Wisconsin 73, Purdue 66
The #4-ranked Boilermakers found out Saturday that it’s awfully tough to win in Madison. Jordan Taylor came off the bench to lead the Badgers with 23 points, while Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes chipped in with 20 and 14, respectively. It was Purdue’s first loss of the season.

Georgia Tech 71, Duke 67
Gani Lawal led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and nine rebounds, and right now is a better player than freshman phenom Derrick Favors. Jon Scheyer kept the Blue Devils in it with 25 points and six assists, but Kyle Singler had a nightmare game, hitting just 2 of 13 shots from the field. Georgia Tech outrebounded Duke, 34-26.

After turning in one of the more pathetic offensive displays in recent memory, No. 7 Ohio State was shocked in West Lafayette on Saturday as Purdue beat the Buckeyes 26-18.

His final numbers (17 of 31, 221 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) don’t do justice to how bad sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor was today. Midway through the third quarter, he was just 7 of 14 passing for 84 yards with interceptions. And his fumble in the second quarter killed a potential scoring drive.

Pryor has all the physical tools to succeed, but Jim Tressel was wrong when he said this summer that the sophomore was developing as a passer. He’s not. His decision-making isn’t very sound and he’s not good enough to overcome turnovers, which was evident today.

That said, Tressel hasn’t helped Pryor in his development. His play calling and in-game decisions are often befuddling and he clearly isn’t the right person to nurture a quarterback as skilled as Pryor. Also, Ohio State’s running game was non-existent on Saturday, which is staggering considering Purdue was allowing over 160 rushing yards per game coming into today.

This was a sad offensive display by the Buckeyes and they deserved to lose with the way they played. But let’s give credit to a Purdue team that took advantage of the opportunities that it was given. They could have opened the door for an Ohio State comeback when the Buckeyes added a field goal early in the fourth to cut the Boilermakers’ lead to 23-10. Instead, Purdue added a field goal of its own to all but put the game out of reach.

This was a nice victory by a Purdue team that many people figured would just play dead today.

To say Rich Rodriguez’s first year at Michigan has been a failure would be a gross understatement. In their 48-42 loss to Purdue on Saturday, Michigan is guaranteed its first losing season since 1967. It also ensured that the Wolverines’ 33-year bowl streak is now over, too.

There’s really no doubt that Rich Rod is going to turn things around at Michigan and get that program back on track soon. He’ll find a quarterback to run his spread option offense and things will start to quickly fall in place. He just needs time to get the right players to fight his scheme and everyone should be patient while he goes through the process.

But there’s no other way to cut it – this season was a total debacle. I realize these young men are learning an entirely new system and will need time to develop, but you can’t lose to Toledo at home. You can’t get beat by Purdue on a hook and ladder on the final play of the game. You can’t turn the ball over six times in an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame.

Rich Rodriguez will turn Michigan around. But they’ve been a total embarrassment this season and an absolute joke.

Coming into the 2008 College Football Season, the Penn State Nittany Lions weren’t considered a national championship contender. They weren’t even considered a legitimate contender in the Big Ten, with many ranking them behind Ohio State, Wisconsin and even Illinois in the conference.

But PSU remains undefeated on the season after beating Purdue 20-6 on Saturday and even though they’re still flying under the national championship radar, teams better start taking notice. Not only do the Lions have one of the best offenses in the nation (they were averaging close to 50 points a game coming into this weekend), but they also flashed a little defense in their victory over the Boilermakers.

Penn State doesn’t have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback like Oklahoma, Missouri or Texas – three teams currently ranked ahead of them in the polls – but so far Daryll Clark has proven that he’s an excellent fit for Joe Paterno’s new spread offense. And while he doesn’t have unworldly size and athleticism like fellow Big Ten back Chris “Beanie” Wells of Ohio State, RB Evan Royster is a workhorse that can grind out tough yards like he did Saturday against Purdue when he rushed for 141 yards and a 7.8 YPC average.

It was interesting to see PSU win like it did against the Boilermakers because it was unlike any of its previous victories this season. They didn’t light up the scoreboard or win with flash; they just kept moving the ball methodically on offense, didn’t turn the ball over and played solid defense. They proved today that they could win without relying on the big play, which should only serve them going forward.

The next three weeks will prove whether or not Penn State is a true contender or not. They’re at Wisconsin, home against Michigan and then travel to Columbus to take on OSU through the rest of October. That’s a daunting three-week task.