Sports editor Jim Rossow's take on the Big Ten:

Standings

LEADERS DIVISION

TEAM LEAGUE OVERALL

Ohio State 0 0 4 0

Wisconsin 0 0 3 1

Indiana 0 0 2 1

Purdue 0 0 2 1

Illinois 0 0 2 2

Penn State 0 0 2 2

LEGENDS DIVISION

Minnesota 0 0 4 0

Northwestern 0 0 4 0

Michigan State 0 0 3 1

Nebraska 0 0 3 1

Iowa 0 0 2 2

Michigan 0 0 2 2

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

Louisiana Tech 52 Illinois 24

Central Michigan 32 Iowa 31

Ohio State 29 UAB 15

Wisconsin 37 UTEP 26

Michigan St. 23 E. Michigan 7

Nebraska 73 Idaho State 7

Penn State 24 Temple 13

Northwestern 38 South Dakota 7

Notre Dame 13 Michigan 6

Minnesota 17 Syracuse 10

NEXT SATURDAY'S GAMES

Penn State at Illinois 11 a.m.

Indiana at Northwestern 11 a.m.

Minnesota at Iowa 11 a.m.

Marshall at Purdue 2:15 p.m.

Ohio State at Michigan State 2:30 p.m.

Wisconsin at Nebraska 7 p.m.

saturday's stars

- BIG FELLAS, Nebraska. On offense, Huskers topped 250 yards rushing for the fourth consecutive game, the longest streak since 2002-03. On defense, Huskers had seven sacks and limited Illini Bluffs ... we mean Idaho State ... to 31 yards rushing.

- QUARTERBACKS, Northwestern. Kain Colter, Trevor Siemian and Zack Oliver have combined for 118 attempts without an interception this season.

- OLD QUARTERBACK, Penn State. Hard to believe only one player in school history has more 300-yard passing games than Matt McGloin, who went for a career-best 318. And that guy had a long NFL career (Kerry Collins, 4).

- NEW QUARTERBACK, Wisconsin. Joel Stave became first freshman to start at quarterback for the Badgers since Jim Sorgi on Oct. 21, 2000, and the first Wisconsin native since Tyler Donovan in 2006. He is the fourth consecutive Badgers QB to throw for 200 yards in his debut, joining Danny O'Brien (2012), Russell Wilson (2011) and Scott Tolzien (2009).

- MAX BULLOUGH, Michigan State. Hard-hitting linebacker (season-high nine tackles) has had at least one tackle for loss in all four games.

- RYAN SHAZIER, Ohio State. Tackling like Jack Tatum, finishing with 14 to pad his team-high season total to 41.

- DEVIN SMITH, Wisconsin. Became the first Badger to return a blocked PAT for two points since the NCAA adopted the rule in 1988.

- AARON HILL, Minnesota. Linebacker from St. Louis played like a Purple People Eater (10 tackles, one INT, on PBU).

Saturday's quote

- "Are we going to really get after it and really prepare the way that championship teams do and the way that mature teams do? Or are we just going to be fat and sassy that we won a couple games here in the nonconference?" — Northwestern coach PAT FITZGERALD.

Bowl forecast

- LOOKING GOOD: Northwestern. Wonder why Coach is so nervous (see: Saturday's quote)? Two years ago, the Wildcats started 5-0 but still wound up in the TicketCity Bowl, where they lost to complete a 2-6 finish. With Indiana visiting the Land of Coffee Shops, they'll match that start this fall. In fact, we have them 7-0 heading into a "home" game against Nebraska on Oct. 20. We say "home" because A) Northwestern still can't draw any fans (28,641 on Saturday) and B) the Cornhuskers still travel like crazy (28,641 on a bad day).

- LOOKING BAD: Iowa. Anyone surprised? The Hawkeyes haven't finished in the Top 25 since the Orange Bowl season of 2009, settling for back-to-back Insight appearances. They're headed that December direction again after dropping to 1-2 on a current four-game homestand. Only the schedule (no Ohio State or Wisconsin) offers hope for a team that might not reach six wins.

Illini list

Nathan Scheelhaase has a ways to go to climb the career passing chart:

QB, Years Yards

Jack Trudeau, 1981-85 8,725

Kurt Kittner, 1998-01 8,722

Juice Williams, 2006-09 8,037

Jason Verduzco, 1989-92 7,532

Tony Eason, 1981-82 7,031

Johnny Johnson, 1992-95 5,293

Jon Beutjer, 2002-04 5,190

Jeff George, 1988-89 5,189

Nathan Scheelhaase, 2010- 4,146

Illini results (2-2)

DATE OPPONENT RESULT

Sept. 1 W. Michigan W, 24-7

Sept. 8 at Arizona State L, 45-14

Sept. 15 Charleston So. W, 44-0

Saturday Louisiana Tech L, 52-24

Sept. 29 Penn State 11 a.m.

Oct. 6 at Wisconsin 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 at Michigan 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 27 Indiana 11 a.m.

Nov. 3 at Ohio State TBA

Nov. 10 Minnesota TBA

Nov. 17 Purdue TBA

Nov. 24 at Northwestern TBA