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INP Takes A Trip Around The Blogosphere | Week 3

By PlannedSickDays
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IOWA OPENS BIG TEN PLAY SEP. 29TH WITH MINNESOTA. And the Gophers might be without senior quarterback MarQueis Gray. Gray suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain in Minnesota's win over Western Michigan. Gray's back-up Max Shortell had a career day filling in.

NORTHWESTERN IS STILL UNDEFEATED. The Cats have defeated three BCS teams but are still not in the Top 25 (but Wisconsin is?). Northwestern has a quality kicker and Sippin' on Purple's Rodger Sherman thinks he's Groza Award worthy. The Wildcats still have room for improvement on offense and it needs to start in the red zone.

THE BUCKEYES HELD ON TO WIN AGAINST CAL. Land-Grant Holyland has things Ohio State needs to fix as the season progresses. The defensive line and lack of pressure is the starting point. Running back Jordan Hall returned last week for OSU and took some of the pressure off of quarterback Braxton Miller. Miller had a season high 27 carries the week prior. Against Cal he is credited with 12 carries.

MICHIGAN HAD THEIR CUPCAKE BEFORE NOTRE DAME. The Wolverines didn't have much to worry about with UMASS. While Denard Robinson rushed for over 100 yards he did so on only 10 carries. Maize n Brew says that Denard's passing was a little more crisp this week. Also, the blowout gave the Wolverines a chance to get some younger players playing time.

MICHIGAN STATE'S SLIM NATIONAL TITLE HOPES ARE DASHED. And probably the Big Ten's only hope. Sparty's defense failed to create turnovers but overall played a decent game against the Irish. The offense, on the other hand, was horrendous. The Irish forced MSU to throw the ball 45 times and for only 187 yards. The template for beating Michigan State is there. Kirk Cousins isn't walking through the door anytime soon.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN MADISON? A week after firing his OLine coach Bielema fired his quarterback too. Maryland transfer Danny O'Brien is no Russell Wilson. Bielema sat O'Brien in favor of Joel Stave after the Badger offense could only muster three first half points. Luckily, Wisconsin still has Montee Ball as they gave him 37 carries against Utah State. Ball might be Badgerland's MVP but the real most valuable player was Utah State's kicker.

BALL STATE'S KICKER WASN'T GOING TO MISS. After a 2-0 start, Indiana failed to keep the streak alive against in-state MACtion rival Ball State. Indiana gained 558 yards and scored 39 points but Ball State's last second field goal won the game. The Hoosiers might have something in quarterback Nate Sudfeld but reality says it's time to focus on the upcoming basketball season.

NO MARVE, NO PROBLEM. OMHR didn't have much trouble with Eastern Michigan. The Boilermakers rushed for 392 yards in the destruction of a directional Michigan school.

ILLINOIS IS BATTLING THE INJURY BUG. They sure could use some Penn State transfers right now. Tim Beckman is losing sleep despite his team crushing Charleston Southern.

FIRST THE CONCERN WAS THE DEFENSE, NOW IT'S PELINI'S HEALTH. The Nebraska defense shut down Arkansas State a week after getting drilled by UCLA. Bo Pelini didn't fare so well as he was taken to the hospital during Nebraska's game Saturday. The Huskers still have work to do on both sides of the football.

PENN STATE WILL NOT GO 0-12. Not with Navy on the schedule. The Lions rolled to a 34-7 victory that earned honors for players on both sides of the ball. On offense, wide receiver Allen Robinson earned a helmet sticker from ESPN. On defense, Michael Mauti and Deion Barnes earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week.

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