The Quickest Slant -- Bullies of the Big Ten up for grabs

This is going to be a strength game. Strength and fitness will be the "X" in every equation when Michigan State travels to Iowa City.

Who has built the bigger bully? Actually, who has built the better football player for this kind of slugfest, which, for the most part, will be stationary, an exercise in moving boulders and then catching them as they slide down hill?

Here's Michigan State's best bully numbers: just 233 rushing yards allowed in four games, just 2.04 yards a carry and only two rush TDs allowed.

When Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi takes over his own program -- a when and not an if -- the hallmark of . . . UConn? name has been connect already . . . will be a jagged defense with linebackers that are mobile destruction units and a front seven that defends every blade of grass by trampling it.

The Spartans were top 10 in the nation in rush defense the last two seasons and are No. 2 in the nation this year in all vital rush stats.

MSU is good at catching the rolling boulders, how is it in the "being the boulder"?

The Spartans are No. 57 in the country in rush yards a game at 187.0, which is pretty good. In fact, it's improved over last season when it had Le'Veon Bell and his 382 (!!!!) carries. What's better? The O-line. Left guard Blake Treadwell (6-3, 304), center Jack Allen (6-1, 297) and right guard Dan France (6-6, 312) are healthy and have been cohesive.

The Spartans lack the high-profile carries eater, but Jeremy Langford (4.62 ypc) and Nick Hill (5.6 ypc) have been productive.

Iowa is right there with MSU in bully numbers: On defense, the Hawkeyes seventh nationally with 79.0 yards a game and 2.91 yard a carry. That's a little ahead of last season, 111.0 yards a game and 3.32 ypc.

Iowa's bully numbers on offense are greatly improved over 2012. Iowa is No. 19 in the country with 244.40 yards a game. Iowa averages the exact same 4.65 yards a carry it did after five games in 2012. The difference is in '12 the Hawkeyes averaged that on 173 carries. This year, it's 263, so nearly 100 more.

It's early in the season. Iowa has yet to face its meanest bullies (you could argue that's Saturday). There are a million caveats, but that 244.40 would shatter the Ferentz-era high of 214.2 in 2002.

Going into the Iowa-Michigan matchup in 2003, UM linebacker Carl Diggs called Iowa "the bullies of the Big Ten."

Saturday's winner gets to claim that and maybe put it on a T-shirt.

B1G MOMENTS IN ROSE BOWL HISTORY - Jan. 2, 1995 - Penn State 38, Oregon 20: Penn State made its first appearance in Pasadena since 1923 and wasted no time making an impact. Ki-Jana Carter scored on an 83-yard touchdown run on the Nittany Lions first offensive play. Carter would score twice more and rush for 156 yards in the game en route to Player of the Game honors. After a 7-7 first quarter, PSU scored 31 of the next 38 points to put the game away.

BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR 100TH ANNIVERSARY SPOTLIGHT - Iowa's Larry Station: A four-year starter for the Hawkeyes from 1982-85, Station finished his career with nearly 500 tackles, leading Iowa in the category in each of his seasons. He ended his career by winning the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1986. Station recorded 125 or more tackles as a sophomore, junior and senior, years in which he earned first-team All-Big Ten accolades. He cemented his status as a College Football Hall of Famer after earning first-team All-America accolades in 1984 and 1985. In the classroom, Station earned Academic All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore, junior and senior, and was an Academic All-American in his final season.

Still Undefeated:  Three conference teams will carry unblemished marks into this weekend, and two of those squads will go head-to-head in primetime on Saturday . . .

Winning Streaks on the Line: One of the nation's longest winning streaks will come to an end Saturday when Ohio State travels to Northwestern. The Buckeyes hold the nation's longest-active winning streak at 17 straight games . . . while Northwestern's seven-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the country . .

Trophy Time:  In a conference with 16 trophy games, another traveling keepsake will be up for grabs this weekend when Michigan hosts Minnesota Saturday in the annual matchup for the Little Brown Jug. It will be the 100th meeting between the two teams and is the oldest trophy game in the Big Ten . . .

All Kinds of Yards:  Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis had a career night last Saturday against Ohio State. The senior posted career highs with 10 catches and 207 receiving yards and also posted a touchdown. He is the first conference player to finish with 200 or more receiving yards since Nov. 12, 2011 . . .

Ground Games:  When it comes to rushing attacks, Big Ten units rank among the nation's best both offensively and defensively. Six conference programs rank among the nation's top 25 on the offensive end, while seven defensive units rank among the top 30 stingiest groups . . .

Non-Conference Comparisons:  Through the majority of the 2013 non-conference season, Big Ten offenses are operating with a higher efficiency when compared to the 2012 out of conference schedule . . .

Divisional Contests:  Five Big Ten matchups are part of this weekend's slate, including three divisional matchups . . .

Here's some Mark Dantonio stuff (he's all business):

-- Gotta have your motor running. Talking about the hour time change from Lansing to IC (east to central).

-- Explosive plays: Combo of a lot of things. Execution is No. 1. Lotta things going on. Gotta beat the guy in front of you. If we have an opportunity, we need to convert.

-- Latest on QB, what are you looking for: Connor Cook is the QB. That has sort of been settled. Looking for him to grow and gain experience. Lot of ability. Great at ND. Excited about watching him. Lot of confidence in him.

-- Recruiting process with Max Bullough: Blood lines traced to ND as well. Highly recruited guy. Father and gfather played here. Mother's father played at ND. Had to work at it. Way we presented ourselves. Nothing is easy. -- Intangibles -- He worked at the experience of it. There is something in him as a person, the desire and love that goes into this place that goes beyond his abilities.

-- Vs. Iowa, characterize: They do what they do, we do what we do. They're physical. We try to match that. Close games. What separates is the inches, the attention to details. Sometimes you find them, sometimes you don't. Sort of emulated Iowa. Doing it the right way, doing it with toughness. Take somethings, the mentality, not the concepts.

-- Classic KF with the way they're running it: QB not making mistakes. Impressed with Rudock. Poise back there. Good player. Weisman a feature back. Bullock a different type of back. KMM a go-to guy.

-- MSU's great D, most complete: Make those assessments at the end of the season. As much game experience as we've had. Senior-junior dominated D. Play the ball well and tackle well. Have to continue that.

-- Rudock poised.

-- Iowa line play: Physicality on the OL. Well coached. Know how to get up on LB and take care of respective down linemen. Disciplined, tough physical. This is what they do, this is how they do it. It starts with toughness. Have to match that toughness coming in. Expect hard-fought game. Winning the LOS sets us up and them up.

-- MSU OL: It's healthy. Controlled the LOS vs. ND. That's a positive. That's where it has to start.

-- Langford developing as RB: JL is in his first year of "being the guy." Gaining valuable experience in every game. Played well vs. ND. Has to develop. He's a home run type, shakes a guy down can go the distance.

Here's KF

Intro -- Happy to get win. Pleased to get out with win. Sights toward tough MSU. Playing good football.

MSU emulating Iowa, over time most diff element to maintain -- Anytime you play in a conf like ours, it's a challenge. That never changes. Every season unique, every game unique. Stick with what you believe in. Mark and staff were great at Cincy. Continued on with quality work at MSU.

Continuity element -- Even if getting five stars, no guarantees. That's what makes CFB so interesting. You can look at any program. All go through ups and downs. Have to decide what you are and who you are and go toward those things.

Confidence up -- Don't know if there's one point, but it's been gradually building. You just keep pushing. Every week a diff challenge. If you're healthy, chance to grow.

On Scherff -- Came back and had great attitude. Good to see him coming on. Struggled with injuries two years ago. Playing good football and very respected guy on our football team. Good demeanor. Team respects him.

Matter of inches this game -- Not to sound like Pop Warner, go back to the '80s and think of the really close games we had with MSU in the '80s. Two games that got away. I don't know if I can tell you why that is. Always a handful of things. My guess is we're probably looking at that again.

MSU rush D -- They have a challenging scheme. It's not like they do all that much on paper. The Steelers didn't do all that much, but method to their madness. Good players, played hard. Kept you from being able to feel comfortable.

Better on third down -- Gotta give Jake a lot of credit. One of the more pleasing things that's happened in the last few weeks. Third-and-5 keeps you moving. Team thing. Protection and receivers. That's a positive. MSU pass defense is stellar. Not a lot of plays that will be easy.

More Jake, poise this time -- Never know until you get into games. Awareness and self control. Done a great job with that.

Spartans played three diff QBs, offense different? -- Probably fairly similar. Every QB has own style. They've found where they've wanted to be. They're moving down the road they want to move down. Good power run, QB who can throw and WRs who are dangerous. Probably won't see the run-and-shoot.

Ferentz transcript

Videos

On Michigan State D. Hard to get "clean" plays. OL making progress. On OG Conor Boffeli's health (he's OK, just a scare, walking OK, ready to go). On MSU QB Connor Cook. Quick take on Lomax (he's not fired up the jets completely). On MSU RBs. MSU offensive philosophy question. "They have an identity." Staying healthy.

Red zone offense (too many empty trips, KF acknowledged). Kevonte Martin-Manley getting tackled running a route. I asked about how the plan to hire Brian Ferentz and move Reese Morgan has worked out. "It's probably not great to be a line coach here." "Everyone in Iowa knows Reese." D-line technique. More Morgan. Stuff on Damond Powell. Powell as a playmaker. Powell finishing plays.

QB Jake Rudock as a runner. How Iowa LBs stack up. K Mike Meyer. Question on kick coverage. Pretty good breakdown and KF thinks it's fixable. On MSU LB Max Bullough. I asked about Iowa's DTs, the early days of Carl Davis and LTP. Good stuff here.

Has true frosh Desmond King passed Jordan Lomax at CB? (KF said he thought safety for King, BTW.) I asked about the health check and how closely they track the health of Weisman, because, you know, he gets hit a lot as a running back. Some stuff on the D-line, someone calling it a "resurgence." (I think it's taken steps that way. Saturday will show where it's at.) The good stories emerging (this doesn't get a great response because it's week 6, better end-of-season question). James Morris' recruitment to Iowa. Something on Rudock.