10 Big Things about Week 5: Let's call it Juice Williams's swan song...

1. Juice benched: How the so-called mighty have fallen. The Big Ten preseason first-team QB has been benched in favor of junior Eddie Magee. Juice had an interception and a fumble in the loss to the Nittany Lions. I have to admit, I do have a slight bias, being that I am a big Juice hater (Williams that is - not the drink), but its a shame we won't see more of this the rest of the season.

(Photo Credit: ChicagoNow.com)

2. John Clay: The Badger running back makes his second appearance on 10 Big Things. He simply dominated, with 32 carries for 184 yards and three touchdowns in Wisconsin's win over the weekend.

3. Sparty back on track: Michigan State stepped it up when it was most needed with their overtime win against the Wolverines. One thing that is worrisome is the quarterback play, however. Kirk Cousins tossed two interceptions in regulation, which forced head coach Mark Dantonio to play backup Keith Nichol in overtime.

4. Tyler Sash: Honestly, this guy is just an interception machine. Sash picked off another one this past weekend, giving him five on the season. He's tied for first in the NCAA in interceptions and has seven INT's in his last eight games, dating back to last season.

5. Daryll Clark: The Nittany Lion signal-caller was solid this week, bouncing back after their home loss to Iowa. Clark completed 17 of 25 passes for 175 yards and also rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

6. Boiler Butter Fingers: Purdue turned the ball over six times this weekend, five on fumbles and one on an interception. Purdue already has 17 turnovers this year and their -8 turnover margin is dead last in the Big Ten.

7. Marvin McNutt: McNutt had a career day at wide receiver on Saturday. The former Hawkeye third-string quarterback caught four passes for 121 yards and had a pair of touchdowns in the Hawkeye's win over Arkansas State.

8. Terelle Pryor: the Buckeye sophomore threw three touchdowns and ran for another in the Ohio State victory over Indiana

9. Northwestern mounts comeback over Purdue: Northwestern outscored Purdue 24-0 in the last 31 minutes of the game to defeat Purdue 27-21

10. Larry Caper: The Spartan RB had 13 carries for 39 yards, including the 23-yard game winning run in overtime to upset the Wolverines.

10 Big Things from Week 3

Another week, another 10 Big Things

10. Sean Lee injured: The Nittany Lions start linebacker sprained his knee in the first half of the game against Temple. He is curretly listed as "possible" on the depth chart for this weeks game against Iowa. If Lee is unable to play, it could be detrimental for the Lions (And great for my Hawkeyes!)

9. Big Ten loses to a MAC school for the second straight week: It was bad enough when Central Michigan defeated Sparty, now Northern Illinois dominated Purdue. Whats next?!

8. Tyler Sash (right): Making his second appearance on the 10 Big Things. Sash had another interception this past weekend, giving him four picks already this season.

(Photo Credit: Hawkeyesports.com)

7. Ralph Bolden: The sophomore runner caught four passes for 62 yards and ran for another 64 yards to continue his string of good play for the Boilers.

6. Wolverine center David Molk: The big fella suffered a broken bone in his foot on Saturday that will require surgery. The anchor of the Michigan line will be out for 4-6 weeks.

5. Greg Jones: The Sparty LB continues to show why he was named Big Ten preseason player of the year. Jones is 3rd in the NCAA in tackles with 38.

4. Hawkeyes continue streak of player of week winners: Iowa punter Ryan Donahue was named co-Big Ten special teams player of the week this week. Iowa has produced a player of the week in each of the first three weeks this season. Jeremiha Hunter was co-special teams player of the week in week 1 and Tyler Sash was co-defensive player of the week in week 2.

3. Indiana undefeated: I have to give Indiana a little bit of credit, they are a little bit better than I thought they would be. I figured they would slip up agaist at least one of these non-conference teams, so I give credit to Bill Lynch and the Hoosiers. However, this doesn't mean they will be sucessful in the Big Ten by any stretch of the imagination

2. Ohio State rights the ship: Great job by the Buckeyes to get back on track and easily defeat Toledo this past week. That's big for them going into the Big Ten schedule. Although Terelle Pryor did throw two picks, which is a bit disheartening.

1. ESPN College GameDay heading to Big Ten Country: College GameDay is going to Happy Valley this coming Saturday for the Iowa-Penn State game. Get fired up Big Ten Fans. I know I am. I'm hoping to see Corso throw on a Herky Hawkeye mask, but I won't count on it.

10 Big Things from week 2

It's time for the second installment of 10 big things from the Big Ten. This week was another extremely exciting week, full of close games, big plays, and even an upset. After going 10-1 in week one, the Big Ten struggled slightly this week going 8-3, but it could have been much worse. So without further ado, lets take a look at those 10 things...

10. Eric Decker: The Gopher wideout had 10 catches for 113 yards on Saturdays win against Air Force. The senior is second in the NCAA in receptions with 19 and third in the NCAA in receiving yards with 296.

9. Gophers christen new stadium with a win: Minnesota's first game in sold-out TCF Bank stadium was a victory over the Air Force Falcons, 20-13. The Gophers played outdoors and on the campus for the first time in 27 years.

8. USC vs. Big Ten teams: I feel like I'm beating a dead (trojan) horse when I say this, but just in case you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years, USC has absolutely dominated Big Ten opponents. The Trojans are 10-0 in their last 10 games against Big Ten teams, nine of those wins are by double-digits. Pete Carroll is a pretty good coach, enough said.

7. Iowa RB's: After a pretty dismal efford against FCS opponent Northern Iowa, the Hawkeye rushers came to play against the Cyclones of Iowa State. The Hawkeyes may have found a new starting running back in freshman Brandon Wegher, who ran for 101 yards and a touchdown. Adam Robinson added another 69 yards as the Hawks rushed for a total of 191 yards. Not great, but getting better.

6. Purdue's PAT struggles: Purdue had a PAT blocked at the beginning of the 4th quarter that would have tied the game at 31-31. That missed PAT came back to haunt them when they scored with one minute to play in the game. Forced to go for two, Kyle Adams caught quarterback Joey Elliott's pass, unfortunately he caught it out of bounds and the Boilers lost 38-36.

5. Michigan in the Top 25: The Wolverines are in the top 25 for the first time in Rich Rod's tenure at UM after knocking off the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on Saturday.

4. Ralph Bolden (right): Purdue's new running back showed that he certainly wasn't a one-hit wonder after rushing for 234 yards against Toledo in week 1. The sophomore ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns against a much tougher Oregon team, and currently leads the NCAA in rushing yards with 357. The Sporting News Dave Curtis wrote a bio about Bolden earlier last week.

Photo credit: www.sportingnews.com

3. Tyler Sash: The Hawkeye safety had three picks and a forced fumble against in-state rial Iowa State, earning him Big Ten co-defensive player of the week. The sophomore has five interceptions in his last five games, dating back to last season, including a crucial interception against last year against Penn State.

2. Big Ten vs. MAC: For some reason, the Big Ten continues to struggle against the Mid-American Conference. Michigan State lost to Central Michigan, Northwestern and Indiana barely snuck by Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, respectively, and in week one Wisconsin nearly blew it at home against Northern Illinois. I don't know if the Big Ten teams overlook these squads or play down to their level or what, but they should be beating them by a lot more than three points and certainly should not be losing to these teams.

1. Tate Forcier (below): The freshman had an outstanding game for the Wolverines, leading them to victory over the 18th ranked Fighting Irish. The freshman signal caller threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns, earning him Big Ten co-offensive player of the week.

Photo Credit: www.mlive.com