The B1G storylines for Week 6: National title rematch, winning streaks, hot starts and more ...
Week 5 in the Big Ten saw Rutgers and Indiana remain unbeaten, Oregon take down UCLA in an old Pac-12 battle and Illinois suffer its first setback in a Top 25 matchup at Penn State.
What’s in store in Week 6? Let’s take a look at the B1G’s biggest storylines …
National title rematch
Michigan heads to Washington in a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff national title game. Of course, both teams look vastly different.
The defending national champion Wolverines won another game with a meager passing attack last week, as Alex Orji completed just 10-of-18 passes for 86 yards to beat Minnesota and retain the Little Brown Jug. He did throw a touchdown pass, but his interception helped the Gophers make a fourth-quarter comeback. Kalel Mullings rushed for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, and it’s clear the Wolverines now have an offensive identity. But can this sustain?
Meanwhile, U-Dub is kind of a mess. The Huskies outgained Rutgers 521-299 in total yards, but they missed 3 field goals, were penalized 6 times for 69 yards and went 2-for-12 on third downs in their loss to the Scarlet Knights last Friday night. New coach Jedd Fisch and Co. need to clean things up.
Iowa seeks to end its road woes in Columbus
The last time the Hawkeyes beat Ohio State on the road was in 1991, so they will be looking to break an 8-game losing streak at Ohio Stadium. Kirk Ferentz’s squad got an extra week to prepare though after enjoying a bye following their Floyd of Rosedale win over Minnesota. If the Hawkeyes want to spring an upset this week, they may need Kaleb Johnson to have another extraordinary game after rushing for a career-high 206 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Gophers. Iowa has topped the 200-yard rushing mark in 4 straight games, the longest streak for the program since 2013.
Defending the Buckeyes’ prolific offense (48.8 ppg, No. 4 in the country) will be a chore for the Iowa defense. Ohio State has one of the nation’s best WR tandems with Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka as well as a lethal 1-2 punch in the backfield of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. Defensively, the Buckeyes forced 3 Sparty turnovers and held them to only 47 yards on the ground. So this will certainly be Iowa’s toughest test yet.
Swing game: Rutgers at Nebraska
Undefeated Rutgers travels to Lincoln to take on a Nebraska team that may have been suffering effects from its loss to Illinois when it was trailing 3-0 late in the third quarter at Purdue this past Saturday. The Cornhuskers scored 28 unanswered points to take control behind Dylan Raiola’s 257 passing yards and 161 rushing yards. The run defense also stepped up, limiting the Boilermakers to 50 rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Knights rode Kyle Monangai’s 132 yards and a touchdown to beat Washington 21-18 last Friday night to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2012. This is a big spot for Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis on the road. Can he go toe to toe with Raiola if need be, or can Monangai carry the load once again? Nebraska needs a win as it faces 2 ranked teams on the road (Indiana and Ohio State) after this one.
Other notable B1G nuggets
Indiana at Northwestern: Can the No. 23 Hoosiers start the season 6-0? They beat Maryland last week and are 5-0 for the first time since the 1967 Rose Bowl team started 8-0. Kurtis Rourke threw for a season-high 359 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 42-28 victory over Maryland. The defense provided just enough timely stops. However, they did commit their first turnovers of the season — 4 — on a soggy day at Memorial Stadium. It’s going to be extremely difficult for Northwestern to keep up with IU, though it had a bye to try to fix its inept offense. But will top running back Cam Porter be available?
Michigan State at Oregon: Dan Lanning’s Ducks won their first Big Ten game last week, and ironically it came against former Pac-12 rival UCLA. Dillon Gabriel threw 3 touchdown passes, while the defense didn’t allow an offensive touchdown in a 34-13 win at the Rose Bowl. The Ducks have 11 sacks and are allowing only 154.8 passing yards per game. Good luck to the Spartans, who turned the ball over 3 times in the red zone last week in a loss to Ohio State.
USC at Minnesota: The Trojans and Golden Gophers will play under the lights in the Twin Cities after PJ Fleck’s squad suffered a tough loss to Michigan. The Gophers mounted a second-half comeback and appeared to recover an onside kick down 3, but the officials threw a flag and called them offside to give the Wolverines the victory.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Riley’s crew struggled in the first half at home to Wisconsin but rallied with 28 unanswered points to claim a 38-21 victory and rebound from a loss to Michigan. This is yet another tough test for the Gophers, who are still searching for their first B1G win of the year after back-to-back losses to Iowa and Michigan.