If he hasn't done so yet, Northwestern coach Randy Walker may want to give Penn State's Joe Paterno a call for some advice before his team takes the field this weekend.
Just six days after Paterno's Nittany Lions had to cope with all the emotion surrounding the entrance of Adam Taliaferro into Beaver Stadium, Walker's Wildcats will step on the gridiron Friday night at UNLV in a similar situation.
Northwestern will be playing in its first game since the tragic death of safety Rashidi Wheeler, who died during conditioning drills in early August.
"All of us have gone through the grieving process in our own ways," Walker said. "Where that will take us is difficult to determine at this point."
"It's good to get the season started. We are starting kind of late but all of our kids are excited to get on the field."
That may be due to the fact that the Wildcats are playing a tough Runnin' Rebels team that, by all accounts, probably should've beaten Arkansas in its season opener last week.
John Robinson's crew held the Razorbacks to just 114 yards of total offense including just 25 rushing yards on 26 attempts and forced four turnovers. But the Runnin' Rebels offense sputtered as much-heralded quarterback Jason Robinson completed just 4 of 16 passes for 40 yards and three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter.
That pick gave all the momentum to Arkansas and allowed the Razorbacks to tack on a late fourth quarter touchdown to give Houston Nutt's squad a 14-10 win.
But Walker knows that if Thomas can turn things around and compliment running back Joe Haro — who chewed up the Arkansas defense for 131 yards — his team will be in for a tough opener.
"They're a defense that held Arkansas to under 150 yards and I don't know if I've ever seen something like that before," Walker said. "They'll be a difficult test for us. They had some ups and downs on offense but they'll have a great game. It's going to take a great effort from us to win on Friday night."
Conference's Strength to be Tested Again
One week after Penn State and Wisconsin hooked up with National Championship hopefuls Miami and Oregon respectively, the Big Ten is once again looking to pick up wins against quality non-conference opponents.
Even though the Nittany Lions' and Badgers' losses weren't surprises, the performance of a few other Big Ten teams may be leaving the rest of the country wondering if the conference has lost its edge.
Minnesota became the second Big Ten team to be flat out embarrassed by Toledo (the first being Penn State last year) as the Golden Gophers were trampled by the Rockets, 38-7.
Purdue didn't look quite like the same team that represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl last season in its opener at Cincinnati. The Boilermakers eeked out a 19-14 victory against the Bearcats as Drew Brees' heir apparent, Brandon Hance, completed just 14 of 25 passes for only 117 yards.
So this week it will be up to the Maize and Blue to restore some early season respectability to the conference. Michigan travels to the Pacific Northwest for what is sure to be a rock-em-sock-em brawl with Washington at Husky Stadium.
"They're a team that has tremendous potential on both sides of the ball," Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said. "They have dominating players up front on both sides and Rick (Neuheisel) is a great coach for quarterbacks. I don't remember playing against two running backs who, as a tandem, are as good as (Willie) Hurst and (Rich) Alexis."
Perhaps a bigger game for the conference's reputation may be tomorrow night's matchup between Indiana and North Carolina State. The Hoosiers have a shot to show that the Big Ten is more complete top to bottom league by knocking off the Wolfpack, which upended Minnesota, 38-30, in last year's Micron PC.com Bowl.
Cam Cameron's Hoosiers will have to deal with quarterback Philip Rivers, who led the Wolfpack to an 8-4 record as a freshman last season.
"He's extremely smart," Cameron said. "His father was a coach so he knows the game. He has a great understanding of protection and how to get rid of the ball. He reminds me of Bernie Kosar but he's more athletic."
"He has a real knack of being able to bring his team back late in ball games."
Conference Honors
Illinois sophomore wideout Brandon Lloyd was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after hauling in eight catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Fighting Illini's 44-17 victory over California. Lloyd missed all of last season with a broken leg.
Akin Ayodele, Purdue's senior defensive end, took conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career with 11 tackles (six for losses, which ties the Boilermakers' single game record) and two sacks against Cincinnati.
Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding was named Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring 15 points (three field goals and six extra points) in the Hawkeyes' 51-0 trouncing of Kent State. Kaeding has also knocked home 10 straight field goals.
