Week 2 in the Big Ten brought plenty of shakeups, and the scoreboard was loud about it. Six conference teams came up short, Ohio State took a gut punch from Texas, and Oregon’s rough start to the season showed up again in a loss to Oklahoma State. Even with some uneven showings, USC still sits in a position to push for the conference race.
Rutgers opened the week on Friday and dropped a 28-21 decision to Boston College. Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff stood out, but the rest of the roster didn’t do enough to finish the job. It was another winnable game that slipped away, and now Rutgers turns around to face USC in Week 3, a matchup that looks like it could get ugly.
Indiana wasted no time making a statement Saturday, rolling Howard 55-0. The Hoosiers looked a lot like the version of themselves from last season, and Josh Hoover has already given them an elite quarterback. Indiana was sharp on both sides of the ball and gave Howard no room to breathe.
Oregon’s problems lingered in a 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State. This doesn’t look like the same team that entered the season with title expectations. Dante Moore was outplayed by Drew Mestamaker, and USC has to feel good about seeing Oregon on the schedule in Week 5.
Michigan’s 17-10 upset of Oklahoma turned into one of the weekend’s most telling results. All the noise around Bryce Underwood and his job security didn’t stop the Wolverines from pulling it out.
The win says plenty about the coach Michigan hired, because the team had enough talent to win, but this kind of performance under these circumstances takes strong coaching. Michigan’s defense also looked like a unit capable of creating chaos for opponents.
Penn State handled Temple 27-9, and the early buzz around the Nittany Lions keeps building. The Matt Campbell era is off to a solid start, Rocco Becht looked impressive again, and Penn State looks like a team that could finish in the Big Ten’s top five.
Purdue had a chance to land a big one, but Wake Forest escaped with a 38-36 win. The Boilermakers let that opportunity slip, and the result makes it clear they still have a long way to go before they can talk about contending.
Washington beat Utah State 16-14, and once again the Huskies leaned on defense more than offense. They’re getting wins, but not in convincing fashion. Their first real test against USC should tell us more.
Illinois took a 31-27 loss to Duke, and the game said a lot about where the Illini stand. Against a quality opponent, they couldn’t get the job done and didn’t inspire much confidence about their ability to compete in conference play. Duke won it on the ground, with Nate Sheppard turning in a spectacular performance, the kind of approach a lot of Big Ten teams could use against Illinois.
Michigan State looked comfortable in a 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan. Cam Edwards powered the Spartans with 21 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and the early-season offense has been one of the pleasant surprises.
Mississippi State beat Minnesota 38-13, and Kamario Taylor put together a Heisman-level performance against the Gophers’ defense. Minnesota never found an answer. The offense couldn’t keep pace with a premier unit, and the defense got exposed in a big test that showed the Gophers are not a top-tier Big Ten team.
Maryland picked up its second win by taking down Connecticut 38-14. Malik Washington threw for 300 yards and helped fuel the Terrapins. When he’s rolling, Maryland looks like a fun team to watch and a headache for defenses.
Nebraska cruised past Bowling Green 56-7 behind four touchdown passes from Anthony Colandrea and an impressive ground showing from freshman Jamal Rule. The Cornhuskers did exactly what they were supposed to do, but this still doesn’t look like a particularly imposing Big Ten team.
Wisconsin beat Western Illinois 36-9, but the win came with major concerns. The Badgers also left the day with key injuries and big questions about what comes next.
UCLA continued to lean into its new identity in a 28-10 win over San Diego State. Running the football looks like a strong formula for the Bruins, and Wayne Knight led the way with three rushing touchdowns.
The biggest blow of the weekend came in Columbus. Texas beat Ohio State 24-23 after the Buckeyes controlled the game through three quarters, only to watch Arch Manning and the Longhorns rip off 21 unanswered points in the fourth. It was a crushing loss, and Ohio State looked a lot more human than expected.
Iowa edged Iowa State 16-13 in a defensive battle between rivals. The Hawkeyes’ defense should be the story all season, but the offense will need to do more in conference play. Hank Brown has to be more productive.
USC finished the weekend with a 49-30 win over Louisiana, and the Trojans’ offense stayed explosive even with Jayden Maiava nursing an arm injury. Still, the game exposed USC’s issues against a dual-threat quarterback, and the Trojans should have put it away earlier. Instead, they let things drift, making it a step in the wrong direction.
In Other News...
USCs Defense Has A Depth Problem At The Worst Time
Early in the season, USC has already seen the kind of defensive depth issues that can turn a promising year into a long one. The Trojans have gotten uneven play from backups in recent games against Michigan State and Louisiana, and the dropoff from the starters to the reserves has been hard to miss, especially in the secondary.
Brandon Riley acknowledged the problem and said the group needs more players to step up, which is a bigger concern now than it might have been in September. With injuries always a possibility in the months ahead, USC is staring at a test of whether its defense can hold up when the rotation gets thinner and the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
USC Heads Into Big Ten Play With Two Growing Problems
USC closed its non-conference schedule with a 49-30 win over Louisiana, and the night offered another reminder of how much the Trojans are leaning on young talent. Freshmen Trent Mosley, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Mark Bowman all turned in notable contributions, a promising sign as the offense continues to look for reliable playmakers while the schedule gets tougher.
The concern, though, is that the victory came with the same issues that can quickly become costly in league play. Penalties kept piling up and the injury situation worsened as several players left the game for various reasons, leaving USC with a few extra questions just as Big Ten competition arrives. The Trojans get the result they wanted before conference play, but the way they got there left enough to sort through. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Just Added A Defensive Name Oklahoma Fans Know Too Well
Gary Patterson is back on the sideline, and this time he is walking into a USC program that badly wants a defensive reset. After three years away from coaching since leaving TCU in 2021, Patterson had been keeping busy as a special assistant at Texas and later as a consultant at Baylor, but Lincoln Riley reached out with a bigger job in mind. Patterson, who was just elected to the Hall of Fame, has agreed to join USC as defensive coordinator, giving Riley an experienced hand with a long track record of shaping physical, disciplined defenses.
For Oklahoma fans, the name alone carries plenty of history, since Patterson spent so many years as one of the Big 12s most recognizable defensive minds. Now he is trying to help USC clean up a side of the ball that has lagged behind the offense, and the fit is intriguing because Riley is betting that a veteran voice can change the tone quickly. The question for the Trojans is how much Patterson can lift the unit, and how fast. [Read more 🡒]