Silas Redd got caught for public urination this weekend. The Penn State team got publicly exposed as underaged and inexperienced in the second half in Columbus. Who else was publicly embarrassed in the Big Ten this weekend?
The Indiana Hoosiers football program. There's little one can do to further belittle a football program that schedules a "home" game in the recruiting backyard of its opponent simply for the cash, but if there is anything that can further embarrass that team, it happened in Madison on Saturday. What's worse than losing an in-conference game by 63 points? Losing by 63 points when you score 20 yourself. I have a soft spot for Indiana; they're football's version of Penn State (or Northwestern) in hoops. But for any Big 10 team to be outplayed so badly makes me think the Big11 should consider adopting a system ala English Premier League soccer in which abjectly awful teams in the conference are relegated to some non-BCS wilderness for a few years to hone their skills and prove they deserve to play with the big boys.
Ron Zook. Oh, the Fighting Zooks, how I missed you. After indoctrinating this Penn State team to the instantaneous (but somehow irresistible) misery of the pick six, the Illini looked poised to play in a pretty good bowl game. After Saturday's loss to the now 2-9 Minnesota Golden Gophers, the 5-5 Illini might be lucky to play in a bowl game period, with their remaining contests @ Northwestern and @ Fresno State. If the Illini lose both of those games and finish below .500, the Zook family is going to be looking for a new home.
Ricky Stanzi. Oh, Ricky, how I missed you. Say what you will about Denard Robinson and Terrelle Pryor, the two best quarterbacks in the Big Ten for my money squared off in Ryan Field this past Saturday. Dan Persa proved he's the conference's best. The two quarterbacks' stat lines were roughly equivalent throwing the ball, though Persa added 50 yards and a TD on the ground. But the game's biggest play was the interception that Ricky Stanzi threw. After throwing for two scores on Iowa's first two second-half drives, Ricky had some splaining to do when Brian Peters picked off a pass near the goal-line to turn momentum in the game. "That interception cost us the game," said Stanzi.
All those involved in playing the game of football in Ross Ade Stadium. Let's let Maize and Brew describe this one:
The Wolverines followed up the most exciting Big Ten game of the year with perhaps the ugliest. Ten turnovers between the two teams, thirteen punts (two shanks), and only brief flashes of any offensive consistency for either side. Purdue's string of horrific injuries decided this game long before the teams ever took the field. Even Michigan's defense can stop a pack of quarterbacks who are either too injured or too inexperienced to throw the ball farther than five yards down the field.
Let's all just move on and pretend that game didn't happen.
Other thoughts:
The Big Ten Review is not all thorns and no roses. Minnesota deserves some love. Adam Weber and company rallied back from ten down on the road in the fourth quarter to beat Illinois. That shows a lot of guts. Let's hope interim coach Tim Jeff Horton gave them some free coffee and donuts.
Early lines for this Saturday's Big Ten games:
Purdue +20 @ MSU
Penn State -10 "@" IND
Wisconsin -5 @ MICH
Ohio State -3 @ IOWA
Illinois -7.5 "@" NW