Week 3 didn’t shake up the Big Ten nearly as much as the opening two weeks did, but it still exposed a few teams in a hurry. USC survived a road trip that looked far safer on paper than it played out on the field, UCLA kept rolling, and a handful of conference teams padded their records against lighter competition. Meanwhile, Michigan State and Maryland took their lumps, and the league’s hierarchy started to look a little clearer as conference play approaches.
At the bottom of the board, Rutgers, Purdue, Michigan State, Minnesota, Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Illinois filled out spots 18 through 11. Above them, the week’s action mostly came from nonconference tune-ups - though one of the biggest storylines belonged to the Trojans, who barely escaped Piscataway.
USC’s 42-35 win at Rutgers was the kind of game that leaves everybody in cardinal and gold a little uneasy. The Trojans moved to 3-0, but the result came against a Scarlet Knights team that entered winless and had already lost to UMass.
Rutgers receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond gave USC’s defense problems all night, and quarterback Jayden Maiava had his own rough patches before helping the Trojans hang on. If USC wants to beat Oregon on Saturday, the defensive mistakes have to get cleaned up fast.
Oregon, meanwhile, answered its own questions in emphatic fashion. The No.
20 Ducks crushed Portland State 84-0 on Friday night, setting a program scoring record in the modern era. They piled up 726 yards of total offense and spread the work around, with backups getting plenty of run - including the debut of Nebraska transfer quarterback Dylan Raiola.
It was a needed reset after a forgettable Week 2, but the real test comes next in a primetime matchup with USC.
UCLA also kept its stock rising with a 52-38 win over Purdue. Bob Chesney’s Bruins have kept stacking wins, and this one came with a cleaner passing day from Nico Iamaleava, who finally threw his first passing touchdowns of the season and finished with three without an interception. The ground game was again a force, with UCLA rushing for 369 yards.
Iowa made a similar statement on the ground in a 55-0 win over Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes got three different backs over 100 rushing yards and finished with 422 yards on the ground overall.
Quarterback Hank Brown was perfect, completing every pass he attempted and tossing two touchdowns. Iowa heads to Ann Arbor next week for a meeting with No.
18 Michigan.
Penn State handled Buffalo 55-13 and did most of its damage on the ground. Five of the team’s seven touchdowns came via the run, and the Nittany Lions totaled 304 rushing yards.
Junior back James Peoples scored twice, while quarterback Rocco Becht threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Next up is Wisconsin as Penn State opens Big Ten play.
Washington needed something clean after its first two games, and the Huskies got it with a 48-16 win over Eastern Washington. Demond Williams Jr. led the way with 373 passing yards and four touchdowns, though the run game didn’t offer much.
Nebraska had a more straightforward day in a 34-7 win over North Dakota, with 277 rushing yards powering the offense. Jamal Rule did plenty of the heavy lifting, piling up 119 yards and two scores.
The Cornhuskers head to East Lansing next week to open conference play against Michigan State.
Michigan also got back on track with a 52-17 win over UTEP, though it took a while for the game to open up. The Wolverines were tied up in a close first half before outscoring the Miners 35-3 after halftime.
Bryce Underwood threw three touchdown passes and kept the mistakes down. Ohio State followed with a 59-3 win over Kent State, where Jeremiah Smith broke Michael Jenkins’ all-time school receiving yards record of 2,898.
The Buckeyes also got three rushing touchdowns as they turn their attention to Illinois.
At the top, defending champion Indiana kept doing what it’s been doing: winning without giving much away. The No.
5 Hoosiers posted their second straight shutout, beating Western Kentucky 38-0. Lee Beebe Jr. scored twice, Turbo Richard added another touchdown and rushed for 149 yards, and Curt Cignetti’s team now gets ready for Northwestern.
In Other News...
USC Got An Unexpected Boost At Exactly The Right Time
USC picked up a pair of timely individual honors after its win over Rutgers, with kicker Caden Chittenden earning Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week and running back Riley Wormley landing Big Ten Freshman of the Week. It was the first Big Ten weekly recognition of both players USC careers, and it came on a day when the Trojans needed clean, efficient production in key spots.
Chittenden accounted for 10 points with two field goals and four PATs, giving USC steady work in the kicking game. Wormley added a spark out of the backfield, scoring two touchdowns and finishing with 54 yards from scrimmage, the kind of contribution that can matter most as the season starts to tighten up. [Read more 🡒]
USC Won Its Big Ten Opener But A Real Concern Followed
USC opened Big Ten play with a tight win over Rutgers, moving to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, but the result came with plenty to digest beyond the final score. The Trojans got a huge lift from turnovers, including a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by safety Prophet Brown, and those splash plays proved decisive in a game that otherwise leaned far too heavily on the offense and opportunistic moments.
The concern for Lincoln Rileys team is hard to miss after Rutgers piled up 460 yards and reached the end zone five times, exposing a defense that still has work to do. Riley pointed to the defensive issues and penalties as areas that need cleaning up, and while USC has the record it wanted entering conference play, the way it won left little doubt that better tests are ahead. [Read more 🡒]
USC Faces A Bigger Test After An Uneasy Top 25 Win
USC held onto its No. 12 spot in the Associated Press top 25 after a 42-35 win over Rutgers, a result that kept the Trojans in the national conversation but also left plenty for Lincoln Riley to sort through. The offense put up points and the win mattered, but Riley made it clear afterward that the performance still came with some rough edges and room for improvement.
Now the focus shifts quickly to a bigger measuring stick. No. 20 Oregon comes to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next, and for USC the appeal of another ranked matchup is matched by the need to show that last weeks uneasy finish was an exception rather than a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]