Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0) #4 AP/Coaches-

Almost two weeks after demolishing the then-8^th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers and exploding onto the national scene, Wisconsin is back in action this weekend. The Badgers are well rested, and hungry to improve, but are in no way overlooking the Indiana Hoosiers team they will face this weekend.

“It was good to have that bye week and get rested up,” said coach Bielema. “But we’ve got to be ready to jump on an Indiana team that has gotten better in all three facets of the game every week.”

Despite Bielema’s stout refusal to publically acknowledge it, Wisconsin’s aspirations likely transcend this weekend’s game. For a team as talented as this one is, expecting greatness shouldn’t be anything special and this team indeed has a shot at greatness.

The aforementioned obliteration of Nebraska at Camp Randall Stadium did give the Badgers a needed win in the home opener, but also created some buzz that Wisconsin may be better than voters had previously given them credit for, as was evidenced by their rise from #7 to #4 in a two week span. Bielema gave his team credit for the jump, but was also quick to acknowledge the importance of national exposure.

“Ever since I took over here, we’ve embraced every opportunity we’ve had to play on a national stage,” he said. “The exposure that gives your program – not just for recruiting, but for the season as well – is tremendous.”

Despite the strength of his team, Bielema recognizes that the college football season is a long one, and he is attempting to prepare his team accordingly.

“Every day we tell these guys that today’s performance influences tomorrow’s results,” he said. “We take everything one day at a time and stay on task, and that’s why we’ve been successful here. We’re going to practice the same way for Indiana that we practiced for Nebraska, if not a little harder.”

While Hoosier fans don’t likely appreciate that, such a statement shows that the Badgers are in good hands.

Illinois (6-0, 2-0) #16 AP/#15 Coaches-

Despite not playing at an extremely high level for much of last Saturday’s contest with Indiana, Illinois managed to untrack their offense, started clicking and left the Hoosiers in the dust in a 41-20 victory. This week’s game will likely provide more of a challenge as they host a struggling, but talented and hungry Ohio State team.

“Their backs are against the wall,” said coach Ron Zook. “We know that they’re going to give everything that they have and we’ll need to do the same. I’m glad that we’re playing them at home.”

Zook’s comfort playing at home is totally understandable from an Illini perspective, as Illinois has gone 5-0 on their home turf so far this season, including a victory over #22 Arizona State. The challenge the Buckeyes promise to bring this weekend as they visit Memorial Stadium though will be equal to any test Zook’s Illini have faced to this point.

“Braxton (Miller) can really move and Joe (Bauserman) is more of a thrower, but this is going to be a physical game for us,” Zook said. They’re going to line up and run the ball at us and we’ll need to be ready.”

Crucial to Illinois’ ability to counterpunch against a stingy OSU defense will be the much-publicized duo of Nathan Scheelhaase and AJ Jenkins.

“Those guys put in a ton of time on their own to get better and it’s really shown this season,” said Zook. “Nate’s getting the ball out nicely and getting it to AJ, who’s making things happen.”

If they can keep “making things happen”, look for the Illini’s unbeaten streak to continue this weekend.

Penn State (5-1, 2-0) receiving votes-

Despite the popular adage that “If you have two quarterbacks, you really have none”, Penn State has been reasonably successful with – and some would argue in spite of – the two quarterback system they are currently employing. The two quarterbacks – Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden – have had their ups and downs, but both have shown Coach Joe Paterno enough that he feels comfortable with putting both of them out there on a weekly basis.

“It’s worked for us,” he said, regarding the duel-quarterback approach. “Both guys have done well and I think that both deserve to play. It’s hard to say that one is better than the other right now. If one does better than the other, then I’ll think about going to him, but right now, I’m satisfied with how the kids have played.”

While Paterno is happy with the performance of his quarterbacks, the same couldn’t be said for the play of his offensive line before last weekend’s game against Iowa.

“Our offensive line can get better. I had high hopes and had been disappointed before last weekend’s game,” he said. “Saturday though, we were aggressive, didn’t miss our assignments and finished blocks. We’re not there yet, but we looked a lot better last weekend.”

According to Paterno, that improvement will be important this week against Purdue.

“I think they’re underrated,” he said of the Boilermakers. “They’re explosive, and they play with speed and enthusiasm. They’ve hurt themselves at times, but they can score a lot of points and I’m not sure if we can do that right now.”

Whether Paterno really doubts his team or is simply engaging in coaching gamesmanship will be made clearer this weekend.

Ohio State (3-3, 0-2)-

An Ohio State team that had been nearly shut out the previous week against Michigan State looked to have its first conference win in the bag as they held a commanding lead against a highly regarded Nebraska team in the second half. Amazingly, the Buckeyes’ season of discontent continued as they managed to blow the lead and the game, leading many to wonder: What exactly is going on in Columbus?

“We saw that we did things well, but then things started going bad and we began to fall apart,” coach Luke FIckell explained. “Finishing is a huge part of this game and we didn’t do that last week. We can’t point fingers here, all we can do is figure out how we can correct it.”

If there was a bright spot in Ohio State’s disheartening loss, it was the improved play of true freshman quarterback Braxton Miller. Fickell was quick to point out improvements when asked about how he evaluated Miller’s play.

“Braxton played more confident,” he said. “He’s getting better every week and he’s showing us that he’s a competitor.”

A team still dealing with the wake of the scandal centered on the departed Jim Tressel can surely use every competitor it can get, something that Fickell seems acutely aware of.

“We’ve got to understand that we need to fight through this,” he said. “There’s no other way of getting through this. Getting knocked down is a part of life and it’s all about how you respond.”

Though that’s definitely the attitude that the Buckeyes need to have, whether they can translate that onto the field has yet to be seen.

Purdue (3-2, 1-0)-

Questions surrounded Danny Hope’s squad before last week’s game against Minnesota, as they had yet to beat any FBS team impressively and had suffered a one-sided loss at the hands of Notre Dame. A 45-17 home win over the hapless Golden Gophers answered a few of those questions.

“I thought we played with a lot of enthusiasm, protected the ball and tackled well,” said coach Hope. “We got a win and we’re excited about it.”

For a team that looked like it could be one of the worst teams in the conference prior to Saturday’s decisive win, such a sizable margin of victory was welcome. This week’s contest against Penn State is unlikely to be nearly as lopsided.

“They’ll challenge us in every way possible,” said Hope when asked about the difficulty of playing the Nittany Lions. “They’re very good, especially on defense. They have a strong linebacking corps and a strong secondary, but it’s hard to even get past the line of scrimmage against them. They’ve also got a strong offensive line that knocks you off the ball and they have a strong ground game as a result.”

To have hope of success against PSU, the Boilermaker ground game will likely need to operate at peak effectiveness.

“I like how it’s worked so far,” said Hope. “We’ve managed to get the ball in the hands of playmakers. Our backs are fast and physical and they finish runs, which is important.”

At the very least, Purdue has proven that its ground game is a source of strength. Seeing as Penn State is equally strong at stopping the run, this could end up being an intriguing contest.