While everyone in the Buckeye State is concentrating on OSU football camp, here are some notes from camps around the conference:

Illinois- The Illini camp did not open pleasantly as 4 players, including Ohio native Brian Gamble (WR), were missing from camp….on a brighter note for Ron Zook, other freshman looked very good, including Cordale Scott, AJ Jenkins, and Jack Ramsey…Of course Arrelious Benn and Juice Williams stole the show in 7 on 7 showdowns…it looks like Daniel Dufrene (I know, it was a fumble) has a lockdown on the starting RB job, for now at least.

Indiana- Bill Lynch certainly has to be pleased that QB Kellen Lewis (left, number 15) is back with the team after a suspension that kept him out of spring practice….The QB job is not neccessarily Lewis’s though, as Ben Chappell, who ran the new “no-huddle” offense in the Spring will battle Kellen for the #1 job….The search for James Hardy’s replacement took a nice bounce for IU as WR Andrew Means decided to spurn the Cincinnati Reds (drafted by Cincinnati in June) to come back to Bloomington, only because Lewis was reinstated though.

Iowa- Nothing much coming from the Hawkeye front except for the fact that everyone wants to know what has happened to Kirk Ferentz (left), going from the coach who could have had any job in the country, to the coach who is struggling to reach a .500 record…..Ferentz had to answer a lot of questions from the media on day one and we found out Iowa has had their own freshman with academic problems in David Blackwell……There are certainly a lot of holes at running back and losing Albert Young is going to make this team a lot softer at the position…At least Kirk Ferentz has All-Big Ten DL Mitch King back for another year, otherwise this team would really be in shambles.

Michigan- Everyone in Ann Arbor has been seemingly optimistic about the upcoming season, despite doubts from around Big Ten country……the offensive line is taking shape and it’s looking like the first unit will consist of (from right to left) Schilling, Zirbel, Moosman, McAvoy, and Ortman….Kevin Grady will likely be suspended so look for Brandon Minor, Carlos Brown, and freshmen, Sam McGuffie and Mike Shaw to battle it out….Brown took a bunch of snaps at QB, so look for RR to utilize the speedster in his spread attack when first unit QB Steven Threet (left) is just a tad too slow.

Michigan State- Coach Mark Dantonio is trying to replace the production of WR Devin Thomas and RB Jehuu Caulcrick, and more importantly the loss of 4 starting offensive linemen….QB Brian Hoyer and RB Javon Ringer (left) are back and should cause enough trouble for Sparty to be a dark horse for the Big Ten title…..Freshman wide out Fred Smith should see plenty of time and at just under 6′3″ and around 220 lbs., the Detroit native could slip right into Thomas’s slot….as always expect plenty of blitzing from Dantonio’s defense this season .

Minnestoa- The rebuilding project in the Twin Cities continues, but QB Clint Brewster (R-FR, left), son of head coach Tim Brewster, has decided to transfer because Adam Weber and incoming stud MarQueis Gray will be in the way of him getting playing time. Brewster originally committed to Illinois, but switched to Minnesota after his dad left the Denver Broncos to become head coach at the school. His younger brother plays for Texas, but Clint had not decided where he will play the rest of his college football yet…….You can see what the Gopher 2-deep looks like at Gopher Nation……..expect another down year for the Gophers, with a promising future, though.

Northwestern- Pat Fitzgerald’s team will be headlined by QB CJ Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton, but after that there are a lot of holes to fill on the two-deep…..Fitzgerald says he has never seen a team more enthusiatic about starting the season and The ‘Cats should be as they get to play Syracuse in week 1……The team didn’t do much on day 1, but did run through some simulated game situations and played some 7 on 7 games.

Penn State- Joe Pa is still kickin’ and despite all of the off-season turmoil, the Nittany Lions kicked off their camp….Monday and Tuesday were helmets only practices and Wednesday and Thursday are helmet and tops practices; Friday is TBD, while Saturday is full pads, and Sunday is a scrimmage……The fullback position is open and freshman Mike Zordich, an Ohio native, will compete for the job, as will redshirt freshman Andrew Dailey, another Ohioan…..Sean Lee is out for the year, but the road to recovery looks bright and he should get back to giving QBs nightmares next year…….QB Daryll Clark(left) is looking solid, but is having a little trouble with the deep routes…..QB Pat Devlin is probably #2 right now but has shown signs that he could lead the team if he beats out Clark.

Purdue- QB Curtis Painter (left) and WR Greg Orton are certains in Joe Tiller’s last season, but making up for the losses of WR Dorian Bryant and TE Dustin Keller will be tough……Keith Smith, Aaron Valentin, and Desmond Tardy will all compete for the #2 WR slot…….Roy Roundtree and Michael Shaw would certainly be bright spots in camp if “the man in a wizard hat selling snake oil” didn’t steal them away from West Lafeyette……everything else is pretty much quite on the Boilermaker front.

Wisconsin- The biggest news out of camp is that junior RB Lance Smith (left) will transfer, after off-the-field troubles had him facing a suspension. Coach Brett Bielma and Smith “feel a change of scenery is best for Lance”…….corner back Josh Nettles has been ruled academically ineligible to play this year and will be another blow to the Badger secondary……Star defensive end, Matt Shaughnessy has looked good coming back from a broken leg and is “full go” for practice……PJ Hill looks healthy as well, and should be up there with Beanie Wells, Tyrell Sutton, and JaVon Ringer for top RBs in the conference….TE Travis Beckum should be the best at his position in the nation….again.