Belated Hoosier Headlines for September 28, 2009 and Week 4 in the Big Ten.

• Should the Big Ten issue a statement about the play at the end of the IU-Michigan game? (Hoosiers Insider | The Indianapolis Star)
  No, probably not.

• Analyzing IU in the Red Zone (Hoosiers Insider | The Indianapolis Star)
  Hutchens has a nice look at IU's 1-5 performance in Ann Arbor.

• IU must feel the anger and use the anger (The News-Sentinel)
• Hoosiers' tough game ends with same sunken feeling (Indiana Daily Student)
• Hoosiers nearly pull off win at Michigan (The News-Sentinel)
• Overheard: U-M players and coaches speak (Detroit Free Press)
• Hoosiers have win snatched away late (The Journal Gazette)

After 3 games we have a trend of two and one outlier. Illinois State showed that against competition that is literally not in the same league with the Illini, Schultz can run all over a defense. Once the competition gets into the Big Six conferences however, it all seems to fall apart. Take away the ISU game and you are left with the following stats for 2 games. * A combined score of 9 to the opponents 67 * A total of 495 yards total offense * 4 INTs (and a fumble loss for good measure,) * A combined 11 for 28 on 3rd down, * 111 yards in penalties, compared to 85 for opponents.

The Buckeye ground attack finally came alive, with both Buckeye backs looking worlds better than they had in previous weeks, and that was really all that was necessary to turn this game into another laugher. Clearly, Ohio State still has things it needs to work on. The passing game has gotta start clicking soon. We still can't be sure how well Chekwa and Co. will hold up if Ohio State fails to pressure the QB. But let's not dwell on that for now. This is our second feel-good win a row, and our second shutout in a row.

While you only need to look back to that fateful night in Kinnick last season for the last time Iowa knocked off a top 5 team, you'll have to go back to 1990 to find a similar performance on the road; that was at #5 Illinois. There, Nick Bell demolished an entire team en route to a decidedly non-fluky victory. Here, it was the Iowa defense's front seven doing the trick. There, Iowa parlayed it into the team's last trip to Pasadena, touching off a nearly 20-year drought (yes, 2002 should have broken that, but... y'know). Here, can Iowa similarly parlay a big-time road win to big-time bowl glory? No pressure or anything.

Daryll Clark had his worst day as a starter completing only 12-of-32 passes and giving up three interceptions. He's the easy target for the goat in this game, but this was a total team loss. It's not his fault the offensive line gave him 0.3 miliseconds to throw the ball. It's not his fault his receivers like the tip his passes up in the air. It's not his fault they only called one deep throw the rest of the game after completing the first pass for an 80 yard touchdown. It's not his fault the punt coverage team let a man run untouched to block a punt.

We're not who we thought we were. This isn't a nine win team, this isn't an eight win team, this is a mediocre at best team. We were fooled into thinking this would be a good team by what seemed like an extremely talented defense, but if anything, our offense without any returning skill players has been carrying us through our four game season. You can't be angry at them for underperforming - this team just isn't as good as we thought they'd be, and we have to reconfigure our hopes for this season accordingly.

If the Badgers continue to put on more performances like Saturday's, the national respect they lost last season and now crave more than ever will almost surely come. Nearly every unit made positive contributions to Wisconsin's 38-30 victory over Michigan State, which was essentially over within the first few seconds of the fourth quarter. While the Spartans certainly came into this season overhyped, few would have predicted a 1-3 start, much less that a Wisconsin offense with several new faces would hang 38 points on a Mark Dantonio defense.

To the casual observer, don't let the final score fool you. Keith Nichol and Keshawn Martin both produced the best they could in the 4th quarter to make the final score closer than it would appear. If you watched this whole game though, you know the truth; that the offensive and defensive lines of Michigan State could not execute adequately. Read more about today's loss (guest editorial from Charlie Brown - AGGGHHHHHHH!!!) after the jump.

As last night's very brief entry suggests, why on earth did we hand them a timeout at the end? Charlie "Decided Schematic Advantage" Weis had once again made a boneheaded play call to have a run with less than a minute to go, no timeouts, and the runner was tackled well short of the goal line in bounds. This means a hurry up and the clock will continue to run. When teams are forced to hurry like that, mistakes happen. Blockers miss assignments that lead to sacks. The crowd remains frenzied, making play calls difficult. Rushed throws lead to interceptions. All these are advantages to the defense. Then the ref waved his arms, signaling timeout Purdue. WHAT? Are you kidding me?