Week Seven in the college football world was insane. Seven of the top ten teams in the country lost this week. Three different SEC teams lost to unranked opponents. But over here in the Big Ten—well chalk reigned supreme. Yes one of those top ten teams that lost was Indiana—but they lost to #4 Ohio State. And frankly, if their star receiver isn’t an idiot—they win. The rest of the conference matchups this week went about as you would expect. But there is plenty of drama brewing with injuries hitting some teams, and rivalry matchups a foot in the next few weeks that should have lots of implications on the conference pecking order going forward.
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes 6-1 (1)
Win 19-15 @ Indiana
The Buckeyes took care of business….mostly against Indiana. It was a great back and forth battle, but once Buckeyes QB Julien Sayin went out with a shoulder injury, his backup true freshman Luke Fahey looked completely lost. He was not good ending the game 0-2 and running twice for -2 yards. The Buckeyes should have lost, but Nick Marsh lost where his feet where, and OSU skates through. They have a bye this week, but Fahey is going to need to get to speed fast as Sayin is reportedly out for several weeks. After the bye the Buckeyes to go USC, host Oregon and Northwestern, visits Lincoln and host Michigan. If Fahey can’t be a threat, there is no way the Buckeyes run that gauntlet undefeated.
#2 Indiana Hoosiers 6-1 (2)
Lose 19-15 vs Ohio State
How close it was. If Marsh can just find his feet and stay inbounds, we are talking about Indiana as the dominant team in the conference. Now they fall behind the Buckeyes, but arguably have the better potential into the playoff. They go to Michigan this week at seven point favorites before hosting Minnesota, and then after a bye finish hosting USC, at Washington and hosting Purdue. The path for them to get back to the Big Ten Championship game likely goes through UCLA at this point, but if the Bruins stumble, Indiana will be relishing a rematch against the Buckeyes.
#3 UCLA Bruins 6-0 (5)
Win 17-7 vs Wisconsin
It wasn’t pretty, and they definitely got some help from the refs, but the Bruins grinded out a 17-7 win to defeat Wisconsin and move to 6-0 on the season. Are the Bruins that good? I really don’t think they are, but they have beaten everyone in front of them. Luckily for them they don’t really have much in front of them the rest of the way either. They host Michigan State as a 14 point favorite this week, then host Nevada to complete their non-conference schedule. In November it’s a trip to Minnesota, hosting Illinois, heading to Ann Arbor and hosting USC. I’m not saying 12-0 is a great possibility, but its definitely not an unrealistic one either.
#4 USC Trojans 6-1 (3)
BYE
USC slips back one spot on their bye week thanks to their rivals win to remain undefeated. The Trojan offense continues to be great, but their defense is suspect at best. Did they figure some things out on their bye week? They head to Madison for a big Saturday night clash as three point favorites. Ohio State and Indiana loom next. There we really see just how good the Trojans are.
#5 Iowa Hawkeyes 5-1 (4)
BYE
Iowa drops one spot as well thanks to the UCLA win. They come off of a bye and get to play back to back rivalry games as they head to Minneapolis to battle for Floyd of Rosedale this week, and then return home to host Wisconsin for that ugly cow trophy the following week. The schedule is fairly favorable in November for a run with home games against Purdue and Nebraska and trips to Northwestern and Illinois.
#6 Oregon Ducks 4-2 (7)
Win 17-14 vs Nebraska
Oregon needs Dante Moore back in the worst way possible. After three quarters of awful QB play by their third string, they let Dylan Raiola come in against his former team. A week after absolutely stinking against UCLA Raiola came back and led the Ducks to a late win over Nebraska crushing the Husker spirits. They will now look to string a pair of wins together as they head to Illinois this week as 8.5 point favorites.
#7 Northwestern Wildcats 6-1 (8)
Win 24-21 @Michigan State
Northwestern tried really hard to lose the Pat Fitzgerald bowl in East Lansing, but The Spartans just blew all opportunities late in the game and Northwestern didn’t kicking a field goal with two seconds left for the win. The Wildcats are now bowl eligible and with a few exceptions have a pretty favorable schedule left. That includes hosting Rutgers as 16.5 point favorites this weekend. Oregon, Iowa and Ohio State loom large the next three weeks after that, but the Wildcats are allready playing with house money.
#8 Nebraska Cornhuskers 5-2 (6)
Loss 17-14 @ Oregon
Oh Nebraska. Same story different game. The Huskers had this game won, and then here comes their former QB to send them home unhappy. Now 0-33 against ranked teams in their last 33 games. The one score game record has got to be even worse. Just another Husker choke job. They get a bye this week to lick their wounds.
#9 Michigan Wolverines (4-2) (12)
Win 21-18 vs Penn State
The Wolverines jump back up after a home win against Penn State. They finally benched their starting QB and went with Lloyd Carr’s grandson…which has seemed to work for Notre da…ooops. I don’t really know that Michigan is the 9th best team, but frankly at this point between 80-13 who can tell the damn difference. They are all beating up on one another in the mediocre middle. The Wolverines host Indiana as seven point underdogs this weekend, and frankly, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them lose by double that.
#10 Wisconsin Badgers 4-2 (9)
Loss 17-7 @ UCLA
To say that the Badgers offense is putrid is putting it way too nicely. Colton Joseph is terrible throwing the ball. His 6-16 for 66 yard performance against the Bruins is embarrassing. But at least he ran for 71 yards on 18 carries. Yes the officiating was questionable at times, abd UCLA is good, but with that offense you won’t beat many teams. Except for maybe the one you play this week as USC comes to down with their awful defense. The Trojans are favored by 3, and the over/under is somehow 49.5? I don’t really see a 27-23 USC win here, but sure Vegas…you do you.
#11 Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-2 (11)
BYE
Did Minnesota figure out how the hell to fix things during their bye week? PJ Fleck’s Monday press conference was not exactly encouraging. He know the pressure is on, and it’s Iowa week where Kirk Ferentz has been his daddy for almost every battle in the last 10 years. The line has gone from Iowa by 4 to Iowa by 7, so lots of betters think the Gophers won’t have the answers either on Homecoming. We will find out very soon
#12 Washington Huskies 4-3 (13)
Win 38-26 @ Purdue
You never know what you might get in the Big Ten at night. The Huskies got beat by Minnesota, dropped a close one to USC, trounced by Iowa and then….dominates Purdue? Sure. Jedd Fisch went to the backup QB who was up and down, but up enough to get a must needed win. They now get a bye to rest of for a huge finish of the season.
#13 Purdue Boilermakers 4-3 (10)
Loss 38-26 vs Washington
Well, Minnesota fans sure weren’t happy watching Purdue stink up the joint against Washington. Maybe it was just a perfect storm game, but the Boilers are definitely back on their heels a bit after that. They get a bye this week.
#14 Illinois Fighting Illini 3-3 (14)
BYE
Illinois didn’t lose. But they didn’t win either. They come off of their bye to host Oregon as 8.5 point underdogs. Sees about right.
#15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2-4 (17)
Win 37-30 @ Maryland
Rutgers find a way to get that second win by letting KJ Duff cook. The stud wide out made an insane catch for a TD and added another. The defense played well enough to get that win. They now head to Northwestern this week as 16.5 point underdogs—so back to the cold hard reality.
#16 Michigan State Spartans 2-5 (16)
Loss 24-21 vs Northwestern
You know Pat Fitzgerald really wanted that one. He wanted to beat his old team so badly. And then the end of the game was just a disaster. Getting your late field goal blocked. Then your defense turning to swiss cheese so your opponent can make a chip shot field goal for the win. Ouch. They follow that loss p with a trip to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA this Saturday as a 1 point underdog.
#17 Penn State Nittany Lions 3-4 (15)
Loss 21-18 @ Michigan
Things are going from bad to worse for Matt Campbell and Penn State. A fourth straight conference loss has him hearing people calling for his head as the Nittany Lions head into their bye week. With Purdue, Washington and Minnesota the next three games, there is a path to three wins, but also three losses. It’s going to be interesting to watch.
#18 Maryland Terrapins 2-5 (18)
Loss 37-30 vs Rutgers.
Yeah. It’s time to just completely clear house Maryland. There’s no coming back from this. Malik Washington went from looking lie one of the best QB’s in the Big Ten to looking awful. When Rutgers forces you into a 19-38 game, its not good. After a merciful bye this week Maryland finishes vs Illinois, at Purdue, vs Wisconsin, @ USC, vs Penn State.