And just like that, we've reached the midway point of the college football season.
Crazy, isn't it? Let's enjoy these last few months while we still have them.
The Big Ten's overall slate last weekend was underwhelming to say the least, but we certainly learned some things about a few teams around the league.
Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska are the conference's only remaining unbeaten teams. The latter had an open weekend; the Buckeyes and Wolverines each earned convincing victories.
Those three teams are also the only three undefeated in Big Ten play. Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota and Illinois are all still winless in the league. Two of those teams not having a conference victory is hardly surprising, but what's up with the Spartans?
With that, let's dive right in for another version of Stock Up/Stock Down to see who is rising and who is falling around the Big Ten.
Stock Up
Ohio State's Ground Game
The Buckeyes struggled to throw the ball in their 38-17 victory against Indiana on Saturday. That was pretty well-documented. J.T. Barrett was just 9-for-21 passing for 93 yards through the air as Ohio State looked out of sync all afternoon when it tried to throw the ball.
Where the Buckeyes didn't struggle, however, was with their ground game. The three-headed monster of Barrett, Curtis Samuel and Mike Weber totaled 290 yards rushing on the day.
Urban Meyer said at some point Ohio State will play a team that can stop the run and it will need to win a game with the passing game. No team has done that yet, however, as the Buckeyes possess one of the most dominant ground games in all of college football.
Jabrill Peppers — Michigan linebacker
Yes, it was Rutgers (more on that later), and yes I know you're all going to scroll down to the comments section immediately after you saw Jabrill Peppers' name and tell me how it was against Rutgers and that he doesn't have an interception in his career.
I don't care.
Peppers is a hell of a football player and his full arsenal was on display against the Scarlet Knights. He scored two touchdowns on offense in addition to being part of a Wolverines defense that held Rutgers without a first down until the fourth quarter (again, more on that later).
With road games at Iowa and Michigan State not looking as tough as they did before the season, there's an awfully good chance Michigan comes to Columbus on Nov. 26 with an 11-0 record.
Indiana
It's hard for me to include a team in this section following a three-touchdown loss, but I came away from Saturday's game thinking the Hoosiers were...not bad?
Kevin Wilson is a great coach and is about as well as Indiana can do, in my opinion. They should try and hold onto him as long as they possibly can. The Hoosiers are playing some defense this year, which helps, as Wilson has always been a great offensive mind.
Is Indiana the third-best team in the Big Ten East? I'm leaning yes right now and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it took down the undefeated Huskers this weekend.
Stock Down
Ohio State's Passing Game
If we're being honest, it was rather poor Saturday against Indiana.
That doesn't mean the sky is falling, though, and all is not broken. Ohio State simply could have had a bad game against the Hoosiers when it came to throwing the football. That happens.
But it's certainly something to watch going forward, especially this weekend against Wisconsin. The Badgers have the nation's No. 7-ranked run defense so the Buckeyes may need to make some plays through the air to win the game.
It's hard to see 93 passing yards getting the job done against Wisconsin.
Everything About Rutgers
I think Chris Ash is a good football coach. I saw it with my own eyes for two years while he was Ohio State's defensive coordinator.
The talent gap, however, between Ash's new team and the top teams in the Big Ten is staggering. Ash and the Scarlet Knights have a long, long way to go before they're even going to be competitive against some of the league's top teams.
Rutgers has been outscored 136-0 the last two weeks against Michigan and Ohio State. Luckily for Ash, Illinois comes to town this weekend.
Michigan State
Not really sure what else there is to say here. The Spartans are, for the first time in recent years, a mess.
There doesn't seem to be a clear answer at quarterback as Tyler O'Connor was pulled during Michigan State's 31-14 loss at home to BYU. The Spartans have just no offense at the moment.
There are some winnable games remaining on the schedule, but it seems right now Michigan State is headed for a 7-5 season at best.
