Well after 9 weeks of exciting football the Hawkeyes luck finally ran out.  The dream of a national championship was gone.  But that wasn’t the worst part.  QB Ricky Stanzi was knocked to the turf and left the game with an ankle injury.  According to KCCI, Stanzi is out for the rest of the season after he underwent surgery this morning.  The Cinderella story has turned into a Hitchcock nightmare.  Now the Hawkeyes are going to have to fight for a share of the Big Ten title with redshirt freshman James Vandenberg at the helm.  I like Vandenberg’s spirit.  He said, “There’s no time to hang our heads, we’re in a race with two other good teams and it’s all going to be about getting back to work.”

If you haven’t noticed yet, the Wildcats are playing some great football this year.  Someone noticed.  The Northwestern Wildcats are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week.  After Iowa jumped out to a 10-0 lead the Wildcats shut them down for the rest of the game.  It was not a great fantasy point game but your fantasy point leaders included:  Iowa RB Brandon Wegher with 63 yards rushing and 14 receiving.  Stanzi had 134 yards passing and a TD before leaving the game and Marvin Mcnutt had 91 yards receiving and a TD.   For the Wildcats Dan Persa led the rushers with 67 yards plus he threw for 37 yards and a TD before being injured.  Mike Kafka had 72 yards passing.  And Scott Concannon had 58 yards rushing.

Wisconsin edged out Indiana in a close one as the Badgers won 31-28.  Ind QB Ben Chappell threw for 323 yards and 3 TD’s.  WR Tandon Doss had 91 yards receiving and 2 TD’s.  For the Badgers, RB John Clay was again among the stat leaders as he compiled 134 yards rushing, 10 receiving and a TD before being injured.  Back up RB Monte Ball was ready though and rushed for 115 yards, added 11 yards receiving and scored 2 TD’s.

Another big story this week was Purdue winning in Ann Arbor, the first time they have done that since 1966.  Purdue QB Joey Elliot passed for 367 yards.  He rushed for 20 more and threw a TD and ran for a TD.  Yes, he does do it all.  RB Ralph Bolden ran for 98 yards, had 38 yards receiving and 3 TD’s.  On the Wolverine side, RB Brandon Minor had 3 TD’s and 154 yards rushing.  Roy Roundtree hauled in 126 yards receiving and a TD.

And there was some other game this week.  Oh yes, Ohio State thumped Penn State and asked “Whose your Daddy?” after their 24-7 win.  The Buckeye QB, Terelle Pryor, only threw for 125 yards but 2 of those passes were for TD’s.  He also ran for a TD and 50 yards.  PSU RB Evan Royster was held to only 36 yards rushing.  The Buckeyes now play Iowa with the winner of that game earning at least a share of the Big Ten title this year.

Ok, looking ahead to week 11 we have a big game and no, I am not talking about the trophy game between Illinois and Northwestern.  Iowa travels to Columbus to play Ohio State for a share of the Big Ten title.  I know…it has lost some of its luster now that Stanzi is out but I am not counting the Hawkeyes out yet.  I wouldn’t start Vandenberg in my fantasy league this week but I would be happy starting other Hawkeye players in this game.  I think Iowa will play the next two games very inspired to get to the Rose Bowl.

As for the trophy game, let’s start the cheering for the new name Trophy.  Sorry, I actually have to look the title of this one up.  The former Sweet Sioux Tomahawk game is now the “Land of Lincoln Trophy”.  I kid you not.  This trophy is one of the oldest trophies in the Big Ten yet we now have a new name for it.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for being culturally sensitive and doing away with all references in sport that may be offensive ( Ex: Yankees, Redskins and any team from Philadelphia).  I just hate having to learn new names for something that is one of the oldest trophies in the conference.  At least they haven’t added corporate naming rights to the trophies yet.
Predictions:

Penn State 31 – Indiana 14

Purdue 27 – Michigan State 21

Minnesota 34 – South Dakota State 10

Wisconsin 33 – Michigan 17

Northwestern 38 – Illinois 7

Iowa 14 – Ohio State 13 (The Black & Gold run isn’t over yet.)

Related posts:

1. Big 10 Bookends: Not That Hawkeye
2. Big 10 Bookends: Big 10 is Big Pimpin’
3. Big 10 Bookends: Buckeyes see Roses again
4. Big 10 Bookends: The Forcier of Nature
5. Big 10 Week 12 Bookends: Buckeyes Stand Alone Atop Big 10

Tags: Big 10