Big Ten Notebook: Iowa FB Mark Weisman plays with military attitude

(Video of Mark Weisman following Northern Iowa game courtesy of Hlas2222)

News and notes from around the Big Ten:

• Iowa FB Mark Weisman, an Air Force transfer, still carries some of his old habits from the military school. “You can tell by his body he's from a military school,” injured RB Damon Bullock said to Ryan Suchomel of the Des Moines Register. “He's like a juggernaut.” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz didn't bypass the fact that Weisman wasn't intended to be the primary running back last Saturday vs. Northern Iowa although he did manage 113 yards and three touchdowns. “That was not scripted, I can assure you. But he runs tough. I can't say enough about him.”

• The majority of the 512 yards the Buckeyes allowed against Cal came on six plays, reported Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Defensive coordinator Luke Fickell stayed up late Saturday night watching film, trying to determine what went wrong. He and coach Urban Meyer settled on poor tackling fundamentals. “Instead of one day a week, we'll probably have to go to two now,” Meyer said.

• Michigan State will host Eastern Michigan this Saturday, the 116th-worst defense in the country. It's exactly what the Spartans need following their 3-point offensive effort against the Irish last Saturday night. The most pressing issue for Michigan State remains their lack of offensive chemistry. “At the end of the day, if we don't make a play, the fans are gonna start leaving, the media may start bashing you, and everything like that,” LB Chris Norman, the captain and starting LB said to Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press.

• Yahoo's Pat Forde found that at the current pace, this season projects to be the lowest made field goal percentage since 2004. Currently, FBS kickers are hitting 67.8 percent of their attempts, 2.6 percent lower than last year's number. The Big Ten has been on both sides of the aisle in regards to kicking success. Penn State K Sam Ficken missed four fields goal in a 17-16 week two loss to Virginia and this past week, Wisconsin narrowly avoided the upset when Utah State's Josh Thompson pushed a potential game-winning kick, too far right.

• Northwestern's Demetrius Fields, the team's leading receiver with 19 catches, said it doesn't matter to him which Wildcats quarterback, Kain Colter or Trevor Siemian, is under center. In fact, sometimes, Fields doesn't even notice which one it is. “Even at [Syracuse], I didn't know Trevor was in until mid-drive,” he said to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. “That might have something to do with me being oblivious, but I have full confidence in both.

For more Big Ten coverage, follow Mike Singer and Dave Carey @CBSSportsBigTen.