Week 4 in the Big Ten saw Michigan score a huge conference win over new member USC, Indiana continue to display its explosive offense and Illinois win a thrilling overtime game on the road.

What’s in store in Week 5? Let’s take a look at the B1G’s biggest storylines …

State-ment game

Ohio State travels to East Lansing to take on a Michigan State squad that dropped a tough 23-19 contest at Boston College and now has to deal with the high-octane Buckeyes, who held steady at No. 3 in the country. MSU will need better decision making from quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has shown the ability to make plays and make this offense potent. But he has to clean up some sloppy play as the Spartans advance in Big Ten play. The schedule does not let up, as games loom against Oregon, Iowa and Michigan after the clash with the Buckeyes.

The Sparty defense faces a very difficult test against a rushing attack led by Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, who shined last week in a 49-14 win over Marshall and have combined for 9 touchdowns this season. OSU is averaging 241 rushing yards per game.

B1G After Dark a Pac-12 redux

Former Pac-12 pals meet when Oregon travels to UCLA for an 11 pm, ET kick. B1G After Dark is real.

The Ducks were idle this past weekend, while the Bruins fell to LSU. There are plenty of issues with the UCLA passing game, but quarterback Ethan Garbers had a solid first half against the Tigers. But the offensive line wilted, penalties were bountiful and UCLA went scoreless after the half. Next up is a rested Ducks squad, so this one may not be pretty for the Bruins. In its last game, Oregon finally had the ground game going (240 rushing yards) to complement the play of quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Another B1G test for No. 19 Illinois

Illinois will face another tough road test in Happy Valley 1 week after quarterback Luke Altmyer (4 touchdowns) led the Fighting Illini to a 31-24 overtime win over then-No. 22 Nebraska. The unbeaten Illini have defeated 2 ranked opponents in the same season for the first time since 2007. This offense that has been deadly in the red zone, scoring on all 16 of its trips (11 TDs, 5 FGs). But the status of wide receiver Zakhari Franklin (leg) is unknown. Penn State, meanwhile, set a program record with 718 total yards of offense last week in a shutout win over Kent State.

Little Brown Jug

Defending national champion Michigan was on the brink of its 2nd loss before Kalel Mullings capped a 10-play, 89-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown on 4th-and-goal to beat USC 27-24. There is, of course, still a major issue: Michigan cannot throw the football. Alex Orji made his first start at quarterback and was 7-of-12 for 32 yards. He ran 13 times for 43 yards and helped spearhead a power running game, which racked up 290 yards, but is this a sustainable offense? Even for Michigan, which had the B1G’s premier rushing attack for the past 3 seasons.

Meanwhile, Minnesota allowed Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson to rush for a career-high 206 yards and 3 touchdowns as Iowa claimed the Floyd of Rosedale. But Max Brosmer, the 6th-year transfer from New Hampshire, has given the Gophers their best passing attack in a while. He went 17-of-26 for 165 yards and 2 scores against the Hawkeyes.

Other notable B1G nuggets

Washington at Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights beat Virginia Tech 26-23 and are 3-0 for the second consecutive year. AP voters still aren’t impressed, but Rutgers received votes in the Coaches Poll this week. Greg Schiano and Co. now get set to face Washington on Friday night on the banks. The Huskies whipped visiting Northwestern 24-5 this past week. Expect Rutgers to continue to rely on its rushing attack behind Kyle Monangai and Samuel Brown V, who combined for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win over Virginia Tech.

Wisconsin at USC: How will Lincoln Riley’s crew respond after dropping its Big Ten opener at Michigan? The revamped defense under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn played well in the loss, but it gave up 3 long runs — including a back-breaking 63-yarder on the final drive — and could not make the goal-line stand at the end.

Nebraska at Purdue: The Cornhuskers gave away a 7-point 4th-quarter lead and missed a 39-yard field goal that would have won the game in an overtime home loss to Illinois last week. It was par for the course, though, for a team that has collected far too many close losses in recent seasons.

Maryland at Indiana: Kurtis Rourke and Ty Son Lawton continued to shine for the Hoosiers in their win over Charlotte. Sure, the competition has been soft, but Indiana is averaging 50.5 points per game, 2nd in the B1G. Credit their execution in the red zone, where they’ve scored a B1G-best 20 TDs on 24 trips.

The Hoosiers are 4-0 for the 3rd time since 1991 and only the 8th time in the program’s 140-year history. They’re also on the verge of being ranked in the AP poll (excluding a preseason poll) for the first time since the 2020 season.

The Hoosiers will try to go 5-0 for just the 3rd time (1910 and 1967) against a Terrapins squad coming off a 38-20 win over Villanova.

This will be a solid test of what’s real: Maryland has won 3 straight against Indiana.