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Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Sept. 3
Complete Release in PDF Format
Sept. 3, 2007
Big Ten Teams Get Defensive: The Big Ten's defensive units put on a smothering performance in the opening weekend with five teams holding their opponents to a touchdown or less, including shutouts for Northwestern and Penn State. The Wildcats blanked Northeastern, 27-0, to record their first shutout since posting a 24-0 win over Oklahoma in the 1997 Pigskin Classic. NU limited the visitors to only 81 yards of total offense in the second half. The Nittany Lions blanked their third team in the last six games in a 59-0 victory over Florida International. PSU forced five turnovers and limited FIU to seven first downs, 114 yards of total offense and negative-three yards rushing. In addition, Iowa held Northern Illinois to 21 yards on the ground in a 16-3 win, Ohio State limited Youngstown State to 91 yards through the air in a 38-6 triumph and Indiana allowed only 46 rushing yards in a 55-7 victory over Indiana State. Michigan State, Wisconsin and Purdue also recorded impressive defensive efforts. The Spartans built a 48-5 lead over UAB before sitting the majority of their defensive starters for the fourth quarter. The Boilermakers went on the road and jumped out to a 38-14 fourth-quarter advantage before sending in the reserves. The Badgers held a Washington State offense which ranked second in the Pac-10 last season in passing offense to less than 200 yards through the air. Wisconsin also limited the Cougars to a single touchdown in the second half to pull away for a 42-21 victory. The Next Generation: While the majority of Big Ten teams returned starting quarterbacks from a year ago, five schools broke in new signal callers on Saturday with impressive results. Iowa sophomore Jake Christensen, Michigan State junior Brian Hoyer, Minnesota freshman Adam Weber, Ohio State junior Todd Boeckman, and Wisconsin senior Tyler Donovan entered the opening weekend with a combined four starts between them. But last Saturday, the five quarterbacks combined to win four of five games and completed 77-of-129 passes (59.7 pct.) for 1,031 yards and nine touchdowns against only two interceptions. Hoyer, Boeckman and Donovan all surpassed the 200-yard mark while all five student-athletes connected on at least one scoring strike. Hoyer led all the newcomers by completing 82 percent of his passes while Donovan led the group with three touchdowns. Christensen managed a low-scoring victory on the road against Northern Illinois while Weber recovered from a slow start to throw a pair of second-half touchdowns to rally the Gophers from a 21-0 deficit and force overtime against Bowling Green. The complete breakdown of the five newest starting quarterbacks appears in the PDF of the weekly release.
Badgers Build on Win Streak: After ending last season with nine straight triumphs, Wisconsin opened the 2007 campaign with a victory over Washington State to extend its winning streak to 10 games, the school's longest streak of victories since 2000. The Badger's current stretch, which includes a Capital One Bowl win, ranks as the third-longest active winning streak among all Football Bowl Subdivision schools behind only Boise State (14) and Brigham Young (11). Wisconsin's last double-digit victory streak spanned the 1999 and 2000 campaigns when the program won 11 straight contests. Penn State ranks second among all Big Ten schools with a current four-game winning streak, including a victory in the season opener against Florida International and a triumph over Tennessee in last season's Outback Bowl. Two Successful Debuts: Two of the Big Ten's three newest head coaches opened their careers with victories last Saturday. The successful opening acts began in East Lansing, Mich., where Mark Dantonio led the Spartans to a 55-18 rout of Alabama-Birmingham. The former Cincinnati head coach becomes the fourth straight MSU mentor to open his career with a victory along with John L. Smith (2003), Morris Watts (interim-2002) and Bobby Williams (2000). Later that night, Indiana's Bill Lynch boosted the Hoosiers to an emotional 55-7 triumph over Indiana State, IU's first game since former head coach Terry Hoeppner passed away in June. Lynch joins Hoeppner (2005) and current Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo (2002) as the third straight Hoosiers' mentor to win his first outing. Minnesota's Tim Brewster, the third new conference coach, rallied the Gophers from a 21-0 deficit to force overtime before falling on a two-point conversion by Bowling Green. Dantonio and Lynch join six other active Big Ten coaches who began their tenure at their current school with a win, including both new coaches last season -- Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald and Wisconsin's Bret Bielema. The four other active conference mentors to open with a victory are Illinois' Ron Zook (2005), Ohio State's Jim Tressel (2001), Michigan's Lloyd Carr (1995) and Penn State's Joe Paterno (1966). Carr went on to win his first five games with the Wolverines in 1995, the most successful opening stretch of the Big Ten's active coaches. Bielema, who led the Badgers to a program-record 12 victories last season, became the first rookie head coach (with no prior head coaching experience) in Big Ten history to guide a team to 10 or more wins. Paterno Sets Another NCAA Record: Penn State's Joe Paterno began his 42nd season at the helm of the Nittany Lions last Saturday with a win over Florida International, establishing an NCAA record for most years as the head coach at a single institution. Paterno broke the previous record set by Amos Alonzo Stagg, who coached at Chicago for 41 seasons from 1892-1932. Stagg built a record of 244-111-27 in his 41 years at Chicago and won seven Big Ten titles. Big Ten Mentors Near Coaching Landmarks: Three other Big Ten coaches are on the verge of coaching landmarks. In his seventh season in Columbus and 22nd year as a head coach, Ohio State's Jim Tressel moved one win closer to his 200th career victory after picking up his 198th win with a defeat of Youngstown State. Tressel was the coach at YSU for 15 years, leading the Penguins to four I-AA championships before taking over the Buckeyes in 2001. Iowa's Kirk Ferentz will serve as the head coach in his 100th game on Saturday against Syracuse, as he has built a record of 56-43 in his ninth season with the Hawkeyes. Purdue's Joe Tiller will coach in his 200th game on Oct. 6 against Ohio State. Paterno Moves Up in Big Ten Century Club: Penn State's Joe Paterno continued to climb the Big Ten century club ladder after blanking Florida International last Saturday to pick up his 117th victory since the Nittany Lions joined the conference in 1993. Paterno currently ranks ninth on the list of coaches with 100 or more wins at a Big Ten school, just one triumph away from equaling current Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez for eighth place. Alvarez wrapped up his 16-year coaching tenure in Madison following the 2005 campaign with 118 wins. Michigan's Lloyd Carr is currently ranked 10th on that list with a mark of 113-37 in his 13th season leading the Wolverines. The complete list of coaches in the Big Ten century club appears in the PDF of the weekly release. More Preseason Honors for Big Ten Standouts: With the announcement of the top candidates for the Butkus, Lou Groza and Doak Walker Awards last week, the Big Ten now features 43 student-athletes on preseason watch lists for 16 different national awards. Seven Big Ten linebacker were named to the watch list for the Butkus Award, including Ohio State's James Laurinaitis, one of three finalists for this honor as a sophomore when he earned consensus All-America honors and won the Nagurski Trophy. Other Big Ten candidates include Illinois' J Leman, Iowa's Mike Klinkenborg, Michigan's Shawn Crable, OSU's Marcus Freeman, Penn State's Dan Connor and Wisconsin's Jonathan Casillas. The Big Ten has claimed seven Butkus Awards, most recently when the Nittany Lions' Paul Posluszny was honored in 2005. Three conference kickers were tabbed for the Lou Groza Award watch list, including Illinois' Jason Reda, Michigan State's Brett Swenson and Wisconsin's Taylor Mehlhaff. The Big Ten has produced two winners of this honor -- Iowa's Nate Kaeding in 2002 and Ohio State's Mike Nugent in 2004. Seven conference running backs were chosen for the Doak Walker Award watch list, including Michigan's Mike Hart, who was a finalist for this accolade as a junior and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Hart is joined on the list by the Illini's Rashard Mendenhall, the Gophers' Amir Pinnix, the Wildcats' Tyrell Sutton, the Buckeyes' Chris Wells, the Boilermakers' Kory Sheets and the Badgers' P.J. Hill. The Big Ten has brought home the Doak Walker Award on four occasions, most recently when Michigan's Chris Perry was honored in 2003. A complete list of the players on preseason watch lists for national awards appears in the PDF of the weekly release. OTHER TOP PERFORMERS LAST WEEK OFFENSE: DEFENSE: SPECIAL TEAMS: |
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