For the first time this season, we had a Big Ten football schedule that stretched from Friday night on the East Coast to the late night hours on the West Coast. While not every Big Ten team was in action this week, there was enough to keep us entertained with a trophy game in Michigan, an unofficial whiteout game in Happy Valley, and Oregon and UCLA giving us some Big Ten After Dark.
Here is a look at everything that went down around the Big Ten in Week 5, including a look at the updated Big Ten standings as we head into October.
Washignton played its first road game in the Big Ten and had to fly all the way across the country to New Jersey to do so. It was a long flight back after coming up short against the Scarlet Knights on Friday night.
Kyle Monangai rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown to help Rutgers hold off the Huskies, who dropped its second game of the season already. Washington had a chance to force overtime but a 55-yard field goal attempt by Grady Gross went wide left as time expired.
Washington outgained Rutgers 521-299, Washignton quarterback Will Rogers passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns and Jonah Coleman rushed for 148 yards. But the Huskies had three missed field goals and were just 2-for-12 on third-down attempts.
Next up for Washington: vs. Michigan
Next up for Rutgers: at Nebraska
This was a game about missed opportunities by Maryland. The Terrapins forced four Indiana turnovers but could not score any points off those free possessions. Indiana forced Maryland to punt three times following a turnover by the offense and Maryland was stopped on a turnover on downs following a fourth turnover. The Hoosiers offense more than made up for the rare miscues this season by racking up over 500 yards of offense led by 359 passing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Kurtis Rourke.
Indiana is off to its first 5-0 start since 1967 and the Hoosiers are already one win shy of bowl eligibility before even getting into October. Not a bad start for new head coach Curt Cignetti in Bloomington.
Next up for Maryland: vs. Northwestern (Week 7)
Next up for Indiana: at Northwestern
Michigan may have retained possession of the Little Brown Jug once again, but the visiting Minnesota Golden Gophers made them work for it. Minnesota put together a furious fourth-quarter rally that ultimately fell short after closing the gap to a three-point margin with 1:37 remaining. Minnesota recovered an onside kick but was flagged for an offsides call on the attempt, and Michigan recovered the second onside kick attempt to put the game on ice.
Kalel Mullings led Michigan with 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns, putting together his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game for Michigan. The Michigan defense held Minnesota to just 38 rushing yards as a team, and limited Darius Taylor to just 36 yards (Taylor did score two touchdowns and catch 10 passes for 52 receiving yards).
The Michigan passing game continues to lack much punch with Alex Orgi completing 10 of 18 passes for 86 yards, but the Wolverines appear comfortable working around their apparent shortcomings for now.
Next up for Minnesota: vs. USC
Next up for Michigan: at Washington
It took a while for anything to happen on the scoreboard in this one, but Nebraska did its part to make up for a slow start. After a scoreless first half by both teams, Nebraska put the first touchdown on the board in the third quarter to take a 7-3 lead and then pulled away in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns for a good road victory for the Cornhuskers.
Dylan Raiola passed for 244 yards and a touchdown but the Huskers were just 1-of-8 on third down conversion attempts. Nebraska’s defense did handle Purdue well by allowing just 224 yards of offense and holding the Boilermakers out of the end zone until the final minute and a half of regulation. It was a defensive touchdown, a 29-yard interception return by John Bullock, that helped put the game firmly out of reach in the fourth quarter.
Next up for Nebraska: vs. Rutgers
Next up for Purdue: at Wisconsin
USC quarterback Miller Moss passed for 308 yards and three touchdowns as USC shut down the visiting Wisconsin Badgers in the second half. USC trailed Wisconsin at halftime 21-10 but weren’t on a 28-0 run in the second half to run away for their first Big Ten conference victory in program history.
This was a bit of a sloppy game for much of the afternoon with five combined turnovers (USC with three, Wisconsin with two), and 14 penalties for over 100 yards of penalty yardage fairly evenly split between the two teams.
Next up for Wisconsin: vs. Purdue
Next up for USC: at Minnesota
Penn State and Illinois traded touchdown drives to start the game, but then the defenses for each took over. The Illini would not manage to score any more points in the game, so Penn State had to gain control with the running game to get the win. Fortunately for Penn State, the combination of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen helped grind out a win with 221 total yards of offense combined between the two, and some good work from tight end Tyler Warren out of the wildcat formations, the offense was too much to slow down for the Illini.
Penn State’s defense also forced a couple of turnovers and sacked Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer seven times. This was not an officially sanctioned whiteout game for Penn State, but the fans turned the night game into one anyway.
Next up for Illinois: vs. Purdue (Week 7)
Next up for Penn State: vs. UCLA
Ohio State’s first game away from home was not expected to be a massive challenge for the Buckeyes, and perhaps it wasn’t. The Buckeyes got off to a somewhat slow start with a 3-0 lead after the first quarter but put together three touchdowns in the second quarter and never had a reason to look back against Michigan State.
Will Howard passed for 244 yards, and the combo of Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith combined for 12 catches and 179 receiving yards with a touchdown each. the defense locked in on the Spartans’ running game and held Nate Carter to just 27 yards on six carries.
Michigan State had their opportunities though. But Michigan State had three turnovers inside the red zone in the first half, suggesting a team can move on the Buckeyes but still has to find a way to finish. Micigan State was unable to do so and paid the price.
Next up for Ohio State: vs. Iowa
Next up for Michigan State: at Oregon
Orgeon wide receiver Tez Johnson caught 11 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns as the Ducks enjoyed a big win at UCLA to wrap up the Big Ten schedule in Week 5. Dillon Gabriel completed 30-of-39 pass attempts for 268 yards and had three touchdowns, including the two to Johnson, and his one interception was returned for a touchdown by former Oregon player Bryan Addison.
After a shaky start to the season, it appears as though Oregon has found its groove and is beginning to live up to some of the preseason hype. They’ll return home next week for their first Big Ten game in Autzen Stadium. Meanwhile, UCLA will make its first cross-country trip in Big Ten play for an early kickoff next Saturday in Happy Valley.
Next up for Oregon: vs. Michigan State
Next up for UCLA: at Penn State
| B1G W | B1G L | W | L | |
| Indiana | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Michigan | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Oregon | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Penn State | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Rutgers | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| USC | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Purdue | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Maryland | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| UCLA | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |