Week 3 gave the Big Ten a little more shape, even if the whole thing still feels like it was assembled in a lab by somebody with a weird sense of humor.
USC and UCLA are already sitting on conference wins, which is still one of those sentences that sounds fake even when it’s true. The Bruins and Trojans helped define the early order, and if Week 3 had gone a different way, Rutgers and Purdue might have found themselves at the top instead. That’s the kind of season this has been so far.
Indiana continues to look like the team everyone else is chasing. The defending national champion moved to 3-0 with a 38-0 win over Western Kentucky, and there’s still no sign of a drop-off.
Ohio State also handled business in a much lighter setting, rolling Kent State 59-3. Penn State, meanwhile, kept pace with a 55-13 win over Buffalo, and the comparison between the Nittany Lions and the Hoosiers is starting to make sense on the field.
USC’s 42-35 win over Rutgers was a lot shakier than the final score suggests. The Trojans were in real trouble, and the 99-yard pick-six ended up being the swing play.
UCLA had a much cleaner night on offense, blasting Purdue 52-38 in a game that says plenty about both teams. The Bruins looked sharp enough to be impressive; Purdue’s defense made the whole thing look even louder.
Wayne Knight is a baller.
Oregon didn’t reveal much while crushing Portland State 84-0, which was basically a scrimmage with a scoreboard. Iowa also made a statement of sorts, shutting out Northern Iowa 55-0 and pushing its season total to 95 points in wins over the Northern regions of two Midwestern states.
All of that happened in a week when someone completely botched an intentional safety. Did Kirk Ferentz die?
Washington bounced back from its rough outing against Utah State with a 48-16 win over Eastern Washington. The Huskies looked more like themselves, and that upcoming trip to West Lafayette could get interesting.
Nebraska stayed unbeaten at 2-0 with a 34-7 win over North Dakota, though the No. 6 team in FCS gave the Cornhuskers more of a test than their first two opponents. Northwestern also kept rolling, taking down Colorado 41-7 after the bye.
That offense looks solid.
Michigan is still unbeaten at 3(ASTERISK!!!)-0 after beating UTEP 52-17, but the start was oddly sluggish and the halftime margin was only 17-14. That’s the kind of game that leaves people squinting at the record and the asterisk at the same time.
Illinois responded with a 48-10 win over Southern Illinois and now gets Illibuck week. Wisconsin shook off an early scare and turned a 7-3 deficit into a 54-10 win over Eastern Michigan thanks to a 28-0 second quarter.
Minnesota followed with a 41-7 win over Akron.
Maryland’s September run finally ended in a 35-26 loss to Virginia Tech, snapping the nation’s longest non-conference winning streak. Purdue, now 1-2 and 0-1 in league play, is looking like the conference’s chaos machine.
The offense is good enough to keep games alive, but the defense has been brutal, and the forecast now points toward 4-8 with plenty of 45ish to 35ish losses. Michigan State dropped 27-10 to Notre Dame, a result that never really felt in doubt even if the Spartans weren’t completely overmatched.
In Other News...
Purdue Wasted Its Best Big Ten Offensive Night Yet
Purdues offense finally gave the Boilermakers something to build on in Big Ten play, piling up 488 yards and 38 points in a 52-38 loss to UCLA. Ryan Browne was especially sharp, going 19 of 30 for 378 yards and three touchdowns, and the production marked Purdues best offensive showing against a conference opponent this season.
But the breakthrough on one side only sharpened the frustration on the other. UCLA kept finding answers on third down, converting 11 of 14 tries and repeatedly extending drives with long plays, while Purdues turnovers helped set up more scoring chances for the Bruins. The result was another conference loss, and another reminder that even a much better day offensively still was not enough to stop the slide. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Found A Painful New Problem In Rose Bowl Shootout
The Rose Bowl turned into a track meet, and Purdue ended up on the wrong side of it as UCLA rolled to a 52-38 win in a game that rarely slowed down. The Bruins piled up 645 total yards and leaned on a ground game that kept finding seams, with Wayne Knight leading the way as UCLA moved to 3-0 and showed it can win in more than one style.
Purdue had plenty of offense of its own, with Ryan Browne throwing for 378 yards and the Boilermakers finishing with 488 total yards, but the defense could not find enough answers to keep pace. The loss dropped Purdue to 1-2 and left the bigger concern sitting in plain view: the Boilermakers can move the ball, but this kind of shootout exposed a problem they will have to clean up fast. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Finally Got Offensive Life But One Problem Ruined Everything
Purdue finally found some offensive rhythm against UCLA, with quarterback Ryan Browne throwing for 378 yards and three touchdowns in a game that gave the Boilermakers more punch than they had shown in recent weeks. The special teams even added to the boost, as Purdue cashed in on a successful fake punt and got reliable work from its kicking game, giving the offense a little extra help in what looked like a breakthrough performance.
But the bigger picture was hard to ignore, because the Boilermakers could not match that scoring pace on the other side of the ball. Purdues defense was overwhelmed for 645 total yards and 369 rushing yards, and UCLA piled up 52 points to turn a productive afternoon into a frustrating finish. For a team that needed something to build on, the offense arrived, but the rest of the picture still left plenty to fix. [Read more 🡒]