Wow. What a week in the FBS. What a week in the Big Ten. From upsets to game winners, Week 11 was full of surprises. One of the better weeks in Big Ten football this season, that’s for sure.
Note: I will
be using the newly-released College Football Playoff Rankings now instead of AP Top 25.
Bye Weeks:
Illinois (6-3, 3-3 B1G), No. 21 Michigan (7-2, 5-1 B1G), Michigan State (3-6, 0-6 B1G), Minnesota (6-3, 4-2 B1G)
Friday
Northwestern 17 @ No. 19 USC 38
Under the Friday night lights, USC (7-2, 5-1 B1G) controlled the game from start to finish on a short week. Jayden Maiava, King Miller, Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane all played like superstars and Northwestern (5-4, 3-3 B1G) couldn’t do enough to keep up. Find more coverage of this game on the rest of the InsideNU site!
Saturday
No. 2 Indiana 27 @ Penn State 24
That isn’t just the catch of the year, but one of the best catches of all time.
Omar Cooper Jr.’s game-winning touchdown was legendary, as was the drive led by Fernando Mendoza. Down by three with under two minutes to go, after throwing an interception a few drives earlier leading to the Nittany Lions taking the lead, he had a Heisman moment as he led his team 80 yards in 10 plays as Indiana (10-0, 7-0 B1G) was able to squeeze out the win in Happy Valley against Penn State (3-6, 0-6 B1G).
While the Nittany Lions remain winless in the conference, they still pose as a tough opponent, especially when at home. With no Elijah Sarratt for the Hoosiers, Charlie Becker stepped up big-time. The sophomore wide receiver had caught just seven passes for 157 yards total on the season. Against Penn State, he hauled in seven receptions for 118 yards, including a huge sideline grab on Indiana’s final drive. Indiana did have some trouble slowing down PSU running back Nicholas Singleton, as he averaged 7.1 yards per carry and scored thrice (one receiving, two rushing). Wideout Trebor Pena also impressed for the Nittany Lions as he hauled in six passes for 99 yards. In his third career start, Ethan Grunkemeyer showed that he hasn’t reached his ceiling, as he looked the part too.
This game was arguably one of the best all year in not just the Big Ten, but all of college football.
No. 1 Ohio State 34 @ Purdue 1o
Ohio State (9-0, 6-0 B1G) is inevitable. Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes were too much for Purdue (2-8, 0-7 B1G) to handle as the Boilermakers remain winless in the conference. Sayin’s Heisman trophy campaign continued as he threw for 303 yards and a touchdown while throwing just six incompletions in his 33 pass attempts. Jeremiah Smith has continued to make highlight play after highlight play as his ceiling is unimaginable, considering he’s still only a sophomore. Smith and Sayin will still have at least one more year of college ball together after the 2025 season, as Sayin himself is a redshirt freshman.
The Buckeyes continue to roll as The Game nears, now just three weekends away.
Maryland 20 @ Rutgers 35
Athan Kaliakmanis, Antwan Raymond and Ian Strong helped propel Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 B1G) to its second Big Ten win this season as Maryland (4-5, 1-5 B1G) has been unable to find its footing with its fifth-straight loss. Freshman quarterback Malik Washington didn’t have the best day with his arm, but he did impress on the ground with eight carries for 164 yards and a 73-yard rushing touchdown. The Terrapins did rush for 305 yards as a team, but they couldn’t amount that to points as the Scarlet Knights scored 21 in the second quarter and never looked back.
No. 9 Oregon 18 @ No. 20 Iowa 16
Both Oregon (8-1, 5-1 B1G) and Iowa (6-3, 4-2 B1G) should be taken seriously. Even though the Hawkeyes did lose their third game, they have only lost by 10 points total across those three losses. The weather wasn’t great, which helped in favor of Iowa. However, a first quarter safety gave the Ducks a two-point lead and was ultimately the deciding margin when the clock hit zero. Atticus Sappington was the MVP for Oregon with his three made field goals, including the game winner as time expired. Dante Moore also did an incredible job getting his team into field goal range at the end, despite not having his best game. Without freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore and star tight end Kenyon Sadiq, he still found a way to win with under two minutes to go. For Iowa, Mark Gronowski was good as he had another rushing score. This week, it gave the Hawkeyes a 16-15 lead before the two-point conversion attempt was ruled out-of-bounds after being reviewed. He also threw a touchdown pass (just his fifth of the year), but it wasn’t enough as Oregon barely got by in Kinnick Stadium.
No. 23 Washington 10 @ Wisconsin 13
Wait. What!?
I’m going to leave this here. Washington (6-3, 3-3 B1G) was ranked and had an outside shot of making the College Football Playoff heading into this one. Of all teams to almost certainly put an end to those aspirations was Wisconsin (3-6, 1-5 B1G), who had previously been winless in the Big Ten. The fact that the Badgers won with just 48 total passing yards (half coming from the kicker) doesn’t feel real. At halftime, the Huskies led 10-3. Injuries did affect them though with running back Jonah Coleman, center Landon Hatchett and right tackle Drew Azzopardi all exiting the game early.
In the second half, a Demond Williams Jr. fumble set Wisconsin up to tie the game before a field goal gave the Badgers a 13-10 lead headed into the fourth. Washington responded to the Wisconsin field goal with a 14-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a missed kick. After that, it was three back-to-back punts before a turnover on downs gave the Badgers their first conference win of the season. Complete and utter shock.
Nebraska 28 @ UCLA 21
Even without Dylan Raiola, Nebraska (7-3, 4-3 B1G) went on the road in Los Angeles and took down UCLA (3-6, 3-3 B1G). TJ Lateef had an impressive debut, going 13-of-15 for 205 yards and three passing touchdowns. Emmett Johnson continued his strong season, rushing for 129 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. He also caught two touchdown passes on his three receptions for 103 yards. On the other side, Nico Iamaleava had a modest game, throwing 191 yards and two touchdown passes, while adding another 86 yards on the ground. Even with the Bruins surging late, their defense couldn’t hold the Cornhuskers offense as they ran out the clock to seal the victory.
