Big Ten Notebook For 10-27-2006 - College Football News, Tips And Picks

Big Ten Notebook For 10-27-2006
By Calvin Watkins
Posted: 11:00 am PDT 2006-10-27

Joe Paterno was upset at how Penn State played in last week's 26-12 win over Illinois.

In Paterno's mind, the game shouldn't have been that close.

The biggest problem was the offense.

"We were lousy," Paterno said after the game. "You saw what happened, we were lousy. We have some guys that just haven't gotten any better. We've got to think out a couple of things."

The Nittany Lions forced a season-high four turnovers, including three in the third quarter to put the game away.

The defense scored nine points and had a season-high six sacks.

Somehow, Penn State found a way, as coaches like to say, to move on to the next week.

Well, it's here, and Penn State can clinch a bowl berth with a victory at Purdue on Saturday. Penn State is a 3-point favorite on WagerWeb.com

It's the first of a four-game stretch that could make the 5-3 Lions a six-win team.

See, following Saturday's game at Purdue, the Lions travel to Wisconsin for their final road game of the regular season.

It's an expected loss.

The final two games, both at home, feature Temple and Michigan State.

We expect Penn State to beat Temple, but it's debatable if the Lions beat Spartans.

That's why Paterno wants his offense in gear for this game at Purdue. The Boilermakers are in the same boat as the Lions, win and they become bowl-eligible.

"Purdue has gotten much better lately," Paterno said. "Earlier in the year, they gave up a lot of yards. The last couple of games, they played solid football. They have a couple of really outstanding down guys."

Michigan: The showdown of showdowns is Nov. 18 when Michigan takes on Ohio State. First things first, the Wolverines take on Northwestern, which is coming off one of the biggest choke jobs in NCAA history in blowing that 38-3 lead to Michigan State. Michigan running back Mike Hart believes Big Blue will not get distracted from the Northwestern game as a national title berth looms. "Now what are we going to do these next few weeks?" he said to the Detroit Free Press. "Are we going to fall by the wayside so we're not ready when we get to O-State, or are we going to get better every week?" Michigan could be without top receivers Mario Manningham (knee surgery) and Adrian Arrington (arraigned on misdemeanor domestic violence charge).

Northwestern: Michigan is 34-1 when scoring 30 or more points. So what can Northwestern do to score? Redshirt sophomore quarterback C.J. Bacher and the offense scored a season-high 38 points and racked up 440 yards last week against Michigan State. Bacher won't pick up those numbers against Big Blue, but maybe he can make it interesting. Leading tackler Nick Roach will miss the season with a broken right leg.

By the way, Northwestern is a 30-point underdog on WagerWeb.com.

Iowa: Iowa's defense will be tested against Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe. Wolfe leads the nation in rushing with 176.8 yards per game and is fifth in scoring at 10.8 points per game. Iowa's front must be physical, something that hasn't occurred most of the season. If not, Wolfe can put some pressure on the Hawkeyes and make a potential blowout seem closer. Iowa is a 16-point favorite on WagerWeb.com

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