With any luck, Week 3 will go in the books as the first and only boring week of Big Ten football in 2023.

Louisville’s 21-14 win over Indiana ended up being the game of the week in a weak week of which to speak. And it was a genuinely good finish — the Cardinals stuffed the Hoosiers on a fourth-and-goal inside the 1 to preserve the win.

It was the only game featuring a B1G team to be decided by single digits.

So, what was there to learn in such a week?

Quite a bit about quarterbacks, as it turns out.

Here’s what we learned about each Big Ten team in Week 3.

Illinois: Time to give John Paddock a look

Luke Altmyer saved Illinois’ hide against Toledo in Week 1. But his disastrous performance against Penn State showed the Illini need to go another direction.

Altmyer chucked 4 interceptions against the Nittany Lions, and Penn State turned the generosity into 20 points in a 30-13 win.

Altmyer now has 7 interceptions against 3 touchdowns this season. He doesn’t have the talent to get away with that many mistakes.

John Paddock, who played respectably off the bench, needs to get the start against Florida Atlantic next week. Paddock started every game for Ball State in 2022.

Indiana: The Hoosiers are who they always are

Indiana rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit to come within a yard of tying or taking the lead against Jeff Brohm and Louisville. And then they did what we’ve always come to expect of the Hoosiers — come close, but not quite.

A fourth-and-goal decision from inside the 1 to plunge Josh Henderson up the middle of Louisville’s defense ended up losing a yard with 4:38 remaining.

The more things change, the more they remain the same for Indiana football.

Iowa: Cade McNamara is definitely an Iowa QB

And that’s not a compliment.

McNamara was 9 of 19 for 103 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions against Western Michigan.

Despite the pedestrian (getting hit by a truck) showing, Iowa made its way to a season-high 41 points in the win, putting Brian Ferentz ahead of his needed 25 ppg pace.

Maryland: Is ready to spot everybody a 14-0 lead

Turtles are notoriously slow starters, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Maryland has trailed 14-0 in the first 10 minutes of each of its last 2 games.

The Terrapins were once again unfazed by the stumble out of the gates, pouring 42 unanswered points on Virginia for the win.

Michigan: JJ McCarthy is not a machine

Michigan’s sophomore quarterback had 5 touchdown passes and 7 incompletions in the first 2 games of the season. Incompletions. Not interceptions.

The interceptions finally showed up en masse against Bowling Green. McCarthy was picked off 3 times on just 13 pass attempts. He finished 8 of 13 for 143 yards against the Falcons.

Michigan State: Quitters never win

Mel Tucker didn’t show up for Michigan State’s game against Washington because he’s suspended. And his team didn’t show up for Michigan State’s game against Washington because it’s either heartbroken, heartless or untalented. Or some combination of all 3.

The Spartans were scorched for 536 passing yards and 713 total yards in a 41-7 loss to No. 8 Washington that felt like it could have been twice as bad. The yardage was the most allowed in Michigan State history, topping a 1995 loss to eventual national champion Nebraska.

Minnesota: Athan Kaliakmanis is definitely a Minnesota QB

And that’s not a compliment.

Whatever was in the water for Tanner Morgan’s 2019 season has never gone back into the water, which is evidently not the purifying waters of Lake Minnetonka.

Kaliakmanis was 11 of 29 for 133 yards and an interception in a miserable showing at North Carolina. Minnesota invested a lot in him being the answer this year. If he is, the Gophers are in trouble.

Nebraska: Heinrich Haarberg is the answer at QB

Heinrich Haarberg was named Nebraska’s starting quarterback due to Jeff Sims’ ankle injury. Now Sims belongs in the same sentence as Wally Pipp. He needs to be replaced.

Haarberg passed for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown in a 35-11 win over Northern Illinois — the first of Matt Rhule’s Nebraska tenure.

Most importantly, Haarberg didn’t throw any interceptions — something Sims has yet to prove he’s capable of doing.

Northwestern: Time to give Brendan Sullivan a look

Duke and Rutgers have legitimately stingy defenses, so you can’t throw Wildcats quarterback Ben Bryant completely under the bus. But boy, has he been bad.

Even with a game against UTEP thrown into the mix, Bryant is now averaging 136 passing yards per game while offering no run threat.

Brendan Sullivan is much better runner and has so far been a better passer in garbage time. Time to see what he looks like in the first quarter.

Ohio State: Talent finds a way

An offense with this much future NFL talent on the roster can’t be held down forever. And now that the pesky Hoosiers and Penguins are behind them, the Buckeyes are ready to roll again.

TreVeyon Henderson, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Cade Stover each had plays of 20 yards or more in a 63-10 win over Western Kentucky. And so did 2nd-stringers Chip Trayanum and Carnell Tate Jr.

Kyle McCord looked like the quarterback we expected, simply distributing to these weapons without mistakes. All may be well in Columbus.

Penn State: Drew Allar is not a machine

After a very impressive 2 games to open his career, Allar was held without a touchdown pass and completed less than 50% of his throws at Illinois. Turns out that he really is a sophomore after all.

The good news? He’s also 1 of 2 Big Ten starters who still has yet to throw an interception this season, which seems like a valuable skill with Iowa next on the schedule.

Purdue: Will never stop making mistakes against Syracuse

Last season, the Boilermakers handed away a game at Syracuse by committing 13 penalties for 138 yards.

This year, the Boilermakers handed away a home game against the Orange by committing 4 turnovers that Syracuse turned into 14 points in a 35-20 win. Amazingly, it could have been worse. Purdue fumbled the ball 7 times (!!!) but only lost 3 of the fumbles.

Rutgers: Could win the Big East (if it still existed)

No, not the B1G East. The Big East — the conference the Scarlet Knights were members of from 1991-2012.

After hammering Virginia Tech 35-16, Rutgers is 3-0 and would be a conference title contender if it still played with its former peers.

Really, the race between Rutgers, Syracuse and Miami to win this year’s Big East would be compelling. If it still existed.

Instead, the current world of reality has an improving program still stuck worlds behind Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.

Wisconsin: This team is weird

I don’t understand this team, and it’s getting to the point where I don’t think I will in 2023.

Wisconsin’s defense was simultaneously terrible and great. Georgia Southern gashed the Badgers for 455 yards, but only scored 14 points thanks to 6 turnovers.

Wisconsin’s offense was a perfect 5-for-5 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. The Badgers averaged 6.5 yards per play. But Wisconsin was just 3 of 12 on third- and fourth-down conversions.

See? Weird. Or maybe you prefer the more genteel “the Badgers contain multitudes.”