18 B1G Things
- The stadium was ok.
- The players were better.
- Not everyone can be Curt Cignetti I guess
- The rest of your teams played too. Some even won!
The Rundown
Northwestern runs all over Penn State, 34-13
Penn State fans just got an answer to the popular "would you rather" question of, "would you rather lose in heart-breaking fashion at the end of a game, or would you rather get blown out right away and know you can turn the TV off early?"
Now here's the thing, a lot of people are going to take these two games and make grand proclamations about the next 20 years, but the reality of the matter is Matt Campbell wouldn't be the first coach to start out with a disaster season then right the ship as it goes along. In fact, we might be seeing that happen in real time in Madison. So while it's not a pleasant sight for Penn State fans today, it doesn't mean it can't be a pleasant sight tomorrow.
MaximumSam: The new Northwestern stadium is pretty danged nice. But not as nice as watching Northwestern eviscerate Penn State by running the Wing T.
Narrator: Justice will be them doing it to Ohio State in a month.
LincolnParkWildcat: What a way for Northwestern to open New Ryan Field than a belt to ass beat down of Penn State, er, half of Iowa State.
We had 513 yards of offense, with Caleb Komolafe rushing for 188 yards and a touchdown and Joseph Himon II rushing for 162 yards and two TDs. New Ryan Field at night was electric and very well done. The student section was full and energetic the entire time. The stadium was billed as a sellout but at the beginning of the game there were some pockets of empty seats, so maybe like 95% full. I'll have more to say about new Ryan field in an article I’ll drop soon.
MNWildcat: This isn't my Northwestern (derogatory): stadium is beautiful, how the school treated the band sucks. I hate not hearing "Go U Northwestern" immediately after a touchdown is scored. It felt like a college game played in a big MLS stadium -- though credit to the kids on- and off-field for bringing the juice.
This isn't my Northwestern (complimentary): over 400 yards rushing. And against Penn State, of all teams. Chip Kelly might be actually insane, but goddamn is this a treat to watch.
Michigan isn't any better: Minnesota 20, Michigan 14
Turns out, doing the bare minimum by choice has its perks!
WhiteSpeedReceiver: The final score may have been 20-14, but holy shit did Minnesota beat Michigan with a sack of hammers. The Wolverines only got 180 yards of offense, only had the ball for 2 snaps in the 3rd quarter, and lost the time of possession battle by 15 minutes. While the Wolverine defense scored one TD and set the offense up for the other with interceptions of on bad passes from Drake Lindsey, they also made every inch of progress a slog for the Gophers. But their incredible effort was wasted by an absolutely horrific performance from Bryce Underwood. The Gopher defense harried him the entire day, and when he was able to get passes off they were either broken up or intercepted frequently. A beautiful day in Minneapolis was made even better by a great football game.
Brian Gillis: When Michigan lost to Iowa last week, it was a shocking finish. But loss aside, Michigan fans could take solace in the fact that Michigan played well. Not so today. Michigan’s loss to Minnesota was one of roughest watches in some time. The defense did its part, but the offense could do nothing. The Wolverines head into the bye week with a lot to address.
Biff: I've been a Gopher fan for 26 years and I cannot recall back to back games with this level of positive vibes. Away win against ranked opponent overlooking the water under a harvest moon followed by winning the Jug at home for the first time since 1977? Even the travel-induced cold that finally caught up with me yesterday could not bring me down. I've finally seen us win all of our rivalry trophies in person.
Oh, the game on the field? You mean this isn't all about me? Michigan’s defense was good, their offense is theoretical. Minnesota put them in The Device in the 4th Quarter and despite trying our best to screw it up by fumbling the final snap, we sealed the deal. I'm levitating. Or maybe that’s the NyQuil.
As the fans rushed the field my 6 year old turned to my wife, shrugged casually, and said “I guess they're just not as good as we are.” Awesome weekend, no notes.
Wisconsin shows it wasn't a fluke: Badgers 31, Spartans 3
The strategy of slowing down the opponent (or doing the bare minimum) only works when you actually slow down the opponent.
ardichoke: I took a page out of RMB's playbook and didn't watch the game until well after it was over. It was for the best, because I could waste a lot less of my time on it. There's no sugar coating it, MSU is a really bad football team, and one that is also absurdly injured. Their O-line struggled to block MAC teams at the start of the season, and have somehow gotten worse since then. When they did get something going on their second drive of the game, they decided to switch to Cam Fancher and it immediately stalled out. The offense couldn't get anything of note going the rest of the game.
Defensively, a front that has looked stout at times against the run bit on misdirection constantly giving up big runs. Receivers were wide open all over the place. The Spartans looked like they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing most of the game. I guess I should try to find something positive to say about this game. MSU only had one penalty, that's nice. Punting looked good, when they decided to do it instead of turning it over on downs. I can't really come up with anything else. This has already been a long season for MSU, and it's not even halfway over.
Ohio State 31, Iowa 14
Turns out, Michigan just sucks and Iowa is still Iowa.
Transient Buckeye: This was a workmanlike performance from Ohio State. Iowa isn't a bad team--they look to be right about on par with most of Ferentz's recent offerings. But given that the Hawkeyes have a VERY soft remaining slate this year, yesterday's contest is going to wind up looking like a pretty good win for OSU. The defense looked improved from where it was last week, though against an admittedly less potent offense. Jeremiah Smith did Jeremiah Smith things. The running backs didn't have any long gainers, but churned out effective per-carry averages overall. This was a 3.6 roentgen game for Ohio State--not great, but certainly not terrible.
MaximumSam: I was on a tour of Chicago speakeasies during the Buckeye game. Luckily a fellow fan would scream as loud as he could whenever OSU scored so I could keep track. No fanbase beats ours on the Obnoxious Scale.
LordFerentzofHouseKinnick: I am not a young man anymore and Iowa has beaten Ohio State a total of four times in my entire life. Two of those happened this century. Nothing taps into the inferiority complex of Iowa fans more than an Ohio State team with a superhuman wide receiver. It was bad enough that Hank Brown goodwill dissipated into Iowa's love affair with the backup QB. I am sure a short week to the West Coast will work out great as Iowa has a great track record playing in Pacific time zone.
Mr. Grizz: Look, I expected OSU to win. But you cant get a dumb penalty and fumble the ball away deep in your territory on the first drive, for a gift 7. The under-2 minute first-down killing penalty well into OSU territory, leading to the punt and an OSU 2 minute drill which never should have happened was probably at least a 10 point swing. That changed the complexion of a game in which Iowa was in striking distance. This was Brown's worst game and when he was injured, Hecklinski was a breath of fresh air. Brown will start unless his injury is worse than thought but we might hear a little about Hecklinski this week. Still, both lines are underperforming. All said though, while its misleading I can live with 31-14 big picture. I still don't know if we're any good.
It's year 4: Nebraska 48, Maryland 23
I can't wait until Penn State plays Maryland and somehow gets run out of the building too. Good god.
BigRedTwice: What a silly game. The Huskers looked kinda bad, but Maryland ultimately looked worse. It wasn't a game that filled me with confidence, but the Huskers are 5-0, and that hasn't happened since the Obama presidency. It's been awhile. The next few weeks look inauspicious, so I'll enjoy it for now.
JesseCollins: To be fair, I've never watched a game in which the officials felt more inclined to throw a flag than this one. In a world in which holding can be vaguely defined as touching someone, every play becomes fair game - on either side. Both teams seemed incapable of adapting to a trigger happy set of officials, and this was - truly - the longest game I've watched in a long time.
Still. 5-0 (2-0). An imperfect team who I was scared wouldn't get to 5 wins, with winnable games left. Indiana may murder us next week but I do like this team. This is my annual contribution and I will go back to forgetting I once wrote about this team.
Deadread: Nebraska laid an ostrich egg in the first stanza. Fortunately, there were three more quarters.
Complacency is always an issue in human endeavor. Perhaps it was good to get an embarrassment without getting a loss. Time will tell. I would love to be pleasantly surprised, but I anticipate Indiana will beat us by four touchdowns this week.
Purdue does it again: Boilers 24, Illini 17
For whatever reason, Bret Bielema cannot seem to beat Purdue, no matter who's the coach.
thumpasaurus: We're finally home again.
glass: I was unaware Purdue was legally allowed to give up less than 38 points.
thumpasaurus: Kinda nostalgic to be honest
This thing where like, we win big ten games and sell out the stadium, it's been really fun. I waited so long for moments like Michigan 2024 and even for moments like Rutgers 2025 where we comfortably dispatch a big ten team in front of a big crowd. For a long time, that seemed impossible. I am truly grateful for those two years, and hell, let's say for all of the last 5 years. Being a moderately feisty 5-7 is still better than the baseline Illini season.
But we're back again. And to be honest? I'm excited to go to the Michigan State game. It's gonna be some real hardcore traditional illini shit: half empty stadium, winner goes 3-9, loser goes 2-10. If we could only get Beth mowins on the call.
The warm embrace of the familiar envelops me. It felt just like the 2010’s: started 2-2 but now here's a home game against a team on a historic losing streak. ABSOLUTELY CANNOT lose this one or the dream of Detroit is dead. Fortunately their defense is just about the worst in football! Naturally, we lose that game because our offense can muster 10 points outside of garbage time, assisted by all sorts of special teams gremlins. Passing on a short field goal down 9 to go for it? Vintage stuff. Apparently every time Jordan Anderson was on the field they gave him the ball. Well-schemed, Barry! A real throwback performance by the Illini, all we were missing was the obligatory muffed punt turnover.
I'll always cherish the good times, but they're well and truly over. We're back in the wilderness where we usually live, existing as The Other Team for a Get Right Game. Here we shall sit for another 10-15 years.
he was a high school qb: When I saw the score of the Nern game, I texted my son (who lives in a state with legal sports betting, but no pull tabs) and sent him money to hammer on Purdue. When Illinois is good, we struggle with the Boilers at home. But we all know that Illinois and Northwestern cannot both be good at the same time. Therefore, Illinois is bad and certainly a bad Illinois team was going to lose. I didn’t watch this game because I’ve already seen it so many times and I just didn’t care to relive it any more. Life is pain.
HoustonBoiler: Purdue ended their 19-game B1G losing streak as they did just enough to beat Illinois. The offense still settles for FGs during too many red zone trips and had too many penalties, but no turnovers. The defense was markedly better than the previous three weeks, limiting Illinois to just 120 yards rushing and 345 yards overall. Plus, the Purdue only surrendered 17 points, a new season low! Who would have guessed that Illinois would score way more points against ... checks notes ... Ohio State than against the worst defense in the conference. The Purdue defense also got some stops when they needed them, including an interception. Purdue clearly needs @BoilerUp89 to stay in Los Angeles for the remainder of the season because they've won every game they've played while he's been there. That's science! The canon is coming home to a occupy a trophy case that had been bare since November 30, 2024.
BoilerUp89: For the second consecutive week I was unable to watch the Purdue game as I was attending a wedding. This weekend's wedding was a bit more entertaining as I was in the wedding party and became friends with the groom thru my Purdue best friend and roommate. Anyway, Purdue won! I don't think it would go over very well if I told my newly-married friend he has to get married every Purdue football Saturday but I'm willing to ask! Boiler Up! The streak is dead! The cannon is going home!
AlmaOtter: Ordinarily, I wouldn't recommend spending most of a Saturday in your local emergency room. But when your team is losing a trophy game for a second week in a row, it does have some appeal. At least I didn't need to watch a minute of this one! (All is well on the health front, but we had a bit of a scare.)
Indiana 47, Rutgers 15
I'll let one of the 27 Indiana writers talk about this one.
RUReady4Brazil: Rutgers has played a lot of bad games in my lifetime, but this felt like the biggest waste of my time of any game I’ve ever watched. Indiana is just good, they aren't infinitely bigger, faster, stronger but are just infinitely better in every way. This likely is the nail in the coffin.
Narrator: You're not an Indiana writer.
BuffKomodo: This game resembles what you desire in a Cignetti Indiana team. Physically dominating an opponent into the dust. Chunk play after chunk play. Pay no heed to the missed FG’s.
Look, I know Rutgers isn’t good. The line was pretty big. After last week, nobody really knew what was up with Indiana. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they average? Indiana most certainly announced that, if nothing else, the Hoosiers are real. They are good. They will require your best shot to be beaten. On to Nebraska next week.
IUinVA: Indiana Football Machine is rounding into form. A different 200 yard rusher than last week. First Big Ten game where a team had two 100 yard rushers and two 100 receivers in the same game since at least 1995. Zero turnovers. Zero penalties.
Fourth straight game with a first half shutout. 21st straight victory. I like Indiana Football Machine.
I guess USC and Washington played: Trojans 25, Huskies 21
That's an awful low score, ain't?
