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Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Oct. 1
Complete Release in PDF Format
Oct. 1, 2007
Two Big Ten Teams Among Top Five: After a week in which seven of the top 13 teams in the Associated Press (AP) poll were knocked off, Ohio State and Wisconsin remained perfect to break into the top five of all three national rankings. The Buckeyes earned a road triumph at Minnesota to jump to fourth in the AP, USA Today and Harris Interactive polls, their first top-five appearance since ending last season rated second in the national rankings. The Badgers edged previously-unbeaten Michigan State to climb to fifth in all three polls, a spot they previously held earlier this year when they were ranked fifth by the AP and USA Today on Sept. 4. The Big Ten and the Pac-10 (California and USC) lead all conferences with two top-five teams entering October. The Big Ten boasts two top-five teams in at least one of the national polls for the 13th time in the last 18 rankings, as the conference ended last season with Ohio State rated second by the AP and USA Today with Wisconsin ranked fifth by the USA Today. Big Ten Tied for Conference Lead with Three Unbeatens: While seven unbeaten teams outside the Big Ten suffered their first defeats last week, three of the conference's four undefeated programs remained perfect with victories on Saturday. Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin all improved to 5-0 on the year while Michigan State suffered its first loss, a narrow three-point defeat on the road against the unbeaten Badgers. The Big Ten is tied for first among all conferences with three teams boasting unblemished records along with the Big East (Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida) and Pac-10 (Arizona State, California, Southern California). Overall, only 15 Football Bowl Subdivision programs have not suffered a loss so far this season. The Big 12 (Kansas, Missouri) and SEC (Kentucky, LSU) each feature a pair of unbeatens while Boston College and Hawaii are also perfect on the year. Of the 15 undefeated teams, 11 have produced 5-0 records. At least one of the Big Ten unbeatens will suffer their first loss next weekend when the Buckeyes and Boilermakers battle in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Big Ten Unbeatens: Three Big Ten teams have yet to lose a game so far in 2007 with Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin boasting 5-0 marks. Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel is off to a 5-0 start for the fourth time in seven seasons at the helm and the second straight year after recording a perfect 12-0 regular season in 2006. Purdue's Joe Tiller has started the season with five straight wins for the second time in his tenure in West Lafayette after his Boilermakers jumped out to a 5-0 start in 2004. The last time Purdue started a campaign with six or more victories was in 1943, when the team produced a perfect 9-0 record. The Badgers have opened with five straight triumphs for the third time in the past four seasons and the first time under head coach Bret Bielema, who led UW to a school-record 12 victories last season but suffered his only loss in the fourth game of the year. The last time Wisconsin began a season with six or more triumphs was when the team sprinted to a 9-0 start in 2004. Impressive Starts for Illinois, Indiana and Michigan State: In addition to three undefeated teams, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan State have each jumped out to impressive 4-1 marks. The Fighting Illini knocked off No. 21/19/19 Penn State last Saturday to post their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2001. Illinois, which won only four games the last two seasons combined, has won four of its first five games for the first time since winning the 2001 Big Ten Championship with a 10-1 regular-season record. In addition, the program is 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 1991 campaign. Also last Saturday, the Hoosiers picked up their first victory in Iowa City since 1999 to improve to 4-1 for the second time in the last three seasons. IU also won four of its first five games in 2005 and the school's last 5-1 start occurred during the 1994 campaign. The Spartans fell to 4-1 last weekend after suffering a narrow defeat on the road against unbeaten Wisconsin. MSU is off to a 4-1 start for the second time in three seasons, after opening with four wins before suffering a loss in 2005. The school's most recent 5-1 start took place when the Spartans sprinted to a 7-1 record in 2003. Another Undefeated Matchup on Saturday: For the second straight weekend, the Big Ten schedule will be highlighted by two unbeaten conference teams facing off when Purdue hosts Ohio State. Last weekend, Wisconsin handed Michigan State its first loss of the year to maintain its perfect record. The Badgers will look to remain undefeated on Saturday when they travel for a road game at Illinois. Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin One Win From Bowl Berth: After improving to 5-0 last weekend, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are just one victory from securing a bowl berth. The Buckeyes are aiming for their eighth straight bowl excursion and seventh consecutive bowl under head coach Jim Tressel. The Boilermakers are targeting their second straight bowl trip and 10th postseason appearance in Joe Tiller's 11th year as the head coach. The Badgers are looking for their sixth straight bowl trip and the second in two years under head coach Bret Bielema. With 4-1 marks, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan State are just two triumphs away from becoming eligible for a spot in a bowl game. The Big Ten has seven bowl tie-ins this season - the Rose Bowl/Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game, Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight and Motor City Bowls. If the Big Ten champion (or co-champion) is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the final BCS rankings, then that team will participate in the BCS National Championship Game, to be played on Jan. 7, 2008 in New Orleans, La. The Nation's Best Fans: Five of the six Big Ten home games last weekend set season-highs in attendance with Illinois, Iowa, Purdue and Wisconsin boasting packed houses. In addition, Minnesota and Northwestern welcomed their largest crowds of the season on Saturday. The Big Ten boasts the nation's top three teams in average attendance, as Michigan leads the country with an average of 110,360 fans per contest. Penn State ranks second with 108,421 fans per outing while Ohio State rates third with 104,844 per game. In all, seven Big Ten programs rank among the top 30 in national attendance including No. 14 Wisconsin (81,667), No. 23 Iowa (70,585), No. 24 Michigan State (67,897) and No. 30 Purdue (59,264). Four Big Ten Standouts Crack Top Ten: Four Big Ten student-athletes climbed into the top 10 of conference career statistical categories last weekend, including the Michigan duo of Mike Hart and Chad Henne, Indiana's James Hardy and Purdue's Dorien Bryant. Henne returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games due to injury and immediately shattered the school record for career touchdown passes on the opening drive at Northwestern. He later added two more scoring tosses to boost his career numbers to 75 touchdowns, to move ahead of Michigan's John Navarre (72 from 2000-03) and Iowa's Chuck Long (74 from 1981-85) for second on the all-time Big Ten list behind only Purdue's Drew Brees (90 from 1997-2000). Henne also increased his career passing yardage total to 8,375 stripes to move past Iowa's Drew Tate (8,292 yards from 2003-06) for 10th on the career list. Hart recorded 30 carries for 106 yards against the Wildcats to break into the Big Ten top 10 with 907 career rushing attempts, passing Minnesota's Thomas Hamner (882 carries from 1996-99). Hart also moved ahead of Michigan's Jamie Morris (4,393 yards from 1984-87) with 4,440 rushing yards in his career, good for ninth on the all-time list just behind Wolverines' record holder Anthony Thomas (4,472 yards from 1997-2000). In a win at Iowa, Indiana's Hardy hauled in his 27th career touchdown reception to equal five other Big Ten standouts for ninth on the all-time charts. Purdue's Bryant collected eight receptions for 82 yards in a victory over Notre Dame to boost his career numbers to 245 catches for 3,062 stripes. He remained in fifth place on the Big Ten career list in receptions while surpassing Michigan State's Andre Rison (2,992 yards from 1985-88) and fellow-Boilermaker Brian Alford (3,029 from 1994-97) for ninth place in receiving yardage. Badgers Build on Nation's Longest Winning Streak: Wisconsin picked up another win on Saturday against Michigan State to extend the school's current victory streak to 14 games, the longest active winning streak among all Football Bowl Subdivision schools and the second-longest winning streak in program history. The Badgers have opened the 2007 campaign with five victories after ending last season with nine straight wins, including a triumph in the Capital One Bowl. The last time UW won more than 14 games in a row was more than 100 years ago, when the Badgers set the school record with 17 straight victories spanning the 1900, 1901 and 1902 campaigns. Buckeyes Extend Regular-Season Victory Streak: With a win at Minnesota on Saturday, Ohio State built upon its school record with a 23rd consecutive regular-season triumph. The Buckeyes have not lost a regular-season game since dropping a 17-10 decision at Penn State on Oct. 8, 2005. The 23-game winning streak shatters the previous school mark of 21 straight triumphs set from 1967-69. The last time a conference team won more than 23 straight regular season contests was when Michigan produced 24 consecutive victories from 1946-49, including back-to-back perfect seasons in 1947 and 1948. Penn State produced 23 consecutive victories from 1985-87 but did not play its first season of Big Ten football until 1993. Similarly, Michigan State won 28 straight regular-season games from 1950-53 but did not join the conference until 1953. Ohio State and Wisconsin Streaking in Big Ten Play: Ohio State also holds the longest current winning streak in conference play as the Buckeyes extended their current string of success to 16 contests with a victory over the Gophers. OSU's 16-game winning streak is the school's longest since equaling the program record with 17 straight Big Ten triumphs from 1974-76, a string of success also accomplished from 1967-69 and 1954-56. Michigan is the only team to win more consecutive conference games, setting the all-time record with 19 straight victories from 1990-92. Wisconsin ranks second to Ohio State with a current nine-game Big Ten winning streak, the longest conference victory streak in program annals breaking the previous record of seven straight wins established during the 1999 campaign. Bielema Off To Best Big Ten Coaching Start Since 1905: Wisconsin's Bret Bielema is now only the second head coach in Big Ten history to win at least 17 of his first 18 games, joining prestigious company that includes only Michigan legend Fielding Yost. More than 100 years ago, Yost opened his time in Ann Arbor with a record of 55-0-1 from 1901-05. Bielema improved to 17-1 in his second season in Madison with a narrow victory over Michigan State. Only two other Big Ten coaches won 16 of their first 17 games -- the Ohio State pair of John B. Eckstrom (16-0-1 from 1899-1900) and Carroll C. Widdoes (16-1 from 1944-45). Big Ten Schedule Set for Oct. 13: The following schedule has been confirmed for games on Saturday, Oct. 13: OTHER TOP PERFORMERS LAST WEEK OFFENSE: DEFENSE: SPECIAL TEAMS: |
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