Another week of Big Ten football has passed, and it is becoming increasingly clear where each team stands in the conference. With that, let’s get right into the games. As usual, we will start with the blowouts
first and work our way to the best games of the weekend.
The Blowouts
No.2 Indiana 56, UCLA 6: Just when UCLA started to look like they were getting it together, they ran into the wall known as the Hoosiers. Indiana dominated the Bruins in every facet of the game, so much so that they’re backups started to see significant playing time at the end. The Hoosier running game ran unopposed on the ground as they totaled 262 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns. Indiana’s defense wreaked havoc on the Bruins’ offense by totaling 3 sacks and 3 turnovers on the day.
Iowa 41, Minnesota 3: This one surprised me. Two teams that looked relatively even on paper are squaring off. This was obviously not reality as the Hawkeyes rolled over the Golden Gophers. As is expected, it wasn’t the Hawkeye offense that took over this game; it was their defense, which totaled 3 interceptions and 4 sacks, and one touchdown on the day. They also only allowed Minnesota to gain 133 yards of total offense. The Iowa offense took advantage of its countless opportunities to score and kept piling points on. It is this utter dominance of an opponent who looked like a near equal that makes Iowa our Big Ten Star of the Week!
The Close Matchups
No.6 Oregon 21, Wisconsin 7: I heavily debated putting this one in the blowout section because the Badgers did not score until late in the fourth; however, Wisconsin’s defense did just enough to keep Oregon from running away with it. To reiterate, neither team looked impressive in this game. Oregon’s offense took a while to get going, partly due to an injury to quarterback Dante Moore. However, that injury happened later in the game, and the offense was struggling before that. Wisconsin’s offense did not look good at all once again; however, they did finally break their scoreless streak. It was just an ugly game with the better team doing just enough to push past their opponent.
No.25 Michigan 31, Michigan State 20: Again, another match I was debating putting in the blowout section, but Michigan State’s fourth-quarter rally stopped me from doing that. Bryce Underwood was extremely underwhelming at quarterback for Michigan, but their running game stole the show, piling up 276 yards and four touchdowns. Their defense also performed really well, registering four sacks and a fumble recovery. This was another ugly game with the better team grinding out a win over an inferior opponent.
Washington 42, No. 23 Illinois 25: Washington will be ranked at some point this year. Besides a bad loss to Michigan and a loss to the No.1 team in the country, the Huskies have looked really good this season. That was on full display in this game as they used a strong second half to breeze past No.23 Illinois. Huskie quarterback Demond Williams had a good game, totalling 280 yards and four touchdowns. Their defense held Illinois in check pretty well, as the Illini only put up 8 points after halftime.
Nebraska 28, Northwestern 21: Other than Rutgers’ close victory over Purdue, this was the best game of the weekend. Nebraska leaned heavily on running back Emmett Johnson to secure the win here as Johnson carried the ball 27 times for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the game tied at 21 late, Johnson ran it in from 4 yards out to put the Cornhuskers ahead by seven. The Nebraska defense would stall the Wildcat offense on its next drive to secure the win.
