B1G predictions: Week 6

So I went 4-2 in my predictions last week thanks to Northwestern coughing up a gigantic lead.  Northwestern lost an 18 point lead to Illinois, forced a late Illinois fumble and cashed in to retake the lead only lead to gag it up again, allowing the Illini to score with 18 seconds left.  My overall record is still a solid 44-8, but ESPN bloggers Adam Rittenburg and Brian Bennett both went 6-0 to gain ground on me.  My ego took a hit last week.  On to this week...

Purdue 31, Minnesota 23: MarQueis Gray will return at quarterback for the Golden Gophers and split reps with true freshman Max Shortell.  Shortell got a rude welcome to the B1G in his first career start as he and the Gophers were flattened by a vastly superior Michigan team 58-0.  The Gophers fortunes will be much better this week, but not good enough to win.  Purdue wins a seesaw battle as Akeem Shavers and Ralph Bolden will get loose and the Purdue ground game will control the clock and the momentum late. 

Illinois 45, Indiana 23: The Illini will have a 38-23 lead with 1:48 to play when their quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase chucks a 57 yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins.  After the game when Kevin Wilson and Ron Zook meet at midfield, Wilson will ask Zook if Jack Trudeau put him up to this, Zook will respond "yes", and Wilson will proceed to punch him square in the nose in the most entertaining Illinois/Indiana game in the history of the rivalry.

Iowa 27, Penn State 17: The Hawkeyes simply have too much firepower for the punch less Nittany Lions.  The Hawkeyes will continue their dominance over PSU as James Vandenberg continues his hot streak with another 300 yard passing day.

Michigan 48, Northwestern 20: Dan Persa won't be able to go in this one and that spells doom for Northwestern.  The Wildcat defense doesn't come close to slowing down Denard Robinson all day as the Wolverines win another non competitive game to improve to 6-0.

Nebraska 17, Ohio State 6: An angry Cornhuskers defense takes out their frustrations on a completely lost Buckeyes offense.  I don't even know why I'm saying Ohio State scores 6 in this game.  I think the Buckeyes would have trouble scoring on Minnesota at this point.  Taylor Martinez, Rex Burkhead, and company get enough going on the ground to grind out a victory.