Big Ten’s new era begins today

Buckeyes host Michigan St.; Penn St. visits Indiana

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Mark Dantonio grew up an hour from the massive Horseshoe on the banks of the Olentangy River that Ohio State has called its home field since 1922. He spent three years as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, helping the Buckeyes win the national championship in 2002. His wife is an Ohio State graduate.

And now he brings his Michigan State team into Ohio Stadium to play the Buckeyes.

Everybody but Dantonio, it seems, is talking about whether a victory might make him a candidate to become the Buckeyes’ next coach.

Luke Fickell is Ohio State’s interim coach. To hang onto the job beyond his one-year contract, he cannot afford many losses.

PENN STATE-INDIANA

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

Joe Paterno and Kevin Wilson will meet for the first time today.

Indiana’s Wilson and Penn State’s Paterno both have a few things in common. They worry about offenses that have not met expectations. Both teams rank near the bottom of the Big Ten in points per game and yards rushing, and both coaches have turned their attention to fixing the little things.

Paterno is a perfect 14-0 all-time against the Hoosiers, and he’s hoping the first game in Leaders Division history will provide the jump start his team needs.

Wilson, meanwhile, is hoping the Hoosiers can rebound from an embarrassing loss at North Texas. But they haven’t started 1-0 in league play since 2000.

Notre Dame-PURDUE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.

For all the progress Notre Dame has made the past two games, the Fighting Irish could be back in the doldrums with another rash of mistakes at Purdue.

Notre Dame is coming off wins against Michigan State and Pittsburgh, but the Fighting Irish (2-2) might have a better record if not for their 15 turnovers. The team ranks last nationally in turnover margin.

Quarterback Tommy Rees is directly responsible for nine of Notre Dame’s turnovers — six interceptions and three fumbles. More miscues could give the underdog Boilermakers (2-1) a boost under the lights at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Purdue will play two quarterbacks.

Caleb TerBush is the starter. He led a game-winning drive in the 27-24 win over Middle Tennessee State in the opener, then led Purdue down the field in the final minutes against Rice before Carson Wiggs’ field goal was blocked in the closing seconds of a 24-22 loss. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 143 yards in a 59-0 win over Southeast Missouri State.

Robert Marve, the backup, has played once since missing a year after ACL surgery, but the former University of Miami quarterback is familiar with big-time environments. He opened his Miami career at Florida in 2008, led the Hurricanes to a win at Texas A&M the next week and started against Florida State later in the year. After transferring, he started Purdue’s opener at Notre Dame last season and completed 31 of 42 passes for 220 yards in a 23-12 loss.

Nebraska-Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis.

Nebraska’s first game in the Big Ten is one of the Wisconsin’s biggest games in history.

The seventh-ranked Badgers (4-0) haven’t hosted a game between top 10 opponents since 1962. That changes tonight when they take on the eighth-ranked Cornhuskers (4-0) at Camp Randall Stadium.

Both teams have a lot of similarities. They like to use their running attacks to set up play-action passing and both have dual threat quarterbacks.