Madison may be 'buzzing' on Saturday

By Mark Francescutti

Daily Sports Editor

Is the Big Ten in trouble? Not really - but after most teams struggled during the nonconference period, people are questioning the midwest powerhouse.

Penn State fell off the AP Top 25 the first week, Illinois and Wisconsin squeaked by California and Cincinnati this past weekend. Purdue and Michigan already have losses. Indiana blew two games by seven or fewer points. Northwestern and Iowa - well, they're Northwestern and Iowa.

"Three or four plays, and all those games could have been different," Indiana coach Cam Cameron said. "Last year the Big Ten won those close ballgames."

Well, now about half of them should get a 'W' as the conference season begins.

No. 7 Wisconsin: With a not-too-threatening opponent in Northwestern this week, possible bee swarms remain the hot topic in Madison.

Wisconsin officials advised fans before the Cincinnati game about huge swarms of bees that may enter the stadium. Here's the warning from the Badgers' Website.

"It is suggested that you cover as much of your body as possible in a manner that bees cannot access your body and carefully examine your food and drinks each time you partake. If you have a known allergy to bee stings, it would be wise to bring your own self-injection kit. The first-aid stations in the stadium and fieldhouse and the paramedics in the stadium are prepared to provide care for those who do get stung."

No. 14 Ohio State: The biggest problem facing the Buckeyes other than a young defensive front seven is that they have to get up for a Penn State team teetering on total disaster. But John Cooper may be seeing deja vu, as Ohio State dealt with much of the same difficulties last season that Penn State struggles with today.

"You lose that first game to Southern Cal just like we lost to Miami a year ago, and you lose your confidence," Cooper said. "It's hard to bounce back.

"There's going to be some peaks and valleys."

The Buckeyes finished 6-6 last season, after replacing a top-notch defense with a new load of freshmen - a trend that continues this year.

"We only have two seniors (up front)," Cooper said. "The rest of them are underclassmen. We're playing two freshmen and a couple redshirt freshmen up front."

No. 19 Illinois: While Michigan struggles with key injuries on both sides of the ball, the Fighting Illini have had the pleasure of a mostly injury-free starting roster over the past couple weeks. Quarterback Kurt Kittner, who sprained his knee and left the game against California, is fine and will start against the Wolverines. Kittner is 40-of-67 for 406 yards and seven touchdowns thus far this season.

"He improved his accuracy from last year, he's making quicker and better decisions," coach Ron Turner said. "He's off to a good start."

No. 21 Purdue: The biggest question surrounding Purdue's 23-21 loss to Notre Dame continues to be the lack of a passing attack. Brees completed only 13 of 22 passes for 221 yards with one interception. Meanwhile, the zebramen threw a horde of yellow at the Boilermakers.

Purdue committed 10 penalties for a total of 78 yards, halting much of Purdue's offensive. Four of the 10 penalties came in the final quarter, which halted the Boilermakers comeback chances.

No. 23 Michigan State: Three years, three wins over the Fighting Irish.

But this season, the times have changed. Bob Davie and Notre Dame aren't a has-been team of decades ago. These Irish are up and coming. Nothing tells the story more than its run through a gauntlet of a schedule - knocking off Texas A&M and Purdue, while scaring No. 1 Nebraska to death in a 28-24 overtime loss in between.

"Notre Dame is a much better team than a year ago," Michigan State coach Bobby Williams said. "I am very impressed with Gary Godsey. I thought he did a great job of taking that team down the field. He can move pretty well."

Williams also said Ryan Van Dyke should get the start this weekend.

"Ryan practiced a little bit" Monday, Williams said. He's a lot better than he was last week. I'll expect that he'll be able to go on Saturday."

Running back T.J. Duckett has controlled the Spartans' offense thus far, rushing for an average of 175 yards a game.

"We haven't thrown the ball a lot," Williams said. "The passing game has to come around because people are loading up the box."

Indiana: Is Antwaan Randle El tired out yet? The multi-talented quarterback rushed 39 times in the first two games, while completing 25-of-53 passes through the air. You think regular quarterbacks are important -Randle El now accounts for more than 75 percent of Indiana's offense.

His performance thus far still hasn't been enough to finish off the Hoosiers' opponents. Indiana dropped a 41-34 contest to Kentucky and a 41-38 matchup to North Carolina State, something Cameron blames on fourth-quarter follies.

"We were able to do it against Illinois last year in overtime," Cameron said. "We've just got to believe in what we're doing and finish plays. We go right down the field (against Kentucky) in a minute (to the 10-yard line) and then we throw three incompletions."

Penn State: The catastrophe continues in Happy Valley. Joe Paterno now has to win out to break Bear Bryant's all-time victory record.

But more important than records, the Penn State offense is in such serious jeopardy, Alex Trebek may start calling soon. Blown out by Southern Cal, upset by Toledo, and shut out by Pittsburgh, most of the Nittany Lions' shortcomings have come up not on the young defensive side, but on the offense.

Paterno even admitted yesterday that some of his defensive players have lost confidence in the offense to produce.

"I think there's a little of that," Paterno said. "But I think it's just human nature that there is bound to be some frustration."

Iowa: Let's see, an 11-game losing streak is on the line and who comes up next on the Hawkeyes' schedule - No. 1 Nebraska.

"They're number one right? No big surprise here," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I don't think they've missed a beat."

Iowa fans came out in hordes for the Iowa-Iowa State matchup at Kinnick Stadium. This week, they can probably think ahead to wrestling season.

So far this season Iowa has allowed 422 yards per game, leaving one to wonder how much blood Eric Crouch smells.

Northwestern: A trip to Wisconsin may not be the opener Northwestern was looking for, but with the scandalous happenings in Badgerland, plus proof that they are beatable (see Cincinnati, almost), the Wildcats feel they have a chance.

But first, Northwestern must stop Wisconsin's running game. Texas Christian's LaDainian Tomlinson crushed the Wildcats for 243 yards on 39 carries including two touchdowns in the 41-14 victory.

Northwestern was actually up in Saturday's game thanks to a 39-yard touchdown run by Damien Anderson. Texas Christian took control from there.

AP PHOTO

Another Purdue loss would really put the hurt on

quarterback Drew Brees' Heisman hopes.