Nebraska’s matchup at Oregon suddenly looks a lot more interesting than it did a few weeks ago.
That’s the kind of week the Big Ten just delivered. The Huskers were inches from knocking off defending national champion Indiana, while UCLA walked into Eugene and handed Oregon its second loss of the season. Around the league, the results keep shaking the standings and raising the same question: is there a real power shift happening at the top?
For Nebraska, the stakes are obvious. The Huskers sit at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, and a win Saturday night at Oregon would be a major step toward proving they belong in the conference’s upper tier.
The offseason consensus was that this game was a loss. After Nebraska’s 20-17 setback against Indiana, it starts to look more like a tossup.
And if former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola is part of the story, it gets even better. Raiola came off the bench and helped Oregon beat USC, 41-27, when Dante Moore was out. But against UCLA, Raiola was benched early in the fourth quarter after a rough night in which he went 6-of-19 for 43 yards with zero touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble.
“I mean Coach R [Matt Rhule] gave me a chance my first two years of college and nothing but love [and] respect for him,” Raiola said in a news conference after the loss to UCLA. “Coach [Dana] Holgorsen, Coach [Glenn] Thomas, my quarterback coach, and I mean the entire staff for two years that was my home and I truly feel like that I have relationships I still have on the team.
“And next week, all that matters is winning. And it’s going to be weird seeing that team across [the field] … But like I said, we got to prepare because from what we heard, they played a really good game today against Indiana and every team in the Big Ten’s good.”
The Bruins are one of the biggest surprises in the league so far. Bob Chesney’s team is 5-0 and 3-0 after going 3-9 and 3-6 last season, and the 17-15 win at Oregon says UCLA may be a real contender for a College Football Playoff spot. Nebraska does not face UCLA this season.
Oregon, now 3-2 and 1-1, had a bye before the UCLA game but still came up short. The Ducks were 30-2 under Dan Lanning at Autzen Stadium before the loss.
Indiana remains unbeaten at 6-0 and 3-0, but it doesn’t quite look like the 16-0 machine from last season. The Hoosiers host Ohio State on Saturday at noon.
That Buckeyes team still looks like the class of the conference. Ohio State improved to 5-1 and 3-0 with a 45-16 win over Maryland, and despite a fourth-quarter collapse against Texas, the Buckeyes have mostly played to type.
Washington, meanwhile, took another hit in a 41-24 home loss to Iowa on Friday night. The Huskies are now 3-3 and 0-3. Iowa’s offense may still make people squint, but the Hawkeyes are 5-1 and 2-1 after following their 31-14 loss to Ohio State with a convincing road win.
Illinois had its hands full but escaped East Lansing with a 38-37 overtime victory over Michigan State, stopping the Spartans on a two-point try to end it. Illinois is 3-3 and 1-2, while Michigan State fell to 2-4 and 0-3 after Nebraska handled the Spartans, 31-13, and Wisconsin beat them, 31-3, the next week.
Rutgers was off after its 47-15 loss to Indiana. The Scarlet Knights are 1-4 and 0-2 and head next to Maryland.
Penn State’s problems keep piling up, too. USC beat the Nittany Lions 31-23 in the whiteout game, and Penn State is now 3-3 and 0-3.
Nebraska doesn’t play Penn State this season or in 2026. USC, which is 6-1 and 3-1, keeps showing a strange mix of good and shaky with results that include a tough win at Rutgers, a home loss to Oregon and a close call against Washington.
Purdue may be the most surprising turnaround of all. The Boilermakers, coming off three straight losing seasons of 2-10, 1-1 and 4-8, beat Minnesota 41-13 to move to 3-3 and 2-1.
Minnesota entered the game at 4-2 and 2-1 after an emotional 20-14 win over Michigan. Purdue sophomore running back Fame Ijeboi, who played at Minnesota the past two years, rushed for 195 yards.
Northwestern also kept it moving, beating Ball State 45-14 to move to 4-1 and 1-1. New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has the Wildcats averaging 35.4 points per game. Michigan and Wisconsin were both idle.
Each Monday, the conference results keep reshaping the picture for Nebraska and everyone else. Right now, the Big Ten looks far less settled than anyone expected.
In Other News...
Indiana's Ohio State Showdown Just Got An Extra Reason To Sting
Week 7 already had the look of a national stage for Indiana and Ohio State, with two top-ranked teams meeting in one of the seasons most anticipated games. The matchup carries the kind of weight that comes with recent national champions and a setting that has the feel of a crossover event, the sort of afternoon that usually draws every spotlight available.
Instead, ESPNs College GameDay is headed to Provo for Notre Dame-BYU, leaving Memorial Stadium without the pregame showcase many expected. For Indiana, it adds a little extra sting to a game that did not need much help building tension, because the Hoosiers still get the Buckeyes and all the stakes that come with them, just without the added pageantry that often signals college footballs biggest stage. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Just Got The Stage Hoosier Fans Have Been Waiting For
Indianas ascent keeps getting harder to ignore. After stretching its winning streak to 22 games and edging Nebraska 20-17 to improve to 6-0, the Hoosiers moved up to No. 5 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll, another sign that what has been building in Bloomington is now drawing national attention.
Now comes the kind of test fans have circled for a long time. No. 4 Ohio State is headed to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17 for a noon kickoff in a Big Ten game that could shape the conference race and College Football Playoff seeding, giving Indiana a chance to prove its place among the sports elite on its own field. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Saw One Indiana Problem That Nearly Cost Them
Indiana escaped Lincoln with a 20-17 win over Nebraska to stay unbeaten at 6-0, but the victory was far from tidy. Curt Cignetti had plenty to point to after the game, from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to the kind of response his team needed in a tight road test, and he made sure to credit the resilience it took to turn the night around.
Still, the coach was quick to note one area that nearly got away from Indiana: the rushing attack. With the offense leaning on key plays like Josh Hoovers touchdown pass to help steady things, Cignetti said the staff would go back and evaluate how the group performed, a reminder that even a perfect record can hide problems that need fixing fast. [Read more 🡒]