Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
My prediction of a perfect Week 1 in the Big Ten seems to be in some jeopardy.
Both Minnesota and Iowa trail early in the second half of their games, and both teams have endured some struggles on offense.
Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus has looked very impressive, especially for a guy playing his first football game in four years. Paulus has capitalized on several defensive breakdowns for the Gophers, including one that led to an easy 29-yard touchdown toss to Mike Williams. The Gophers got a gift touchdown in the opening minutes and showed some good things in the running game from Duane Bennett, but Adam Weber looks shaky in the new pro-style offense.
Iowa definitely misses Shonn Greene and Jewel Hampton, though redshirt freshman Adam Robinson is providing a spark in the the third quarter. Tight end Tony Moeaki is clearly a factor for the Hawkeyes when healthy and Marvin McNutt seems to be Ricky Stanzi's top option so far, but the FCS Panthers aren't going away. I'm surprised to see how easily UNI is passing the ball against the veteran Hawkeyes defense.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Adam Rittenberg
Rittenberg joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four years at the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald, where he covered sports at Notre Dame, Northwestern, DePaul and several other colleges. He lives in Chicago.
BIG TEN SCOREBOARD
Friday, 11/27
12:00 PM ET Illinois 5 Cincinnati
