Chaos continues to take place in the middle of the college football season, and it hit the Big Ten Conference hard this week. We saw upset losses from ranked teams, and near upsets from others who continue to hold on to dear life this year.
At the top of the conference,Ohio State fell with a backup quarterback under center, while Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans got a program-defining win. Elsewhere, the Oregon Ducksgot back on track with a comeback upset win over the Northwestern Wildcats. And then there was Indiana, which went to overtime with Minnesota and somehow found a way to win.
It's all leading to what will be an incredibly eventful November, with conference title hopes hanging in the balance each and every week.
For now, here are our
Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 8:
18 - Maryland Terrapins
Previous Ranking: 18
Week 9 Result: 20-17 Loss to Illinois
Record: 2-6
Analysis: Maryland at least competed in its first game without Mike Locksley, but Malik Washington's sophomore slump continued with another interception and sub-200-yard passing day. The Terrapins were beaten in the air and on the ground defensively, and the offense failed to capitalize on the early turnover and missed field goal. Maryland's fall into the cellar of the conference has been sudden, and there doesn't appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel this season. Terrapins fans, all that matters now is the head coach hire.
17 - Michigan State Spartans
Previous Ranking: 17
Week 9 Result: BYE
Record: 2-6
Analysis: The Spartans were on a bye this week, so they were fortunate enough not to move down any further in the power rankings, though Maryland is making a case to get out of the bottom spot with a close loss to Illinois.
16 - Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Previous Ranking: 16
Week 9 Result: 28-21 Loss to Michigan
Record: 2-6
Analysis: Rutgers ran just 38 plays against Michigan, and AJ Surace completed just 3-of-12 pass attempts. The Scarlet Knights had some success on the ground again, but the early hole the team fell into proved to be too much as the Wolverines held the ball for 39 minutes and bled the clock dry. Rutgers will get a shot at home next week against a reeling Wisconsin squad.
15 - Purdue Boilermakers
Previous Ranking: 15
Week 9 Result: 31-17 Loss to Penn State
Record: 3-5
Analysis: The electricity of Purdue's offense in the first month of the season just doesn't exist anymore. Ryan Browne's streak of poor play continued with two more interceptions. The Boilermakers had just 175 yards of offense on the road, and every yard looked tough to come by. What started as an optimistic season with bowl dreams is quickly falling apart. Purdue will need to win three more games to qualify for a bowl, and they still have matchups against Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana left.
14 - Minnesota Golden Gophers
Previous Ranking: 14
Week 9 Result: 23-16 Loss (OT) to Indiana
Record: 5-3
Analysis: The good Minnesota defense showed up on Halloween, which still isn't great. But the Gophers were in front for much of the game thanks to special teams miscues by Indiana, as 10 points came off a pair of shanked punts early on, and Luke Drzewiecki drilled a 60-yard field goal for the lead late to give the Gophers a shot. It did feel like a mistake as Minnesota was playing for the long field goal, and all it took was one big completion to a dangerous receiver for Indiana to kick a long field goal of its own to tie the game and eventually win in overtime. There were some clear coaching errors for PJ Fleck, but despite the chaos of a sloppy game, this was one that Minnesota could reasonably argue it should have won.
13 - Illinois Fighting Illini
Previous Ranking: 13
Week 9 Result: 20-17 Win over Maryland
Record: 5-3
Analysis: Good news: Katin Houser returned for Illinois at quarterback. Bad news: the offense looked worse than it did a week ago against Oregon, somehow. Houser was off for much of the game, and the Illini had some big plays on the ground but didn't finish many drives. Still, Houser navigated the Illini into chip-shot field goal range for the walk-off winner, and the Illini continue to string together wins in October. That's got to count for something. They could be a dangerous team hosting Nebraska next Friday.
12 - Penn State Nittany Lions
Previous Ranking: 12
Week 9 Result: 31-17 Win over Purdue
Record: 4-4
Analysis: Penn State's run game came to life behind Cam Wallace, who rushed for 135 yards and a score to deliver the first conference win of the season for the Nittany Lions. Down a couple of valuable wideouts, Rocco Becht found success with his tight ends, but there wasn't a ton of explosiveness through the air. They will need to find some explosives before heading out west next week to take on Washington.
11 - Wisconsin Badgers
Previous Ranking: 5
Week 9 Result: 30-0 Loss to Iowa
Record: 5-3
Analysis: Wisconsin's passing game with Colton Joseph has evaporated, and when the Badgers turn the ball over, it's almost impossible for them to compete in this state. The lack of passing was overlooked in a win against USC last week because the Badgers still played clean and took advantage of mistakes. This week, the Badgers were vulnerable as Joseph finished with less than 100 passing yards for a third straight game and was eventually benched. Wisconsin had no run game, couldn't sustain drives, and was all-around sloppy. Wisconsin had seven drives of five plays or fewer, and suddenly the Badgers look like the team many thought they would be at the beginning of the season. Quarterback is a spot worth watching this week in practice, and maybe a tune-up against the Rutgers and Maryland defenses the next two weeks will be just what the doctor ordered, but it seems like the Badgers have run out of gas. Fortunately, the schedule is pretty favorable from here.
10 - Michigan Wolverines
Previous Ranking: 11
Week 9 Result: 28-21 Win over Rutgers
Record: 5-3
Analysis: For the first two drives of the game, Michigan looked like a real offense! Scoring drives of 92 and 75 yards built an early lead for the Wolverines, but then it was a return to form. Missed field goals and missed opportunities on offense returned, and the defense had trouble stopping the run at times. Tommy Carr was highly efficient and clearly the guy moving forward at quarterback, but Michigan still needs to prove it can be better against teams with a pulse on defense.
9 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
Previous Ranking: 7
Week 9 Result: 17-10 Loss to Washington
Record: 5-3
Analysis: Anthony Colandrea announced he was coming back for another season and promptly threw three interceptions to justify his decision. The Cornhuskers had some room to operate, but once the field shrank, the Huskies boxed them in. Nebraska was fortunate that two early turnovers didn't put them in deep trouble, and the defense played a tremendous game for all four quarters. But a late pick-six thrown by Colandrea sunk those efforts and continued Nebraska's slow descent in the Big Ten standings with a third-straight loss. Nebraska's defense is giving the team plenty of chances to win, but the Cornhuskers aren't playing complementary ball right now. A trip to Illinois is on deck, and the Cornhuskers need to see Colandrea get back on track.
8 - Washington Huskies
Previous Ranking: 10
Week 9 Result: 17-10 Win over Nebraska
Record: 5-3
Analysis: Demond Williams brought a spark when he came off the bench in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies still couldn't run the ball and were inefficient through the air. Chris Lawson made a man miss late for Washington's lone offensive touchdown of the night, but the defense did force three turnovers, one of which was a pick-six late that turned out to be the deciding score. Elijah Brown's run is probably over at quarterback, as Washington reverted to the "Please save us, Demond" offense and made him run around like a madman for the final quarter. Washington didn't take advantage of the mistakes by Nebraska's offense until the pick-six, so even while picking up a road conference win in Lincoln, there isn't a ton of optimism with the Huskies right now.
7 - Northwestern Wildcats
Previous Ranking: 4
Week 9 Result: 34-26 Loss to Oregon
Record: 6-2
Analysis: Aidan Chiles carved the Oregon defense apart like a Halloween pumpkin in the first half, but had little success in the second half. What happened? The passing game in the second half was inefficient, and there wasn't much of a run game to speak of outside of Chiles scrambling for first downs. The defense was beaten for several big plays on the ground and in the air, and the Wildcats didn't tackle well. Simply put, Northwestern was outplayed and outcoached late in the game after jumping out to a big lead. Northwestern has had trouble on the road this season running the ball, and it caught up with them again this week. They will need to sort out some of the defensive woes this week in practice before hosting Iowa next week.
6 - Oregon Ducks
Previous Ranking: 9
Week 9 Result: 34-26 Win over Northwestern
Record: 5-3
Analysis: Dan Lanning preached an aggressive mindset on offense this week after moving on from offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, and after another slow start, that change in mindset showed up near the end of the second quarter and never went away. Dylan Raiola was superb, topping 300 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers, and Dakorien Moore had his best day as a Duck. Oregon struggled to contain Northwestern's tricky offense and mobile quarterback early on, but the pressure came through in the fourth quarter with three sacks as the Ducks played complementary football. The Ducks took chances and gave their star players chances to win, and they made the most of them. Suddenly, Oregon looks like a team that might compete, at the very least, next week on the road against Ohio State.
5 - Iowa Hawkeyes
Previous Ranking: 8
Week 9 Result: 30-0 Win over Wisconsin
Record: 6-2
Analysis: I think Iowa has once again landed on Hank Brown as the starting quarterback, but that idea seems to change with the blow of the wind. Either way, Hank was efficient and kept the Hawkeyes on track throughout in a very balanced performance for the offense. Tony Diaz might be developing into a problem at receiver for the Big Ten in the future. He hasn't been super involved this season, but when he gets a chance, his talent is apparent. Iowa has now pitched three shutouts this season against inferior offenses. When they have an edge, the Hawkeyes take full advantage.
4 - USC Trojans
Previous Ranking: 6
Week 9 Result: 30-18 Win over Ohio State
Record: 7-2
Analysis: Boy, did Lincoln Riley need this one. Don't tell USC that its top-2 win came against a freshman backup quarterback in his first start. Nonetheless, the Trojans took advantage of Ohio State's mistakes on offense and found ways to bend but not break defensively. The sudden uptick from no big plays against Wisconsin to a plethora of them this week is hard to explain, but Trent Mosley is a good place to start. The freshman receiver is a game-changer on offense and special teams, and the Trojans are one of the most dangerous teams in the country when he has the ball and a little bit of space. The defense closed this one out with relentless pressure and turned the Buckeyes away at the goal line. This is easily the biggest win in Riley's career in Los Angeles.
3 - Ohio State Buckeyes
Previous Ranking: 1
Week 9 Result: 30-18 Loss to USC
Record: 6-2
Analysis: Luke Fahey never looked comfortable, and despite forcing the ball to Jeremiah Smith for 10 catches, the Buckeyes didn't have many explosive plays and fell behind quickly. Ohio State is simply a different, more limited team without Julian Sayin, and without him for the rest of the regular season, the Buckeyes' playoff hopes are suddenly a bit of a question. Bo Jackson had a huge day on the ground, but because of the lopsided score, the Buckeyes had to go away from the run game late and struggled to connect through the air. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Ohio State defense's struggles, as a freshman wideout routinely dusted the Buckeyes and couldn't prevent USC's big plays. Maybe a week of game reps will help Fahey improve next week against Oregon, but the lack of success on the other side of the ball was alarming.
2 - Indiana Hoosiers
Previous Ranking: 3
Week 9 Result: 23-16 Win (OT) over Minnesota
Record: 8-1
Analysis: It's really odd to watch a Curt Cignetti team make so many mistakes, but that's what the Hoosiers are doing right now. Josh Hoover is clearly not healthy, which led to his benching, and it became a battle of kickers, both of which nailed 60-yard kicks to force overtime. Grant Wilson made the big throw to Charlie Becker in overtime to win the game, but Indiana is left with a ton of questions. Who is the quarterback? Can they figure out the offense during the bye? Will special teams eventually cost this team games? Indiana's defense is going to hold the line, but it can only do so for so long. The Hoosiers held Minnesota to just 3-of-15 on third downs, and really only surrendered two big plays. Hoover's health is paramount to a strong finish to the season, which starts with USC coming to Bloomington after the bye week.
1 - UCLA Bruins
Previous Ranking: 2
Week 9 Result: 27-0 Win over Nevada
Record: 8-0
Analysis: UCLA takes the top spot this week despite not playing a conference foe, which should say something about how the Big Ten is both hurt at quarterback and cannibalizing itself. Ty Dieffenbach is one of those backup quarterbacks who has been forced into action, and while he has clear limitations, he is protecting the football and keeping the Bruins afloat through a soft part of the schedule. The offense has taken a significant step back, particularly on the ground, but four more takeaways by the defense kept the pressure off. Things could get interesting next week, however, when UCLA heads north to face upset-minded Minnesota.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Big Ten power rankings after Week 9: A new No. 1 team takes over
