It was an eventful weekend of college football around the nation, but things around the Big Ten felt relatively stabilized by comparison. Penn State went 0-5 last season starting with a loss at the hands of Indiana, so it was only fitting that this season saw the Nittany Lions jump out to a 5-0 record by coming full circle with a win over Indiana. Penn State blanked the Hoosiers, 24-0, in Beaver Stadium on Saturday night to hold up their end of the bargain of setting the stage for a big game coming up in Week 6.
Penn State will now head into a massive matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes next week in Kinnick Stadium in what could potentially be a preview of the Big Ten championship game.
Indiana, now 0-2 in the Big Ten, gets a week off before returning home to play Michigan State in two weeks.
Here’s a look at everything else that went down around the Big Ten in week 5.
No. 5 Iowa 51, Maryland 14
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The public outlook on this Friday night matchup suggested Iowa could be in for a bit of a tussle against Maryland in College Park. But that was never the case. The Hawkeyes were dominant from start to finish and intercepted six passes by Terps quarterbacks. Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa was picked off five times before getting the rest of the game off.
Iowa’s Spencer Petras passed for 259 yards and three scores as the offensive highlight for the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s pass defense has been incredible at racking up interceptions, as they now have 12 in five games.
Next up for Iowa? A home game against Penn State.
Up Next: Iowa vs. Penn State, Maryland at Ohio State
No. 14 Michigan 38, Wisconsin 17
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
There are two main takeaways to have from this game. Oen is that Michigan continues to look like a formidable contender in the Big Ten right now. The Wolverines held a slight 13-10 advantage at halftime in this one and then scored 25 straight points in the second half before the Badgers got a touchdown in the final minute of the game. That has to be commended for shutting down another opponent in the second half, especially after the concerns some took from their performance against Rutgers a week ago.
But it is time to re-evaluate our opinions on Wisconsin. The Badgers are 1-3 overall with three losses to Penn State, Notre Dame, and Michigan. And the last two weeks have seen the Badgers crumble in the second half of games. Wisconsin had just 43 rushing yards as a team on 32 carries. Give Michigan credit, but the Badgers are 0-2 in Big Ten play already and not too many thought that would be the case the first weekend of October.
Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz was knocked out of the game as well with a chest injury that led to a trip to the hospital for observation.
Up next: Michigan at Nebraska, Wisconsin at Illinois
No. 10 Ohio State 52, Rutgers 13
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Is Ohio State back? The past few weeks seem to have seen the Buckeyes get back to doing what Ohio State is known to do. This week, Ohio State went on the road and left no doubt against Rutgers. Rutgers may have put up a solid fight last week at Michigan, but the Buckeyes were too dominant from the opening kickoff.
C.J. Stroud passed for 330 yards and five touchdowns in his return to the starting lineup, and he picked up where he left off. The Buckeyes have not had a problem scoring points this season but the defense has now allowed just 10 points in their last two games. Sure, it was against Akron and Rutgers, but it’s something to build confidence in a program that can still be scary when it has it.
Up next: Ohio State vs. Maryland, Rutgers vs. Michigan State
Illinois 24, Charlotte 14
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Illinois snapped their four-game losing streak with a non-conference matchup with Charlotte. The Illini attacked the ground against the 49ers with 336 of their 414 offensive yards coming with running plays. After a close first half saw the Illini trailing 14-10, a pair of third-quarter scores helped Illinois avoid their worst loss of the season.
Up next: Illinois vs. Wisconsin
Minnesota 20, Purdue 13
Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota rebounded from a horrible performance the previous week to pick up a road win at Purdue. Weather elements certainly played a bit of a factor into what turned out to be a pretty sloppy game, but perhaps that is just fine for PJ Fleck and the Gophers the way this season has gone. Tanner Morgan completed just nine of 18 pass attempts while Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell passed for 371 yards.
Minnesota somehow managed to win this game despite being out-gained 448-294. A Purdue fumble on the opening drive of the game led to a Minnesota touchdown and O’Connel was intercepted in the final minute at the Minnesota 17-yard line.
Up next: Minnesota vs. Nebraska (10/16), Purdue at Iowa (10/16)
Nebraska 56, Northwestern 7
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Fun fact. This weekly roundup was being drafted while Nebraska was up 28-7. Since then, the Huskers doubled their scoring output for their biggest blowout win since joining the Big Ten. There was no threat from Northwestern for the Huskers this season as the Wildcats continue to trudge through a year of mediocrity.
Nebraska is now 3-3 and hasn’t looked all that bad in recent weeks. Is Nebraska the second-best team in the Big Ten West? Nebraska rushed for 427 yards as a team, with Jaquexz Yant leading the attack with 127 yards. Adrian Martinez had three rushing touchdowns to go with his 202 passing yards and touchdown pass.
Up next: Nebraska vs. Michigan, Northwestern vs. Rutgers (10/16)
No. 16 Michigan State 48, Western Kentucky 31
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Michigan State had plenty of offense in the first half, scoring 21 points in each of the first two quarters of the game. The Spartans got 126 rushing yards out of Kenneyj Walker IIII and Payton Thorne was on first for 327 passing yards. But the Spartans showed some crack son defense. Western Kentucky had 560 yards of total offense, with 488 coming through the air. But the Spartans still managed to get to 5-0 and can play a factor in the Big Ten East Division race.
Up next: Michigan State at Rutgers
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