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First Posted: 9/25/2014

So it’s come to this. The Big Ten went an uplifting 12-1 last week, managed to beat an SEC team on the road (hey, Mizzou is the reigning SEC East champion) and all of the talk is about Michigan and Coke.

No, the soft drink. Get your mind out of the gutter.

If it weren’t bad enough that the Wolverines lost by 16 at home to a middle-of-the-road Pac-12 outfit, and that the game was delayed near the end by some Biblical inspired storms, then came Sodagate.

Seems there was briefly a promotion where students could buy two Coke products in a store on campus and receive two free tickets to this week’s Michigan-Minnesota tilt, roughly a $150 value.

No word yet if buying a third bottle of the stuff gave you authority to drink it directly from the Little Brown Jug.

Michigan’s athletic department reacted with horror, saying that the promotion wasn’t supposed to have been approved and the fizz magnate jumped the gun. The deal was “immediately pulled,” according to the school, but tickets received in this fashion would still be honored.

Of course, by the time the deal was “immediately pulled,” all of the tickets being offered were already gone.

Yep. Gotta keep that 100,000-plus attendance streak going.

So maybe Brady Hoke isn’t the most reviled man in Ann Arbor these days. Just maybe it’s athletic director Dave Brandon, the former Dominos Pizza CEO who has more or less treated the Yost/Schembechler Empire as though it were a chain of pepperoni mills.

Michigan fans understandably are wary of jettisoning Hoke if it means Brandon will again be in charge of the search.

But for as miserable as things have gotten in Michigan, it’s still not all that outlandish that the Wolverines could win six games or so in the Big Ten and fuel an adrenaline rush to knock off Ohio State at year’s end — something last year’s meandering 7-6 squad nearly pulled off, incidentally.

Yes, that’s the Big Ten for you. No matter how bad things look in September, there are about 10 or 12 fanbases that can talk themselves into believing a trip the to the league title game could be in the cards.

That push begins this week with five Big Ten matchups.


WEEK 5

NORTHWESTERN at PENN STATE
WILDCATS GAME INFO NITTANY LIONS

Northwestern Wildcats (1981 - Pres)

Noon, Saturday

Beaver Stadium

State College, Pa.

1-2, 0-0 Big Ten MATCHUP 4-0, 1-0 Big Ten
LINE: PSU by 10. Full preview and prediction coming Friday. Not sure what we expected out of the Wildcats coming out of that off week. But Pat Fitzgerald had promised to run the team into the ground to try and build some of the toughness that was non-existent in losses to Cal and Northern Illinois. Well, the Cats beat Western Illinois, but were outgained in the process and didn’t look too convincing. The big issue is the balky ankle of quarterback Trevor Siemian, who isn’t that fleet of foot to begin with. But beyond mobility issues, he’s having trouble keeping that back foot firmly planted when throwing, and it’s robbing him of some velocity. Northwestern’s goal in this one will be to try and spread out the Lions defense and use a lot of perimeter passes, bubble screens and the like to tire out those dominant DTs. But even a slight delay in the ball getting out to the sideline is going to give the Lions some precious time to run to the ball and wrap up those plays before they can really develop. It’s not a good situation at all for the Cats, who already lost Venric Mark and Christian Jones and will be playing with Siemian and WR Tony Jones not at 100 percent.
IOWA at PURDUE
HAWKEYES GAME INFO BOILERMAKERS

Noon, Saturday

Ross-Ade Stadium

West Lafayette, Ind.

3-1, 0-0 Big Ten MATCHUP 2-2, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: UI by 9. OK, right off the bat, this simply has to be acknowledged. Ferentz, in his usual deadpan, suggested that the gentlemen who paid for that really ought to get a hobby. The joke, of course, is that the ink is as permanent as the signatures on the coach’s mammoth contract. But that’s enough Hawkeyes-bashing for one week after a road win over a Pitt program that really feels like a twin brother in underachieving with the Hawks, and we’re not just talking about the Steelers colors. Iowa could have very easily folded after a halftime deficit and plenty of negativity around the program. But of all the strange happenings, it was an injury to starting QB Jake Rudock that seemed to fire up the Hawks as sophomore C.J. Beathard led them to victory. Sounds like Rudock (leg) will play if healthy, but it’s going to be a debate the rest of the season in Iowa City, no doubt. Purdue, meanwhile, settled back on sophomore Danny Etling under center after some experimentation. Right now, it’s just hard to see it making much of a difference. If the Boilers win two league games this year, it will be reason to celebrate in Lafayette.
TULANE at RUTGERS
GREEN WAVE GAME INFO SCARLET KNIGHTS

Noon, Saturday

High Point Solutions Stadium

Piscataway, N.J.

1-3, 0-1 AAC MATCHUP 3-1, 0-1 Big Ten
LINE: RU by 12. The Knights are almost certainly going to be 4-1 heading into another primetime showdown in Jersey next week, hosting a suddenly vulnerable Michigan squad. But the football gods just refuse to give Rutgers a reason to celebrate. What had been a confidence-affirming road win against a pesky Navy team turned into a disaster as standout tailback Paul James was lost for the season with a serious knee injury. Now that’s some rotten luck. James had gone for 96 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries before his junior season was abruptly ended. But even without James, Ralph Friedgen’s offense still plans to run as much as possible rather than put games in the hands of Gary Nova (for good reason). Justin Goodwin and Desmon Peoples combined to rush for 186 yards and Nova added a pair of TDs on QB sneaks to beat the Mids. Tulane, believe it or not, is a member of the dying shell of the old Big East that Rutgers escaped. The Wave’s only win is over FCS Southeast Louisiana, and it’s going to stay that way this week.
SOUTH FLORIDA at No. 19 WISCONSIN
BULLS GAME INFO BADGERS

Noon, Saturday

Camp Randall Stadium

Madison, Wis.

ESPNU

2-2, 1-0 AAC MATCHUP 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: UW by 34. It’s a week later and it still doesn’t look any less ridiculous. That number would be 644 — the total rushing yards the Badgers hung on Bowling Green the last time out. That’s 253 for Melvin Gordon, 158 for QB Tanner McEvoy and then 111 and 94, respectively, for Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale. That doesn’t seem possible in your run-of-the-mill 60-minute football game. Coaches and players change, but Wisconsin stays more or less the same. Eventually it’s going to catch up to the Badgers again that they have a converted safety playing quarterback while the presumptive starter tries to shake his mental block. It certainly happened against LSU. But odds are this team from the South isn’t going to be able to take advantage. The Bulls’ Marlon Mack is one of 10 backs in the country who is already over 500 yards (the Big Ten has Ameer Abdullah and Tevin Coleman there with Gordon not far behind), but it hasn’t much mattered against any opponent with a pulse. USF’s defense is no match here.
WYOMING at No. 9 MICHIGAN STATE
COWBOYS GAME INFO SPARTANS

Noon, Saturday

Spartan Stadium

East Lansing, Mich.

ESPN2

Michigan State Spartans (1983 - Pres)

3-1, 1-0 MWC MATCHUP 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: MSU by 31. When we last left Sparty, otherworldly defensive end Shilique Calhoun was doing his best Arn Anderson impression on our old friend Rob Bolden. Yes, that about sums up State’s 73-14 win over Eastern Michigan, the product of a week off to stew following a second-half collapse out at Oregon. For the sadists out there who need to know, Bolden finished 10-for-29 for 115 yards, an interception and two second-half touchdowns against the Spartans’ backups. And yes, he was on the receiving end of a German suplex. Needless to say, it was barely as useful as a scrimmage for MSU, which still remains the Big Ten’s best chance right now of reaching the inaugural playoff. This week’s game is actually a bit interesting in main part because Wyoming’s new coach is Craig Bohl, who built North Dakota State into an FCS powerhouse that still stomps the unfortunate Big 12 programs who foolishly continue to schedule the Bison. Bohl doesn’t stand a chance in this one, but he brings an energy to the Cowboy State perhaps not seen since Joe Tiller was in town.
MARYLAND at INDIANA
TERRAPINS GAME INFO HOOSIERS

1:30 p.m., Saturday

Memorial Stadium

Bloomington, Ind.

3-1, 0-0 Big Ten MATCHUP 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: IU by 4.5. Interesting! Congratulations to the Hoosiers for becoming the first Big Ten team to beat a ranked opponent of any kind this season. And also credit Maryland for shaking off a heartbreaker to beat Syracuse on the road. Indiana continues to be one of the most absolutely mystifying teams in the country, losing to Bowling Green one week before heading on the road against an SEC team, knocking off Mizzou late. Makes very little sense. One thing is for sure — both of these teams are going to be a royal pain to the rest of the conference this season. It’s doubtful that Terps fans were counting down the days to their landmark debut in a new league in… uh, Bloomington… at least not until hoops season. But now that it’s actually here, this might just be one of the most entertaining games on the slate this week. IU’s over-caffeinated offense continues to be paced by tailback Tevin Coleman, who has a fairly ridiculous 8.6 yards per carry average. This is rather terrifying news for the Terps, who somehow managed to give up 370 yards on the ground to Syracuse last week, though Indiana won’t put its QB on the move like the Orange did. It feels wrong to trust the Hoosiers to win back-to-back weeks, but here goes nothing.
MINNESOTA at MICHIGAN
GOLDEN GOPHERS GAME INFO WOLVERINES

3:30 p.m., Saturday

Michigan Stadium

Ann Arbor, Mich.

ABC

3-1, 0-0 Big Ten MATCHUP 2-2, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: UM(ichigan) by 11. Who’s ready for some Jug action? Chances are, not Michigan fans, who are too busy sharpening their pitchforks and restocking their torches after last week’s depressing loss to Utah. It’s unfathomable that Michigan is this bad. It’s absurd that in losses to Notre Dame and Utah, the Wolverines not only failed to score a touchdown on offense, but failed to even reach the red zone in both games. And this is after bringing in former Bama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier in the offseason. Maybe the only reason the Wolverines are actually favored in this one is that Minnesota competed exactly one pass in last week’s pillow fight against San Jose State. That’s because starter Mitch Leidner was held out and backup Chris Streveler was only allowed to throw seven times. He completed one pass to a receiver and threw another to a defender to finish the night with seven miserable yards. On the other side, Michigan actually benched senior Devin Gardner in the second half and tried out sophomore Shane Morris to little effect. Perhaps to the surprise of no one, both of these teams had their games suspended last week for hours by storms. Clearly a higher power is trying to tell us something, and that is that the Big Ten is a mess. As for this week? Even with Leidner, the Gophers are pretty one-dimensional. It would be fitting somehow if the Wolverines ended up crushing a lousy conference after such an awful start.
CINCINNATI at No. 22 OHIO STATE
BEARCATS GAME INFO BUCKEYES

6 p.m., Saturday

Ohio Stadium

Columbus, Ohio

2-0, 0-0 AAC MATCHUP 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: OSU by 15.5. The Buckeyes’ loss to VaTech looks worse and worse every week as the Hokies followed up their big win with losses to ECU and Georgia Tech. So maybe it’s understandable that Ohio State is being written off in a lot of corners, especially without Braxton Miller. Opponents are probably going to need to get their shots in while they still can, before J.T. Barrett — last seen throwing six touchdowns against a miserable Kent State team — can get fully comfortable with the offense and the Buckeyes’ shaky O-line settles in. Urban Meyer and Friends have had a week to prepare for a far more competent team in Tommy Tuberville’s Bearcats. Most notably, they have Gunner Kiel at quarterback. That would be the Gunner Kiel who originally committed to home state Indiana, switched to LSU and then ultimately signed with Notre Dame before transferring to Cincy, leaving a whooooole lotta bitterness in his wake. Now that he’s actually playing for one of these teams, he’s thrown 10 touchdowns in just two games. He should manage to rack up some nice stats in the Shoe, but the Bearcats defense is too weak to actually pull off the upset.
ILLINOIS at No. 21 NEBRASKA
FIGHTING ILLINI GAME INFO CORNHUSKERS

9 p.m., Saturday

Memorial Stadium

Lincoln, Neb.

3-1, 0-0 Big Ten MATCHUP 4-0, 0-0 Big Ten
LINE: UNL by 20. Yeah, so the atmosphere won’t quite be the same as last Saturday night when the Huskers faithful pulled out all the stops to harass hated Miami. Illinois typically only generates that level of animosity amongst its own fanbase. As it turns out, the Illini’s game against Texas State last week was delayed in the second half because of “lightning” and not “basic human decency” as first believed. Illinois announced that anyone would be allowed to enter the Stadium to watch the finish, ticket or not. Those who took the program up on the offer got to see a 17-point turnaround in the fourth quarter for a narrow win over the mighty Bobcats. Yeah, they’ll take it. One shudders to think how a defense that allowed 475 yards of offense to a barely-FBS team will fare against a Nebraska power run game that’s firing on all cylinders right now, especially in a hostile environment. Illinois doesn’t seem to be capable of stopping anyone right now, though that 3-1 record built on wins over Youngstown State, Western Kentucky and Texas State might be just enough to push the Illini to a 6-6 record and a shot at a bowl game. All of that seems irrelevant this week though. The Huskers should hit 40 in the win.