By: Bruce Hooley (Special to FOXSports.com) —
He’s the most popular guy in America these days, because he’s restored hope for the future by providing a change we can believe in.
It’s frightening, really, to ponder just how dreadful our plight would be without Iowa sophomore kicker Daniel Murray.

Until his 31-yard field goal in the swirling wind and frigid temperatures Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, our country faced yet another daunting inevitability.

But the instant Murray converted, vanquishing previously-unbeaten Penn State in a 24-23 upset, it was as if a beam of light came down upon us and we experienced an epiphany: our long national nightmare is over.

Yes, thanks to an unassuming walk-on who hadn’t attempted a field goal in the six games since losing his job due to ineffectiveness, there won’t be another Big Ten team in the BCS championship game.

Free at last.

Cue the celestial choirs.

The rejoicing can be heard far beyond BCS headquarters, where the race for the crystal football is now down to pair of unbeaten running mates, Alabama and Texas Tech.

It also echoes throughout America, which though it may be suffering from the credit crisis, a tanking stock market, a reeling auto industry and receding oceans, will not be tormented by an overmatched Big Ten team which can’t hang with the SEC even until halftime.

They may not share this view in the Big Ten, but there are always naysayers to progress. And, if Large Eleven commissioner Jim Delany would just look at the situation objectively, he, too, would see that what’s good for the country is also good for him.

Now Delany and friends won’t be subjected to another offseason of derision, as ensued after Ohio State’s 41-14 blowout by Florida two seasons ago, and the Buckeyes’ 38-24 humbling by LSU last January.

Had Penn State gone to the title game and been beaten similarly — and who outside of Pennsylvania, where we all know they cling to 82-year-old Joe Paterno as a religion, thinks that wouldn’t have happened? — not even a $700-billion bailout would have rescued the Big Ten’s reputation.

Sure, we’d all like to see Joe The Coach succeed.

But this is, after all, a league that’s gone 0-4 in BCS bowls the last two years, getting outscored in those games by a margin of 160-73.

The numbers aren’t any prettier going back five years, during which the Big Ten is 3-6 in BCS bowls and 14-22 in all postseason games.

Face it, Mr. Delany: Your conference has gone 3-5, 2-5, 3-4, 3-3 and 3-5 in bowl games in succeeding years since 2003.

That means, no player in the Big Ten has been part of the league since it had a winning record in the postseason, nor have seven of your 11 coaches.

Clearly, it is time for a change.

Sure, it might hurt to give up your spot in the title game, Jimbo.

But it’s time we spread the wealth to those hard-working types from the Big 12, or maybe even the Pac 10, which has waxed your squads in the Rose Bowl five times in as many tries this decade.

Washington, for crying out loud, won a Rose Bowl more recently than the last Big Ten team to triumph in Pasadena.

So get on board, Mr. Delany.

Get on board and unite in support of Daniel Murray, an engineering major from Iowa City who turned down a soccer scholarship from Kentucky because he dreamed of kicking the winning field goal for his hometown Hawkeyes and restoring the universe to its proper order.

Murray did just that Saturday, seizing upon the fierce urgency of now to kick Iowa to victory and Penn State to the curb.

Thank goodness it wasn’t above his pay grade.

# Murray’s last previous attempt before the game-winner Saturday was a 35-yard misfire in Iowa’s 21-20 loss at Pittsburgh. He lost his job to freshman Trent Mossbrucker, who was 13-of-15 until Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz opted to go back to Murray. Had he missed, Ferentz, like Lucy Ricardo, would have had some ’splainin’ to do.

“That’s the world I live in,” Ferentz said. “If you’re charged with making decisions, you make them and move on.”

# Illinois coach Ron Zook better hang onto his Illiniwek Saturday, because it’s pretty clear from Ohio State’s 45-10 win at Northwestern that OSU coach Jim Tressel won’t hesitate to punish opponents for previous sins/wins.

Tressel certainly hasn’t forgotten Northwestern’s 33-27 overtime triumph at his expense in 2004. He still shows his team video of Wildcat fans celebrating that victory, which might explain why the Buckeyes have since beaten Northwestern by margins of 48-7, 54-10, 58-7 and now 45-10. The latest rout included a fake punt in the fourth quarter, a 34-yard pass for a touchdown two plays later and a 16-yard run with seven seconds left for another TD.

“I feel bad that ball went in and never dreamed it would,” Tressel said of the last touchdown.

He said almost exactly the same thing last year when OSU scored on the final play in a 33-7 rout of Washington.

Apparently, they don’t have the Victory Formation in the Ohio State playbook.

Illinois upset then-No. 1 Ohio State in Ohio Stadium last season, 28-21.

# Fresh off shutting down the Big Ten’s best offense in Penn State, Iowa (6-4, 3-3) gets a decidedly easier challenge Saturday against visiting Purdue (3-7, 1-5). The Boilermakers, long known as the league’s most innovative and explosive attack under Joe Tiller, are playing even worse than their No. 7 ranking in the Big Ten in yards per-game.

Quarterback Justin Siller suffered four sacks and finished 13-of-30 for 83 yards in a 21-7 loss to Michigan State. Purdue’s 191 yards total offense was the lowest total of the 12-year Tiller era.

Senior QB Curtis Painter (separated shoulder) has practiced this week and could play at Iowa after sitting out two games, although Siller is likely to start.

# Iowa will honor its seniors Saturday in the home finale against Purdue, but the Kinnick Stadium faithful might also want to say its goodbye to junior tailback Shawn Greene. Already 23 years of age, Greene’s return for his senior year is unlikely given a 1,374-yard season that’s featured at least 100 rushing yards every week.

# Whatever has gone wrong with Penn State’s offense, Indiana (3-5, 1-5) should cure it Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Hoosiers are last in the league in total defense (414.8 ypg.) and points allowed (32.7 ppg.). While the Lions (9-1, 5-1) still lead the league in scoring (39.9 ppg), they have scored just 13 combined points in the first quarters of their last five games.

Penn State can clinch the Big Ten’s automatic berth in the BCS, likely to be a matchup against Oregon State or USC in the Rose Bowl, with wins over Indiana and Michigan State.

A Penn State loss would send Ohio State to the BCS, unless the Buckeyes lose to either Illinois or Michigan.

# Minnesota’s 7-1 start is crumbling quickly, and could disintegrate into a four-game, season-ending losing streak. The Gophers (7-3, 3-3) have lost consecutive home games against Northwestern and Michigan and now face a trip to Wisconsin and a season finale against Iowa at the Metrodome.

Wide receiver Eric Decker, the Big Ten’s leader in receptions, will sit out the game at Camp Randall Stadium because of a high ankle sprain.

# If Wisconsin (5-5, 2-5) needs a tough yard to defeat Minnesota and gain bowl eligibility, it might be wise to run behind tackle Gabe Carimi. “Minnesota is my most despised team,” Carimi told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “I’ve always hated Minnesota, because I live in Wisconsin.”

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