While CJ Stroud continued to put distance between himself and the rest of the B1G’s old-guard quarterbacks over the weekend, a few new faces got extended run and injected some life into the increasingly stale league QB ensemble.

Both Northwestern and Maryland had new starters under center for their meeting in College Park, Md., the Terps because Taulia Tagovailoa is injured, the Wildcats because Ryan Hilinski is apparently out of favor. Noah Vedral went the distance for Rutgers for the first time this season, helping the Scarlet Knights to a 24-17 victory over Indiana.

Iowa finally gave Spencer Petras a rest after another inert start, but the backup turned the ball over on 2 of his first 3 snaps.

In the B1G’s Saturday night game, Penn State’s Sean Clifford bounced back while Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan sat out.

Even Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell, who had been coming on strong in recent weeks, couldn’t handle a road test at Wisconsin. In fact, he failed miserably to further shake up the B1G West standings.

Outside of Stroud and Clifford, the best days were had by those who had a bye: Michigan’s JJ McCarthy and Illinois’ Tommy DeVito.

No wonder we celebrate punters in this league.

Here’s our assessment of the quarterbacks heading into Week 9:

14. Spencer Petras, Iowa

Week 8 stats: 6-14, 49 yards, 2 INTs
Season: 53.1%, 141.3 ypg, 2 TDs, 5 INTs, 98.67 rating

Petras couldn’t do anything against Ohio State and was pulled in favor of Alex Padilla. The backup’s initial snaps of the season didn’t go well, as he committed turnovers on 2 of the first 3. Padilla went 5-of-10 for 32 yards and a pick, and he was sacked 3 times.

13. Noah Vedral, Rutgers

Week 8 stats: 12-24, 113 yards, TD
Season: 46.2%, 82.0 ypg, TD, 107.60 rating

Vedral, who missed the first half of the season with an injury, finally played a full game. His numbers didn’t look any more impressive than those of fill-in starter Evan Simon, but he did lead the Scarlet Knights past Indiana to snap a 3-game losing streak.

12. Brendan Sullivan, Northwestern

Week 8 stats: 18-24, 143 yards, TD, 2 INTs
Season: 70.7%, 128.5 ypg, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 129.72 rating

Sullivan replaced Ryan Hilinski as the Wildcats’ starter Saturday against Maryland and made an instant impact, completing 9 of his first 12 passes, throwing for a TD and running for another. He and the Wildcats faded in the second half, but it wasn’t a terrible first start by any means. The 6-3, 212-pound sophomore appears to be the starter going forward for Pat Fitzgerald.

11. Tanner Morgan, Minnesota

Week 8 stats: DNP, injury
Season: 66.9%, 194.0 ypg, 7 TDs, 5 INTs, 156.36 rating

Backup Athan Kaliakmanus went 9-of-22 and threw a pick in a 45-17 loss at Penn State. Morgan, knocked out of the Gophers’ previous game after a blow to the head, apparently remains questionable.

10. Connor Bazelak, Indiana

Week 8 stats: 24-42, 210 yards, INT
Season: 54.8%, 262.4 ypg, 12 TDs, 9 INTs, 107.13 rating

The Missouri transfer piles up the stats, good and bad, in the Hoosiers’ pass-happy offense. He has been sacked a B1G-worst 24 times after going down 1 time in a 24-17 loss to Rutgers that probably destroyed the Hoosiers’ chance to become bowl eligible. He threw is B1G-worst 9th INT in the loss.

9. Payton Thorne, Michigan State

Week 8 stats: Bye
Season: 65.49%, 214.1 ypg, 11 TDs, 7 INTs, 136.65 rating

Thorne posted his best numbers in some time in a 34-28 double-overtime victory over Wisconsin that ended a 4-game losing streak prior to MSU’s bye week. The Spartans (3-4, 1-3) travel to Ann Arbor to take on rival Michigan on Saturday.

8. Casey Thompson, Nebraska

Week 8 stats: Bye
Season stats: 64.1%, 264.4 ypg, 11 TDs, 8 INTs, 148.22 rating

The transfer from Texas has thrown 2 INTs in each of his past 2 games, a trend he’ll need to reverse if the Huskers (3-4, 2-2) are to have any chance Saturday when B1G West leader Illinois (6-1, 3-1) visits Lincoln.

7. Graham Mertz, Wisconsin

Week 8 stats: 13-21, 203 yards, 2 TDs
Season: 63.3%, 203.8 ypg, 17 TDs, 6 INTs, 159.59 rating

Mertz is suddenly No. 2 in the B1G in touchdown passes and No. 3 in QB rating after an efficient game in a victory over Purdue. The Badgers (4-4, 2-3) are at least back in the bowl game hunt under interim coach Jim Leonhard, and Mertz is a key reason why.

6. Sean Clifford, Penn State

Week 8 stats: 23-31, 295 yards, 4 TDs, INT
Season: 61.5%, 206.4 ypg, 13 TDs, 3 INTs, 146.14 rating

The 6th-year senior bounced back from a poor outing against Michigan to notch his 27th career victory, 4 behind predecessor Trace McSorley for the school record. He’s also 2 behind McSorley in career TD throws, with 75, and 615 yards back in career passing.

5. Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

Week 8 stats: Did not play, injury
Season: 72.5%, 285.9 ypg, 13 TDs, 5 INTs, 157.62 rating

Tagovailoa sat out with an apparent lower leg injury incurred last weekend. Redshirt freshman Billy Edwards Jr. took over, using his arm and his legs to help the Terps outlast Northwestern 31-24. We’ll continue to list Tagovailoa as the starter this week as we await an update on his condition.

4. Aidan O’Connell, Purdue

Week 8 stats: 31-46, 320 yards, TD, 3 INTs
Season: 66.3%, 324.3 ypg, 15 TDs, 8 INTs, 137.51 rating

The 6th-year senior threw 3 picks in a loss at Wisconsin that knocked the Boilermakers out of a share of 1st place in the B1G West. He has gaudy counting stats, but his efficiency rating is going down. Purdue takes a break this weekend, then hosts Iowa and its stout defense.

3. JJ McCarthy, Michigan

Week 8 stats: Bye
Season: 77.1%, 185.3 ypg, 9 TDs, 2 INTs, 170.59 rating

The last time we saw McCarthy, he threw a pick-6, contributed some to the running game but otherwise stayed out of the way in a 41-17 romp of Penn State. At some point, the Wolverines will need him to do more. But for now, he remains the nation’s completion percentage leader and seems to be learning and improving through his occasional mistakes. Michigan State is up next.

2. Tommy DeVito, Illinois

Week 8 stats: Bye
Season: 70.4%, 202.1 ypg, 10 TDs, 2 INTs, 145.85 rating

The Syracuse transfer does whatever is needed for Illinois (6-1, 3-1), whether it be handing off, hitting a clutch throw or running for a first down or touchdown. He gives coach Bret Bielema peace of mind with his moxie and minimal-mistake efficiency. A trip to Nebraska will be DeVito’s next test.

1. CJ Stroud, Ohio State

Week 8 stats: 20-30, 286 yards, 4 TDs, INT
Season: 70.0%, 289.0 ypg, 28 TDs, 4 INTs, 203.85 rating

By his standards, Stroud posted mediocre numbers against Iowa on Saturday, and he also lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Because of that, the Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0) barely squeaked by the Hawkeyes, 54-10. When a QB is averaging 4 TD passes per game, a team is going to be hard to beat.