It doesn’t look like that will be the case. Today, Iowa fell, but not to Penn State (no, they beat them gloriously – sigh – earlier this season) and not to Ohio State (they play one another next week). Iowa was stomped into the ground by none other than Northwestern.

Ok, “stomped into the ground” is a little harsh. The game ended up with a score of 17 – 10, which isn’t necessarily bad, until you realize just how mediocre  both of the teams really were today. It’s really easy to claim that this only happened because Ricky Stanzi, the Hawkeyes quarterback, got taken out with an ankle injury in the first half. That definitely contributed to the loss. I’m not buying it, though, that the team deserved to be ranked #4, with or without Stanzi. Iowa may have been undefeated, but what the records don’t show is that they’ve played sloppily in many games and almost lost more than once.

So at this point, the Big Ten title could still go to Iowa, or it could belong to either Ohio State or Penn State. After the Iowa game, all of these teams had one loss. Just a short time after, though, Ohio State and Penn State kicked off, and it quickly became apparent who had the upper hand. Personally, I think that both quarterbacks looked pretty bad today, but when it was put on the shoulders of the rest of the offense to make plays, Ohio State’s players stepped up. Penn State’s embarrassing 24 – 7 loss puts them out of the running for the title.

Yep, this was pretty much the scene all day in Happy Valley. Image: Newscom

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Michigan State finally showed that they actually remember how to play football by crushing Western Michigan 49 – 14. Michigan, on the other hand, didn’t have such a good day, losing 38 – 36 to Purdue. I will say, however, that even though Michigan’s record isn’t so good, they’re hanging in there every week and actually showing some hope for the future under Rich Rodriguez. Wisconsin held on against Indiana (for the record, I think they’re overrated too at #21, but that’s a post for another day), and Illinois overcame Minnesota 35 – 32.

The Big Ten may not be a powerhouse at this point, but hopefully they can rebuild the conference to be competitive nationally again. At least with teams like Iowa rising to such a high ranking, which teams in the Big Ten do consistently every year, they’re remaining attractive to prospective students, which can only lead to strong teams in the future.

Post from: EveryJoe

Big Ten Teams Shake Things Up

So, at least the top three teams stayed strong. Of course, the big news for #1 Florida, who beat Kentucky into the ground, was that Tim Tebow was taken out of the game and to the hospital with a pretty bad concussion. He’s doing OK now, which is to be expected with a simple concussion – it’s just a little scary when you’re not sure if it is something worse or not. #2 Texas (who beat UTEP  64 – 7) and #3 Alabama (who beat Arkansas 35 – 7) held steady, but after that, the top 25 went to shit.

First, the Gamecocks shut down #4 Ole Miss, in a game that was all about defense. South Carolina’s defense, that is. Mississippi usually relies heavily on Jevon Snead, but South Carolina pretty much took him out of the game. Oh, he wasn’t injured or anything, but the O-line just couldn’t stop the Gamecock defense, and Snead couldn’t seem to make any places. How’s this for an embarrassing stat: Ole Miss has now lost 6 straight SEC openers. Ouch.

But they aren’t alone when it comes to embarrassing states. Did you know that Penn State has lost 7 of their last 8 games against…Iowa. Seriously, I kid you not, Iowa has a football team. They’re a team that just doesn’t get much press time, and for some reason, Joe Paterno and Penn State haven’t realized that they have a rivalry with them. The Hawkeyes came to Happy Valley this year, and it was a downpour for much of the game, but that didn’t stop them. Head coach Kirk Ferentz actually wanted to play for Penn State and JoePa when he was in high school, but there wasn’t any scholarship interest. Ibet he gets warm fuzzy feelings every time he whoops ass against PSU. The game itself was kinda a snoozefest, holding steady at 10 – 5 for much of the game. Then, Iowa suddenly exploded in the fourth quarter and Penn State made some major mistakes. Final score ended up being 21 – 10, and Penn State is no longer a top five team.Yes, it hurts my soul.

Image: Newscom

Moving on, the previously-ranked #6 California had a bad week as well. They were thrashed by Oregon. I mean, thrashed. Final score 42 – 3 thrashed. Coming into the game, Cal had the tenth best rushing offense in the country. And then Oregon was like “and now, you don’t.” The Ducks aren’t a horrible team, but this was an embarrassment for Cal. They shouldn’t have let Oregon have 32 unanswered points. A single field goal isn’t good enough when you’re a ranked team.

LSU, ranked seventh at the time, won their game against Mississippi State, but it wasn’t pretty, and I personally don’t think that they deserve the #4 spot that they have now after a game like that on Saturday. Sure, they won, but it should have been an easy game and it was anything but. Mississippi State played their heart out and almost ran away with the game. One of the most interesting games of the week was #9 Miami at #11 Virginia Tech. Oh wait, Miami blew too. Seriously, it wasn’t supposed to be a gimme game for the Hurricanes, but they looked like hell on the field this week. It should have been a good game, and it just wasn’t. At least Boise State (then 8, now 5) played like a top ten team should, beating Bowling Green 49 – 14.

We’re mid-season. Teams need to be playing with more heart than I’ve seen. I mean, I’m all for a few surprises and upsets every week, but Week Four was ridiculous.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week Four 2009 in Review

Joe Paterno, Image: Newscom

Unfortunately, he also thinks that some people are laughing at him.

“You know, it’s a conference that’s dominated by a couple of people. If I start talking, they’re polite, but they snicker. They don’t know I know they’re snickering, but they’re polite. …I wish I were younger and going to be around [another] 20 years.”

JoePa is the winningest coach among major college football teams, so maybe they should listen to him. He’s right about one thing a Big Ten playoff or Big Ten championship game would bring more exposure to the conference. Of course, with recent talks about changing the BCS system having made it to congress, expanding the Big Ten for more exposure and a conference championship may be a moot point.

Post from: EveryJoe

JoePa Wants to Expand the Big Ten

Joe Paterno, Image: Newscom

This might not matter much to Joe Paterno of Penn State, but he and Bowden are in a dead heat for number of victories among major college coaches. Paterno currently has 383 wins, while Bowden has 382. He’d only have 368 is the wins are stripped, putting him so far behind Paterno that catching up would be unlikely.

Paterno, however, hopes that Bowden’s number stands.

“I don’t think that should have anything to do with Bobby’s record. I don’t think Bobby had much to do with what happened,” Paterno said. “I just hope people don’t distort what a great coach Bobby Bowden has been, which he has been.”

Last year, Paterno coached a number of games from the box, but he said that he’ll be back on the sidelines for 2009. He had hip replacement surgery just four months ago, but was at Spring Practice without so much as a cane.

Post from: EveryJoe

JoePa Stands Behind Bowden’s Wins

For the past few years, Penn State friends and foes alike have been speculating about the end of the 2008 football season. Paterno’s contract ends, and with a number of not-so-hot years over the past decade, people have been questioning his reign in happy valley.

Many of the problems at Penn State over the past several years could be chalked up to a less-than-impressive quarterback, which many attributed to son quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno. Some called for Joe to get the boot so that Jay would also be gone.

Today, though, Penn State announced that they’re giving JoePa three more years with the Lions. After winning the Big Ten title and actually having a good offense this season, this isn’t as big of a shock as it would have been last year! He had a rough season health-wise, but I’m sure today’s announcement put a smile on his face, and he’s announced that he plans to be on the sideline at the Rose Bowl.

Picture via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

Joe Paterno is Sticking Around

But it has been an EXCELLENT weekend for Joe Paterno. This weekend’s win put him at 383 for his career, ahead of Bobby Bowden, making him the NCAA-F coach with the most wins.

That means that the Nittany Lions are heading to the Rose Bowl. Schweet. Even if they lose, they’ll be 2008 Big Ten champs.

He also had successful hit replacement surgery today. On August 30, JoePa hurt his hip demonstrating a kick. After the pain worsened, he started coaching from the press box and used a cane to walk around during practices. After today’s surgery, he’s expected to recover well and, with luck, be back on the sideline for the Rose Bowl. If not by then, he expects to be back for future games.

That’s right – future games. Although his contract is up, Paterno and PSU administrators both seem to think he’ll be back in 2009. Like I said, it’s been a good weekend for JP. Read more here.

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

It’s been a Good Weekend for Joe Paterno

#11 Ohio State 45, #24 Northwestern 10

• Pryor at Ohio Soup
• The 2008 Ohio State – Northwestern Report Card at Buckeye Legends
• Pryor Steps Up Against Northwestern at The Buckeye Blog

#18 Michigan State 21, Purdue 7

• Michigan State Refuses to Lose at A Beautiful Day for Football

Wisconsin 55, Indiana 20

• Wisconsin Breaks Away to Defeat Indiana at Indiana Football News
• Wisconsin runs over Indiana 55-20 at Big Ten Network

Michigan 29, Minnesota 6

• UM 29, Minnesota 6: Notes, quotes & observations at Michigan Wolverines Football
• Michigan Takes Home Little Brown Jug with 29-6 Win Over Minnesota at Michigan Sports Center

Western Michigan 23, Illinois 17

• Broncos Turn Back Illinois, 23-17 at MAC Report Online
• Western Michigan the ‘better team’ in frustrating Illini loss at The Daily Illini

Iowa 24, #3 Penn State 23

(Do we really have to talk about this one? Really? Fine. Sigh. It seems like EVERYONE is talking about it anyways…)

• Iowa stuns No. 3 Penn State at Monte Asbury’s Blog
• iowa vs penn state, a game to remember at The Urban Bigfoot
• Penn State Loses to Iowa – What it means for Michigan State at Elect Jeff
• IOWA UPSETS PENN STATE 24-23 at Gridiron Goddess
• My long, Penn State, National Nightmare is over at STFU Sports Blog
• Iowa upsets undefeated Penn State at Nick’s Blog
• Penn State Upset by Iowa 24-23 at The Big Lead

(insert depressed face here)

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC

(check back soon if the link isn’t live yet)

Post from: EveryJoe

2008 Week 11: Blogging about the Big Ten

Indiana 21, #22 Northwestern 19

• Finally, a glimmer: Indiana 21, Northwestern 19. at The Hoosier Report
• NU-Indiana Highlights at WNUR Sports

#24 Minnesota 17, Purdue 6

• Boilermakers Fall To Minnesota 17-6 at Purdue Boilermakers News

Wisconsin 27, Illinois 17

• Wisconsin Badgers football: Illinois keeps itself in check at Badger Beat
• Badgers beat Illini to get back on track at Big Ten Network

Michigan State 35, Michigan 21

• State Defeats Michigan – it’s been a long time coming! at The Life Tussle
• MSU over Michigan in all standings at What I See Staring Into Me From the Abyss

#3 Penn State 13, Ohio State 6

• Paterno and Penn State beat Ohio State in Columbus for the First Time in 30 Years at Graney and The Pig’s Blog
• Ohio State: The day after at Read Between the Lions
• Penn State Wins — Then Riots at J Schil’s Blog
• PSU-Ohio State at Mike Harder’s Weblog

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC

(check back soon if the link isn’t live yet)

Post from: EveryJoe

2008 Week 9: Blogging about the Big Ten

Tomorrow, we’ll see a match-up that is, at this point, the most significant game of the season for both teams. Penn State was never supposed to be this good. Ohio State was written off weeks ago after USC.

The fact of the matter is that this week, it is anybody’s game, and this could be a deciding factor in who plays in the BCS Championship game and will almost definitely determine who will play in the Rose Bowl.

The questions are endless.

Can true freshman Terrelle Pryor (see above) make magic against the Nittany Lion defense?

Can the Penn State offense overcome what has been the bane of their existence for years now?

Will Joe Paterno coach from the box or the sideline?

Will the Ohio State home crowd hurt the lions?

I’m all tingly…can’t wait for tomorrow!!!

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

JoePa versus Tressler: Get Ready for a Shit Show

Northwestern 48, Purdue 26

• Northwestern-Purdue Highlights at WNUR Sports
• No. 21 Purdue takes down Northwestern Big Ten Network

Iowa 38, Wisconsin 16

• Series by series: UW offense against Iowa at Wisconsin Badgers Football

#12 Ohio State 45, #20 Michigan State 7

• Ohio State Michigan State Recap at The Nut and the Feisty Weasel

#3 Penn State 46, Michigan 17

• Review, Game 8: Penn State 46, Michigan 17 at Zombie Nation
• Game 8 Recap: Penn State 46, Michigan 17 at We Want the Lion

Illinois 55, Indiana 13

• Rock bottom, yet? Illinois 55, Indiana 13. at The Hoosier Report
• IU Falls to Illinois 55-13 at 1070 The Fan

Other conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC 

(check back soon if the link isn\\\’t live yet)

Post from: EveryJoe

2008 Week 8: Blogging about the Big Ten