Michigan Wolverines

We take a look inside the Big Ten trends, with no insider trading needed.

Stock up

James White: While Montee Ball understandably is getting all the attention right now, don't forget the job Wisconsin's No. 2 back is doing. White rushed for 161 yards on just 14 carries last week at Indiana, including the back-breaking 69-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. White has run for at least 100 yards in three of his last four games.

Baker Steinkuhler: The Nebraska defense has played much better in recent weeks -- particularly in the second halves -- and senior defensive tackle Steinkuhler is a reason why. A one-time highly decorated recruit, Steinkuhler is living up to that reputation by playing the best football of his career the past few weeks, coach Bo Pelini said this week. He had six tackles and a sack against Penn State last week. “Baker’s a stud," Pelini said. "He’s a leader. He’s everything you want.”

Purdue's ACL trio: Take a knee, gentlemen. The Boilermakers' backfield trio of Robert Marve, Rob Henry and Ralph Bolden -- who have seven torn ACLs between them -- had a big day at Iowa last week. Marve threw for 266 yards and led the final drive for the winning field goal. Henry continued to play his jack-of-all trades role, including a flip to Akeem Shavers on a double option for a touchdown. Maybe most encouragingly, Bolden eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the first time since the beginning of last season. "That was very special for our whole football family," head coach Danny Hope said.

Donnell Kirkwood: The Minnesota running back is somewhat quietly putting together a strong season. The sophomore ran for a career-best 152 yards and two touchdowns last week against Illinois, his third 100-yard game of the season. Kirkwood now has 819 rushing yards on the season and has a great shot at going over 1,000 for the year, especially with the Gophers reaching a bowl game. Minnesota's last 1,000-yard back was Amir Pinnix in 2006 (1,272).

Michigan's passing game: There's no doubt the Wolverines' passing game has improved with Devin Gardner at quarterback, which has seemed to raise the level of play of the receivers. Senior Roy Roundtree had 139 yards receiving last week against Northwestern and 64 yards the week before; Roundtree's previous season high was 33 yards. Jeremy Gallon had seven catches for 94 yards last week and four grabs for 72 yards the week before. Gallon hadn't caught more than three balls in a game since catching four in the season-opening loss to Alabama. As Kyle Meinke points out, Michigan has 520 passing yards the past two weeks under Gardner, compared to 482 in five previous Big Ten games from Denard Robinson.

Stock down

Indiana's rush defense: Well, this one is fairly obvious after the Hoosiers surrendered 564 yards on the ground to Wisconsin. That won't help your stats, and Indiana now ranks 118th nationally -- out of 120 FBS teams -- in allowing 244 rushing yards per game. What's most disappointing about last week's effort is the Hoosiers knew Wisconsin would have a first-time starter at quarterback, so the Badgers were going to try to run the ball as much as possible. Knowing what's coming and stopping it are two different things.

Iowa's running game: Focus on the failures in the passing game if you want, but Iowa's real problems are in its bread and butter: the running game. During the Hawkeyes' current four-game losing streak, they are averaging just 78 rushing yards per game and a mere 2.5 yards per carry. Offensive line injuries and the rotating cast at running back have played a large role.

Illinois' offensive line: The Illini struggles up front on offense aren't exactly new, but they're not getting any better, either. Illinois is last in the Big Ten with 21 sacks allowed through 10 games. That ranks the team 114th nationally. Tim Beckman will not get this program going until he first solves the issues on the O-line. "We've had tremendous problems protecting Nathan [Scheelhaase] or Reilly [O'Toole]," Beckman said. "We've got to continue to improve in those categories and get our young players going. We need to get ourselves in the weight room and get stronger and get much more physical."

Penn State's finishing kicks: No Big Ten team has been better at jumping out to an early lead than the Nittany Lions. But Penn State's second halves leave something to be desired. The team has either led or has been tied at halftime in all four of its losses, including last week when it lost 32-23 at Nebraska after taking a 20-6 lead into the break. "That's probably more of a discussion for after the season," coach Bill O'Brien said. "So in the offseason, we're going to dive into this thing and scout ourselves and see if we can improve. But over the next two weeks we need to make sure we do a better job of coming out after halftime."

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Sea of Red will be rocking tonight as Nebraska hosts No. 22 Michigan for the first time in 101 years.

A huge Legends Division matchup is on tap as Michigan (5-2, 3-0 Big Ten) aims to preserve its perfect mark in Big Ten play and take a big step toward Indianapolis, while Nebraska (5-2, 2-1) can put itself in the driver's seat -- because of head-to-head tiebreakers -- with a victory. Every other Legends Division team has at least two losses in league play, so it's quite possible we see tonight's winner take on Wisconsin on Dec. 1 in Indianapolis.

Nebraska has won 10 consecutive home night games, including historic comebacks both Sept. 29 against Wisconsin and last year against Ohio State (largest in team history). The Huskers are 36-5 under the lights at Memorial Stadium, which will be packed and very, very loud. I haven't been here since the East stadium expansion really got rolling, and it's going to make an already electric venue even better.

Michigan dominated Nebraska last year in Ann Arbor, as Denard Robinson and Fitzgerald Toussaint had their way with the Huskers' defense. Nebraska defended the spread decently last week against Northwestern, although Northwestern had a head-scratching game plan that played right into what the Huskers wanted. Bo Pelini's team knows exactly what's coming their way tonight -- lots of Robinson on the ground. An interesting subplot will be whether or not Toussaint, a major disappointment this season, can finally get going. If Nebraska can contain the run game and force Robinson to throw the ball, it will have chances to record interceptions.

Nebraska's offense, meanwhile, will be the most explosive Michigan has seen since the season opener against Alabama. The Huskers are expected to be without senior running back Rex Burkhead, who aggravated his knee injury for the second time in three games last week at Northwestern. They should be more than fine with Ameer Abdullah, Braylon Heard and Imani Cross carrying the rock, but they'll need quarterback Taylor Martinez to make plays in a place where he typically steps up.

Michigan's defense has been exceptional in Big Ten play, as linebacker Jake Ryan leads the unit. The secondary has held up decently without starting cornerback Blake Countess, but Nebraska's receiving corps, which played very well last week, will test the back four.

Much more to come from Memorial Stadium throughout the night. I'll be tweeting throughout the game and back with more coverage immediately afterward.