Scouting: Illini, Irish and Northwesten

Here's the breakdown for Saturday's college football games:

Iowa (5-3, 2-2) at Illinois (4-4, 2-3)

When: 2:37 p.m. at Memorial Stadium

TV: Channel 7

Radio: WIND 560-AM

Series: Illinois leads 37-29-2.

Coaches: Kirk Ferentz (66-52, 10th year); Ron Zook (17-27, fourth year at Illinois; 40-41 in seventh year overall).

Players to watch: Iowa junior Shonn Greene ranks second in the Big Ten and third nationally in rushing with 144.3 yards per game and 10 touchdowns. He owns the school record with eight consecutive 100-yard games. Soph QB Ricky Stanzi has started 6 games this year, including the last four, and owns the nation's 25th-best pass-efficiency rating (145.3). Iowa's stout defense starts upfront with four-year starting tackles Mitch King (46 career TFLs) and Matt Kroul.

For the second week in a row, Illinois QB Juice Williams leads the Big Ten in total yards (331.0 ypg) and passing efficiency (152.6 rating). WR Arrelious Benn trails only Minnesota's Eric Decker amongst Big Ten receivers in catches (46) and yards (740). MLB Brit Miller, the league's leading tackler with 10.5 stops per game, spearheads a defense that's prone to allowing big plays.

The skinny: Iowa has won this rivalry game five years running. The Illini can't allow that streak to continue on Saturday, or its bowl hopes will be downgraded from "probable" to "questionable." The Hawkeyes won last year's game because their defense, which ranks fifth nationally this year in points allowed per game (11.5 ppg), stuffed Illinois' perimeter running attack. Wisconsin did the same thing last week, so there are serious offensive-line execution issues that need to be solved. One good note for the Illini? They did a solid job holding down Wisconsin power back John Clay, especially after the game's initial drive. That suggests they might be able to stop Greene from controlling the day's events.

Northwestern (6-2, 2-2) at Minnesota (7-1, 3-1)

When: 11:02 a.m. at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WGN 720-AM, WNUR 89.3-FM

Series: Minnesota leads 49-29-5.

Coaches: Pat Fitzgerald (16-16, third year at NU); Tim Brewster (8-12, second year at Minnesota).

Players to watch: Barring an unlikely recovery by senior quarterback C.J. Bacher's right hamstring, Northwestern trots out a new backfield this week in junior QB Mike Kafka and senior RB Omar Conteh. Kafka, who hasn't started since Sept. 2006, played the final series in last week's loss to Indiana. Conteh started several games last year when Tyrell Sutton was out with an injured ankle - and rotated in frequently this year - so his potential performance doesn't figure to have as wide a variance as Kafka's.

Minnesota sophomore QB Adam Weber has shown solid improvement in his second year at the helm. Though he doesn't run quite as much as he did last fall, he owns just 3 INTs in 243 attempts (81-to-1 ratio) compared to last year's 1 INT for every 23.6 passes. True freshman DeLeon Eskridge (520 yards, 7 TDs) rushed for a career-high 124 yards against Illinois. Junior WR Eric Decker leads the league with 66 catches for 833 yards (and 5 scores).

The skinny: Here's a riddle: Minnesota ranks eighth in the Big Ten in total offense and total defense, while Northwestern ranks fifth in the league in both categories. So why are the Gophers ranked 17th in the BCS as the league's feel-good story while the Wildcats are 36th and falling quickly?

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald raises his hand to answer the question: "Plus-15 in the turnover ratio is a magical, magical pill." Indeed, Minnesota leads the nation with a plus-15 turnover margin, while the Wildcats rank eighth in the league and tied for 79th nationally at minus-3. If the Wildcats are to turn around the turnover tables this week, Kafka must avoid interceptions. Though he has a bigger arm than Bacher, look for him to keep it close to the vest and not afraid to run.

Pittsburgh (5-2) at Notre Dame (5-2)

When: 1:43 p.m. at Notre Dame Stadium

TV: Channel 5

Radio: WLS 890-AM

Series: Notre Dame leads 44-18-1.

Coaches: Dave Wannstedt (21-21, fourth year at Pitt); Charlie Weis (27-17, fourth year at Notre Dame).

Players to watch: Pittsburgh sophomore RB LeSean McCoy leads the nation with 14 touchdowns in 7 games, including 9 scores in his last three outings. McCoy also owns four consecutive 140-yard-plus rushing games - and he's a threat to catch the ball as well. Junior QB Bill Stull throws for a decent amount of yards (1,562), but rarely gets the ball into the end zone (4 TDs vs. 5 INTs). Senior LB Scott McKillop paces the Big East in tackles (9.6 per game) and tackles for loss (1.5 per game).

Notre Dame sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen is on pace to join Brady Quinn as the only passers in school history to average more than 200 yards per game while throwing for at least 20 TDs. If he throws for at least 286 yards against Pitt, he'll pass Rick Mirer, Ron Powlus, John Huarte and Joe Montana to take seventh place on Notre Dame's all-time single-season yardage list. Senior ILB Maurice Crum's streak of 43 consecutive starts ended last week against Washington, though he shared team-high honors with 6 tackles.

The skinny: Amazingly enough, these two teams are right next to each other in CollegeBCS.com's extrapolated BCS rankings. The No. 33 Panthers were on a path toward a BCS bowl before a shocking 20-point home loss to Rutgers last week, while the No. 34 Irish hope last week's whipping of Washington triggers a five-game winning streak heading into the Nov. 29 regular-season finale at USC. Considering the Panthers defense surrendered 6 TD passes last week to weak Rutgers QB Mike Teel, this could be a week to remember for Jimmy Clausen.