Rossow's Big Ten report
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SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Ohio State 30 Illinois 0
Michigan 36 Indiana 33
Minnesota 35 Northwestern 24
Wisconsin 38 Michigan State 30
Iowa 21 Penn State 10
Notre Dame 24 Purdue 21
NEXT SATURDAY'S GAMES
Arkansas State at Iowa 11 a.m.
Michigan at Michigan State 11 a.m.
Northwestern at Purdue 11 a.m.
Wisconsin at Minnesota 11 a.m.
Penn State at Illinois 2:30 p.m.
Ohio State at Indiana 6 p.m.
saturday's stars
TRESSELS, all ages. Ohio State's rout of Illinois was the 500th win for the Tressel family. Family patriarch Lee Tressel was 155-52-6 from 1958 to '80 at Baldwin-Wallace, son Dick Tressel was 124-102-2 at Hamline from 1978 to 2000 and son Jim Tressel is now 221-77-2 in 24 years at Youngstown State and with the Buckeyes.
OFFENSIVE LINE, Minnesota. The Big Ten's worst rushing attack (85.7 yards) put up 166 against the Wildcats.
DEFENSE, Ohio State. The Buckeyes have allowed one touchdown the last 11 quarters and have back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1996, when they blanked Minnesota and Illinois.
GARRETT GRAHAM, Wisconsin. His three scores tied a school record for touchdowns by a tight end, and the senior set a program mark for career TDs (13) at the position.
FRESHMEN, Indiana. Darius Willis rushed for 154 yards – the most by a Hoosiers running back in four years – and two touchdowns. And Nick Freeland tied a school record with four field goals.
JOHN CLAY, Wisconsin. Running back lost his starting spot after fumbling three times last week against Wofford. He got it back Saturday by rushing for 142 yards and a score.
WALK-ONS, Michigan. Safety Jordan Kovacs had a career-high four tackles in his first career start. He is the second walk-on to start for the Wolverines in consecutive weeks after linebacker Kevin Leach got the nod against Eastern Michigan.
SATURDAY'S QUOTE
- "We made way too many mistakes, and I feel like all we did was bail ourselves out. We were able to get water out of the boat and stay afloat." – Michigan defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen, upset with his team's performance.
BOWL FORECAST
Looking good: Wisconsin. We're starting to believe in the high-scoring Badgers, even if they've played all their games at Camp Randall. If they can split their upcoming two-game swing to Minnesota and Ohio State, they'll be in position for a January game. Not a bad way to end the season: a trip to Hawaii on Dec. 5 before a game in Florida a month later.
Looking bad: Northwestern. Hard to believe the Wildcats have four more wins in them even with Miami (Ohio) and Indiana coming to Evanston. Especially if they keep blowing second-half leads like they've done the last two weeks.
ILLINI RECORD BOOK
Saturday marked the 19th time Illinois has been shut out by Ohio State. The list:
YEAR SCORE SITE
2009 30-0 Columbus
1998 41-0 Champaign
1996 48-0 Columbus
1986 14-0 Champaign
1977 35-0 Champaign
1973 30-0 Champaign
1969 41-0 Columbus
1964 26-0 Champaign
1961 44-0 Columbus
1951 0-0 Columbus
1939 21-0 Columbus
1937 19-0 Columbus
1936 13-0 Champaign
1935 6-0 Columbus
1932 3-0 Champaign
1931 40-0 Columbus
1920 7-0 Champaign
1917 13-0 Columbus
1902 0-0 Columbus
ILLINI SCHEDULE
Sept. 5 Missouri 37, UI 9
Sept. 12 UI 45, Illinois St. 17
Saturday Ohio State 30, UI 0
Oct. 3 vs. Penn State
Oct. 10 vs. Michigan State
Oct. 17 at Indiana
Oct. 24 at Purdue
Oct. 31 vs. Michigan
Nov. 7 at Minnesota
Nov. 14 vs. Northwestern
Nov. 27 at Cincinnati
Dec. 5 vs. Fresno State
I don't see more than two wins left on that schedule, and I wouldn't be surprised if Illinois goes winless the rest of the way. Who in the Big Ten is playing worse than Illinois?
Ron Guenther made the mistake of hanging onto Lou Tepper and Ron Turner a season longer than he should have. I fear he'll make the same mistake with Zook. If the Illini somehow turn things around and win six or seven games, by all means Zook should return. But if this season continues to be ugly, he's got to go, regardless of the buyout costs.








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