Tim's Sunday Morning Observations

Terrelle Pryor finally has his signature win.

The Pennsylvania native returned to his home state and delivered a clutch performance in Happy Valley, leading Ohio State past Penn State, 24-7, in a key Big Ten battle. The win, along with Iowa's loss to Northwestern, puts the Buckeyes in position to win yet another Big Ten championship. It also probably puts Pryor at ease.

The kid needed a big win. Now he's got it.

Pryor's numbers weren't spectacular against the Nittany Lions--he completed 8 of 17 passes for just 125 yards--but two of those completions went for touchdowns. He added another score on the ground.

More important was the fact that Pryor played smart, steady football. He took what the defense gave him. He didn't turn the ball over. He played the best game of his young career.

Helping his cause, and keeping the pressure off him and that offense, was the suffocating Ohio State defense, which limited Penn State to just nine first downs and 201 total yards on the day. The Buckeyes' front four absolutely dominated the Nittany Lion offensive line, raising new questions about a Penn State group that, it was said, had come into its own in recent weeks.

The bottom line from Happy Valley?

Iowa is pretty good. Penn State is pretty good. Wisconsin is pretty good.

But Ohio State is still the team to beat in the Big Ten.

Here are my other thoughts on college football's Week 10:

Iowa's luck ran out. It ran out in a big way. The Hawkeyes had been living on the edge all season, and against Northwestern, it finally caught up with them. Though the Hawkeyes jumped out to a 10-0 lead, a fluky play in their own end zone--quarterback Ricky Stanzi fumbled and Northwestern recovered for a tide-turning touchdown--not only gave the Wildcats new life, but also knocked Stanzi out of the game with an ankle injury. Northwestern would go on to win, 17-10, as backup quarterback James Vanderberg struggled the get the Hawkeye offense moving. Stanzi will likely miss next week's key battle at Ohio State, which means the Hawkeyes could go from national title contender to Big Ten also-ran in the span of just two weeks. The lesson here? Simple: Entire seasons can change with just a single play.

Rich Rodriguez and Charlie Weis are back on the hot seat. If you think Joe Paterno and Kirk Ferentz are a little depressed today, well, imagine how Rodriguez and Weis feel. Michigan continued its late-season collapse with an embarrassing 38-36 loss, at home, to lowly Purdue. This was the first time since 1966--yes, 1966--that the Boilers won in Ann Arbor. Michigan is now 5-5 on the year, including a horrible 1-5 mark in the Big Ten, and their defense is an embarrassment: They let Purdue run up 494 total yards on the day, including 367 through the air. Notre Dame, meanwhile, fell to 6-3 on the year--and saw their faint BCS bowl game hopes dashed--with a 23-21 loss to Navy. And mind you, folks, this is the same Navy team that lost last week to Temple. Said Weis afteward: "I'm going to roll in tomorrow morning exactly the same way, whether we had won or lost. Does it feel bad? Yeah. Does it hurt? Yeah. But it's not going to change my approach of how I coach."

Photo: Terrelle Pryor played the best game of his young career in a 24-7 win over Penn State. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)