Another weekend of college football is in the books, and it was a mostly easy weekend for teams in the Big Ten. Outside of a couple of conference matchups and Michigan State playing on the road against one of the best teams in the country, the Big Ten saw a good number of cakewalks throughout the Big Ten schedule. For the most part, at least. The final get-right game opportunities are now behind us, and the focus will soon shift to a full slate of Big Ten football from here on out.
Here is a look at everything that went down around the Big Ten this weekend. Poll rankings reflected are from the US LBM Coaches Poll heading into Week 3.
No. 3 Notre Dame 27, Michigan State 10
Michigan State may have gotten off to a good start this season under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald, but the Spartans
learned they are still a good way away from challenging some of the best teams in the country on Saturday night. Despite a valiant effort, Michigan State just did not have the firepower to keep pace with Notre Dame after digging a hole in the first quarter. The Spartans were shut out in the second half after cutting into the deficit before halftime. The offense picked up just 167 yards of total offense, and the Spartans turned the football over twice. Michigan State had no answer for Notre Dame wide receiver Micah Gilbert, who had 8 receptions for 170 yards.
No. 4 Indiana 38, Western Kentucky 0
Indiana shrugged off a slow start to keep the nation's longest active winning streak in the FBS going. Indiana's shutout of Western Kentucky extended that streak to 19 wins. Curt Cignetti got his team to calm down and get back to basics after a tough start to the game. In the end, the Hoosiers got 273 passing yards from Josh Hoover and Turbo Richard rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown in the win. This is back-to-back shutouts by the Hoosiers.
No. 6 Ohio State 59, Kent State 3
Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith set the program record as the school's all-time leading receiver with his 85 receiving yards in a rout of Kent State. And it is just the middle of September! Smith passed Michael Jenkins' 2,898 career receiving yards. Ohio State out-gained Kent State 527-134 but the Buckeyes coughed up the football twice in the process.
No. 11 USC 42, Rutgers 35
Give some serious credit to Rutgers for hanging around all game long against a superior USC team. Rutgers had a chance to take the lead on the Trojans early in the third quarter, but Prophet Brown intercepted a pass and returned it 99 yards for a defensive score to put the Trojans up 27-14 following the extra point. The two teams traded touchdowns the rest of the game, with USC always having an answer for the latest Rutgers threat.
Jayden Maiava passed for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Trojans. Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan was picked off twice in the game but ended the game with 252 yards and 3 touchdowns. USC remains undefeated at 4-0 while Rutgers will continue its search for its first win.
No. 15 Penn State 55, Buffalo 13
Penn State finally seemed ot get its running game moving with some consistency in a Week 3 win over Buffalo. The Nittany Lions got everybody involved in the ground game with four different players combining for 5 rushing touchdowns, including 2 from James Peoples and one from wide receiver Koby Howard. Howard had another big day with two total touchdowns in the blowout win.
No. 20 Iowa 55, Northern Iowa 0
Iowa steamrolled its FCS opponent, Northern Iowa, by rushing for 422 yards as a team and racking up 640 yards of total offense in a blowout win. And they did it all without one of the Big Ten's leading rushers, Kamari Moulton, who was injured late in last week's game. But this is Iowa playing an FCS opponent, so running the football was still a critical advantage. Xavier Williams (151), Nathan McNeil (111), and Braeden Jackson (125) each rushed for at least 100 yards as Iowa managed to have success on the ground without really having to think about it. The three backs also combined for all 6 rushing touchdowns scored by Iowa.
No. 18 Oregon 84, Portland State 0
If any Big Ten team needed a rebound, it was Oregon. The Ducks let out some frustration over their play from the first two weeks against FCS opponent Portland State. Oregon was without wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan and tight end Jamari Johnson due to injuries, but there was more than enough firepower to bounce back from an upset loss last week at Oklahoma State in this one. Dante Moore passed for 280 yards and four touchdowns, and Oregon outgained Portland State 726-103. The 84 points were the most scored by a Big Ten team in the AP poll era since Michigan dropped 85 on Chicago in 1939.
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No. 19 Michigan 52, UTEP 17
A week after redeeming itself a bit with a win over Oklahoma, Michigan got off to a slow start at home against UTEP. But after trailing 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, Michigan got it together and ran away with a dominant victory. Bryce Underwood lost a fumble but passed for 223 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Wolverines did lose starting running back Jordan Marshall to an apparent right leg injury, but his status is unconfirmed moving forward.
No. 24 Washington 48, Eastern Washington 16
Demond Williams passed for 373 yards and 4 touchdowns as Washington found a way to put together a pretty comfortable victory to wrap up non-conference play. Dezman Roebuck (121 yards) and Baron Naone (103 yards) each hit the century mark in receiving yardage, and Rashidf Williams caught 2 touchdowns.
In scores of other games...
- Minnesota 41, Akron 7 - Minnesota was without leading rusher Darius Taylor after an injury last week. Drake Lindsey made up for the lack of running game with 3 touchdown passes.
- Wisconsin 54, Eastern Michigan 10 - Wide receiver Tyrell Henrey set a Wisconsin record by catching 14 passes in a single game while Colton Joseph racked up 362 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.
- Illinois 48, Southern Illinois 10 - Collin Dixon caught 8 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Katin Houser completed 23 of 29 passes for 305 yards as Illinois handled its FCS in-state opponent.
- Nebraska 34, North Dakota 7 - Jamal Rule rushed for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns as Nebraska sent North Dakota packing with a loss and a sizable paycheck.
- Northwestern 41, Colorado 7 - The Wildcats forced four Colorado turnovers and ran away with this one. Aidan Chiles had 3 touchdown passes in the win.
- Virginia Tech 35, Maryland 26 - Former Nittany Lions Ethan Grunkemeyer (314 passing yards, 3 TD) and Luke Reynolds (12 rec., 107 yards, 1 TD) led the way for Virginia Tech as James Franklin continued his mastery against Maryland with his new program. Maryland's Malik Washington had a big game as well with 359 passing yards and 3 TDs.
- UCLA 52, Purdue 38 - If you stayed up late to watch this one, you were treated to some good Big Ten After Dark. UCLA and Purdue combined for over 1,100 yards of total offense in a back-and-forth game in the Rose Bowl. A big first-quarter start by UCLA helped keep the Bruins ahead of the Boilermakers, and Purdue's three turnovers didn't help their cause. UCLA running back Wayne Knight rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns and Nico Iamaleava passed for 3 touchdowns with 276 passing yards and 55 rushing yards. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne ended his night with 378 yards and 3 touchdowns. Purdue's combo of Xavier Townsend (162 yards, 2 TD) and Asaad Waseem (149 yards) had big nights catching the football. UCLA's Samy Omisigho had 12 total tackles with 2 sacks and 2 TFL
Updated Big Ten football standings
With Big Ten play officially underway, it is time to bring in the regularly updated Big Ten football standings.
Quick look at Big Ten schedule in Week 4
With a couple of exceptions, we are jumping into a pretty full slate of Big Ten matchups next week, including Penn State's home game against Wisconsin and a top-25 showdown on the West Coast. Here is what is on tap for Week 4 around the Big Ten. All games are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, unless noted otherwise. All times are Eastern.
- Rutgers vs. Howard - 7:00 p.m., Big Ten Network (Friday, Sept. 25)
- Indiana vs. Northwestern - 8:00 p.m., FOX (Friday, Sept. 25)
- Ohio State vs. Illinois - 12:00 p.m., FOX
- Maryland vs. UCLA - 1:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Purdue vs. Notre Dame - 2:00 p.m., Peacock
- Michigan vs. Iowa - 3:30 p.m., CBS
- Penn State vs. Wisconsin - 5:00 p.m., Peacock
- Michigan State vs. Nebraska - 5:00 p.m., Big Ten Network
- USC vs. Oregon - 7:30 p.m., NBC
- Washington vs. Minnesota - 11:00 p.m., FOX
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Big Ten Week 3 recap: Final scores, updated standings, key takeaways
