ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

• After a troublesome offseason off the field, Penn State's team leaders have stepped up to squash discipline problems, Jeff McLane writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Justin Siller was terrific in his first career start as Purdue's quarterback, but there are reasons why head coach Joe Tiller might be hesitant to throw Siller back into the fire at Michigan State, The Journal and Courier's Tom Kubat writes in his blog.
• Despite a dreadful season on the field and rumors that recruits could be looking elsewhere, Michigan should be fine in recruiting, Sam Webb writes in The Detroit News.

"Most of Michigan's targets have said they see the uncharacteristic losing as a gateway to playing time."

• Minnesota's Tim Brewster has been mentioned for the head-coaching vacancy at Tennessee, and the next few weeks could determine how viable a candidate he'll be, the Star Tribune's Kent Youngblood writes in his blog.
• Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher (hamstring) still needs to make more progress in practice to play Saturday, while Ohio State is preparing for both Bacher and junior Mike Kafka, Jim O'Donnell writes in the Chicago Sun-Times.
• Wisconsin has been one of the nation's biggest disappointments this season, but it's still too soon to get a gauge on third-year coach Bret Bielema, Tom Oates writes in the Wisconsin State Journal.
  

"Impatient fans should keep in mind that if Bielema learns from his mistakes and becomes a better coach, it is UW that will benefit. But if people insist on judging him prematurely, they will never know if he can progress from here and become the coach everyone thought he was two months ago."