Big Ten Picks for Week Five (Part Two)

Arkansas State at Iowa

ESPN 2 at 12:05 PM ET

At first glance this shouldn't even be a competitive football game. Iowa is 4-0, highly ranked and coming off of a road win over a highly ranked Penn State team.

Arkansas State is 1-2 and has just lost back to back football games to Nebraska and Troy, and has to come in to Kinnick Stadium to play the Iowa Hawkeyes, which is never an easy task.

However Iowa has nearly lost to an FCS school in Northern Iowa, and struggled a bit with Arizona. Iowa has needed great play by their defense and special teams to win, as their offense really hasn't been all that good.

They are averaging 25 points per contest, 4.0 yards per carry and Ricky Stanzi has a QB rating of 113 with five touchdowns and five interceptions. My money is for a close game early and Iowa to pull away late.

My Prediction: Iowa 31, Arkansas State 13.

Penn State at Illinois

ABC at 3:30 PM ET

Apparently Juice Williams sent a text message to Daryll Clark last weekend to call him after they both had disappointing losses, as both quarterbacks needed a shoulder to lean on.

This weekend there won't be any such shoulder leaning during the game. Penn State is coming off of a bad loss at home against Iowa, in a game where Daryll Clark just never really looked like he had any rhythm going as a passer.

Illinois lost to Ohio State 30-0, and has now been outscored 67-9 by FBS teams. At 1-2, the Illini definitely need this win more, as a loss puts their bowl prospects in serious jeopardy. Penn State, however, also desperately needs a victory to keep their confidence up and Big Ten hopes alive.

Look for a possibly high scoring game as both teams, particularly Illinois have too many weapons to not score. Penn State pulls away with what killed them last week, and that is defense and special teams.

My Prediction: Penn State 35, Illinois 24.

Ohio State at Indiana

Big Ten Network at 7:00 PM ET

Both of these teams have had disappointing losses this season in games that they had every opportunity to win. Ohio State's loss to USC however, didn't seem to phase them as they have bounced back with consecutive shutouts over Toledo and Illinois.

 It will be interesting to see how Indiana responds after a disappointing loss against a tough Ohio State team. The real match-up to watch is most likely Indiana's pass rush versus Terrelle Pryor.

Look for the Hoosier to pressure Pryor, and for the Pistol to actually be moderately effective agains this week. The Buckeyes should win this game, but this is probably a closer game than the experts think.

My Prediction: Ohio State 33, Indiana 17.