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First, Indiana brought in an offensive coordinator, Seth Littrell, with a pass-first pedigree.

The Hoosiers then added Cameron Coffman, a coveted junior college quarterback who Littrell had recruited at his previous coaching stop (Arizona). Then, late in the recruiting process, Indiana added Nate Sudfield, rated by ESPN Recruiting as the nation's No. 14 quarterback prospect. Sudfield is the highest-rated recruit in Indiana's recent signing class.

Some might see all of this as sending a message to Tre Roberson, who emerged as Indiana's starting quarterback midway through Big Ten play last season. While Roberson showed tremendous potential at times, he also completed only 57 percent of his passes and threw twice as many interceptions (6) as touchdown passes (3).

But the team's recent moves have been made with Roberson's development very much in mind. When Indiana opens spring practice March 3, Roberson will lead the offense.

"Tre will definitely have a huge advantage," Hoosiers head coach Kevin Wilson told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "He has the potential to be a very quality player. He's off to a great young start in his career. ... He can make some plays with his feet, but he's a better quarterback than people give him credit for. I want competition at every position, but going into the spring, without a doubt Tre Roberson's our guy."

Coffman is one of six junior-college additions already on campus at Indiana. Sudfield arrives in the fall. Indiana was looking to add quarterbacks after both Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel left the team last month. Roberson moved past both Wright-Baker and Kiel on Indiana's depth chart during Big Ten play and provided a spark with his athleticism.

His next challenge is to become a more effective and consistent passer, which Wilson has little doubt he can be.

"[Littrell] is going to escalate Tre in the pass game," Wilson said. "I think Tre can be really good. These other two guys will make great competition for him."

Although a historically poor defense remains Indiana's primary offseason focus, Wilson thinks the Hoosiers can take steps offensively as well. Indiana had at least 350 offensive yards in half of its games in 2011 but cracked the 30-point barrier just three times and only once in Big Ten play.

Wilson wants to score more through the pass game, a big reason why he brought in Littrell, a Mike Leach disciple whose Arizona offense ranked third nationally in passing in 2011.

"I look to see what elements of that passing game will become the true part of our pass offense," Wilson said. "We'll still try to have balance and run the ball. We're going to play to the strength of the quarterback. But for us to score points, we've got to make strides defensively, but we've got to make a boatload of strides offensively, particularly in scoring, and one of the quickest ways of doing that is trying to improve the pass game.

"I don't see it as a change of offense, but it's an emphasis on some subtle things in the passing game."

Indiana got stung by the decommitment of star quarterback prospect Gunner Kiel last fall. Earlier this month, quarterbacks Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel (Gunner's brother) left the program.

So the Hoosiers needed some depth at the position behind incumbent starter Tre Roberson. And it looks like they got just that on the recruiting trail.

California prospect Nate Sudfeld gave his verbal pledge to Kevin Wilson on Thursday. Sudfeld was originally committed to Arizona and was also being purused by Arizona State and UCLA. He is ranked as the No. 14 quarterback in this class, according to ESPN.com.

Sudfeld had built a relationship with new IU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who had been recruiting him for Arizona before Mike Stoops got the boot.

"I really like Coach [Kevin] Wilson too, the whole staff was great with me," he told ESPN.com's Greg Biggins. "That staff has a winning pedigree and I want to be a part of something special. Indiana is a great university and has the combination of academics and football I was looking for and it’s a cool college town as well so I’m really excited about my decision.”

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Sudfeld has great size and arm strength and will bring competition to the position, along with junior college transfer Cameron Coffman. And Sudfeld eases a little of the pain from the Gunner Kiel affair.

Before the season began, we ranked every Big Ten position group from No. 1 through 12. That was based on projections and assumptions, but now we have a full season's worth of data.

So it's time to go back and assign a final 2011 ranking to each position in the league. We'll start, as usual, with the quarterbacks. You can take a look back and see how we ranked this group in the preseason here. Depth will matter more at other positions, but for this one, we're mostly concerned how the main guy fared this past season.

Let's kick it:

1. Wisconsin: When we did this list in June, we didn't know yet if Russell Wilson would transfer to the Badgers. That's why we ranked Wisconsin No. 11 at the time. That seems ludicrous now. Wilson broke the NCAA single-season record for pass efficiency (191.8), finishing ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. He completed 72.8 percent of his passes for 3,175 yards and had 33 touchdowns and only four interceptions. If that's not enough to qualify for the top spot, I don't know what is.

2. Michigan State: I'm not sure if Kirk Cousins' 2011 season was properly appreciated nationally. Cousins led the Big Ten in passing yards with 3,316 while completing 63.7 percent of his passes and throwing 25 touchdowns. He was especially good down the stretch as the Spartans' offense took off and remained one of the best leaders in college football. And Cousins didn't get nearly the same amount of support from the running game that Wilson did.

3. Michigan: Denard Robinson's numbers declined in several key areas from 2010, including his rushing yardage, passing yardage and completion percentage. Meanwhile, his interceptions went up and there was little doubt he struggled at times. Yet Robinson also had two of the most spectacular individual efforts of the season in wins against Notre Dame and Ohio State, and he still led the Big Ten in total offense per game. And in the end, it's pretty hard to argue against an 11-2 record and Sugar Bowl title.

4. Northwestern: A lingering Achilles' tendon injury and an awful defense helped obscure the fact that Dan Persa had another outstanding year when healthy. He completed 73.4 percent of his throws and actually averaged more passing yards per game (237.6) than any other Big Ten quarterback. Persa's mobility, however, was limited and that made him much less of a running threat. Kain Colter fulfilled that role and did a nice job stepping in for Persa, including his heroics in an upset win at Nebraska.

5. Nebraska: Taylor Martinez's improvement wasn't easy to measure in statistics. His completion percentage dipped to 56.3 in 2011, and he had far less of an impact running the ball over the last half of the season — he failed to run for more than 56 yards and did not have a rushing touchdown in the final seven games. But Martinez got better as a game manager and leader and remained a dual threat defenses had to account for. And he learned to protect the ball better, throwing just three interceptions in his final eight games.

6. Iowa: James Vandenberg put up some good numbers in his first year as a full-time starter, throwing for 3,022 yards and 25 touchdowns. But he compiled a lot of his stats against bad defenses like Pitt, Louisiana-Monroe, Indiana and Northwestern. He wasn't nearly as good in losses to Nebraska, Michigan State and Penn State. Vandenberg has the potential to be the best pure passer in the Big Ten, but he needs to become more consistent.

7. Ohio State: The Buckeyes would have ranked at or near the bottom of this list after the first half of the season, after initial starter Joe Bauserman was benched and freshman Braxton Miller went through some early growing pains. While Miller's passing was often reigned in, he was extremely effective as a runner, rushing for for at least 90 yards five times. Miller showed the whole package in an impressive performance against Michigan to end the regular season. With Urban Meyer's tutelage, Miller could put the Buckeyes at the top of this list in the near future.

8. Purdue: The Boilermakers' quarterback situation looked bleak to start the year, as projected starter Rob Henry went down with an ACL injury and backup Robert Marve was slow to recover from his own knee problems. But while Purdue wasn't flashy at the position, it got decent production from Caleb TerBush and from Marve later in the year. Combined, they passed for over 2,500 yards and 17 touchdowns, and TerBush was the team's fourth leading rusher.

9. Illinois: Nathan Scheelhaase looked like he'd claim a spot as one of the Big Ten's best quarterbacks with a solid start to the season, including a 426-yard, four-touchdown showing in a win over Northwestern. But like the rest of the Illini offense, his production fell off a cliff in the second half of the season, and the sophomore appeared to lose his confidence along the way. Freshman Reilly O'Toole came in for certain situations and looked close to usurping the starting job. Scheelhaase bounced back with a nice second half in the bowl win against UCLA. Now he'll have to adjust to new coach Tim Beckman's spread offense.

10. Minnesota: Early in the season, it was hard to tell if MarQueis Gray or freshman Max Shortell would win coach Jerry Kill's favor and seize control of the offense. Neither was particularly effective. But Gray, who made the transition from wide receiver, started to find a groove late in the year. He led the upset against Iowa and ran for 327 yards in the final two games. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder is hard to stop when he takes off running, but he must improve on his 50-percent completion rate.

11. Indiana: The Hoosiers played quarterback roulette for the first half of the season, rotating between Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel. But when they finally settled on freshman Tre Roberson, they found their signal-caller of the present and future. Roberson is still a bit raw but has tremendous athleticism and instincts. He ran for 121 yards and threw for 169 against Northwestern, showing that he could be yet another dangerous dual threat quarterback in this league going forward.

12. Penn State: The Nittany Lions' handling of the quarterback situation was baffling and counterproductive in 2011. Penn State continued to trot out Rob Bolden as the starter for much of the year even though Matt McGloin was clearly the better option. McGloin did the heavy lifting off the bench, but he was not exactly a world-beater either, completing just 54 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. The Nittany Lions beat Ohio State mostly because they put a couple of receivers in the Wildcat formation, and when McGloin couldn't play in the TicketCity Bowl, Bolden struggled. New coach Bill O'Brien will quickly learn that Tom Brady isn't walking through that door in 2012.

National Signing Day is barely a week away, and Big Ten teams will be stockpiling for the future (and, in some cases, the present). Today we'll take a look at the recruiting needs of each Big Ten team, starting with those in the Leaders division. These needs are based on current rosters and anticipated departures in the near future. And to save you some email time, we do realize teams have already addressed needs in compiling their 2012 classes.

Let's get started ...

ILLINOIS

Wide receiver: The Illini lose A.J. Jenkins, who accounted for 90 of the team's 226 receptions in 2011. No other Illinois player had more than 26 catches, so there certainly are opportunities for young players to emerge and make an immediate impact for the new coaching staff.

Linemen: Illinois loses two starters from an offensive line that struggled down the stretch of the regular season. It's important to build depth there going forward. Despite Whitney Mercilus' early departure to the NFL draft, the defensive line returns some talented players. Still, defensive end Michael Buchanan is entering his senior year, and defensive tackle Akeem Spence is a bona fide NFL prospect who could enter the draft with a strong 2012 campaign.

Safety: The Illini defense didn't have many weaknesses in 2011, but safety was a liability at times. The team returns experience for 2012, but will lose some key players after the season. An impact defensive back or two in the 2012 class would really help.

INDIANA

Defensive back: This has been a primary recruiting need for the past few seasons, and it remains a pressing concern after Indiana surrendered a league-worst 8.5 yards per pass and a league-high 26 passing touchdowns in 2011. Indiana needs impact players and depth among the back four to be able to limit Big Ten offenses.

Defensive front seven: Sense a theme here? Indiana needs defenders in the worst way, and the front seven is a huge piece to the puzzle. The Hoosiers return some experience at defensive tackle, but lose top linebackers Jeff Thomas and Leon Beckum. The coaches showed in 2011 that they're not afraid to play young players, and they need more contributors on the defensive side.

Quarterback: Starter Tre Roberson returns, but Indiana needs bodies here after Dusty Kiel and Ed Wright-Baker both opted to transfer earlier this month.

OHIO STATE

Offensive line: Three multiyear starters depart at center, left tackle and right tackle, so Ohio State's offensive line will have a very different look in 2012. The Buckeyes could use some immediate-impact linemen, like center Mike Brewster in 2008, and they'll look to build depth here.

Defensive end: Ohio State appears loaded at defensive tackle for 2012 and beyond, but the team needs some more pure pass-rushers on the edge. John Simon, who had four more sacks than anyone on the squad in 2011, will be a senior this coming season.

Wide receiver: The Buckeyes lacked reliable receiver options in 2011 and had their best wideout, DeVier Posey, for only three games because of suspension. Posey departs and Ohio State needs to build depth and increase competition in what should be a more wide-open offense under Urban Meyer.

PENN STATE

Quarterback: New coach Bill O'Brien might be the quarterback whisperer Penn State has waited for, but he also needs to upgrade the talent on the roster. Matthew McGloin and Rob Bolden both must make significant strides, and while Paul Jones is an intriguing player, we've yet to see him in a game. Penn State needs more options here.

Wide receiver: Top target Derek Moye departs, and Penn State returns only two players with decent but not great production in Justin Brown and Devon Smith. Brown looks like a potential impact player in 2012, but Penn State needs more options in the passing game.

Defensive back: Penn State loses all four starters, although returning players like Stephon Morris, Malcolm Willis and Adrian Amos have logged playing time. Still, the Lions need some more players here to build depth and increase competition.

PURDUE

Offensive line: This is one of few areas where Purdue loses a decent amount of production from 2011, as tackle Dennis Kelly and Nick Mondek both depart. Two more starters exit after the 2012 season, and Purdue wants to be a run-based offense. It's important to build some depth up front with the 2012 class.

Kicker: Purdue loses the bionic-legged Carson Wiggs, who did more than make field goals from ridiculous distances. He also kicked off and served as a backup punter, attempting 45 punts over the past two seasons. The versatile Wiggs leaves a major void, and Purdue must address the specialist spot.

Defensive back: The Boilers say goodbye to both of their starting safeties from the 2011 team. They also will lose starting cornerback Josh Johnson after the 2012 season, while Ricardo Allen might be an early entry candidate with a big junior year. While this isn't a pressing need right now, it could soon become one.

WISCONSIN

Quarterback: Russell Wilson saved Wisconsin in more than one way in 2011, and his departure is significant. The team's most experienced signal callers, Jon Budmayr and Curt Phillips, both are coming off of major injuries. Wisconsin typically doesn't play younger quarterbacks, but needs more options after a season where Wilson showed what the offense could be.

Wide receiver: The Badgers typically get by with 1-2 good wideouts and an excellent tight end or two, but they could use more depth at the receiver position. Top target Nick Toon departs, and Wisconsin is pretty thin at receiver aside from Jared Abbrederis.

Defensive speed: Oregon makes a lot of teams look slow, but the Rose Bowl spelled out what the Badgers must do to take the next step as a program. Wisconsin needs to upgrade its speed at all three levels of the defense, particularly the back seven, to prevent explosion plays. Michigan State also exposed Wisconsin's defense, so the need for speed certainly is there.

At times, Tre Roberson looked like the future of Indiana's offense down the stretch of the regular season. The freshman showcased good speed and play-making ability.

To push Roberson, Indiana on Thursday secured a verbal commitment from Cameron Coffman, who accounted for 34 touchdowns (21 pass, 13 rush) as a freshman at Arizona Western College in 2011. Coffman, who passed for 2,244 yards and ran for 945 yards, received several Big 12 offers coming out of high school.

He has three seasons of eligibility left and will compete with Roberson for the top job in new coordinator Seth Littrell's offense.

It's pretty clear where Indiana is headed on offense, as both Roberson and Coffman look like good fits for the spread. It seemed unlikely Dusty Kiel and Ed Wright-Baker would be part of the plan, and both quarterbacks have decided to leave the program, the team confirmed Saturday.

Wright-Baker started Indiana's first four games in 2011. Kiel started the next two before giving way to Wright-Baker again. Both men then stepped aside as Roberson started Indiana's final five contests.

Kiel's younger brother Gunner, one of the nation's top recruits, decommitted from Indiana in October after pledging to join his brother in late July. It's not a surprise that the older Kiel would eventually look elsewhere as well.

Both Dusty Kiel and Wright-Baker have two years of eligibility left. No word yet on potential transfer destinations for either quarterback.

The departures leave IU a bit thin at quarterback, and it'll be interesting to see if any other signal callers are added to the 2012 class.

INDIANA HOOSIERS

Record: 1-11 (0-8 Big Ten)

After two seasons of flirting with the postseason, Indiana slipped back into rebuilding mode in 2011. While the team's Big Ten struggles are nothing new to IU fans, the Hoosiers also stumbled in nonconference play and were the only major-conference team in the country not to defeat an FBS opponent this year.

Rough first season for coach Kevin Wilson? You bet. But better days should be ahead.

Indiana's offense struggled early as inconsistent play an injuries prevented Wilson from identifying the team's top quarterback. True freshman Tre Roberson eventually emerged to provide a play-making spark in the backfield, along with running back Stephen Houston, but by then the defense was in free-fall. The unit that has plagued Indiana for more than a decade took another step back, finishing the season 109th or worse nationally in four major statistical categories (total defense, rush defense, scoring defense and pass efficiency defense). Indiana's defense surrendered an average of 46.5 points during the final seven games.

Wilson and his staff ended up playing 16 true freshmen and 16 redshirt freshmen, more than any team in the country. While it resulted in plenty of growing pains this year, the moves could pay off down the line as so many young players got a taste of game action. Indiana's ongoing recruiting efforts will be critical, and while losing one-time quarterback commit Gunner Kiel stings, the bigger concern for the Hoosiers remains on defense.

Offensive MVP: Roberson. Indiana's offense was going nowhere until Roberson provided a spark in his first career start -- and the first by a Hoosiers freshman quarterback -- against Iowa on Oct. 22. Although he had some ups and downs, he showcased explosive speed and has some potential as a passer. Roberson finished as the team's second-leading rusher (426 yards). Houston also merits a mention after an impressive first season (802 rush yards, 8 TDs).

Defensive MVP: Linebacker Jeff Thomas. Not many choices here but Thomas led the team in both tackles (80) and tackles for loss (10.5) after finishing second in tackles a year ago. He added a sack, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Defensive lineman Adam Replogle merits a mention after leading the team with four sacks and finishing second with seven tackles for loss.

Turning point: After notching its first win against South Carolina State, Indiana went to North Texas with an excellent chance to even its record at 2-2. North Texas entered the game with three blowout losses on its record, but the Mean Green dominated Indiana on both sides of the ball, surging out to a 24-0 lead before the Hoosiers decided to wake up. It signaled bad things ahead for Wilson's squad, which didn't win another game.

What's next: Indiana misses a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season, but this is a critical time for Wilson and his assistants to scour the recruiting trail. The Hoosiers need significant upgrades, particularly on defense, and likely will sign a large recruiting class in February. It's also an important time for the many freshmen who played this season to take steps in their physical development before spring ball begins.

After learning that star recruit Gunner Kiel has decommitted, perhaps Indiana has decided to turn to another youngster as its future quarterback.

True freshman Tre Roberson will make his first career start under center for the Hoosiers today at Iowa. Roberson was Mr. Football in Indiana last year. He got his most significant playing time this season two weeks ago against Illinois, when he completed 11 of 17 passes for 148 yards and rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Roberson is the third different quarterback to start for IU this season, joining Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel.

Here's some potentially rough news for Indiana in a season full of bad tidings.

Top quarterback recruit Gunner Kiel, who stunned a lot of people by committing to his home-state Hoosiers in July, is wavering on his commitment and plans to visit other schools, according to reports.

Kiel told Peegs.com that he informed IU head coach Kevin Wilson of that decision on Thursday night. He plans on making an unofficial visit to Notre Dame this weekend to see the Irish play USC in the school's first night game on campus in 20 years.

Kiel, whose older brother Dusty has started two games for the Hoosiers at quarterback this year, was also being pursued by Alabama, Oklahoma and many others before his commitment. This news is not terribly surprising, since top prospects often change their mind or at least check out other options after they make an early commitment. And with Indiana's 1-6 start, it's not hard to understand why Kiel is rethinking things.

Wilson and the Hoosiers will have to re-recruit him now and hope they can hang on to him. The family ties to the program and the proximity to Kiel's hometown -- he's from nearby Columbus, Ind. -- help them in that regard. But now that there appears to be blood in the water, other schools will surely come after the quarterback with a full-on sales pitch. The atmosphere Kiel will see this weekend in South Bend should be special, and even though it's only an unofficial visit, that thought must be sickening to IU fans.

As I wrote Thursday, Kiel is the highest-rated prospect in the Class of 2012 who has committed to a Big Ten school, according to ESPN.com. He looked like he could have been a program-changing type of recruit for Indiana. The Hoosiers must now hope that is still the case and that more bad news isn't coming.

Coming at you from False Start City. Another nice performance, Bears.

• Quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Denard Robinson have contrasting styles, Matt Charboneau writes in The Detroit News. Three big questions entering the Michigan-Michigan State game.
• Illinois WR Darius Millines (foot) is day-to-day after missing two games.
• Penn State has a scary defense and a scary offense -- in very different ways. Bob Smizik writes that Urban Meyer would be the perfect successor for JoePa.
• Michigan's seniors want to change their legacy in rivalry games. Wolverines DE Ryan Van Bergen talks about his resemblance to Paul Bunyan.
• A good look at Nebraska's potential season-saving rally from Dirk Chatelain. Where does Saturday's comeback rank among the best in Huskers history?
• Wisconsin isn't going all out on a Heisman Trophy campaign for RussellMania. Every team talks about having a balanced offense, but Wisconsin actually achieves it.
• History isn't on Purdue's side in Happy Valley.
• Dusty Kiel (ankle) didn't practice Monday, and Indiana expects to go with Ed Wright-Baker and Tre Roberson at quarterback against Wisconsin.
• Jerry Palm won't make many friends in Wisconsin with his latest computer rankings, while he'll be more than welcome in Ann Arbor and Champaign.
• Jerry Kill's cohesive staff isn't translating to wins for Minnesota.
• Northwestern's fourth-quarter defense has been U-G-L-Y. Perhaps return specialist Venric Mark can help the D.
• A look back at Ohio State's questionable decision not to attempt a long field goal attempt at Nebraska. The Buckeyes' collapse in Lincoln left players and coaches baffled.

Indiana Hoosiers

Record: 1-5 (0-2 Big Ten)

No one ever said Kevin Wilson's job would be easy. The first-year IU coach earned goodwill among the fan base in the preseason with his bold talk and recruiting prowess. But success on the field has been slow to follow. The Hoosiers' only victory came over FCS opponent South Carolina State, and they suffered an embarrassing loss at North Texas. The problems are what you might expect: Indiana is not strong enough in the trenches to stop or generate a rushing attack. Wilson is an innovative offensive coach, but his team has struggled to move the ball consistently while starting two different quarterbacks (sophomores Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel) and working in true freshman Tre Roberson in the last game against Illinois. Every step of potential progress (a big second-half comeback against Virginia, a closer-than-expected 16-10 loss to Penn State, a 10-0 lead over Illinois) seems to be answered by another hole that needs plugging. Wilson has already played 16 true freshmen, and first- and second-year players can be found all over the depth chart. A full-scale rebuilding project is under way; nobody said it would be easy.

Offensive MVP: Quarterback Ed Wright-Baker. There's really not a lot to choose from on this offense, and Wright-Baker has had his ups and downs. But he was the quarterback during IU's lone victory, and he threw for 925 yards and four touchdowns before missing the past two games with injuries.

Defensive MVP: Linebacker Jeff Thomas. The fifth-year senior has been one true anchor for the defense. He leads the team with 48 tackles, including eight for loss. The Hoosiers need more like him.

How good is Illinois? I'm not sure we know yet, even as the Illini improved to 6-0 on Saturday. We know a few things, however:

• They can take care of business against an overmatched opponent, as they did in the 41-20 win over Indiana.
• The offense can put up plays and points quickly when it's clicking, as it did while outscoring the Hoosiers 30-3 after falling behind 10-0 early. The Nathan Scheelhaase-A.J. Jenkins duo is as good as it gets in the Big Ten right now. They rolled up over 500 yards of offense, including more than 300 on the ground.
• They can win on the road, although Indiana might have the worst home-field advantage in the league. Still, it was the first game away from Champaign this season for Illinois.

Ron Zook's team didn't play a perfect game by any measure, and its mistakes would likely have been much costlier against a better team on the road. But 6-0 is 6-0, and with a struggling Ohio State team coming to Champaign next week followed by a trip to Purdue, the Illini have a chance to be 8-0 and put some pressure on Wisconsin in the Leaders Division.

For Indiana, it was another loss. But the Hoosiers got off to a good start and showed some fight, slicing the lead to 34-20 late. They may have also found their quarterback of the future, as true freshman Tre Roberson completed 11 of 17 passes for 148 yards. Roberson still has a lot to learn but is athletic and gives the offense a dual-threat weapon. Head coach Kevin Wilson will now have to decide whether to play Roberson more or go with Dusty Kiel or Ed Wright-Baker, who are just sophomores themselves.

Illinois looked a little sluggish to begin its first road game of the year. Indiana grabbed a quick 10-0 lead, showed a lot of enthusiasm and energy, raising our antennae for an upset alert.

But the Illini still have Nathan Scheelhaase and A.J. Jenkins, and that's a pretty good combo.

Scheelhaase has thrown three touchdown passes, two of them to Jenkins. A week after breaking the school single-game record for receiving yards, Jenkins already has 77- and 67-yard scores and 170 receiving yards in the first half.

They're the main reasons Illinois leads 27-13 in a half filled with big plays. The Hoosiers' Shane Wynn took the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Tavon Wilson returned a fumble 66 yards for a score. IU recovered two Illinois fumbles, one near the Illini goal line.

Indiana, though, has really struggled to get anything going in the passing game. Starting quarterback Dusty Kiel missed on his final seven throws of the half. True freshman Tre Roberson got a lot of time at quarterback in the first half as well. But IU is not going to fare well in a shootout with the Illini the way Scheelhaase and Jenkins are operating.

The most curious incident of the first half came midway through the second quarter, when Ron Zook decided to go for the two-point conversion while leading 20-13. It failed. Looking forward to hearing the explanation for that one.

Dusty Kiel will start his second consecutive game at quarterback for Indiana today against Illinois.

Ed Wright-Baker, who started Indiana's first four games, is dressed and available after missing last week's loss to Penn State with an ankle injury. Receiver Duwyce Wilson (back) has returned to the starting lineup, and RB D'Angelo Roberts (concussion) is dressed for the game.

Indiana's offense is closer to full strength as it tries to upset the 19th-ranked Illini.

Several Big Ten teams have competitions/controversies/questions about their starting quarterback situations. Let's take a look at where the drama stands at each place right now:

Purdue

Boilermakers coach Danny Hope has been playing both Caleb TerBush and Robert Marve since Marve came back from his knee injury and plans to keep doing so. TerBush threw an interception on the first play last week against Notre Dame, and Marve got a lot of playing time. Hope said Tuesday that TerBush enters this week as the No. 1 quarterback but that there would be a competition.

"We have two good quarterbacks, two guys who haven't taken a lot of game reps in the last two years," Hope said. "I think Caleb is probably a little more consistent in regards to the execution of our total offense, but Robert is a very special passer. ... We have some competition at that spot, not controversy."

There was some potential minor controversy with Marve earlier this week. After Hope made some comments about Marve's need to play within the system more, the quarterback posted this on his Twitter account Monday: "Don't understand how I was not playing in the system! It was rough from the get go, don't understand how that was on me." Marve later tweeted that he wasn't trying to criticize anyone and that he was "all in" with the team. Hope said he had no problem with it.

"When I read it, I knew exactly what he was trying to say, and the only negative responsive to it is everyone else's negative response," Hope said. "I wasn't offended by it one bit, and he said exactly what we were saying, that he's got to play within the system."

Minnesota

True freshman Max Shortell made his first start last Saturday at Michigan as MarQueis Gray was unavailable with a toe injury. Shortell has been playing a lot even when Gray was healthy. Head coach Jerry Kill said Gray is out of his walking boot, and he's hopeful that Gray can play this week against Purdue.

"We need his athleticism on the field, because we're not that gifted in a lot of areas right now and he's an athletic kid who can help us," Kill said. "But with a toe situation, it's yet to be seen. ... I'm not going to put somebody who's three-quarter speed out there in that situation. We'll see how it progresses this week, but we hope we can get some plays out of him on Saturday."

Ohio State

Head coach Luke Fickell reiterated that freshman Braxton Miller remains his starting quarterback. Miller did not play the entire fourth quarter last week against Michigan State, and former starter Joe Bauserman led the team to its only score in the waning seconds. Despite Miller's struggles in the passing game against the Spartans (5-of-10 for 56 yards), Fickell said he wouldn't have a quick hook for Miller this week at Nebraska. He said the offensive line needs to do a better job giving Miller chances to throw.

Penn State

Surprise! Joe Paterno says he doesn't know who his starting quarterback will be this week. Of course, Paterno has said that every week, and every week he has started Rob Bolden. In the last couple of weeks, though, Matt McGloin has played better while coming on in relief. While neither has been outstanding, McGloin is also the only Big Ten quarterback who's played regularly in every game who has yet to throw an interception this season.

Paterno, though, talked again about how both players are equal in many regards.

"It's a dilemma," he said. "I'm very reluctant to point out that one is better than the other ... so I'm going to play them both. It's one of those things where people might not agree with it, and that's fine. I'm not sure I agree with it."

Indiana

Dusty Kiel made his first start of the season in last week's 16-10 loss to Penn State. Kiel also came on in relief of Ed Wright-Baker in the North Texas loss and led the team on a rally that fell short. Wright-Baker wasn't available last week because of an ankle injury. Kiel was 22-of-45 for 184 yards and a touchdown with an interception versus the Nittany Lions.

Head coach Kevin Wilson said Wright-Baker has returned to practice, but Kiel will get the bulk of the reps in the early part of the week in preparation for Illinois.

"If Ed's full speed -- I don't know if we have a controversy because those two are good friends -- but it's pretty close," Wilson said. "Until we get the surrounding parts playing better, neither one of those guys right now has been the issue. They need to play better. They're playing well with what's dealt to them. We've got some issues at other positions that need to keep getting better moving forward."

Northwestern

No controversies here, as the Wildcats say Dan Persa will be back as the starter against Michigan and should be healthy enough to play the entire game. But Persa did shed some light Tuesday on why it took him until four games into the season to play and why he left last week's Illinois game early.

Persa told the Chicago Tribune that he had a setback on his surgically-repaired Achilles' tendon in June that pushed his timetable back by about a month. That's why he exercised caution in the Illinois game.

“Right after the game, the docs talked to me and said: ‘This is normal. You’ll have some tweaks with this and you’ll have to play through it,’" he said. “I felt a weird pull in the bottom of my leg and then it got tight. But there was nothing torn or strained too badly. I’ve had some setbacks before, and they were always worse than that. They know I don’t want to have another setback that could possibly threaten my season."

Indiana will gladly take ugly so far as the 1-3 Hoosiers have more than kept pace with Penn State so far.

Let's take a look at the first half.

Penn State 3, Indiana 3: Penn State quarterbacks Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin showed a sense of humor this week about their never-ending competition.

It has been no laughing matter today. The Penn State offense looks like a total mess against the nation's 78th-ranked defense. Neither Bolden nor McGloin has looked like Big Ten starting quarterbacks, as they've combined to complete 8 of 21 passes for 131 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in the end zone. Ugh. Does Penn State have two quarterbacks or no quarterbacks? We'd all like to see a decision made, but McGloin and Bolden aren't making it easy. Maybe it'll change in the second half.

On the flip side, Indiana deserves a ton of credit for stifling Penn State, especially after last week's loss to North Texas. Co-defensive coordinator Mike Ekeler called out the unit and it has responded, recording two takeaways and keeping Penn State out of the end zone.

Dusty Kiel got the start at quarterback for Indiana because Ed Wright-Baker sustained a knee injury in practice this week. Kiel has completed 10 of 18 passes with an interception. He's getting no help from the run game and needs to find ways to stretch the field in the second half. But Indiana is right there in this one, 30 minutes away from a confidence-boosting win.