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Week 6 is in the books and it was a busy Saturday in the Big Ten with all 11 teams playing. Three teams — Northwestern, Penn State, and Indiana — took on out-of-conference opponents, with the other 8 battling each other.
The only real surprise from the Big Ten was the beating Indiana took against Virginia.
Indiana came into the game at 3-2, and while they have not beaten any particularly formidable opponents, they looked good against Michigan on the road in one of the hardest places to play a road game. Virginia came into the game at 1-3 with losses to William & Mary and Southern Miss.
However, Indiana’s offense could not seem to get anything going while Virginia amassed 536 total yards including 231 on the ground and five rushing touchdowns. Indiana fans were surely looking for a better performance from the Hoosiers than this 47-7 romp.
Ohio State v Wisconsin has been one of the more exciting Big Ten matchups over the past three decades, with the Bucks holding only a 13-10-1 advantage since 1980.
In fact, there has even been some animosity that has carried over onto the field in the past.
Remember 2003 in Madison, Buckeye LB Robert Reynolds tackling then-Badger QB Jim Sorgi, choking the QB and knocking him out of the game?
Ironically Ohio State choked the game away, giving up a late 80-yard TD pass to Lee Evans, losing 17-10.
At the time, my grandpa claimed the 1993 (14-14 tie) game ended on a blocked field goal by Ohio State because they had 12 players on the field. He was old, so was that, and this is 2009. Let’s move on.
After suffering a crushing 26-20 overtime loss to their in-state and Big 10 rival Michigan State last week in, the now unranked Michigan Wolverines face the undefeated and #12th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City this weekend.
I was in Memorial Stadium the last time Indiana beat Michigan in football.
The year was 1987, and Indiana was just a few years removed from a winless season. With Bill Mallory as head coach, and led by Anthony Thompson and Dave Schnell, the Hoosiers put together one of the best seasons in school history that year. They beat both Michigan and Ohio State and found themselves in the top 10 for the only time since I’ve been alive.
Today, the Hoosiers — this edition coached by Bill Lynch and led by freshman RB Darius Willis and junior QB Ben Chappell — almost knocked off the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in two decades, but ultimately fell just short.
And the Hoosiers should justifiably be feeling cheated as they fly home.
Who knows what would have happened if the referees had not awarded possession to Michigan on a controversial interception with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter, but it sure would have been nice to see the Hoosiers have a chance to drive down the field.
Rich Rodriguez kicked off the 2009 campaign with an impressive showing from his true freshmen quarterbacks in the Wolverines’ 31-7 win over Western Michigan.
Tate Forcier is only the third freshman quarterback to start for Michigan in the school’s history, with the others being Rick Leach and Chad Henne. He looked sharp and passed for three touchdowns in his debut.Â
Even better than his three touchdowns, he had no completions to the other team, finishing 13-20 for 179 yards. He also rushed for 37 yards on 11 carries.
Denard “Shoelace” Robinson was 2-4 for 18 yards through the air, but his running game was more impressive. Robinson rushed 11 times for 74 yards, with an impressive touchdown run of 43 yards. The video of Robinson’s incredible debut run is below.
Denard “Shoelace” Robinson Runs for TD Against Toledo
The only letdown in this game was Rodriguez’s thought that putting Nick Sheridan into the game was a good idea. Sheridan continued his stellar quarterbacking abilities that he so finely displayed last year by going 0-2 with a completion to the other team. I had instant flashbacks to every game he played in last year. It seems that some things will never change.
This win was nice, but basking in the glory of a Week 1 victory is something that Michigan cannot afford to do, as they have a real test at home next week against Notre Dame, who rolled Nevada 35-0.
Instead of showering today, I would rather talk about the football stadiums in the Big Ten and rank them top to bottom for various reasons while pointing out their typical fan bases. The one thing that draws me into being a huge college football fan (even before College Gameday started traveling) is the atmosphere that stadiums and teams generate.
On a side note, that is why I was a huge opponent of the Miami Hurricanes leaving the Orange Bowl and moving 20 miles north of their campus to Landshark Stadium. It is also home to the lackluster fan bases of the Dolphins and Marlins.
But let’s talk Big Ten since this is by and for Midwest sports fans.
I was excited to see Indiana’s newly renovated stadium on the Big Ten network and I am equally excited to see Minnesota leave the horrible Metrodome. Maybe their awesome new outdoor field will give them a home field advantage and some college atmosphere that they have been lacking. At least, they have since I have been alive.
That said, having a unique and imposing home field gives football teams the advantages they need to compete in the Big Ten, hosting visiting fans to a good experience, and sometimes an edge in recruiting.
Nicknamed “The Horse Shoe,†but not a horse shoe anymore since the 2001 renovation. The top spot is really a toss-up between Penn State and Ohio State. Penn State just joined the Big Ten in 1993 though, so the tie-breaker goes to the Buckeyes (and include in that tie-breaker my years growing up in Columbus).Â
Ohio State has a raucous crowd that usually makes it deafening for the opposing squads. Plus “The Best Damn Band In All The Land†marches across Woody Hayes Drive and onto the field before every game to form the famous Script Ohio, as seen below.
Fans run with the marching band and into the stadium as if they were scrambling to see an approach shot by Tiger Woods after a drive on the 18th hole. Other teams’ fans are annoyed at the obnoxious Buckeye fans as much as the British golf commentator is at the “GET IN THE HOLE!†guy at Augusta.
I just got goose bumps thinking of the craziness that occurs once the senior tuba player high steps his way to dot the “I†and the band belts out the oft played fight song. Everybody sings the words and yells O-H-I-O, each side owning one of the letters in order.
The Olentangy River runs right next to the stadium and serves as a great sight when walking through the miles of tailgates on fall Saturdays. The capacity expands to 105,000+ during big games, especially the Michigan game. You will have a hard time finding a sizeable road crowd during Big Ten games as the home fans just won’t give up their tickets so road fans can watch their team lose.
There is a reason there is a recruiting “fence” around the Ohio border and that reason is the memories conjured, the tradition, the size, and the atmosphere inside and out of Thee Ohio Stadium. I wanna go back to Ohio State, to old Columbus Town!
[Editor's Note: And those of us who don't bleed scarlet and gray like you are now ready to vomit.]
The capacity is 107,282 and they have stuffed 110,000+ during big match-ups. Kirk Herbstreit deemed Happy Valley with the best student section in college football with the senior student section forming a block “S†in blue and white shirts or body paint.
I absolutely agree with Kirk. And so do my dead brain cells after partying with some of the craziest party people I ever met when I lived on South Beach. “They Were! Penn State!†(graduates).
The “White Outs†and the noise make this the hardest place for a road team to get any sort of rhythm in the Big Ten. If the crowd wasn’t loud enough, they have a huge Jumbotron and booming sound system that plays a cat-like roar, making the crowd’s roar just as intimidating.
Unlike Ohio Stadium, it is nice to see they have the crew smart enough to keep lush natural grass every year. This Saturday afternoon football church in Happy Valley reeks of Preparation H for old alumni, liquored up party people with flasks, and sexy college co-eds. In a good way.
Though not as large as Beaver Stadium, Wisconsin’s student section rivals that of Penn State. To reference dead brain cells again, some of the craziest party people I know in Indianapolis and Chicago are Wisconsin graduates.
The UW band sets off the crowd playing drinking songs, pop songs, and dance songs. And, of course, the sound man gets everyone jumping before the fourth quarter during “Jump Around†by House of Pain, a tradition that started against Purdue in 1998. The video below takes place during an Indiana game…which I am sure Wisconsin won.  By a lot.
Video: Fans Jump Around at Camp Randall Stadium
Come to think of it, that would be a great nickname and slogan for the stadium: “Welcome to the House of Pain.â€
The marching band was also suspended in 2006 and 2008 because of some off-the-field antics including hazing and sexual misconduct on road trips (sounds like a good time to me).
[Editor's Note: Midwest Sports Fans does not explicitly endorse KVB's idea of a good time.]
Established in 1917, Camp Randall is the oldest stadium in the Big Ten and the atmosphere (literally) is host to horrible weather conditions that stifles many road teams. The visiting locker room has been painted pale pink in the past and now a pale blue supposedly to distract the road teams.Wisconsin is currently 30-3 at home since painting it the distracting “prison blue†color.
If you travel there for a night game, expect the bad weather and bad play by your team. Even the Green Bay Packers play one preseason game a year at Camp Randall Stadium. In turn the Wisconsin marching band attends at least one Packers game at Lambeau Field a year.
They are adding more seats to reach 108,000 plus by 2010. Insert “The Big House†and the fans that sit on their hands in silence here.
M. (for Michigan) Night Shymalan, Super Wolverine, and the Wrist Band Warrior
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One of two things is happening here. A) Michigan just lost to Appalachian State; or B) The guy in the bottom right hand corner of the picture just farted. Or perhaps both? (photo credit: LON HORWEDEL, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS)
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And by the way, if you don’t remember what inspired the despondent looks on the faces of the Michigan turds fans above, watch the first few minutes of the video below:
Video: Appalachian State Upsets Michigan
Interesting to me is that Ann Arbor only has an 114,000 person population so you know the town basically shuts down until football is over. That is how college football Saturdays should be.
You have no idea the size of the stadium on the outside since it is built with the stands and the field going down and underground from where you walk up to the ticket gates. One thing I will say about Michigan fans (like Buckeye fans) is that a road fan will be hard pressed to find extra tickets because the fan base is so loyal. Even if they are not that loud or intimidating, or that idiotic or drunk.
Michigan Stadium has hosted Wolverine football since 1927 and the famous Fielding Yost. As an Ohio State fan, I find it funny that they played on “Ferry Field†before Michigan Stadium. I couldn’t make that up. Never.
Another stadium holding a pink-painted visitors locker room, but this wasn’t done by mistake like perhaps the drunk and stoned Wisconsin students in Madison. Former coach Hayden Fry majored in psychology at Baylor University and believed the pink color had a calming effect that could make visitors have less mental toughness and be less aggressive after pissing in a pink urinal.
Some women and those in the gay/lesbian community have protested for it to be changed saying it is a slap in the face to their lifestyle. (This furthers my believability that grassroots campaigns did in fact legalize gay marriage in the state earlier this year.)
Back to the stadium, it is about as boring as the dunkards who live in Iowa. But I will give Iowa’s only Heisman Trophy winner (Nile Kinnick) and Hayden Fry credit for instilling some excitement on Saturdays and creating a real loyal fan base. Iowa, which stands for Idiots Out Walking Around, takes a break from doing that every Saturday and they travel well as I noticed at the 2003 Orange Bowl.
And here we have the first major drop off in atmosphere on this list.  I have a hard time giving a lot of Purdue football fans any credit. Unfortunately I’ve probably been to 30 or so games at Ross-Ade, so I can say that.
Every top-10 matchup in Ross-Ade is invaded by the road team’s fans. Most Purdue fans were born and bred on Hoosier basketball, thanks to the movie and Coaches Knight and Keady. Hence, they know nothing about football, how it is played, and of all people the likes of Jim Everett and Joe Tiller taught the fans what winning takes. No, not loyal support, hard work, and consistency; but rather gimmicks and repetitive passing systems that have a hard time lining up when smash mouth, goal line situations are needed.
Tiller first took the Big Ten by storm with the spread and now every time there is a run up the middle the crowd groans and boos. That takes stupidity like calling an offense “Basketball On Grass†as some do. I’ve never seen a more boring ragtime marching band entertainment at halftime than Purdue’s, the “World’s Biggest Drum†and a dance team of fatties dancing the charleston included.
Purdue fans hate it when I say this stuff, but that is because it is true.
A good thing is they did a great renovation enclosing the stadium, have an incredibily large video board, and there is not really a bad seat in the house. So you might as well go see your favorite team in West Lafayette and piss in one of the troughs installed in the restrooms (it’s a Northern Indiana thing, you wouldn’t understand).
Now back to crappiness.
About 15,000 University of Oregon fans took over Ross-Ade last year! The natural Bermuda grass is supposedly a credit to Purdue’s agricultural department finding prescription athletic turf. Good for them. I personally love natural turf. (This paragraph is brought to you by, “Obnoxious Ohio State Fan†mentioned earlier in the article. He’s righteous!)
Sorry I’ll be much more positive the rest of the way. Just make sure you send #6 to an IU fan. They need some cheering up come football season.
And speaking of Memorial Stadium, also the name of IU’s stadium, the older of the two is in Champaign and opened in 1924 with Red Grange scoring six touchdowns against Michigan on its official dedication game in October. This Memorial Stadium is a dedication to the men and women who died in the World Wars and has sported artificial turf since 1974.
I love that the original drawing for this stadium was to support more than 80,000 people and have a tall phallic monument in the North end zone. They eventually settled on the smaller capacity and no monument.
In 2002 the stadium hosted the Chicago Bears while Soldier Field was getting renovated.
Spartan Stadium fell a lot on my list because I have seen too many big games blown on their own field. Most people blame the coach for this, but I just drop their home field advantage down a notch. Heck, their best win in the 90s was against #1 Ohio State in Ohio Stadium. How do this not hurt Ohio Stadium instead of Spartan Stadium? Simple. The ineptitude since then.
The most exciting things Spartan fans see on TV or at the stadium lately have been an introduction to the basketball team or a sideline reporter interviewing Tom Izzo in the middle of the second quarter while the team was losing. I can hear Mark Dantonio now…”I get no respect, no respect.”
Well, you’re right considering the high school talent that floods your stadium’s gates.
Gopher fans finally have a stadium on their campus and outdoors. This really makes me happy. There probably wasn’t a worse college football atmosphere than the Metrodome. This new stadium, on the other hand, could move up in the rankings once it opens this year.
TCF Bank Stadium includes an apparent easy-to-80,000 person capacity renovation that could take place if the team shows success on the field and makes some extra money in bowl games. It will also include the third largest outdoor HD video board in the nation.
The con here is it is outdoor and cannot bat down opposing team’s punts during games. Though I cannot imagine anyone in the Minnesota administration would have the arrogance of Jerry Jones, refusing to move such a video board if it did get in the way. HD really has us by the nuts doesn’t it?
I love how this Memorial Stadium in Bloomington is dedicated to a rock while Illinois’ is dedicated to war heroes. That’s solid, solid as a rock. Very Charlie Brown in the Halloween episode. I did see the renovations to the stadium on TV and it is finally a Big Ten-worthy stadium. Too bad it wasn’t built for a better program, but I suppose IU does have its moments. While most people complain the top Big Ten teams don’t have a tough conference, IU fans complain their conference schedule is way too tough to compete.
[Editor's Note: As an IU fan and alum, I can categorically say that I've never complained about the conference schedule being too tough. Except when we play Minnesota and Northwestern at home. Â Those games are haaarrrrrddd!]
I know I said I would get shorter with my writing as the list fell lower on the list. So in lieu of saying anything about Ryan Field, just watch the video below. It makes me happy, and unless you’re a douche it will make you happy too.
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Really though, Evanston is a great section of Chicago because of this campus.
Well, now you’ve seen my rankings. Â What do you think?
That’s right, you read the headline correctly. Two organizations defined by their tradition of perpetual sucking losing are in talks to merge their “lovable” losing together.Â
Zook, appearing on the “Waddle and Silvy” show on ESPN 1000 on Monday morning, said he would love the chance for the two Big Ten rivals to square off in the “Friendly Confines.”
“Well, to be honest with you, we were there last night and walking around with the people there and I just think it would be an awesome venue,” Zook said. “Obviously, until just a couple years ago, there had been more NFL games played in that stadium than any other stadium, and there hasn’t been a game played there since 1970.
“And can you imagine the national media? I think it would be great to have that opportunity. I’m probably speaking out of turn, the higher-ups make the decisions, obviously.”
Playing a football game at Wrigley would certainly not be unprecedented, as the Bears played there from the 1920s through the building of Solider Field in 1970. Additionally, Northern Illinois played Iowa at Wrigley Field back in 2007.
We are continuing a dialogue with Illinois,†Phillips said. “Within the next month or so, we’ll decide if it’s something that can work. There are a lot of moving parts, but it’s something I will pursue aggressively.


“I thought of how good the Northern Illinois-Iowa game was at Soldier Field. This may be the next great venue for a special game.â€â€¨â€¨
As NIU’s athletic director at the time, Phillips was the point man for the Huskies-Iowa game, which sold out Soldier Field on Sept. 1, 2007. Iowa won 16-3, and Hawkeyes fans filled at least two-thirds of the 61,500 seats.
Among the details still to be worked out (ALERT! Someone please notify the AP that I am about to link to them and send traffic their way…) for any Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley are the financial considerations and the logistics of turning Wrigley Field into a stadium where the home team actually wins venue fit for a college football game. One of the biggest questions is about player safety and about whether there is enough space behind the end zones and on the sidelines to ensure the well-being of the players.
We’ll see what happens with this one. All kidding and Cubs hatred aside, I think this would be a pretty damn cool thing for Northwestern, Illinois, the Big Ten, and sports fans in Chicago. Plus, no one would have to worry about Northwestern or Illinois winning a National Championship and spoiling the history of home team futility at Wrigley.
Rich Rodriguez’s newest version of Pat White may have just landed. The buzz came this morning from Deerfield Beach High School in Florida when their senior Quarterback Denard Robinson announced his intentions to play college football for the University of Michigan.
Deerfield Beach Head Coach Art Taylor stated that Robinson picked Michigan over the University of Florida, and other schools as well. Robinson was described by Taylor as a 6-foot, 179-pound quarterback with a 40-yard dash time of 4.3 seconds. Taylor stated that playing in a spread offense was something that Robinson really wanted, adding that the chance to compete for time as a freshman was appealing to Robinson as well.
Taylor was also quoted as saying, “Oh my god, Michigan is going to get an explosive, explosive quarterback. He is a leader, he pushes his will to win on others. I’ve never seen a kid so competitive.”
Robinson will face competition from Tate Forcier from California, who is currently enrolled in classes at Michigan. Both of these guys should be a huge upgrade at the quarterback position for the Wolverines from last year.
This news should be pleasing to every Wolverine fan who had to endure the mess we called an offense last year. Last year’s offense looked like they were in a constant race to punt the ball as fast as possible. I have never seen a team go 3-and-out with the speed that the Wolverines pulled it off in last year. My heart went out to the Wolverines defense that played its ass off, only to have to go back onto the field 45 seconds after forcing a punt.
I have faith in Rich Rodriguez and his system. This was a talented football team last year that was missing, in my opinion, only one key element: a quarterback. Yes, Steven Threet grew on me over the year, but was way too inconsistent. Nick Sheridan just grew on my patience. His uncanny ability to complete passes to the other team with great regularity that made me want to gouge my eyeballs out every time I saw #8 take the field. The only time #8 did not offend me was when Michael Phelps wore a #8 jersey and walked onto the field.
At any rate, I am looking forward to the Wolverines returning to the top of the Big 10 in the near future so I can walk the streets of Ohio again with my head up high. God I miss John Cooper in Scarlet and Gray.
Go Blue!
Kurt Fraschetti, fraschetti@midwestsportsfans.com
Robinson signing information courtesy of John Heuser at annarbornews.com.
Puke. Have a root canal. Contract dysentery. Get run over by a car. Be a Clemson football next to Woody Hayes on the sidelines. Watch Kirk Herbstreit hit on my girlfriend. Follow Mark Mangino into the crapper.
Not sure what all of these horrific and disgusting experiences have in common? They are all things I would rather do than watch Big Ten Football today.
Just take a look at these quick-hit facts about the Big Ten football schedule for November 1, 2008:
– The only two good teams in the conference, Penn State and Ohio State, are both off today.
– The most important game in terms of the standings is Northwestern at #17 Minnesota.
– The least important game involves Michigan, as the Wolverines and Purdue have a combined 1-7 record in Big Ten play.
Often I read my college friend’s Off The Tracks Purdue blog and he has gotten the attention of the Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable for his site on the Boilermakers. If I’m not mistaken he got slammed last year by readers for crossing the line in a rant about Notre Dame Football, but otherwise he’s a great writer and Notre Dame still sucks.
Soon maybe Midwest Sports Fans could have some writers in the Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable (even though I got rejected by the MAC Conference Bloggers) but until then below I answered their preseason questions. Keep in mind I’m wearing a sweatervest with no pants right now….
1.ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg recently ranked the top 5 rivalries in the Big Ten and there were some controversial results (Illinois v OhioState as #3?). Clearly OhioState vs. Michigan is the #1 rivalry in the Big Ten, but give me your next three. … Continue Reading
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Rich Rodriguez kicked off the 2009 campaign with an impressive showing from his true freshmen quarterbacks in the Wolverines’ 31-7 win over Western Michigan.
The capacity is 107,282 and they have stuffed 110,000+ during big match-ups. Kirk Herbstreit deemed Happy Valley with the best student section in college football with the senior student section forming a block “S†in blue and white shirts or body paint.
Another stadium holding a pink-painted visitors locker room, but this wasn’t done by mistake like perhaps the drunk and stoned Wisconsin students in Madison. Former coach Hayden Fry majored in psychology at Baylor University and believed the pink color had a calming effect that could make visitors have less mental toughness and be less aggressive after pissing in a pink urinal.
9. 
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