B1G storylines for Week 12: Can the Badgers stifle the top-ranked Ducks?
Another week, another Indiana victory.
Week 11 saw the Hoosiers remain undefeated and reach the 10-win mark in a season for the first time in program history after surviving their first close game of the year.
Meanwhile, Penn State bounced back from its loss to Ohio State to route Washington and climb to No. 4 in the AP rankings.
The Big Ten has the No. 1 (Oregon), No. 2 (Ohio State), No. 4 (Penn State) and No. 5 (Indiana) teams in the country.
What’s in store for Week 12? Let’s take a look at the B1G’s biggest storylines …
Upset alert?
Wisconsin will host the best team in the country, Oregon, and will need quarterback Braedyn Locke to be at his best if they have any chance for an upset. Luke Fickell’s team is coming off a bye, which was much needed because the last time we saw the Badgers they were being manhandled by Iowa 42-10. Locke was 15-of-29 for just 137 yards in the loss. Can they keep up with the high-flying Ducks, whose quarterback Dillon Gabriel broke the NCAA record for total career touchdowns in a 39-18 home win over Maryland this past Saturday night? Gabriel’s 179 total touchdowns broke Case Keenum’s record of 178 at Houston from 2007-11. He added another scoring pass later in the game. It wasn’t the prettiest performance from Oregon, which racked up 12 penalties for 95 yards. So the Ducks will need to clean that up to avoid an upset in Madison.
Ivy Bowl
A lot of college football fans should have their eyes on Ohio State at Northwestern as the Wildcats host the Buckeyes at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. The ‘Cats are coming off a bye, and the last time they were in action quarterback Jack Lausch led them to an overtime win at Purdue to snap their 2-game losing streak. Lausch finished 23-of-35 passing for a career-high 250 yards and the game-clinching touchdown. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes dismantled Purdue 45-0 Saturday behind Will Howard’s 3 touchdown passes and a rushing score. Jeremiah Smith broke the Ohio State freshman receiving record with his 9th touchdown of the season, breaking tie with Cris Carter. There was clearly no letdown for OSU after its 20-13 win over Penn State in Week 10. The Buckeyes shut out a B1G opponent for the first time since 2017 when they defeated Rutgers.
Other notable B1G nuggets
UCLA at Washington (8 pm Friday, FOX): The Huskies laid an egg in Happy Valley, falling to Penn State 35-6 on Saturday night. Coach Jedd Fisch brought in Demond Williams Jr., who replaced Will Rogers at quarterback. Fisch said he expects Rogers to retain his job, but that’s certainly a situation to monitor. Meanwhile, the Bruins have won 3 in a row after beating Iowa 20-17 Friday night. The defense stifled star Hawkeyes rusher Kaleb Johnson, holding him to his lowest rushing performance of the season, while TJ Harden had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season and Ethan Garbers threw 2 touchdown passes. Rookie coach DeShaun Foster is growing into his role. His Bruins are 3-4 B1G, 4-5 overall, which might not sound terribly impressive, but Chip Kelly had 3 seasons in which he didn’t win more than 4 games. And, Foster is ahead of cross-town/celebrated rival USC (2-5 B1G, 4-5 overall) in the conference standings.
Penn State at Purdue: It’s been tough sledding for the Boilermakers, who are coming off a 45-0 loss to Ohio State. Quarterback Hudson Card had just 108 passing yards and threw an interception, while Devin Mockobee carried 13 times for 73 yards. It was the second time in the past 3 games that Purdue had been shut out (Oregon beat the Boilermakers 35-0 on Oct. 18). Purdue had been the last unranked team to defeat Ohio State, which kept the Buckeyes out of the College Football Playoff in 2018. That was a much different Boilermakers squad, obviously. Even worse for the current Boilers is they have to watch Indiana capture college football’s heart and rise to No. 5 in the country. Purdue hasn’t been in the top 10 since firing Joe Tiller.
Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions bounced back very nicely from their setback to Ohio State by beating Washington 35-6. Tyler Warren caught 8 passes for 75 yards and ran for 2 touchdowns, and PSU scored on its first 4 possessions to remain alive in the Playoff chase. All eyes, however, will be on running back Nick Singleton, who did not finish the game. He opened the third quarter with a kickoff return touchdown that was called back for holding and wasn’t seen on the sideline afterward.
Michigan State at Illinois: The Spartans enter their road tilt coming off a bye following a 47-10 loss to Indiana. Oregon State transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles threw 2 more interceptions in that loss and was knocked out of the game in the third quarter when he was hit while throwing the ball away. Turnovers once again held back the offense. Chiles threw his 11th interception of the season, and MSU has more turnovers (18) than offensive touchdowns (17). Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini also had a bye last week following a 25-17 home loss to Minnesota, its second straight defeat. Linebacker Dylan Rosiek, the team’s leading tackler, broke a leg making a tackle in the first quarter of that one and is out for the season. We’ll see if Chiles could play a relatively error-free game, while Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer will look to do the same after losing 2 fumbles in the loss to the Golden Gophers.
Rutgers at Maryland: This game is interesting because the Scarlet Knights’ defense finally returned to form after looking porous for weeks. Injuries have certainly played a role, but Joe Harasymiak’s unit made big plays in a 26-19 victory over Minnesota this past week. The bye certainly came at the right time. The Terrapins, meanwhile, are coming off a loss to Oregon. Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 206 yards and a touchdown coming off a bye. The Terrapins have lost 5 of their past 6 games, and it could be difficult against a revived Rutgers defense.
Nebraska at USC: Looking ahead to this game in the preseason, many college football observers probably thought this one would have a lot of significance in both the conference race and potentially the Playoff race. But here we are. Neither team has a winning record in the B1G — Nebraska is 2-4, USC 2-5 — and the winner still won’t even after this game, either.
Quarterback play will certainly be at the center of attention with both teams coming off byes. Dylan Raiola is expected to play after injuring his back in a loss to UCLA — which was Nebraska’s 3rd consecutive loss. After a nice start to his collegiate career, he has just 1 touchdown and 6 picks in his past 4 games. Meanwhile, Miller Moss lost his starting job after he and the Trojans continued to struggle in a road loss to Washington. The Trojans will turn to UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava. In his past 5 games, Moss has tossed 7 interceptions, though offensive line issues have plagued the Trojans.