Big Ten Notebook: Non-Maryland news from around the league
News and notes from around the league:
- Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he is prepared for the pressure of facing rival Michigan in The Game this Saturday, Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch reported. “When I was growing up there were only three channels on the television,” Meyer said. “There was this game. Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin, Pete Johnson ... I remember it coming down the line every year and everybody talking about it.”
- Minnesota coach Jerry Kill was stunned at the public way former WR A.J. Barker blasted the team in a letter this weekend after leaving the program, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. "I feel bad for A.J. I feel bad that's the way he feels about the situation," Kill said. "But I don't treat my players any differently than I treat my own two daughters."
- Iowa should be worried about Kinnick Stadium getting drenched in a sea of red by Nebraska fans on Friday, Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register reported. “In today's secondary market, a lot of fans buy season tickets and then sell them,” Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said. “We don't know yet how many Nebraska fans will show up in the stadium, but our fans are great. We have to play better to give them something to get excited about.”
- Nebraska DC John Papuchis said the key to the team's defensive improvement has been through minor tweaks and adjustments and not a complete overhaul, Steven M. Sipple of the Lincoln Journal Star reported. "And I don't believe that will ever happen," Papuchis said. "This defense works, and we believe in it."
- Penn State LB Mike Hull said injured teammate LB Michael Mauti helped convince him not to transfer to Pitt this summer, Audrey Snyder of The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported. “Just talking with me every day,” Hull said. “He was just giving me confidence and telling me how much I meant to the football program and how much I meant to this team.”
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Big Ten bloggers Dave Carey and Mike Singer, follow @CBSSportsBigTen.
