Finally we have a weekend filled solely with intra-conference matchups. No more weird games like Indiana versus Charleston Southern or Rutgers losing to Eastern Michigan. Just the sweet taste of Big Ten play in the fall.
Buckeye fans should feel pretty good today as no team in the conference – and perhaps even the entire country – matched Ohio State's performance in Lincoln.
Week seven's slate wasn't really anything to write home about, but there was a close one in Bloomington as the Wolverines looked to bounce back from the loss to Michigan State.
No. 17 Michigan 27, Indiana 20 (OT)
The Hoosiers have played the Wolverines tough here recently. Last year Michigan won by 10 in Ann Arbor and in 2015 they survived by a touchdown. That theme continued on Saturday with the Wolverines escaping in overtime.
Not a lot has changed for the folks in Ann Arbor. Michigan's offense continues to not be good. Michigan's defense continues to be one of the better units in America. John O'Korn completed 10 of 20 passes for just 58 yards That's 2.9 yards per attempt, which is beyond bad. Fortunately for Jim Harbaugh, the ground game came to the rescue totaling 271 yards on the day. Karan Higdon had a stellar outing rushing for 200 yards on 25 carries.
Indiana's offense mostly struggled as they managed just 278 yards. I guess it's tough to knock them for that since Michigan's defense was tops in the nation and only allowing 213 yards per contest. The Hoosier offense found some success in the fourth quarter when they scored 10 points and rallied back to tie things with a late field goal. Peyton Ramsey threw for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Indiana's play calling continues to make very little sense.
Imagine having Simmie Cobbs Jr on your team and thinking, fuck it lets run up the middle with a freshman RB right at Rashan Gary instead.
— Ramzy Nasrallah (@ramzy) October 14, 2017
It didn't take long for Michigan to get things going in overtime. The Hoosiers had Karan Higdon bottled up for a loss in the backfield, but he escaped and dashed for a 25-yard score—his third of the day. Indiana tried to answer, but for some reason they elected to run a bunch of read option plays instead of trying to get the ball to their NFL-caliber wideout.
Michigan still has a lot of question marks on offense – especially in the red zone – and it all starts at quarterback.
No. 7 Wisconsin 17, Purdue 9
Heading into Saturday, no true freshman had ever reached 1,000 yards rushing in his first six games. Jonathan Taylor's quest to become the first ever to accomplish this feat fell 14 yards short. The Badger tailback started off with a bang en route to a 219-yard performance, but he wasn't quite as dominant in the second half against the Boilermakers. It was his third 200-yard performance of the season and he's now found the end zone 10 times.
Outside of the freshman, there wasn't a whole lot going on for the Wisconsin offense. Alex Hornibrook threw for 199 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. Quintez Cephus had yet another productive outing hauling in five passes for 100 yards and a score. The Badgers got out to a quick 14-0 lead – thanks in part to Taylor's 67-yard score– but the Purdue defense stepped up in a big way after the first quarter.
The Boilermaker offense didn't have its best day in Madison. They managed just 221 yards and the kicking game did all of the scoring. Elijah Sindelar completed just 13 of 29 passes for 155 yards and a pick. The ground game couldn't get anything going as the Boilermakers rushed for just 66 yards on 26 carries.
| Team | W-L | Rank | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 6-0 | 1 | 1 |
| OHIO STATE | 6-1 | 2 | 2 |
| WISCONSIN | 6-0 | 3 | 3 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 5-1 | 4 | 4 |
| MICHIGAN | 5-1 | 5 | 5 |
| IOWA | 4-2 | 6 | 6 |
| Indiana | 3-3 | 7 | 8 |
| Purdue | 3-3 | 8 | 7 |
| Northwestern | 3-3 | 9 | 12 |
| Maryland | 3-3 | 10 | 9 |
| Minnesota | 3-3 | 11 | 10 |
| Nebraska | 3-4 | 12 | 11 |
| Rutgers | 2-4 | 13 | 14 |
| Illinois | 2-4 | 14 | 13 |
No. 21 Michigan State 30, Minnesota 27
The Spartans headed to Minnesota as a Top-25 team for the first time since week five of the 2016 season. Mark Dantonio fell to Notre Dame on Sept. 23, but has now rallied back with wins over Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota.
This one started off with a bit of a weather delay, but the Spartans had no problems battling the rain for a second straight week. L.J. Scott returned from an injury and the junior had the best game of his career. Scott went for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Madre London added 74 rushing yards and a score of his own.
The Minnesota offense put up 21 points in the fourth quarter to make this one look a bit closer than it actually was. It looks like the Gophs may have found a new quarterback in sophomore Demry Croft. The offense came to life with Croft at the helm as he threw for 163 yards and three fourth-quarter touchdowns. He also chipped in with 31 yards on the ground. Tyler Johnson was on the receiving end of all three scores and led all pass-catchers with 106 yards.
Mark Dantonio and the Spartans continue to trend in the right direction.
Northwestern 37, Maryland 21
Maryland has to be the most unpredictable team in the conference, but I supposed that's to be expected considering all of the quarterback turmoil D.J. Durkin has experienced thus far.
Northwestern scored 21 points in the second quarter as Clayton Thorson and Justin Jackson led the Wildcats to their first conference win of the season. Thorson put up 336 yards of total offense and found the end zone twice. Jackson rushed fro 171 and a pair of scores. He passed Damien Anderson and is now Northwestern's all-time leading rusher.
For the Terps, Max Bortenschlager had a respectable outing at quarterback. The sophomore threw for 255 and three touchdowns and added 34 more yards with his legs. D.J. Moore is a great wideout except for when he plays Ohio State. Last week the junior hauled in just two passes for 11 yards. It was a completely different story against Northwestern. Moore caught a whopping 12 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
Rutgers 35, Illinois 24
Congratulations to the Scarlet Knights. You are no longer at the bottom of the power rankings. And this tweet probably couldn't have been any more accurate.
This guy embodies all of us right now pic.twitter.com/xNDkre5z9u
— Bob Zuppke (@BobZuppke) October 14, 2017
Can you imagine what it feels like to lose a football game — at home — to Rutgers? Lovie Smith has to be feeling some kind of way following a double-digit loss to Chris Ash and the Scarlet Knights.
The Rutgers passing game did next to nothing against the Illini. Giovanni Rescigno and Kyle Bolin combined to go 6 of 12 for 102 yards and zero scores. The ground game was an entirely different story. Rutgers gashed the Illini for 274 yards and five touchdowns on 47 carries. Gus Edwards led the way with 94 yards and two scores. True freshman Raheem Blackshear showed his big-play ability, rushing for 87 yards and a score on just six carries.
The Illini offense fell just short of the 400-yard mark for the day, and they were plagued by a trio of turnovers. Jeff George Jr. threw for 308 yards for two scores and a pair of interceptions. Ra'Von Bonner ran for 62 and a score. True freshman wideout Ricky Smalling led all pass-catchers with 111 yards and a touchdown.
The top of the power rankings remains the same, but there are some changes elsewhere. Northwestern moves up after taking it to Maryland. The Wildcats' losses have come against Duke, Wisconsin, and Penn State.
Purdue and Indiana both put up respectable efforts against some of the conference's top teams. Both are now 3-3, but I've flipped the Boilermakers and Hoosiers in the power rankings. Indiana's three losses came against Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan. I can't imagine any three-loss team in America having more impressive defeats than that.
It still feels a little weird having Michigan State at four, but I think that's because I'm not particularly sold on them just yet. The Spartans have the loss to Notre Dame but it's hard to argue against them being one of the four best teams in the conference right now.
So what's the outlook for week eight? Well Ohio State has its bye, which automatically makes this the worst week of the season. The good news is that we will all be able to watch the Nittany Lions take on the Wolverines in Happy Valley.
Can the Michigan offense finally get things going? How will that defense stack up against Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley? These questions and more will be answered next Saturday at 7:30 on ABC.
Elsewhere the Spartans host the Hoosiers, Iowa travels to Northwestern, and the Badgers look to remain unbeaten against the Terps.
