Like Ohio State, most Big Ten teams kept it safe on opening weekend by scheduling various jamokes for their annual beatdowns. Indiana, Iowa and Penn State smacked around helpless FCS milquetoasts, Michigan State played a team with a losing record in the MAC last year, and Minnesota played Middle Tennessee State without their best player. Still, if you don't have the free time necessary to watch every game a Big Ten team played in this weekend, here's a quick recap to catch you up:
Illinois 13, Missouri 23
Illinois led this game 13-3 to start the second half before surrendering 20 unanswered points, turtling in a fashion that must be all too familiar for Illini fans in the fifth year of the Ron Zook regime. Redshirt freshman Nathan Scheelhase looked largely overwhelmed against a Missouri D few expect much out of, going 9/23 for 1 touchdown and 3 picks, and fumbling the ball twice. I suppose the biggest compliment that can be paid to Ron Zook's team is that they both covered the spread and held the Tigers to 23 points, but I doubt that will make his seat anything less than boiling hot over the next few weeks.
Indiana 51, Towson 17
A 38-point first half buoyed the Indiana offense against its chosen FCS cupcake on Thursday night. The Indiana offense, returning essentially every skill position player of note, was actually missing star wideout Tandon Doss, but didn't miss a beat. Ugly score aside, Towson experienced its fair share of offensive success, but couldn't stop turning the ball over: quarterback Chris Hart ran for 123 yards and passed for two scores, but also threw three interceptions, two of which led directly to Indiana touchdowns. Hoosier QB Ben Chappell completed 16 of 23 passes for two scores, while running back Darius Willis toted the rock 14 times for 102 yards and two scores.
Minnesota 24, Middle Tennessee State 17
At first, it looked like the Gophers were poised to dominate this game. After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, Tim Brewster's team let the Blue Raiders right back into the game, unsurprisingly, and would eventually need a late turnover to preserve a 24-17 team win. Senior quarterback Adam Weber was his typically unremarkable self, completing 10 of 17 passes for 150 yards, no touchdowns, and no picks. The real story of the game was running back Duane Bennett, who racked up 187 yards on 30 carries. If Minnesota's going to win any Big Ten games this year, it'll need production at or near this level; last season, the Gophers finished dead last in rushing offense in the conference.