The Big Ten was feeling pretty high and mighty coming into the 2026 season. The home to the past three national champions and starting the season with three teams in the top 10 of the national rankings, including the top two teams when the seaosn started, the Big Ten took some blows from outside competition in Week 2. The two top-ranked teams in the Big Ten took their lumps on the road, and a handful of Big Ten teams lost to Power Four competition on their home field.
Overall, it was a rough week for the Big Ten with losses to the SEC, Big 12, and ACC scattered throughout. Of course, it wasn't all doom and gloom for Big Ten programs this weekend.
Here is a quick rundown of everything that happened around the Big Ten in Week 2.
No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23
There will be a new
No. 1 in college football when the polls are updated on Sunday. Ohio State took a 20-3 lead into halftime against Texas and seemed to be well on its way to a massive statement, but the Buckeyes coughed up a 23-3 lead in the fourth quarter as Arch Manning and the Longhorns put together the biggest comeback win for the program in nearly 20 years. Ohio State wasted a 164-yard outing from Jeremiah Smith, who scored a touchdown in the loss. Ohio State had a chance to put this game just out of reach of the Longhorns but missed a late field goal, which gave Texas one last chance.
This one will certainly sting for Ohio State, and head coach Ryan Day will surely hear some criticism for how the team performed in the second half. Texas will take over the top spot in the polls, but do not expect the Buckeyes to take a hard stumble in the polls.
No. 5 Indiana 55, Howard 0
Not much needs to be said about this one. The defending national and Big Ten champions dismantled their FCS opponent at home to cruise to a 2-0 start to the year. Josh Hoover only attempted 11 passes and completed 6 for 145 yards and 4 touchdowns before getting an early rest in the second half. Charlie Becker caught three of those touchdowns on his only three catches of the game.
Oklahoma State 39, No. 6 Oregon 31
Few could have seen this one coming. This is an early candidate for upset of the season, considering Oregon was a heavy road favorite against an Oklahoma State program that had lost 12 straight games and 21 straight against FBS opponents. Oregon fell behind early and trailed 24-17 at halftime.
Dante Moore passed for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns but was taken down for a negative rushing total. The concern for Oregon has to be the defense, which was shredded for 554 yards by the Cowboys, including 237 team rushing yards. Oregon's first turnover of the game came late as Oklahoma State recovered a fumble on a botched exchange in the backfield to put the clamps on this one. Oregon needs a get-right game after the first two weeks of the season.
Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10
A week after one of the most controversial wins of Week 1, Michigan managed to win this one in a full 60 minutes without the benefit of any additional time on the clock. Defense was the strength for the Wolverines as Michigan shut down the Oklahoma Sooners offense and frustrated John Mateer all afternoon. Jyaire Hill's interception in the fourth quarter gave Bryce Underwood and the Michigan offense the football in a 1st-and-Goal situation and John Marshall gave the Wolverines the lead with a short touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
Two weeks in and it seems as though Michigan's defense is for real. The offense can still improve, but it has proven to come up with clutch plays in the fourth quarter in back-to-back weeks.
No. 16 Penn State 27, Temple 9
Penn State got off to a bit of a sluggish start on offense on the road for an early kickoff against Temple. Penn State came up empty on its first three possessions of the game, all ending in Temple territory. But Rocco Becht and the Nittany Lions found their rhythm in the second quarter and responded to an early 3-0 deficit with 27 straight points before Temple scored a late touchdown in a game that had all but been made official.
No. 19 Washington 16, Utah State 14
You would be forgiven if this one flew under the radar a bit on your Big Ten viewing in Week 2. The Huskies trailed Utah State following a 78-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter but rallied with a touchdown of their own before halftime to lead 10-7 at halftime. A pair of field goals from Tyler Robles helped extend the lead to 16-7 in the fourth quarter before a late Utah State touchdown cut into the lead. Fortunately for Washington State, that was all the scoring that would take place in the final minutes.
This was not a pretty performance from Washington. Demond Williams Jr. had a passer rating of 33.8 despite passing for 249 yards (he also rushed for a team-high 56 yards). The Huskies had some rough stretches on offense but won the turnover battle 3-0 to keep Utah State at arm's length long enough to secure a win.
No. 21 Iowa 16, Iowa State 13
Iowa kicker Caden Buhr emerged as the player of the game for the Hawkeyes. His third field goal of the night came from 42 yards out with just 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to break a 13-13 to give Iowa the win in this defensive rivalry matchup on Saturday night. As expected in this rivalry, neither offense managed to build much momentum. Iowa's running game was slowed by a stingy Iowa State defense, limiting Kamari Moulton to just 57 yards on 15 carries. Iowa linebacker Cam Buffington led the game with 15 total tackles, including 9 solo tackles.
Iowa battled back from a 10-0 deficit in the second quarter to tie the game going to halftime, and Buhr kicked a game-tying field goal earlier in the fourth quarter before his last-minute heroics.
In scores of other games...
Boston College 28, Rutgers 21 - The Scarlet Knights are off to a 0-2 start with back-to-back wins against schools from Massachusetts. The good news is there will be no more opponents from New England on the Rutgers schedule for the rest of the season. The bad news is the next game is against USC and Indiana is coming up soon too.
Wake Forest 38, Purdue 36 (2 OT) - Fame Ijeobi rushed for 3 touchdowns for Purdue but the Boilermakers could not hold down Wake Forest in a double-overtime thriller.
Mississippi State 38, Minnesota 13 - The Gophers were run off their own field by Mississippi State in one of the more disappointing efforts from a Big Ten team in Week 2.
Duke 31, Illinois 27 - Duke running back Nate Shepard rushed for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns as the defending ACC champions, coached by former Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, left Illinois with a come-from-behind victory. Illinois scored just 3 points in the second half after leading the Blue Devils 24-21 at halftime.
Michigan State 35, Eastern Michigan 7 - Cam Edwards rushed for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Michigan State's defense held EMU to just one score.
Maryland 38, UConn 14 - Malik Washington passed for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Terps. Ma'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding caught 8 passes for 130 yards with one of those touchdowns.
Nebraska 56, Bowling Green 7 - Nebraska had no trouble at home behind a big day from quarterback Anthony Colandrea. He completed 20 of 24 passes for 222 yards and 4 touchdowns.
UCLA 28, San Diego State 10 - After a mild injury scare last week in a win at Cal, UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava helped guide UCLA to a win in their home opener against San Diego State.
Wisconsin 36, Western Illinois 9 - Wisconsin took advantage. ofan FCS opponent to recover from a loss on Sunday night to Notre Dame. As expected, the Badgers rolled at home and did so with a good start in the first quarter.
Big Ten Week 3 schedule
Big Ten play officially gets underway next week with a pair of conference matchups, but it will still be a weekend. ofnon-conference play for the majority of the conference. And Penn State fans may be paying attention to one of those matchups as Maryland hosts Virginia Tech with James Franklin.
Here is the full Week 3 schedule for the Big Ten. All games are on Saturday, September 19 unless noted otherwise. All times are Eastern.
- Oregon vs. Portland State (Friday, Sept. 18) - 10:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Penn State vs. Buffalo - 12:00 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Ohio State vs. Kent State - 12:00 p.m., FOX
- Minnesota vs. Akron - 12:00 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Wisconsin vs. Eastern Michigan - 12:30 p.m., Peacock
- Illinois vs. Southern Illinois - 2:00 p.m., Peacock
- Rutgers vs. USC - 3:30 p.m., CBS
- Michigan vs. UTEP - 3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Indiana vs. Western Kentucky - 4:00 p.m., Peacock
- Iowa vs. Northern Iowa - 4:00 p.m., FS1
- Washington vs. Eastern Washington - 7:15 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Nebraska vs. North Dakota - 7:15 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Michigan State at Notre Dame - 7:30 p.m., NBC
- Northwestern vs. Colorado - 7:30 p.m., TBD
- Maryland vs. Virginia Tech - 7:30 p.m., TBD
- UCLA vs. Purdue - 11:00 p.m., Big Ten Network
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Big Ten Week 2 recap: Final scores, highlights, what's next in Week 3?
