Big Ten: 3 things we learned -- Week 7

Montee Ball looks as if he's back to normal, and the top two teams in the Big Ten (Ohio State and Michigan) are built completely differently.

By Mike Singer

Oct 15, 2012 at 1:49 pm ET • 3 min read

(Video courtesy of Big Ten Network)

1. Montee Ball playing like his old self. The Wisconsin offensive line finally created the kind of gaps last weekend against Purdue that 6-5, 320-pound people are supposed to create. Montee Ball, who finished with 247 yards and three touchdowns, was the big beneficiary. but more important, Ball ran with a lot more patience and vision on Saturday.

No play highlighted his timing more than the 67-yard touchdown run to start the second-half. Ball bounced outside to the left behind a Jared Abbrederis block, then cut back to the middle inside of three Purdue defenders before bursting past them down the field. His 8.5 yards per carry were nearly double his season’s average of 4.7, and he engaged contact against the Boilermakers instead of eluding it. Ball finished with 176 yards after contact, according to Badger beat writer Jeff Potrykus.

After his slow start to the season, Ball has scored eight touchdowns in his past three games and has 11 on the season, the most in the Big Ten. “He has been patient,” Badgers coach Bret Bielema said. “He never really presses. He just lets the game come to him, and obviously he made a lot of really good reads today." Ball also set the Big Ten’s all-time touchdown record when he scored his 72^nd career touchdown early in the fourth quarter, surpassing former Badger legend Ron Dayne.

2. The top two teams in the conference (Ohio State, Michigan) have polar opposite defenses. The Buckeyes were gashed for 481 yards against the Hoosiers, including 16 plays of at least 10 yards. Indiana had touchdowns passes of 76 yards and 25 yards to go along with a 59-yard touchdown run from Stephen Houston. Injuries have impacted the depth at linebacker so much that fullback Zach Boren filled in at outside linebacker. Boren, emblematic of the state of the Buckeyes' defense, led the team with eight tackles in his first game at the position.

After Saturday’s game, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he would take a more hands-on approach to the defense instead of letting defensive coordinator Luke Fickell handle it on his own. It was the first time the Buckeyes had even won a game in which they yielded at least 49 points. A defense with at least three NFL caliber players -- Johnathan Hankins, John Simon, Bradley Roby -- shouldn’t be dismantled like that. “Spread offenses right now are really exposing us,” Meyer said. After giving up 87 points and 918 yards in the past two games against Indiana and Nebraska, that’s an understatement.

3. Michigan defense is gelling. Unlike Ohio State, Michigan’s defense has been trending upwards since the season-opening beat down against Alabama, as most teams would. But even though the Wolverines schedule has regressed to the mean, the defense seems to be swarming and buying into defensive coordinator Greg Mattison’s philosophies. Linebacker Jake Ryan, who won the Big Ten defensive player of the week award, finished Saturday’s game with 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.

There is a distinct difference between playing a team of Alabama’s caliber and playing Illinois, but Michigan’s defense has been improving since the Week 2 win over Air Force. In the last 14 quarters, the Wolverines have given up just two touchdowns, and in the last two games Michigan has given up just 16 percent (4 of 25) of third-down conversions. The defense is getting off the field and getting the ball back into Denard Robinson’s hands.

For more Big Ten coverage, follow Mike Singer and Dave Carey @CBSSportsBigTen.