I will be cheering for Penn State this weekend against Nebraska, a game that will be televised at noon eastern on ESPN. Please hear me out. I am not supporting Joe Paterno. I am not making light of the situation. I am not saying that everything happened the way it should. I have been praying very much for the victims and I hope that creep gets what he deserves in time.

Now, away from all that, something I said I wouldn’t get involved in, here is why I want them to win. Those players are having an amazing season. They’ve lost only once, to Alabama. These players had nothing to do with what is going on. It’s up to them to go out and preserve their season, and over time maybe even the program. And I refuse to connect Penn State the football team to Penn State the University, and to Joe Paterno.

Before this came up, why was JoePa in the news? Why was he a topic of conversation? People were curious of his day-to-day activities with the team and its preparations for game day. Wouldn’t it be a bit contradictory to hate Penn State, the football team, because JoePa is/was associated with it, when his own involvement is in question?

I guess those players are there because of him. I guess that witness is still on the coaching staff. Those are legitimate reasons. But I’ve heard everything from fire the whole staff to them not even being allowed to play on Saturday. If anything, this school needs football. Will it make the crimes go away? No. Will it help restore the victims? No. But maybe a victory will give Penn State, the university a piece of resiliency.

Both sides of this conference are still up for grabs. Nebraska is leading the “Legends” divisions while, surprisingly, Penn State leads the “Leaders” division. Penn State remains the only team that is undefeated in conference play (in the Big 10 anyways). Are they really that good? Surely they can’t keep it up. But what if they do? Nothing is off the table. They have the toughest stretch though. I guess we’ll have to see, but this thing is all up in the air.

I’m taking Nebraska over Michigan State.  Well, I’ll probably change my mind once I look into it. But this game reminds me too much of when Michigan State played Iowa last year. Michigan State games are always too uncomfortably close for my taste, as well. They’re a top 10 quality team, don’t get me wrong. I’m just sticking to my guns which was Nebraska winning the Big 10.

I thought Nebraska would be the real deal this year. I thought they would win the Big 10, but they didn’t. I guess now I can finally categorize Taylor Martinez with Denard Robinson (who, admittedly, had a good game yesterday). THey had a ton of penalties and the defense didn’t show up at all. As for the other side, Russell Wilson is really, really good. I knew he was good, but I didn’t think he would play as well as he did.So, I was wrong about Nebraska. Looks like the Big 10 is Wisconsin’s to lose.

This is something I might start doing often: just having a poll between two players. Don’t base it off academic year or anything like that. Just who would you rather have for the season?

Taylor Martinez or Denard Robinson?

• Russell Wilson, QB Wisconsin - 10/13 255 yards, 2 TDs. 2 carries 62 yards and 1 TD

• Taylor Martinez, QB Nebraska - 11/22 116 yards. 19 carries, 135 yards and 3 TDs

• Trent Richardson, RB Alabama - 13 carries, 37 yards and 3 TDs. 1 REC for 16 yards.

• Kellen Moore, QB Boise State - 28/34 261 yards, 3 TDs

• Andrew Luck, QB Stanford - 17/26 171 yards, 2 TDs. 2 carries, 19 yards and 1 TD

Note, these are my Heisman selections I made before the season, and is not based on the stats of week 1. These are my guys to follow. Some may fall out and others be added.

It’s been a very exciting week.

Ohio State is at #1 with 34 votes. Figured that would happen. 

Oregon is #2 and got 15 votes. I thought they would get at least 17. 

Boise State is back up to 8 votes and #3 in the poll. Right where they were after the Virginia Tech win. 

TCU is #4 and got a vote. Didn’t see that coming. 

Nebraska and Oklahoma make #5 and #6. Oklahoma got two votes after an idle week, meanwhile Nebraska puts on a show and gets nothing. What’s going on Big XII voters?

Alabama falls to 8th. Just because LSU is (somefreakinghow) undefeated, I would have them in the 8th spot instead. 

Utah is passed by South Carolina. Not sure how I feel about that. 

Michigan State (yet again) is being placed a few ranks below of where they should be. 

Nevada is #19, which I like, but I’m surprised after they struggled a bit vs. San Jose. 

Air Force is highly underrated at #23. 

“I think Nebraska is like Michigan; they’re offense is their qb. In a down Big12, I would still consider them overrated. I was a little surprised KState had more trouble stopping the zone read than Dakota Directional did though.” 

Martinez is very similar to Robinson. I do think he is a better passer though, despite him only throwing it seven times last night. Still, they pick those pass plays at great moments. Nebraska has an extremely tough defense as well. They kept Daniel Thomas to only 63 yards rushing. True, they haven’t had a big test. We will learn a lot about who this Nebraska team really is against Texas. But like Michigan, the one man offense will eventually be stopped by someone down the road.