Big Ten: Week Four Predictions

It is week four in the Big Ten and that means conference play starts. Everyone but Michigan State plays a conference game. Michigan State at Notre Dame - In 3 games this season the Irish have yet to score an offensive touchdown and they are averaging being sacked more times a game than offensive rushing yards. The Spartans held on for dear life to beat Pittsburgh last week. Javon Ringer should be given the ball 25+ times this game if the Spartans want to win. One of these weeks you have to believe that the Irish will snap out of this funk, they get better this week but not enough to win. Michigan State 20-9 Northwestern at Ohio State - The Wildcats ended a long streak last week, not in a good way. The Duke Bluedevils snapped their 22 game losing streak by beating Northwestern. Ohio State on the other hand went to Washington and came out with an impressive defense. The Buckeyes are going to be a scary team as the season progresses. Offensively they are beginning to gel and on the defensive side of the ball they have LB James Laurinaitis who had 2 INTs and a sack last week anchoring the defense. This should be an easy week for the Buckeyes. Ohio State 31-7 Purdue at Minnesota - The Gophers cannot seem to put an entire game together. Last week they lost to Florida International and once again their defense struggled. Purdue and their high powered offense is going to have a field day against the Gophers secondary. In 3 games Curtis Painter has 13 touchdowns and 952 yards passing. He should have another big day this saturday, and the only way the Gophers can even remotely stay in this game is if Pinnix can keep the clock moving and the Boilermakers' offense off the field. Purdue 50-17 Iowa at Wisconsin - This will be the first test for the Badgers when the Hawkeyes come to town. Iowa has won the last four meetings between the schools, but the Badgers have won 9 straight at home. Many experts are still skeptical on the Badgers as they did not look impressive at all against UNLV and The Citadel. Iowa is coming off a bad loss against state rival Iowa State in a game where the offense struggled. The Hawkeyes have two good running backs, but right now it seems as if QB Jake Christensen is the one holding them back. This will be an old fashioned hit you in the mouth slug fest. PJ Hill and the Badgers win by a hair. Wisconsin 17-13 Illinois at Indiana - This is a game between two teams that are working their way up the Big Ten ladder. It will also pitt two of the most exciting quarterbacks in the league against each other in Indiana's Kellen Lewis and Illinois' Juice Williams. Right now Lewis is the one having the better season but for the Illini they are using their RB Rashard Mendenhall to control the clock. The Illini have been tested a bit more with a win against Syracuse and a close loss to Missouri. I think this is going to be a really exciting game to watch and I am going to stick with Illinois on this one since I think they have more athletes on the defensive side of the ball. Illinois 24-20 Penn State at Michigan - The Nittany Lions are hoping to stop an eight game winning streak that Michigan has over them. I just learned last night that Chad Henne will not start for Michigan, so for the second week in a row freshman Ryan Mallet will start at quarterback. With Mallet starting I think the Lions will but 8 or 9 in the box to stop Mike Hart and put a lot of pressure on the young QB when he does pass. This game will come down to the play of one man, Anthony Morelli. Morelli has all the physical tools but outside a game or two last year, he has not done it against a quality opponent. I think the Nittany Lions open up the offense to take advantage of the weak Wolverine secondary. This one will down to the last seconds, and in my opinon, the streak ends Saturday. Penn State 21-13 Last Week - 8-3 (.727) Overall - 27-6 (.818)