That may as well be a hostage photo.
It's always a joyous weekend when Ohio State fans are left celebrating. It's even better when Wolverine fans are overcome with sadness and asking when their head coach is going to be fired. We're just two weeks into Big Ten play, and that's already where things are at.
Justin Fields was fantastic, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson played like the best wide receiver duo in the country, and Larry Johnson's defensive line dominated the Nittany Lions. Ohio State's biggest challenge of the Big Ten season felt like a blowout despite ending up as a 13-point victory in Happy Valley.
Across the Midwest, there was a rivalry game going down to the north. And the results were a tad bit surprising (and hilarious) in Ann Arbor. The national landscape didn't have a ton of headliners this week, but things were a little too close for comfort for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers.
Maryland 45, Minnesota 44 (OT)
Friday night's matchup wasn't too impressive on paper. The Gophers and Terrapins were both 0-1, and both teams looked atrocious in their openers. It ended up being a good one in College Park even though P.J. Fleck came to town as an 18.5-point favorite. It also helped to give us a bit of a perspective as to how good the Wolverines really are (more on that in a moment).
It was 14-0 Maryland with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. The next time I checked in, all hell had broken loose and Minnesota had taken a 38-21 lead in the third. The Terps dominated the fourth scoring 17 points to tie things up and send it to overtime. Taulia Tagovailoa ran one in to give Maryland a 45-38 lead. Minny answered with a score of its own before things ended on an anticlimactic missed extra point.
Tagovailoa was exceptional on the night as he threw for 394 yards, rushed for another 64, and scored five touchdowns to go along with one interception. Tailback Jake Funk rumbled for 216 yards and a score on 21 carries. Jeshaun Jones and Dontay Demus Jr. both surpassed 100 yards and hauled in touchdown passes. Big week for the Tagovailoas as Tua gets his first NFL start today against the Rams.
Tanner Morgan only threw the ball 15 times for 189 and a score. Mohamed Ibrahim pounded the Terps as he ran the ball an absurd 41 times for 207 yards and four touchdowns. Chris Autman-Bell was the game's leading receiver with four catches for 112 and a score.
Remember when P.J. Fleck snuck up on the Big Ten, nearly won the West, and then beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl? It seems like that was forever ago.
Michigan State 27, No. 13 Michigan 24
Imagine being a Michigan fan today. You got your hopes up after beating a Minnesota team that was missing half its starters, and then you lose at home against your rival who was fresh off a loss to frickin' Rutgers. This is just the latest in a long line of wonderful Jim Harbaugh moments. Yikes!
Michigan closed as a 21.5-point favorite against Michigan State today.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 31, 2020
The Spartans went on to win 27-24, resulting in the Wolverines largest upset loss since they were a 33-point favorite against Appalachian State in 2007. pic.twitter.com/p3WvTUJYUB
You heard that right — Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines just lost at home against future NFL Hall of Famer Rocky Lombardi. Sparty's quarterback repeatedly lobbed the ball down the field and the Michigan defenders refused to do anything to stop it. Lombardi connected on 17 of 32 passes for 323 yards and three scores. Last week against Rutgers, Ricky White caught one pass for five yards. Yesterday at the Big House, he hauled in eight for 196 and a touchdown. White is a three-star true freshman whose offer sheet consisted mostly of MAC schools.
Ricky White Highlights vs. Michigan Wolverines | 2020 Regular Season Week 9 9, 10/31/2020 pic.twitter.com/ZC4sqstAzu
— Michigan St. on BTN (@MichiganStOnBTN) October 31, 2020
Michigan's ground game was dominant against the Gophers. It was a far different story against the Spartans. Joe Milton was the leading rusher with just 59 yards on 12 carries. Hassan Haskins added 56 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts. True freshman Black Corum scored twice but managed just 15 yards on five carries. Milton added 300 yards through the air as Wolverine wideouts continue to look extremely average.
All things considered, this may have been the worst loss of the Harbaugh era.
Northwestern 21, Iowa 20
The Wildcats are now 2-0 while the Hawkeyes are winless on the young season. I did not watch a single second of this game and I thank the heavens for that. Neither team reached 300 yards of offense. Northwestern took a 21-20 lead with six minutes left in the third. From that point on, basically nothing happened as the two anemic offenses couldn't do a thing.
Northwestern ran the ball 60 times and the Hawkeyes had 50 passing attempts. Isaiah Bowser led the way with 85 yards on 25 attempts while Jesse Brown added two scores for the Wildcats. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras threw for just 216 yards despite all the attempts. He was also picked off three times. Tyler Goodson ran one in while Brandon Smith added a touchdown reception. You should feel better about yourself for not watching this game.
| TEAM | W-L | RANK | PREV. |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 2-0 | 1 | 1 |
| WISCONSIN | 1-0 | 2 | 3 |
| INDIANA | 2-0 | 3 | 4 |
| PURDUE | 2-0 | 4 | 5 |
| NORTHWESTERN | 2-0 | 5 | 8 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 1-1 | 6 | 12 |
| MICHIGAN | 1-1 | 7 | 2 |
| PENN STATE | 0-2 | 8 | 6 |
| NEBRASKA | 0-1 | 9 | 9 |
| MARYLAND | 1-1 | 10 | 14 |
| RUTGErS | 1-1 | 11 | 10 |
| IOWA | 0-2 | 12 | 11 |
| MINNESOTA | 0-2 | 13 | 7 |
| ILLINOIS | 0-2 | 14 | 13 |
No. 17 Indiana 37, Rutgers 21
Rutgers is better than Michigan State. The transitive property then tells me that Rutgers is also better than Michigan, and Indiana is the No. 2 team in the East Division. The Scarlet Knights got off to a 7-0 lead and it was pretty much all Hoosiers after that. Rutgers failed to reach 250 yards of offense and was plagued by three Noah Vedral interceptions.
Michael Penix Jr. is good and healthy, folks. The Indiana signal-caller amassed 258 yards of offense and four scores in Piscataway. Stevie Scott rushed for 81 and Whop Philyor was the leading wideout with five receptions for 137 yards. Tight end Peyton Hendershot added two touchdowns through the air. For the Knights, Vedral threw for 128 yards with two scores and the three picks. Bo Melton was on the receiving end of both scores.
No. 1 Clemson 34, Boston College 28
Jeff Hafley had Dabo Swinney on the ropes yesterday. Trevor Lawrence's absence certainly didn't help the Tigers, but Hafley had a solid game plan in place and almost took down the nation's No. 1 team. The Eagles were up 28-10 with less than a minute left in the half, but Travis Etienne proved to be a bit too much.
True freshman D.J. Uiagalelei got the start under center and completed 30 of 41 attempts for 342 yards and two touchdowns (plus another with his legs). Etienne didn't have his greatest showing on the ground with 84 yards and a score on 20 carries. He was lethal in the passing game, however, with 140 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Cornell Powell also had a fine showing with 11 receptions for 105 yards.
A 97-yard fumble return score helped to boost Boston College as the offense managed just 275 yards on the day. Phil Jurkovec threw for 204 yards and two scores with one of the bigger plays being a 48-yard connection with Jaelen Gill. Gill also flashed on a punt return score that unfortunately was called back due to an illegal block. Clemson had several players out with injuries and COVID concerns, but it's going to be quite fun watching Hafley develop this Boston College program.
Texas 41, No. 6 Oklahoma State 34 (OT)
It's been a tough week for the Horns. There are all sorts of rumblings about Tom Herman getting canned, and the entire fanbase is convinced Urban Meyer is coming to Austin. On the recruiting front, the Horns lost a huge future piece when Quinn Ewers – the No. 1 player in the 2022 class – backed off of his pledge and is now trending toward Columbus.
Yesterday's performance brought a small glimmer of hope for the fans in Texas as the Cowboys are no longer among the unbeatens. Sam Ehlinger threw for 169 yards with three scores. The biggest play of the game likely came courtesy of the special teams. Down 11 in the third quarter, Da'Shawn Jamison provided a huge spark with a 100-yard kickoff return for a score. Defensive end Joseph Ossai had a hell of a game as he forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and recorded three sacks; including the one that sealed the win in overtime.
Spencer Sanders was solid for the Cowboys. The signal-caller hit on 27 of 39 passes for four touchdowns and one interception. Tylan Wallace had a massive day with 11 catches for 187 yards and a pair of scores. Chuba Hubbard pitched in with 72 yards rushing along with 34 yards and a score through the air.
No. 2 Alabama 41, Mississippi State 0
Alabama killed Mississippi State yesterday evening. Mike Leach's offense put up 632 yards in the opener in Baton Rouge. It managed just 200 and a pair of turnovers in Tuscaloosa. Jaylen Waddle is done for the season, but the Tide passing attack is still one of the nation's best. Mac Jones threw for 291 yards with four touchdowns. All DeVonta Smith did was catch 11 passes for 203 yards and all four of the Jones' scoring strikes. Najee Harris added 119 yards to lead the ground attack.
Elsewhere, No. 4 Notre Dame didn't have any problems with Georgia Tech. The Irish won by a score of 31-13 on the road. No. 5 Georgia went to Lexington and left a 14-3 winner. Stetson Bennett wasn't good as he threw for 131 yards with a pair of interceptions. Zamir White led the way on offense with 136 yards and a score.
Luke Fickell and the No. 7 Bearcats remain perfect on the season after yesterday's 49-10 win over Memphis. Desmond Ridder put up 312 yards with five scores to lead the Cincy offense. The 10th-ranked Gators took down Missouri by a score of 41-17, but the biggest story came when a fight broke out with fists flying at halftime (LINK). Florida faces Georgia next week, so it'll be interesting to see if there are any disciplinary actions stemming from the incident.
With Wisconsin/Nebraska getting canceled, there were only six games in the Big Ten. The one not mentioned above was Purdue handing Illinois a 31-24 loss in Champaign. David Bell, Milton Wright, and the Boilermaker passing game were on fire once again. Bell went for 122 and a score while Wright also hit the century mark and added a touchdown. Rondale Moore missed his second straight game for unknown reasons.
- Week's Best: Taulia Tagovailoa, DeVonta Smith, Ricky White, Desmond Ridder, Mohamed Ibrahim
- Week's Worst: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan's secondary, P.J. Fleck, OSU/PSU officials
- Week's Weirdest: Rutgers lateraled the ball eight times and found the end zone on a miracle play that lasted 33 seconds. It was all a part of the come-from-behind attempt against Indiana. Unfortunately, the play didn't count due to an illegal forward pass. I'm including it anyway because it was a sight to behold.
laksjdflkasdjflksdfkl
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 31, 2020
What. Just. Happened. pic.twitter.com/4SjoykoCPT
Next weekend brings with it the return of the Pac-12. Oregon and USC are the only ranked teams in the conference. The No. 14 Ducks start their season at home against Stanford while the No. 21 Trojans will host Arizona State. Can the conference factor into the playoff race? We'll see on that one.
There are a handful of games that I'm pretty excited about for next week. Michigan heads to Bloomington as Harbaugh looks to bounce back against the Hoosiers. Georgia and Florida meet in their annual rivalry game in Jacksonville. A pair of Big Ten unbeatens will go at it with Purdue facing Wisconsin in Madison, and I have no clue what to expect from the Badgers minus Graham Mertz. Notre Dame will battle Clemson at 7:30 p.m. and Trevor Lawrence has already been ruled out for that one.
Greg Schiano returns to Columbus as the Scarlet Knight defense will be dealing with Justin Fields and Co. I suppose the Penn State/Maryland game could be somewhat interesting as well if Tagovailoa can continue his solid play.
As for the power rankings, it's pretty difficult to piece things together right now. Do I think Penn State is the eighth-best team in the Big Ten? Absolutely not. But the Nittany Lions are 0-2 right now and they haven't exactly excelled in any one particular area.
I've got Michigan State all the way up to No. 6 after coming in at No. 12 last week. Too big of a jump? Perhaps it is, but I certainly can't have them behind the Wolverines after winning in Ann Arbor. I don't think we know a whole lot about Purdue and Northwestern just yet, but they're both undefeated and for now I've got them slotted at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
What are your rankings looking like after the second week of B1G action?
