Every Saturday night during the college football season, BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina hands out his weekly Big Ten Game Balls. The series is called “U.S. Marines Corps: Leaders of the Week,” and it’s designed to spotlight the Big Ten’s top individual performances. Who took home the honors from Week 9? Find out in this post.

Like all quarterbacks, Michigan State’s Andrew Maxwell watches his share of game film. He’s taken in plenty on Iowa, this week’s opponent, and on Tuesday’s “#BTNLive,” host Dave Revsine asked him what he’s seen. Maxwell’s thoughts: “Iowa’s interesting to watch on film, because they don’t do many things, but what they do do they do very well.” The junior also showed a strong knowledge of Iowa’s defensive philosophy and recent lineage.

It wasn’t a pretty start for Michigan’s Denard Robinson or Michigan State’s Andrew Maxwell in the first week of the 2012 college football season. Together, the two quarterbacks completed 33-of-64 passes (52 percent) for one touchdown and five interceptions. Robinson accounted for the lone touchdown and Maxwell completed a respectable 22 passes, however that was about it. Whose performance was more concerning, though? BTN.com’s Tom Dienhart and Brent Yarina debate it in this post as they do each week in Back & Forth.

New Michigan State quarterback Andrew Maxwell missed Saturday’s Green-White game due to a sprained right knee, but Mark Dantonio and company know what they have in their junior signal-caller. Maxwell, who spent the past two seasons as Kirk Cousins’ backup, is a sharp product who understands the game and his role — just like his predecessor. In nine game career games, Maxwell has completed 29 of 51 passes (57 percent) for 294 yards and one touchdown.