team of the Big Ten so far this year. I told people all along that this team would make some waves in the Big Ten. They have great athletes on the offensive side of the ball with Juice Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, and duel threat man Arrelious Benn. Their young talent on the defense is playing like season vets. This is going to be a close, really hard hitting game. I like the Illini on this one because they are home and I think they have something magical going this season.
Illinois 23-20
Ohio State at Purdue - This game will match-up the high powered Purdue offense that is scoring well over 40 points per game against a Ohio State defense that is giving up around 7 points per game. The Boilermakers are led by their QB Curtis Painter and his 18 touchdown passes. His favorite target Dorien Bryant is a great athlete and a game breaker. Ohio State just runs a meat and potatoes offense that gets the job done. The Buckeyes are a young team but no one in the league has more talent than they do. Historically Purdue has started out strong against weaker play, but once they meet up with the big boys they come back to earth. Purdue will not get to 40, but the Ohio State defense will not hold them under 14. The Buckeyes offense will do just enough to win and Chris Wells will be a big reason why.
Ohio State 28-27
Last Week: 4-2 (.666)
Overall: 36-9 (.800)
