Before we get started, a toast to Luke Fickell.
This is beautiful... Cincinnati celebrating the biggest win in UC football history at Notre Dame. #Bearcats pic.twitter.com/jH1tcj3fGk
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) October 2, 2021
That was one emphatic win at No. 9 Notre Dame Saturday, and with it, Fickell's undefeated Bearcats have a well-paved path to becoming the first program sitting outside the Power 5 to barge into the College Football Playoff.
It seems like just yesterday that he looked underwater on the Ohio State sideline in 2011. Now he has a monster on his hands, with Ws in 36 of their last 42 games. Cheers, Luke.
Elsewhere, Oregon F'd around for a couple of weeks and finally found out, Lane Kiffin told us to get popcorn and then dropped a mic before getting rolled by Bama, Kentucky did the thing everyone knew was coming the next time Florida lost, Bo Nix remains a walking Long Island Iced Tea, South Carolina wants to show you its Disaster Play™, and is this the catch of the year?
But on to the Big Ten, and boy did we ever learn something about a few of its teams this weekend.
#5 Iowa 51, Maryland 14
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5 IOWA | 3 | 31 | 10 | 7 | 51 |
| MARYLAND | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| MARYLAND STADIUM • COLLEGE PARK, MD | |||||
In a Friday night special, one I very much thought Maryland's passing attack might be enough to win, the Hawkeyes threw down a significant claim as the Big Ten's best team.
No. 5 Iowa forced seven turnovers, including five Taulia Tagovailoa interceptions, as they absolutely rolled the previously unbeaten Terrapins, 51-14.
Tagovailoa, the Big Ten's leading passer coming into the game, was picked off three times in the first half as Iowa used a 31-point second quarter to take control of this one early.
Quarterback Spencer Petras had his best game as a starter for the Hawkeyes, throwing for 259 yards and three touchdowns while running for two scores. But man, it was that Iowa defense that really put on the show.
Just how good was Iowa Friday night?
(5) Iowa forced 7 turnovers, its most takeaways in a game in the last 25 seasons. The Hawkeyes now lead FBS with 15 takeaways and 12 interceptions this season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2021
Iowa's 37-point win is its largest in the AP Poll era (since 1936) against a team that entered the game 4-0 or better. pic.twitter.com/iEm9OvBS0J
Penn State heads to Iowa Saturday for a monster league showdown that should be the first regular-season Big Ten game between two top 5 opponents without Ohio State in the mix since 1997.
NEXT: IOWA (5–0) vs. PENN STATE (5-0); MARYLAND (4–1) at OHIO STATE (4–1)
#14 Michigan 38, Wisconsin 17
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #14 MICHIGAN | 7 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 38 |
| WISCONSIN | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| CAMP RANDALL STADIUM • MADISON, WI | |||||
We know this much: Wisconsin is not a second-half team. Well, they're not really a first-half team, either, but they're definitely not a second-half team.
One week after giving up 31 to Notre Dame in the fourth quarter, the Badgers let No. 14 Michigan punk them and put up 25 second-half points to help the Wolverines pull away for an easy 38-17 win in Madison.
How does that make you feel, Badger fan?
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 2, 2021
Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz, who's struggled mightily this season, completed just eight passes before he was knocked out of the game with a chest injury, the play resulting in one of Michigan's six sacks on the afternoon, and the run defense did its part, holding the Badgers to a meager 1.3 yards per attempt.
Quarterback Cade McNamara was steady enough for Michigan, going 17 or 28 for 197 and two touchdowns to no interceptions, but the Michigan run game, which was leading the nation at one point this season, managed just 112 yards on 44 carries.
Are the Wolverines for real for real? Jim Harbaugh's team is 5–0 for the first time since 2016, and they have two very winnable games up next.
NEXT: MICHIGAN (5–0) at NEBRASKA (3–3); WISCONSIN (1–3) at ILLINOIS (2–4)
#4 Penn State 24, Indiana 0
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INDIANA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| #4 PENN STATE | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| BEAVER STADIUM • STATE COLLEGE, PA | |||||
We talk a lot about Iowa's defense in this space, but Penn State also deserves some love, as the No. 4 Nittany Lions handed Indiana its first shutout in more than 20 years Saturday, rolling to a 24-0 win in State College.
Brent Pry's unit forced eight punts, two turnovers, a blocked kick, and a Michael Penix to the locker room on the night as Penn State won their fifth game in a row to start the 2021 season.
In the Nittany Lions' last nine games – all wins – they've held their opponents to a combined 129 points.
Quarterback Sean Clifford threw for three touchdowns, with silly good wideout Jahan Dotson catching two of them as Penn State became the first team to start a season 5–0 after starting 0–5 the previous year since Tennessee in 1989.
Jahan Dotson is a safety blanket in the end zone pic.twitter.com/gR1N4A6Dh8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 3, 2021
James Franklin will lead his unbeaten Nittany Lions to Iowa City in six days for the Big Ten Game of the Year™, pitting two of the five longest winning streaks in the country. It's a 4 p.m. kickoff on FOX. You'll want to catch it.
NEXT: PENN STATE (5–0) at IOWA (5–0); INDIANA OFF
Nebraska 56, Northwestern 7
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NORTHWESTERN | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NEBRASKA | 21 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 56 |
| LINCOLN STADIUM • LINCOLN, NE | |||||
Nebraska has been hilariously bad under Scott Frost, not once finishing above .500 in his three full seasons in Lincoln.
And yes, they do have a season-opening loss to the worst team in the Big Ten in Illinois.
But are they better than most of think they are? Don't get it twisted; I'm not saying Nebraska is good, but the Cornhuskers have three losses – two of them to teams ranked in the top 17 of the current AP Poll – by a combined 18 points.
And how else do you explain what they did to Northwestern Saturday?
83-yard TD for @HuskerFBNation's Zavier Betts pic.twitter.com/pV6kpYJjAh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 3, 2021
Sure, Northwestern is bad itself, but Nebraska beat the Wildcats like a decent team should, romping to a 56-7 win in Lincoln. We're Big Ten fans. We've seen two bad teams stumble over each other many times, and I don't think this was that.
Adrian Martinez ran for three touchdowns and threw for another while the Nebraska run game piled up 427 – four-hundred and twenty-seven! – on Northwestern.
So yeah, not a good team, but maybe a team capable of giving Michigan a much closer game next week than many of us thought a couple of weeks ago.
NEXT: NEBRASKA (3–3) vs. MICHIGAN (5–0); NORTHWESTERN OFF
Minnesota 20, Purdue 13
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MINNESOTA | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| PURDUE | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| ROSS-ADE STADIUM • WEST LAFAYETTE, IN | |||||
Imagine having to watch this game. Maybe your kid is in the Purdue band or something. My apologies.
One week after getting stunned on homecoming by 30.5-point underdogs Bowling Green, Minnesota rallied for a gutty inspiring 20-13 road win against Purdue Saturday afternoon.
Purdue outgained Minnesota, 448-294, and ran 33 more plays in the game, but the Golden Gophers were able to play a much tighter game than the mistakefest that led to their shocking upset a week prior.
If you didn't see any of the game, give thanks. This was the highlight:
This is INCREDIBLE pic.twitter.com/SQd41ZPBvN
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 2, 2021
Somehow, this Minnesota team is only one game behind Iowa in the Big Ten West standings.
NEXT: PURDUE OFF; MINNESOTA OFF
#17 Michigan State 48, Western Kentucky 31
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. KENTUCKY | 10 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 31 |
| #17 MICHIGAN ST | 21 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 48 |
| SPARTAN STADIUM • EAST LANSING, MI | |||||
Michigan State jumped out to a 21-3 lead on Western Kentucky before going on to win 48-31 and give the program its best start since the 2015 season – incidentally, the only time the Spartans have ever made the College Football Playoff.
Kenneth Walker rebounded from a slow day last week to rush for 126 yards, and wide receiver Jayden Reed racked up 285 all-purpose yards, including 127 receiving and an 88-yard punt return that went for six.
It's another @JaydenReed5 house call.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 2, 2021
No. 17 @MSU_Football leads early on Homecoming. pic.twitter.com/nqzIaVo1gN
That's Michigan State's second house call on a punt return in the last two weeks if you're keeping score at home.
NEXT: MICHIGAN STATE (5–0) at RUTGERS (3–2)
Illinois 24, Charlotte 14
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHARLOTTE | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| ILLINOIS | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| MEMORIAL STADIUM • CHAMPAIGN, IL | |||||
Illinois was in trouble at the half.
Trailing Charlotte, 14-10 at home, the small Memorial Stadium crowd rained down boos on Bret Bielema and his team.
Then Chase Brown happened.
The running back answered the bell for the Illini, rushing for second-half touchdowns of 31 and 80 yards on the way to a 257-yard afternoon, leading his team to a 24-14 win against the 49ers.
Illinois is wobbly right now, but Bielema enters his old meat sweat factory in Madison next weekend to face a Badger team that might be even more wobbly.
NEXT: ILLINOIS (2–4) vs. WISCONSIN (1–3)
| Rank | Team | Overall | Conference | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IOWA | 5–0 | 2–0 | ▲ 1 |
| 2 | PENN STATE | 5–0 | 2–0 | ▼ 1 |
| 3 | OHIO STATE | 4–1 | 2–0 | ▲ 1 |
| 4 | MICHIGAN | 5–0 | 2–0 | ▼ 1 |
| 5 | MICHIGAN STATE | 5–0 | 2–0 | – |
| 6 | NEBRASKA | 3–3 | 1–2 | ▲ 6 |
| 7 | MARYLAND | 4–1 | 1–1 | ▼ 1 |
| 8 | RUTGERS | 3–2 | 0–2 | ▼ 1 |
| 9 | MINNESOTA | 3–2 | 1–1 | ▲ 1 |
| 10 | PURDUE | 3–2 | 1–1 | ▼ 2 |
| 11 | WISCONSIN | 1–3 | 0–2 | ▼ 2 |
| 12 | INDIANA | 2–3 | 0–2 | ▼ 1 |
| 13 | NORTHWESTERN | 2–3 | 0–2 | – |
| 14 | ILLINOIS | 2–4 | 1–2 | – |
There are ten remaining unbeaten teams in Power 5 conferences. Four of those teams call the Big Ten home. The other is an Ohio State team that, despite an early loss, could very well still be the best team in the conference.
It's no surprise then that those four – Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State – plus Ohio State, make up the top five teams in this week's set of B1G power rankings.
You may be able to quibble about the order in which I ranked those five, but surely we can all agree the five are the best in the league right now.
Beyond that, who knows.
Nebraska might be decent. Not great, but decent. Despite both getting blown out over the weekend, Maryland and Rutgers would probably be favorites against the bottom third of the conference.
Minnesota is schizophrenic. Purdue, Indiana, and Wisconsin are all mediocre teams at best. Northwestern is kind of terrible, and Illinois needed a second-half comeback to squeak by Charlotte.
So there's a batch of good – really good teams at the top – and then a middle group that (shrugs), and finally a group pulling up the rear that is tough to watch when their games are televised.
And yet, it might still be America's deepest conference this season. Buckle up. The following month should be a lot of fun.
