Around The Big Ten: Week Eight

Audio/Story posted October 22, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Sports Staff

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ComRadio's Jesse Finver, Ellie French and Dave Correll break down this week matchups around the Big Ten. 

 

This week boasts another exciting slate of Big Ten games. Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue, and Iowa all have the week off, but the rest of the B1G is in action.

Northwestern @ Nebraska – 12:00 p.m., ESPN2
Northwestern rolls into Lincoln this Saturday having experienced a huge fall in the rankings. Heading into week six, they were 5-0 and No. 13 in the country. Now, they are 5-2 after being blown out at Michigan and at home by Iowa. The first year under head coach Mike Riley has not gone as planned for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska has had a tumultuous year so far coming into this game with a 3-4 record. The Cornhuskers are coming into this game on the back of a big 48-25 victory over Minnesota and look to use this momentum against the Wildcats on Saturday.

Indiana @ No. 7 Michigan State – 3:30 p.m., ABC
Michigan State is coming off of a huge victory over its rival Michigan on that famous botched punt. Still undefeated, the Spartans have relied heavily on highly touted senior quarterback Connor Cook. So far this year he has passed for 1672 yards and 13 touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions. Indiana started the year off at 4-0 before faltering late against the top ranked Buckeyes, since that they haven’t won again and limp into this matchup with Michigan State at 4-3. They are coming off of a three point loss at Rutgers where they blew a 25-point late third quarter lead and lost on a field goal as time expired. Indiana is in desperate need for a win to right the ship this week.

Wisconsin @ Illinois – 3:30 p.m., BTN
Wisconsin and Illinois are both having strong years this year with Wisconsin entering this matchup at 5-2, while Illinois is at 4-2. The Badgers are led by quarterback Joel Stave who has passed for 1,708 yards and 8 touchdowns, and are coming off of a 24-7 victory over Purdue. The fighting Illini have had a good season so far considering that former head coach Tim Beckman was fired a week before the start of the regular season. Indiana is enters this game after a Bye last week and looks to start the second half of their season with a win.

No. 1 Ohio State @ Rutgers – 8:00 p.m., ABC
The top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes have finally looked like the team that is coming off of a National Championship when they defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 38-10. Head coach Urban Meyer has officially made a switch at quarterback this week installing J.T. Barrett as the starter over Cardale Jones. Rutgers won a thriller over Indiana last week 55-52, winning with a last second field goal to cap off a big comeback. The Scarlet Knights’ star wide receiver Leonte Carroo is listed as questionable for Saturday night’s matchup. If Rutgers is to give Ohio State a good game, they will need Carroo ready to go.

Zach Green is a sophomore majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email zag5035@psu.edu.