Big Ten embraces the basics

The spread is spreading, but the conference's bread-and-butter attack still remains power running.

Last update: November 21, 2008 - 6:51 AM

Last Saturday, the Gophers played a Wisconsin football team whose bowl prospects have risen thanks to a running attack that is aimed downhill. This week, the Gophers get Iowa, another team on the rise thanks to an old-fashioned ground game.

In Happy Valley on Saturday, Michigan State will try to win at least a share of the Big Ten championship by doing what it has done all season -- strap its hopes onto the back of Javon Ringer and run, run, run.

So what's going on?

This was expected to be the season of spread in the Big Ten, a time to embrace the sort of offense that has swept the nation. But look at the standings. Yes, Penn State has used a spread attack to push the Nittany Lions one victory away from the Rose Bowl.

But look at the other two teams tied for first: Ohio State and Michigan State. The Buckeyes have freshman dual-threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor, but most of their success this season is because of running back Chris Wells running behind a physical offensive line.

Saturday, the Gophers will face Shonn Greene, who has gained more than 100 yards in every game this season for an Iowa team that has won four of its past five games.

The Spartans? It's been Ringer, Ringer, Ringer. He has 353 carries in 11 games, 77 more than any other back in the country.

Think Big 12 and you think quarterback. The top QBs in that conference read like a Heisman Trophy ballot.

But think Big Ten and you think running back. And, with the exception of Penn State's Evan Royster, most of those running backs are of the cloud-of-dust variety: Greene, Ringer, Wisconsin's P.J. Hill. Greene and Ringer rank second and third, respectively in the country in rushing yards per game. Royster is 22nd, Purdue's Kory Sheets is 29th and Hill 38th.

This week Ohio State coach Jim Tressel talked about a deal he made with Wells. He reminded his running back of the 467 yards Wells had run for in November of 2007 and challenged him to meet that as the Buckeyes made their push for both a conference championship and a potential BCS bowl. Wells had 140 yards against Northwestern on Nov. 8. Last Saturday, on a blustery day in Champaign, Ill., he ran for 143. That leaves him 184 yards from his coach's goal with this week's rivalry game with Michigan on tap.

A trend? Maybe. This season, with the exception of a few players, quarterback play in the Big Ten has been a disappointment, because of injury or other factors. Kellen Lewis has disappointed at Indiana. Ditto for Curtis Painter at Purdue. At Michigan, where spread guru Rich Rodriguez is in his first season, the offense has struggled.

But don't expect the Big Ten to take a step backward, scheme-wise. The spread is here to stay. But that doesn't mean the running game will go away.

Rodriguez loves to use the spread to run the ball; few did it better than West Virginia while he was there. Gophers coach Tim Brewster's goal is to get a big, strong and fast back, pair him with an experienced line and do some power running out of the spread formation.

"That's what we will have, a downhill attack with a great running back," Brewster said.

But, for a fall, it's a case of the more things change the more they stay the same. Just ask Greene. Or Ringer. Or Hill.

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