Look for Illini QB Aaron Bailey to play bigger role

Five things I don’t want to know yet about Saturday’s Illinois-Miami (Ohio) game in Champaign but am afraid I already do: 1. Miami (0-3), owner of the least-productive offense (149.3 yards per game) in the country, will set a new season high in points. Of …

Urban Meyer turns reins over to Braxton Miller as Ohio State outlasts Wisconsin

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cue sappy music and a montage of Kenny Guiton highlights from Ohio State’s soft out-of-conference schedule. The fifth-year senior’s bid to share snaps with Braxton Miller officially ended Saturday when the Buckeyes defeated ­Wisconsin 31-24 at home. It lasted about as long …

Georgia, LSU real threats to Alabama’s SEC, national reigns

The popular narrative  about the Southeastern  Conference hasn’t changed much through its seven-year reign atop college football. Run the ball, play defense like your read end’s on fire, hit like Chattahoochee-bound locomotives and, if you somehow can survive a schedule filled with teams built just …

ND’s running game comes to life

IN BRIEF Running game comes to life with 220 yards SOUTH BEND, Ind. —George Atkinson III broke free for an 80-yard run on Notre Dame’s first offensive play in the second half. The touchdown run was just part of a revitalized running game for the …

Three victories by Illini breed confidence

CHAMPAIGN — Yeah, but … That was the start of a lot of sentences Saturday as Illinois was demolishing Miami (Ohio) 50-14. Yeah, but it’s just a low-rung MAC team. Yeah, but it’s still September. Yeah, but the Big Ten season will be a different …

NIU roars out of the gate, beats Purdue 55-24

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After last week’s victory against Eastern Illinois, Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward said his team needed to “start the fight.” Despite starting the season unbeaten, NIU has been plagued by slow starts. That wasn’t the case Saturday afternoon, as the Huskies …

Rout of winless Miami affords Illini the chance to have fun

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — They played this one to the end, a 50-14 Illinois victory, because, well, those are the rules. But it certainly was over by halftime, when the Illini (3-1) led Miami (Ohio) 36-0. It probably was a done deal even sooner than that, …

Oklahoma’s balanced attack presents challenge to Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Oklahoma had a bye last Saturday, so coach Bob Stoops spent a portion of his time watching the Notre Dame-Michigan State game. He thought this Irish team resembled the one that went to Norman and beat the Sooners 30-13 last season. …

Huskies seek another bone in game at Purdue

DeKALB — Sean Evans was on the Ross-Ade Stadium sidelines in 2009, witnessing first-hand one of the gutsiest calls anyone in attendance will ever see.

Evans, then a true freshman cornerback who would end up taking a redshirt year, watched as former head coach Jerry …

TELANDER: Big Ten commish Jim Delany sees no reason to change

Jim Delany is no dummy. If you rule a multibillion-dollar sports conference that pays you well over $1 million a year, with loads more cash on the horizon, why would you ever want to change your format? Indeed, if you can govern something called the …

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin served better when it’s bitter

The ugly truth is, Urban Meyer and Gary Andersen really like each other. Although they spent only one season together as coaches — 2004, when Meyer’s Utah team, with Andersen on the defensive staff, went 12-0 and won the Fiesta Bowl — they clicked and …

Illini offense has shown flashes but needs to be better

Two Sundays ago, back on campus a day after Illinois’ 34-24 loss to Washington at Soldier Field, senior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase knocked on offensive coordinator Bill Cubit’s office door. “How did it look?” Scheelhaase asked, knowing the veteran coach had burned the midnight oil reviewing …

Kain Colter makes statement by promoting players movement

Kain Colter could have sought permission from Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald before wearing two wristbands that read “APU” during the Wildcats’ 35-21 victory over Maine on Saturday. But that would have defeated the purpose. Colter is at the forefront of a movement called “All Players …

Small colleges: St. Xavier continues run of rugged foes vs. St. Francis

The football season is three games old, but it already has been eventful for St. Xavier. “We jumped right into the fire, “ coach Mike Feminis said. “First the defending national champions, then a very good Division II team and then a team ranked in …

Notre Dame ready for another dual

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Temple quarterback Connor Reilly finished as the team’s leading rusher against Notre Dame. In Week 2, Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner gave the Irish fits. The next week, Purdue quarterback Rob Henry was effective through the air, but not much of a …