Thursday, October 27, 2005
Top-heavy: And then there were four. Four teams stand at the summit of the Big Ten lead with a loss, with another three stuck on two losses waiting for the co-leaders to stumble in the final four weeks of the conference race. Here's what remains for the top teams: Penn State (7-1, 4-1): Purdue, Wisconsin, bye week, at Michigan State. Wisconsin (7-1, 4-1): at Illinois, at Penn State, Iowa, bye week. Northwestern (5-2, 3-1): Michigan, Iowa, at Ohio State, at Illinois. Ohio State (5-2, 3-1): at Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, at Michigan. Of course, the game of the year figures to be Wisconsin at Penn State on Nov. 5. But don't go asking Joe Paterno about his team's prospects in that game or any other game beyond Saturday at 3:30 p.m. "I am learning about Purdue, period, one game at a time," the 78-year-old coach said. "That has been my life not only as far as football goes, but everything in my life. Take care of the little things first and the big things will take care of themselves. I have never felt that I had the luxury of being able to go beyond that." Purdue is clearly the biggest disappointment in the conference. Some thought the Boilermakers might just steal the championship; instead, they're winless. Still, Joe Pa isn't checking out the terrain in November. "I know sometimes you say, 'Ah, he is full of baloney,"' Paterno said of reporters questioning his focus on the Boilermakers. "I am telling you that the only thing I am worrying about right now is whether we can beat Purdue."
Michigan man: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady once asked Jon Falk, Michigan's equipment manager, which of his slew of championship rings was his favorite. "The next one," Brady recalled Falk saying. The next time Falk, who has been at Michigan since 1974, will work during a game is unknown because his leg was broken after being hit on the sideline at Iowa. He had surgery earlier this week. "I went into the training room after the game and Jon had tears in his eyes as I talked to him," Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said. "I said, 'You must be in unbelievable pain.' He says, 'No, I was just thinking next Saturday is going to be the first Michigan football game I have missed in 30-some years."'
Dirty work: As the nation's third-leading rusher, Laurence Maroney is no secret. But Minnesota's big-time running back doesn't owe all that success to a stout offensive line or his professional-quality breakaway speed. Gophers receivers have developed into excellent downfield blockers. This season, Maroney has scored nine times, including once on a pass. Six of those TDs came from distances of 30 yards or more, an impressive statistic that wouldn't be possible without receivers sustaining their blocks in the secondary. "Our wide receivers love to block," said sophomore Ernie Wheelwright. "We like catching the ball, but we get a lot of enjoyment out of blocking for Laurence Maroney."
Farewell tour: The Barry Alvarez farewell tour stops in Champaign this week when No. 15 Wisconsin takes on lowly Illinois. Alvarez, who's stepping aside as head coach at the end of the year, is 7-5-1 against the Illini since taking over at Wisconsin in 1990. "He's done an unbelievable job with their program. When you go back and you look, up until just maybe two, three years ago, his staff was pretty much intact for such a long period of time," said first-year Illinois coach Ron Zook. "To me, that really says a lot. You look at the record and you can see what he's done, but when you see coaches that stay there for a long period of time, I think it says a lot about the way he runs the program."
Beat-up Badgers: Several Wisconsin players have bumps and bruises, but don't expect them to get a rest any time soon. The Badgers have not had a bye week yet this year -- and their week off doesn't come until after their final Big Ten game against Iowa on Nov. 12. Iowa has the previous Saturday off to prepare for that game, marking the third time a Badgers' opponents will have had two weeks to get ready. Alvarez said he is holding lighter practices to keep his team fresh. "I'm sensitive to the length of the season and how beat up a lot of our people are," he said.
In the enemy camp: Minnesota head coach Glen Mason played at Ohio State under Woody Hayes, and then was an assistant for eight years under Hayes and Earle Bruce at his alma mater. Three other members of his staff have extensive ties to Ohio. Only one, however, has to watch what he says at family gatherings. The Golden Gophers first-year receivers coach is Luke Tressel, the nephew of Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel and son of the Buckeyes running backs coach, Dick Tressel. "Their wide receivers might be the second-best coached in the country behind ours," Jim Tressel said, cracking a smile.
Quick-hitters: The winner of Indiana at Michigan State on Saturday will need just one more win to become bowl-eligible. The Hoosiers haven't been to a bowl game since 1993. ... Penn State QB Michael Robinson, Northwestern S Herschel Henderson and Ohio State punt returner Ted Ginn Jr. were the Big Ten's players of the week. ... Minnesota's Glen Mason on his team's lack of success against Ohio State: "Minnesota hasn't beaten Ohio State very often. Do you know how many times since 1969? Twice. We [the current coaching staff] have one of those. I don't know who the other guy is, but he's not around anymore."
Associated Press