The Big Ten Weekend Ten

You can find a lot of good stuff on newspapers' Web sites.

1. Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel summarized it for Wisconsin's fans in this column after their team's 37-31, last-second loss at Michigan State:

This has become such a trap game that Wisconsin has not won here since the season after Nick Saban vacated the premises. As well as Bret Bielema has done in pretty much every venue outside the Michigan capital, the MSU trashing has become a distressing part of his legacy.

But.?.?.?this?

Really?

The Badgers come from 14 down in the fourth quarter, only to have instant replay determine that halest of Hail Mary passes - Kirk Cousins' 44-yard tipped heave to a former quarterback and Oklahoma transfer by the name of Keith Nichol - makes the last-second difference in the 37-31 loss?

It's a real philosophical quandary:

Which is worse, to just get your brains scrambled in this joint, or to lose in a way guaranteed to perpetually gnaw at your guts and be replayed to infinity?

In the end, it does not matter. A loss is a loss is a loss for a team that will again have no say in how the national championship is determined.

2. Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press says in this column that there was more to the Spartans' win than the Hail Mary.

It was a crazy ending, undoubtedly lucky. But the win was certainly not lucky. Down 14-0 before the national anthem stopped echoing, against the No. 4 team in the country, a week after an emotional win over Michigan, the Spartans dominated.

They scored 31 of the game's next 34 points, a remarkable comeback by any measure, except one: They had a more remarkable comeback in store.

This game showed all the traits that could make Michigan State a special team.

3. Yes, another No. 7 quarterback-turned-receiver caught a last-second TD pass in a night game at Spartan Stadium. This was Keith Nichol of Michigan State, not Iowa's Marvin McNutt, 2009.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports wrote the following about Nichol in this column:

He was once a hotshot quarterback recruit out of Lowell, Mich. He'd declared for the Spartans only to bail when Dantonio came into replace the fired John L. Smith.

He went to Oklahoma instead. Then got beat out by Sam Bradford. He transferred home. Then got beat out by Kirk Cousins.

He could've quit. He could've sulked. He could've stood around and barely cared. Instead he became a wide receiver and now here he was, a fifth-year senior with a wild, bumpy, unpredictable career on the field for the final play of this wild bumpy, unpredictable game.

4. Nine days ago, Illinois was 6-0. Now, it is 6-2. Saturday brought a 21-14 loss at Purdue.

Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette wrote this:

One asked, "How many points do you get for a punt?" in reference to (Ron) Zook's decision to punt from the Purdue 38 on fourth and 3 in the third quarter. The Illini trailed 21-0 at the time.

"Everybody's got a second guess, second guess, second guess," Zook said. "If I thought there was a pretty good chance we would get it, I would have gone for it."

5. Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald focused on Nebraska's goodness in his column on the Huskers' 41-14 mauling of Minnesota, but he did have this snippet that Iowa fans may find interesting for Saturday's Hawkeyes-Gophers game:

When was the last time the Huskers had a conference game like this? It's hard to imagine. This was easy. It's been awhile since it was this easy.

Too easy?

Stop there. Don't do it. Don't overthink this. That's always the temptation. Minnesota's bad, and it was hard to figure just how down until you saw it in person. This program is low.

6. Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune was at TCF Bank Stadium and didn't see much to recommend the Gophers, as this column shows.

They are 0-3 in the Big Ten, outscored vs. Michigan, Purdue and Nebraska by a combined 144-31.

There is a discrepancy in the Big Ten portion in the schedule, yet it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest the signs of improved coaching -- with Jerry Kill's loyal staff compared to Brewster's chaotic collection -- have been minimal.

What's remarkable is that, with two weeks to get ready, Kill and Co. seemed to have this porous collection of defenders ready for an energetic effort.

Unfortunately, there were so many dunderheaded plays from the home team that effort mattered not.

7. Penn State, now 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten, has finally junked its two-quarterback system and has gone with Matt McGloin. Errr, maybe not, even though McGloin played all of the Nittany Lions' 34-24 win at Northwestern and Rob Bolden watched.

David Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot-News gives us this column from the scene in Evanston.

When (Joe) Paterno was asked why Bolden didn't play, he said this:

“The game was so back-and-forth, I just wasn't sure when we could put him in.”

I then asked Joe Paterno if McGloin's entire game of PT meant the quarterback rodeo was finally over and McGloin was finally the quarterback. Because he certainly looked like it.

“No, I don't know who the quarterback... There'll be days when Bolden will play and... I know you guys... We won the game. We won the game!”

8. Northwestern had five new starters on defense Saturday. It didn't help a defense that isn't very good.

Wildcats Coach Pat Fitzgerald: “I gave the guys a quote: ‘It's OK to make a mistake once, but if you make a mistake a second time, it's a choice.' We've got too many guys making the wrong choices.

“That being said, I think the No. 1 motivator in the world is a ‘watch.' It's called the bench. If you don't get it figured out and don't play fundamentally better and don't play consistently, I've got one of the best seats in Ryan Field and you're going to stand next to me.”

9. Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star is seeing growth from Purdue, which nearly won at Penn State the week before it knocked off Illinois. Here's the link to his column.

Nearly two months into this college football season, Purdue (4-3, 2-1) is finally, slowly becoming the team Short and other Boilermakers observers expected them to be. Not a powerhouse, not a Big Ten title contender, but a team that has now given itself a reasonable chance to win six games and earn a bowl berth for the first time under Danny Hope. ...

"We're just playing with so much energy now," linebacker Joe Holland said. "We're playing with swagger. At least that's what the guys call it. I call it confidence."

And growth, a lot of growth. It could have gone the other way after that slow start. But it didn't, which is a testament to Hope, his coaching staff and his players -- especially his quarterback, Caleb TerBush, who looks like a different player in his seventh start replacing the injured Rob Henry.

10. Who will coach Ohio State next year? Luke Fickell? Urban Meyer? Lovie Smith? Lovie Smith???? Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch considers the possibilities in this column.

If Fickell isn't brought back - and we don't even know on what criteria he is going to be judged - Meyer seems to be on just about everybody's radar as the prime candidate for the job. But as has been pointed out many times, Meyer's last team at Florida was 8-5 - with his recruits. He also walked away from Florida twice because of health issues, which seems important, given that coaching Ohio State is no day at the beach.

So Meyer might be the guy, and he might not, and if he's not, and Fickell's not, what then?

There are no obvious choices out there, no former Ohio State coaches or players who seem ready to step up and take what figures to be a daunting job. Michigan State and Nebraska just increased the salaries of former OSU defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio and former OSU player Bo Pelini in what appeared to be pre-emptive strikes. But frankly, neither was (or is) a slam dunk to get the job.

Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith might have a shot if he wants it; unlike a lot of pro coaches, he has college coaching in his background and was a good recruiter when he was an assistant at Ohio State.