The Big Ten had a fairly good week in terms of the over all record (10-1), but a lot of games were too close for comfort. We know that Iowa struggled mightily, but Indiana, Ohio State, and Minnesota also had games that were too close for comfort.

Indiana 19 - Eastern Kentucky 13
Indiana held on to win against the Hilltoppers on Thursday night. EKU had a shot at the win with a hail mary, but the pass ultimately fell to the Memorial Stadium FieldTurf. The Hoosier struggled to establish a run game (even though that was the whole point of switching to the Pistol) but QB Ben Chappell was able to do enough through the air to lead Indiana to victory.

Prediction: Correct. (Indiana tops the Hilltoppers)

Michigan State 44 - Montana State 3
Michigan State may not have settled the quarterback competition, but I think they can feel confident with whoever comes out on top. Kirk Cousins threw for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns and Keith Nichol added another 135 yard and 2 touchdowns as the Spartans dominated the Bobcats. This game was just a case of the good FBS team beating down a bad FCS team.

Prediction: Correct. (Michigan State wins big)

Northwestern 47 - Towson 14
Another complete mismatch. The Towson defense had no answers to anything Northwestern did offensively. Northwestern scored touchdowns on its first 4 possessions with relative ease then just put it in cruise control.

Prediction: Correct. (Northwestern wins big)

Ohio State 31 - Navy 27
This was definitely one of the more interesting games in the Big Ten on Saturday and it certainly adds fuel to the "Big Ten sucks" fire. OSU can redeem itself and the entire Big Ten next week against USC and you have to think that the Buckeyes might have been looking ahead a little bit. They struggled to figure out how to defend Navy's dynamic triple option and the Midshipmen were within a 2-point conversion from tying the game with 2:23 left. However, Navy inexpeciably decided to drop back and pass instead of use the option that gained over 180 yards on the Buckeye's defense, and the pass was picked off and returned for 2 points the other way.

Prediction: Kind of right...much too close for comfort. (The Buckeyes win comfortably)

Penn State 31 - Akron 7
PSU put up 339 yards in the first half to take a 31 point lead into the break. The Nittany Lions then just shut it down and cruised to a victory. This one was never in question as Akron was completely over matched.

Prediction: Correct (The Nittany Lions continue their streak of blow out non-conference games)

Purdue 52 - Toledo 31
Though the Boilermakers gave up 31 points, this gave was never really close. Purdue came out firing and found itself up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Toledo did get with in 7 again after back-to-back score, but it was never really close again after that. Purdue's running back Ralph Bolden tore apart Rockets defense rushing for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Prediction: Kind of correct, a little less close than predicted (Purdue squeaks by with a win)

Minnesota 23 - Syracuse 20 (OT)
Greg Paulus had a good debut as Syracuse's quarterback, but threw an interception in overtime that led to the Gopher victory. Defense was the key for the Gophers. Minnesota didn't give up a point in the second half or overtime allowing the team to come from behind to win.

Prediction: Barely correct. (Minnesota wins by a couple scores)

Michigan 31 - Western Michigan 7
Michigan debut two freshman quarterbacks that put on a show in the first half going up 31-0. Tate Forcier threw for 3 touchdowns and 179 yards. He also gained another 34 yards on the ground. Denard Robinson did much more with his feet, running for a team high 74 yards. This one wasn't close from the start.

Prediction: Kind of correct. (Michigan pulls away late for the win)

Illinois 9 - Missouri 37
Illinois...what the heck happened? I thought this was supposed to be a high octane, super talented offense, possibly the best in the Big Ten. Yeah, there were some injuries to Benn and Ford, but the offense wasn't do much before they went out either. Maybe my thoughts of Illinois challenging for one of the top spots in the conference was a little premature.

Prediction: So very, very wrong. (Illinois wins in a high scoring affair)

Wisconsin 28 - Northern Illinois 20
Wisconsin scored an 80 yard touchdown on its first play from scrimmage and never looked back. NIU scored to late touchdowns to make the game look closer than it was. Badger fans can feel good about the QB situation for now as Scott Tolzien had a very good game going 15 of 20 for 257 yards. He did have 2 picks however.

Prediction: Correct. (Wisconsin takes care of business at home)