Big Ten Superlatives: Week 3
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
A third week of college football is in the books and in the Big Ten, conference play has even started to happen. There’s a lot more of that to look forward to this week. But before that, let’s look back at the best, worst, and most interesting of this past weekend’s action around the conference.
Best Win of the Week: Northwestern wins in Prime Time
Colorado took the field mockingly calling Northwestern’s stadium a library. They left that field a bit quieter than they entered. Northwestern closed out the two plus years of its lakeside practice field stadium with a rout of the Buffaloes. The Wildcats are 2-0, but things get a lot tougher starting with a Friday night visit to defending national champion Indiana.
Worst Loss of the Week: Maryland loses to James again
September Maryland vs. James Franklin. It’s a matchup that we know well. It wasn’t 59-0, but it was the Terrapins losing a hyped home game to a Franklin-coached team. Old friends Ethan Grunkemeyer and Luke Reynolds had starring roles as the Hokies improved to 3-0. Meanwhile, it’s same old same old for Maryland under Mike Locksley.
Offensive Player of the Week: Tyrell Henry, Wisconsin
How about a school record? Henry caught 14 passes for 160 yards and a score in Wisconsin’s rout of Eastern Michigan. Henry and the Badgers will be in Beaver Stadium on Saturday evening.
Defensive Player of the Week: Kooper Ebel, Penn State
Let’s be a homer. Ebel drew the praise of Matt Millen early in Penn State’s dominating win against Buffalo. He also led the Lions in tackles, spearheading a first team defense that allowed no touchdowns in the first three games of the season.
Offensive Play of the Week: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
This is not the best catch of the weekend, but it is a catch that made Smith the all-time leader in receiving yards in Ohio State history. That is an impressive mark and one that needs noted here.
Defensive Play of the Week: Prophet Brown, USC
USC’s defense was bad in Piscataway. But this play by Brown caused a 14-point swing and USC ultimately won by seven points. So, this more or less was the game-changing play as USC traveling east continues to be a problem – and hopefully stays that way in a few weeks.
Most Big Ten Moment of the Week: Half of the Conference Still Unbeaten
That’s it. That’s the message. Nine of the 18 teams in the Big Ten are still spotless in the loss column. Last year, Indiana finished that way. What will be the story this year?
Most Big Ten West Moment of the Week: UCLA is now 3-0 after dark
For years, the PAC 12 played after dark and we never knew what happened with them – unless you were a degenerate. Well, now we in the Big Ten have these late, late kickoffs. UCLA has now played three of them – and the Bruins, who were awful last September, find themselves 3-0 after a wild win against Purdue. Update: poor Boilers haven’t won a P4 game since 2023.
Most Iowa Moment of the Week: A Perfect Half?
Hank Brown has been embroiled in a quarterback battle at Iowa. On Saturday, he went 12-of-12 in the first half, including this throw as the Hawkeyes moved to 3-0. They’ll have a big one on Saturday at Michigan.
What We Are Looking Forward to the Most: A full conference slate
Penn State is home on Saturday against Wisconsin. It’s the third most intriguing conference battle as Michigan/Iowa and USC/Oregon figure to get the top billing – and will likely make up some of our content next weekend. It will start getting easier to follow the whole league now that conference games will be in action – stay here to follow that action.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos