1 thing I learned about every Big Ten team in Week 6

We did it, folks. We endured what should be the final underwhelming week of Big Ten games before diving into the good stuff for the remainder of the season.

Though it was not underwhelming for all.

Nebraska continued to show it has a pulse under interim coach Mickey Joseph. Wisconsin jolted to life under interim coach Jim Leonhard. Illinois beat Iowa for the first time in 14 years and is 5-1 for the first time in 11 years. Nothing Ohio State does is underwhelming. And the same appears to be true of Michigan.

Here’s what I learned about every Big Ten team in Week 6, though in some instances it was more a case of highlighting what we already knew. Exempt: Penn State and Minnesota, who were off this week.

Illinois: I learned Fabrizio Pinton exists

As of Saturday night, Illinois backup kicker Fabrizio Pinton had 903 Twitter followers. He may pick up a few more after being the only Illini to score in Illinois’ first win over Iowa since 2008.

When starter Caleb Griffin was a late scratch, Pinton was pushed into the lineup for the first time in his career. Pinton made field goals of 27, 37 and 36 yards, with the final kick putting the Illini ahead 9-6 with 2:49 remaining.

Every game needs a hero, and Pinton was a most unlikely candidate. But the Houston-area native’s kicks helped Illinois move to 5-1 for the first time since 2011.

Indiana: The offensive line is worse than bad

Abysmal. Inept. Nightmarish. Comical.

Choose your adjective; or invent your own. But “bad” isn’t a strong enough word to describe Indiana’s offensive line. The Hoosiers are something considerably worse than that up front.

Michigan sacked IU quarterback Connor Bazelak 7 times and put pressure on him twice as often. He has no chance behind this front 5.

To his credit, Bazelak refuses to throw them under the bus.

Bazelak stands up for the offensive line, because he stands behind it and he has to. "Those are my brothers. I'm never going to say anything bad about them."

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) October 8, 2022

They may be his brothers, but I wouldn’t blame Bazelak if he started acting like a Gallagher brother. The Hoosiers have allowed 19 sacks in 6 games.

Iowa: The existential dread continues

For the sixth time since last year’s Week 5 win over Penn State temporarily lifted Iowa to No. 2 in the nation, the Hawkeyes scored 7 or fewer points in a game. That’s a total of 14 games, though it’s understandable if Iowa fans forgot how to count to 14.

As Wisconsin learned this week, divorcing Graham Mertz from Paul Chryst ended up working out pretty well. The same thing needs to happen with Spencer Petras and Brian Ferentz. Given Ferentz’s identity, that means Petras is the one who will have to be sent on his sword during the upcoming bye week.

A potential massacre at Ohio State awaits the following week.

Maryland: A brutal day for the point after

Rarely has a team experienced this much fourth-quarter heartbreak after scoring 2 touchdowns.

The Terps took a 23-17 lead midway through the fourth, but the ensuing point after was blocked — and not without controversy. Michael Locksley was convinced the Boilermakers got an early jump, but the penalty was not called.

Big Ten refs absolutely took this game away from Maryland. Where's the media outcry? This is the blocked extra point that forced Maryland to go for 2 on last drive. Purdue end is 2 yards offsides. pic.twitter.com/TT6Yu5g3gw

— Cʜᴜᴄᴋ ᴅᴏᴜɢʟᴀs ✪ (@ChuckDouglas_) October 8, 2022

This is a bad angle to make such a determination, but you can understand the uproar.

After Purdue scored a pair of touchdowns to go up 31-23, Taulia Tagovailoa stormed the Terps back downfield for a touchdown with 35 seconds remaining. When Tagovailoa found Rakim Jarrett in the back of the end zone for the 2-point conversion, the game seemed destined for overtime… until the Terrapins were correctly flagged for having an illegal man downfield.

Given a second chance, Purdue’s defense held firm.

Just a brutal turn of events that will likely keep Maryland out of the Top 25.

Michigan: Wolverines pass the adversity test

Michigan didn’t break a sweat the first 3 weeks of the season. Maryland gave the Wolverines a bit of a challenge in the Big Ten opener before Michigan mostly dominated its first road game at Iowa.

But at no point this season has it felt like Michigan was up against it.

That changed Saturday when running backs coach Mike Hart was carted out of the stadium after a medical incident on the sidelines. This wasn’t run-of-the-mill football adversity, but a major mental hurdle for college-aged athletes to overcome. On top of that, Indiana was surprisingly feisty in the first half.

But Michigan overcame both scares, outscoring Indiana 14-0 in the fourth quarter for a seemingly easy 31-10 win. It was anything but easy. And it could be remembered as a defining win of this Michigan season.

Michigan State: 2022 is (almost) a lost cause

There is still, in theory, an opportunity to salvage something of this wreck of a season with a win over Michigan 3 weeks from now. But it is very much a theory.

Michigan State is officially and unequivocally what Indiana was a year ago — the darling of the Big Ten’s previous season, unable to make an encore performance. The health of Michigan State’s defense is the biggest reason for pessimism — it just seems the Spartans aren’t going to have anybody back. And boy, are they needed.

But frankly, Michigan State’s offense is even worse than the defense. The only reason to be optimistic about this team is what it may look like in 2023 and beyond. Basketball can’t get here fast enough for MSU fans.

Nebraska: Mickey Joseph has a chance

The inconceivable is happening — Nebraska is winning close games.

For the second straight week, the Huskers won the fourth quarter of a close game, and as a result Nebraska has its first winning streak since beating Northern Illinois and Illinois in Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2019 season.

The 14-13 win at Rutgers also snapped a 10-game losing streak in games decided by a touchdown or less. The Huskers outscored their opponents 14-0 in the second half of both wins.

Mickey Joseph looked like a very interim interim coach when the Huskers were blown out by Oklahoma in his first game. But the culture is starting to change in Lincoln, and that means Joseph has a shot at sticking around.

Northwestern: There are no bright spots

The Wildcats stink, and they stink everywhere. Northwestern will go winless in the United States this year.

As we’ve recently written, it’s inconceivable that Pat Fitzgerald will ever be forced out of this job. But if this keeps up for another couple seasons, will he really want to continue doing this?

Ohio State: The Buckeyes should be No. 1

Can we get over this Georgia and Alabama nonsense? Ohio State is the best team in the country right now.

Does that mean it will still be the case in December or January? Perhaps. Perhaps not. That’s why they play out the schedule. But if the polls are about which team is playing the best football in the country right now, it’s Ohio State.

Playing without receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and running back Miyan Williams — who scored 5 touchdowns a week ago — the Buckeyes once again rolled in a 49-20 win at Michigan State.

Ohio State racked up 614 yards, which you would expect against Michigan State’s shoddy defense. But it was the defense that showed why the Buckeyes are the nation’s most complete team right now.

The Spartans were limited to 7 yards on 20 rushing attempts. Even if you remove the 4 sacks, Michigan State had 38 yards on 16 carries. And while the starters were still in the game, Ohio State limited the Spartans to 113 passing yards.

The Buckeyes are a buzzsaw.

Purdue: AOC is A-OK

Aidan O’Connell looked rusty and banged up in last week’s win at Minnesota, making it fair to wonder if his undisclosed injury was a lingering, long-term concern.

It did not appear that way at Maryland.

In the fourth quarter, O’Connell was 7-of-10 for 123 yards and a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Payne Durham. O’Connell finished 30-of-41 for 360 yards with 2 TDs and an interception.

A healthy O’Connell is a strong argument in favor of Purdue being the top team in the Big Ten West.

Rutgers: I’ll pass on the passing game

Rutgers’ passing game makes Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras look like Joe Burrow in comparison.

The injured Noah Vedral played a gutsy game and did some good on the ground, but went 6-of-15 for 133 yards. Evan Simon, considered the better passing threat, did nothing well. Simon was 6-of-15 for 100 yards with 3 interceptions. And Nebraska’s defense isn’t exactly the Blackshirts these days.

The Scarlet Knights are probably the Big Ten’s hardest-working team, but the quarterback situation is untenable. Eventually it becomes difficult to maintain the fighting spirit when you know the offense isn’t getting out of neutral.

Wisconsin: Graham Mertz can do that?

Revitalized in his first game without Paul Chryst, Mertz became the first quarterback in Wisconsin history to throw 5 touchdown passes in 2 different games. And the first to do it on the road.

Sure, it was against Northwestern. And the Wildcats don’t seem capable of stopping anybody. But it had to feel great for a guy who was largely blamed for his coach getting fired to show he’s not a stiff.

If Mertz turns out to be the quarterback he’s been hyped as, Leonhard probably isn’t going anywhere for a long time.