The Boilermakers are coming off a 20-13 win at Penn State that saw wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield become the Big Ten's career receptions leader on a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Orton. Stubblefield has made 35 receptions for 568 yards and 11 touchdowns so far. The closest to Stubblefield on Purdue is Kyle Ingraham, with 17 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Orton had an "off" day, completing 24 of 35 passes for 275 yards. He had two interceptions to go along with the touchdown pass to Stubblefield. The Heisman Trophy front-runner has passed for 1,642 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year.

Offensively, Purdue is averaging 509 yards per game, while the Badgers only gain 319.8.

Wisconsin is coming off a 24-13 surprise win in Columbus over Ohio State. Badgers running back Anthony Davis had a monster game on the ground, rushing 39 times for 168 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback John Stocco passed for 160 yards and two touchdowns.

Davis has run for 459 yards and five touchdowns on the year in limited play due to an injury.

The Wisconsin defense held Ohio State to only 224 total yards, with 99 coming on the ground. They are holding their opponents to 6.5 points per game. But that could change against a Boilermaker offense that is averaging 41.8 points per game.

Wisconsin's offense is only averaging 20.8 points per game and will need big performances from its defense. Davis and Stocco need to overwhelm Purdue, which is no slouch itself on defense, allowing only 13.8 points per game.

Another Big Ten record fell Saturday as well as Wisconsin punt returner Jim Leonhard had three punt returns for 18 yards against Ohio State to become the conference's all-time leading punt returner with 1,185 yards.

The schools have split their last six meetings, but Purdue has come out on top in the last two by a combined nine points.

Last week, Purdue place-kicker Ben Jones was named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week, adding eight of the Boilermakers 20 points at Penn State. It's the second time he's earned the honor.

The game will be featured by ESPN's College GameDay broadcast. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.

Matt Bishop

Iowa vs. No. 25 Ohio State

The pressure is on for the Buckeyes, who go into this matchup with a 0-2 record in the Big Ten. As a typical powerhouse, Ohio State's beginning to the Big Ten season has been rocky, with losses against Northwestern and Wisconsin.

"We just finished a tough weekend against a very good Wisconsin team," Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said. "Wisconsin came in and made the plays you need to win on the road; they had an excellent plan across the board. We didn't do enough things across the board. It was a hard-fought, well-fought football game."

The Buckeyes (3-2, 0-2) face Iowa this week - a team who has not lost a Big Ten game at home yet. The last time Ohio State lost three straight conference games was in 1988.

Quarterback Justin Zwick completed 15 out of 31 passes for 125 yards in the 24-13 loss to the Badgers - who snapped another Buckeyes winning streak. Last year, Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 17-10, breaking their 19-game winning streak. This year's loss snapped Ohio State's 18-game winning streak at home in the Horseshoe.

However, place-kicker Mike Nugent did make school history with a 60-yard field goal.

Iowa (3-2, 1-1) had the weekend off, but before that the team was playing strong at home.

The Hawkeyes hope that the offensive effort from quarterback Drew Tate this season will be enough to carry the team into another win.

"He is a competitive, tough guy," said Iowa head coach Krik Ferentz. "And all that being said he still a young player; he is making mistakes. But the good news is he learns from them and takes a lot of pride in trying to improve in his performance."

Tate passed for 340 yards and a touchdown, completing 25 for 36 passes in Iowa's win over MSU on Oct. 2. The offense totaled a season-high of 464 yards in that game, as well as breaking a two-game losing streak.

Last year, the then-No. 6 Ohio State team beat the then-No. 9 Hawkeyes, 19-10, in Columbus, Ohio. But this game was void of any offensive touchdowns and was controlled by the special teams.

"Our guys, I hope, are focused on what we need to do," Tressel said. "Our guys haven't played Iowa a whole bunch of times. We have played once in the lifetime of these players and it was a knock-down, drag-out, tough football game that our guys know full well either team could have won.

"So, I hope, number one, they are focused on what we need to get better and I hope, number two, they remember those black helmets hitting them like they did last year, because Iowa is an excellent football team."

Laura Collins

Illinois vs. No. 14 Michigan

Saturday's matchup between the Fighting Illini (2-4, 0-3) and the Wolverines (5-1, 3-0) will be a battle between two teams with opposite records.

If the Illini plan to beat U-M, they'll have to break the Wolverines six-year winning streak over them. The fact that Michigan hasn't lost a game in Memorial Stadium since 1983 means that the odds of winning are stacked firmly against Illinois.

Last week the Illini lost 25-38 at Spartan Stadium in a game in which Pierre Thomas tried to salvage the remains of a difficult battle. Thomas' 188 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for Illinois wasn't enough to prevent the Big Ten loss. And neither was Kevin Mitchell's blocked punt that was recovered by Sharriff Abdullah.

U-M is coming off another final-minute win over Minnesota. The Wolverines dominated the play clock with 37:14 of possession, allowing them to gain 518 total yards in their 27-24 win over the Golden Gophers.

Running back Michael Hart gained 160 yards and scored a touchdown for the boys in Blue, while true freshman quarterback Chad Henne threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns on 33-for-49 passing, as well as two interceptions.

Receiver Braylon Edwards grabbed 10 balls for 98 yards and a touchdown, while three other receivers had at least three receptions and 30-yards gained.

All that offense spells trouble for the Illini, who have the second-worst defense in the Big Ten conference. Iliinois is giving up an average of 434 yards per game, and has given up a league high 23 touchdowns in six games.

The Illinois quarterback combo of Jon Beutjer and Chris Pazan will have to deal with one of the conferences' toughest secondary's, featuring Markus Curry, Ernest Shazor, Ryan Mundy and Marlin Jackson, who have combined for seven interceptions this season.

Last year Illinois got pounded in Pazan's first career start, falling 56-14 to the Wolverines in the big house.

U-M held Illinois to only 252 total yards, while putting up 519 themselves.

Game time is set for noon, EST, from Memorial Stadium in Illinois.

Jonathan Malavolti and Samona Combs