IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Iowa’s head football coach, Kirk Ferentz, and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz will not have to spend the team’s bye week answering questions from lawyers for Black former players who say they suffered discrimination. U.S. Magistrate Judge Helen Adams granted a motion Thursday to quash subpoenas that had asked the longtime Hawkeyes coach and his son to appear for depositions on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20. She said the depositions can be delayed until the football season is over in January, as the Ferentzes and lawyers for the university had requested. The former players say they were demeaned with racial slurs, held to different standards than white players and retaliated against for speaking out.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Big Ten officials want to make mental health a priority for its athletes. The topic was discussed this week at basketball media days. Michigan State forward Malik Hall thought COVID-19 impacted the Spartans on the court. Coach Tom Izzo was more concerned it was impacting other areas of players lives. Commissioner Kevin Warren is offering the Calm app free to all conference athletes. He says players have logged more than 650,000 sessions so far.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota running back Trey Potts has been discharged from an Indiana hospital. He spent six days there after an unspecified medical condition developed during the team’s game at Purdue. The university’s athletic department announced Potts returned to Minnesota for follow-up care and said he was “doing well.” The Gophers have declined to divulge any details about what sent the third-year player from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to the hospital. He left the game last week late in the fourth quarter. There was no obvious sign on the field of a problem. Potts is second in the Big Ten with 552 rushing yards.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 4 Penn State visits No. 3 Iowa in the top game on the Big Ten football schedule Saturday. Both teams feature strong defenses. Iowa is second nationally in scoring defense at just over 11 points per game. Penn State is third at 12 points allowed per game. Nebraska plays No. 9 Michigan in a game featuring a battle of the lines. The Cornhuskers tweaked their offensive line against Northwestern and played their best game of the year. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson leads a stout Michigan defensive front. Illinois is a 10-point underdog at home against Wisconsin.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Fourth-ranked Penn State’s game at No. 3 Iowa on Saturday sets up the same way as the Nittany Lions’ previous visit to Kinnick Stadium. Both teams are among the top three nationally in scoring defense. Iowa also leads the nation in takeaways. Penn State has one of the stingiest defenses when opponents get inside the 20-yard line. Neither team gives up many big plays. It will be the first top-five matchup in Iowa City since 1985. That’s when No. 1 Iowa beat No. 2 Michigan on a last-second field goal.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Katie Gearlds, Micah Shrewsberry and Mike Woodson will make their Division I basketball coaching debuts in the Big Ten this season. New Minnesota coach Ben Johnson is embarking on a major rebuilding project in his first season as a head coach. Marisa Moseley hopes to turn around Wisconsin’s women’s program with her winning resume. They are the five new coaches in this year’s Big Ten class.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Quarterback C.J. Stroud has No. 7 Ohio State rolling after some rough early going. The freshman quarterback took awhile to get comfortable with coach Ryan Day’s offense and dealt with a sore shoulder. Everything came together in a blowout win over Rutgers. The Buckeyes will try not to look ahead when Maryland visits Ohio Stadium on Saturday as a three-touchdown underdog. The closest the Terps have to a quality win was West Virginia in Week 1 but they were blown out by Iowa 51-14 last week.
