College football previews

Posted September 28, 2012 9:33 pm

Indiana (2-1) at Northwestern (4-0)

Where, when: At Ryan Field, 11 a.m.

TV: BTN; Radio: WGN 720-AM

Outlook: NU has a chance to start 5-0 for the third time in five years. Indiana ranks second in the Big Ten in total offense, despite losing QB Tre Roberson to a broken leg in Game 2 vs. UMass. His replacement is junior college transfer Cam Coffman, son of former Green Bay Packers TE Paul Coffman. Among the Hoosiers with suburban ties, C Will Matte (Wheaton Warrenville South) is on the Rimington Trophy watch list, while kicker Mitch Ewald (Waubonsie Valley) is on the watch list for the Groza Award. Indiana had last week off after losing to Ball State on Sept. 15.

Penn State (2-2) at Illinois (2-2)

Where, when: At Memorial Stadium, 11 a.m.

TV: ESPN; Radio: WIND 560-AM

Outlook: The last time these teams met on Oct. 29, 2011, it was the last game coached by Joe Paterno. The Illini lost 10-7 after missing a late field goal on a snowy field in State College. Both teams have had rough times this season. Illinois lost 5 fumbles in last week’s 52-24 loss to Louisiana Tech. QB Nathan Scheelhaase is expected to resume full-time duties after recovering from an ankle injury, but anything is possible. Penn State QB Matt McGloin leads the Big Ten in passing yards with 251.5 per game. The Lions started 0-2, then beat Navy and Temple.

Central Michigan (2-1) at Northern Illinois (3-1)

Where, when: At Huskie Stadium, 2:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN3; Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Outlook: Coming off last week’s victory over Kansas, Northern Illinois will try to stretch its winning streak at Huskie Stadium to 18. NIU hasn’t lost a MAC game at home in four years. The Huskies did lose to Central Michigan on the road last season 48-41. CMU is coming off a last-second win at Iowa, which beat NIU 18-17 at Soldier Field in Week 1. Senior QB Ryan Radcliff threw for 283 yards for the Chippewas, who scored 9 points in the final 45 seconds to beat Iowa. NIU has 13 quarterback sacks, good for 15th in the nation, led by Alan Baxter (Buffalo Grove) with 5.

— Mike McGraw

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