This week the Big Ten was flipped upside down by the surprising play of a team that was supposed to roll over and a less than lackluster showing by one of the conference’s unbeaten.
Serving as yet another reminder of the immense parity in the Big Ten this year, the Badgers lost to the Northwestern Wildcats despite a great game by Jim Leonard, which earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The game has served as notice that the Wildcats can’t be overlooked; however, the team won’t buy into the hype created by such a big win.
“We’re still a very young team. We only have nine seniors on this football squad,” Northwestern coach Randy Walker said.
When asked if his team was talking about a possible bowl game, he responded with an emphatic “no.”
“Not for me. We talk about one game at a time … we’ll turn around sometime in November, and we’ll know (then) if we have a chance.”
Purdue hopes to avoid a similar fate — the one that befell the Badgers last weekend. Like Wisconsin, Purdue is coming off of a devastating loss in its 31-3 drubbing by Michigan and will have the newly feared Wildcats to play on Saturday.
“I think they are becoming a more physical team as the season moves on, and I’m talking about both sides of the ball,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said.
In perhaps the biggest game in the Big Ten this weekend, the only team without a conference loss this season is pitted against the team nipping at its heals. The No. 10 ranked Michigan State Spartans will host the No. 13 ranked Michigan Wolverines in a rivalry game that holds much greater importance than just bragging rights in the state.
“This is more a fight with your brother; you are much more involved on a day-to-day basis when you play an in-state rival,” stated Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.
“I think that a rivalry is a rivalry. Any in-state rivalry is the biggest thing in the world,” Michigan State coach John L. Smith added.
The Wolverines hope to ride the momentum of their 31-3 victory over Purdue last weekend as they head to East Lansing this Saturday. If the Spartans can beat the Wolverines, as they have the last two times they played in East Lansing, MSU will become the frontrunner in the race to win the Big Ten title with only three games left. If the Spartans lose, it will open the door for a slew of possible winners who currently sit in the conference standings with one loss.
“I don’t think there is any question that it’s a strong possibility that the conference winner could have two losses,” Wisconsin Assistant Coach John Palermo said.
With three teams still without wins in conference play this season, even a player of the week honor brings little solace to the likes of Indiana, Penn State, or Illinois. Although Illinois punter Steve Weatherford won special teams player of the week honors in the Big Ten last week, it remained the only good news for the Illini. Illinois took another hit from the injury bug when the team’s starting running back E.B. Halsey went down in the loss to Minnesota. It is extremely doubtful Halsey will play this week against Iowa. The injuries have seemingly piled up endlessly for Illinois all season long.
“I’ve never been through anything like this … we’ve had like 16 players miss games to this point, and 12 were starters. By the end of next week, we’ll have eight in surgery,” head coach Ron Turner said.
The Penn Sate Nittany Lions welcome the Buckeyes of Ohio State to Happy Valley this weekend. The Lions will be looking to stop offensive player of the week Lydell Ross and the rest of the Buckeye offense this week; however, with a 0-4 record in conference, talk is still less about the team and more about the career objectives of head coach Joe Paterno.
“I don’t give it much thought because he is such an icon in our world … he has been at the forefront of my profession since I entered it,” OSU head coach Jim Tressel said. “The thought of it doesn’t sit great with me because it’s like losing one of your family members.”
