After a bye week for five of 14 teams in the Big Ten, the entire conference looks toward the heart of the conference season.

All but two Big Ten teams were busy in conference action last week. Iowa, of course, had a bye, and Michigan State triumphed over Central Michigan.

Indiana recorded its fourth win of the season, beating Rutgers, 24-17. No. 14 Michigan edged Northwestern, 20-17, and things are getting frosty in Lincoln because Nebraska has yet to win a game after losing again, this time to Purdue,  42-18.

On the night of Sept. 29, all eyes were on the Big Ten’s top-10 matchup, with No. 4 Ohio State taking down No. 9 Penn State on the road after a costly Nittany Lion decision to run on fourth down.

Coming up, Purdue and Penn State both have bye weeks, with the rest of the teams competing.

Nebraska’s plan going forward

After going 0-for-4 in games as the head coach of the Cornhuskers, Scott Frost hasn’t lost hope.

Despite a slow start, the coaching staff is working to build up the program not just for this season but seasons to come, so nothing is going to change.

“The last thing you want to do if you’re not getting the results you want is change,” Frost said in a teleconference. “The kids need to see consistency. The standard doesn’t need to change, and the expectations don’t need to change.”

No. 16 Wisconsin will head into Husker territory on Saturday for a night game. In its first home Big Ten game, Nebraska was blown away by No. 15 Michigan, 56-10.

‘First years are tough,” Frost said in a teleconference.

Penn State’s rebound

This week is off for the Nittany Lions, and head coach James Franklin will use the time to evaluate how they have played thus far and things they need to fix before visiting Michigan State.

The decision to run the ball on a game-deciding fourth down is among the items.

“What I am proud of is that we’ve created an environment here and a culture here in which players want to take responsibility and coaches want to take responsibility,” Franklin said in a teleconference. “I think there’s a lot of value in that.”

What matters to Franklin and his staff is that the team has improved from week to week.

Penn State will return to action on Oct. 13 against No. 20 Michigan State.

Morgan Ellison practicing with Indiana

Indiana running back Morgan Ellison has been practicing with the team after being suspended almost a month ago, but there are no plans set for his return to play.

“We still don’t know the long-term future yet, so we’re taking it day by day,” head coach Tom Allen said in a teleconference.

Ellison was suspended in August for undisclosed reasons and has been meeting with Allen since that time.

Indiana also has 10 players on its roster who are questionable for its game against Ohio State. In recent seasons, Indiana has put up a fight against the Buckeyes but because of a lack of depth has run out of steam.