Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 5

1. No. 2 Oregon (+1)

Is there a chance this placement is too reactionary? 100%. But teams that can go into a whiteout at Happy Valley and grind out a 2OT win earn themselves the benefit of the doubt. 

This Oregon defense was stifling the Penn State offense throughout most of the game. The Nittany Lions only had 69 total yards at halftime and hadn’t sniffed the red zone. Drew Allar was being pressured all throughout the first half, and the elite RB duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen was quiet. And of course, with the game on the line, Dillon Thieneman played his zone perfectly to intercept Allar and end the game with its only turnover.

On the other side of the ball, Dante Moore is playing himself into Heisman conversations. All the typical praise-words like “poised” and “leader” apply to him. Multiple times, he used his legs to extend drives down the stretch. It felt like he didn’t make a poor decision all night.

Dan Lanning’s Ducks passed their first huge test of the season with flying colors, and it’s hard to argue against them as the B1G’s team to beat.

2. No. 1 Ohio State (-1)

Since taking down then-No. 1 Texas in Week 1, the reigning national champions have basically just “done their job” in the weeks since. A 70-point win over Grambling State and 37-9 win over Ohio aren’t moving anyone. 

They were able to end Washington’s 22-game home win streak on Saturday. The Buckeyes’ defense continues to be arguably the best in the country, holding a good Washington offense to just two field goals all game. 

It took the offense a bit longer to show up, and there are still questions surrounding Julian Sayin’s abilities under center, but having Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate as your primary pass catchers does make things a lot easier. 

3. No. 8 Indiana (+1)

Five weeks and five wins into the new season, the Hoosiers look to put to rest many of the “fraud” claims that surrounded them all offseason (it’s ok if you were making those claims, you weren’t alone).

Indiana toughed out a 20-15 victory over Iowa on Saturday. That win might not look very impressive, especially off the back of a 63(!)-10 win over Illinois, but games like these show the different ways the Hoosiers can win. 

Ideally, every week would be like the Illinois game, with Fernando Mendoza throwing for an efficient five touchdowns and the ground game looking completely unstoppable. But if you need to hold your opponent to three yards per carry, force two turnovers and make big plays in the fourth quarter against a stout defense to win by one score, then that’s what you need to do. The Hoosiers can win in both ways, and that makes them a major threat to the rest of the B1G.

4. No. 20 Michigan (+1)

Michigan’s only true test of the season was its Week 2 visit to Oklahoma. Admittedly, it failed that test. Bryce Underwood either couldn’t complete throws or wasn’t allowed to try, John Mateer put up 300 total yards and three total TDs, and the Wolverines left Oklahoma with an earned 24-13 loss on their resume.

Still, the Sooners have been a top-five team in the nation this year, and Mateer could be the Heisman by season’s end. And yet the Wolverines stuck in it until the very end. That counts for something.

Since then, Michigan’s running game has looked electric. Running back Justice Haynes has put up at least 100 yards and a touchdown in all four games this season, and Underwood’s shown off the athleticism that made him the country’s number one recruit last year.

Is this the same offensive line and defensive line that won Michigan its 2023 natty? Of course not, but this defense still forced turnovers against Mateer and pressured Dylan Raiola on what felt like every dropback in its game at Nebraska.

Underwood is far from a finished product, and the receiver room isn’t doing him any favors. But this is a Michigan team that can run the ball with the best of them and make your quarterback’s life miserable. Squint hard enough and you could fool yourself into thinking Harbaugh’s still running things.

5. No. 7 Penn State (-2)

Let’s start with the positives for the Nittany Lions. Holding Oregon to 17 points in regulation is no small feat. Penn State was forcing Dante Moore to make plays out of structure and putting Oregon in numerous third and fourth-down situations. 

And that fourth quarter was exactly what you want to see out of a team looking for a national title. Drew Allar looked like the first-round prospect he’s been touted as, showing off the arm talent on an 35-yard TD to Devonte Ross that looked effortless, and moving the sticks with his legs on numerous occasions. The offense followed it up with a strong touchdown drive in overtime to put the pressure back on the Ducks. 

Now to the bad, which was every other part of the game, unfortunately.

Oregon’s offense outperformed Penn State’s in every metric, total yards, yards per play, turnovers, etc. As alluded to earlier, through three quarters, the Nittany Lions offense was putting up one of the worst performances of the James Franklin era. And of course, just when you think Penn State would finally rise to the occasion, Allar throws a backbreaking interception on the first play of double overtime. 

You’ve heard all the stats in the James Franklin era: 4-21 now against the AP Top 10, 15-29 against ranked opponents in general, 1-14 combined against Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon. Maybe that shouldn’t factor into a week-by-week power ranking, but this iteration of Penn State hasn’t proved it can win any big games. Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana already have. Honestly, Michigan looks more capable of winning a big game than the Nittany Lions. This ranking feels reactionary, but there’s 25 games of evidence to support it.

6. No. 22 Illinois (+1)

If you’d asked head coach Bret Bielema how his team would hope to respond after a 53-point thrashing at the hands of Indiana, a ranked win the following week against a surging USC would’ve sounded very nice. 

Tell Bielema that his Fighting Illini held a dominant 14-point lead with around 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and coach would assume they got a run-of-the-mill victory, the perfect bounceback week. 

But Illinois nearly squandered that lead, falling behind and needing a 41-yard field goal as time expired to barely escape a game they should have had all but wrapped up.

For most of the game, Luke Altmyer was dealing, ending the game with 328 yards, two touchdowns and a 77% completion percentage (he even added rushing and receiving touchdowns of his own) with multiple pass plays being chunks.  The run game churned out nearly eight yards per carry, and the defense was forcing turnovers.

Then Illinois gave up 15 unanswered, seemingly out of nowhere.

If you’re Bielema, you likely chalk it up to bad luck. You fumbled on a drive you were surely going to score on, which led to USC’s go-ahead drive. As soon as you got the ball back, you effortlessly moved into field goal range and got a winner. The offense never really lost tempo. It simply had an uncharacteristic turnover. 

The real question becomes, “Can the defense keep manufacturing turnovers?” It felt like every USC drive ended in either a fumble, interception or touchdown all game. When the turnovers weren’t there, Indiana dropped 63 on this same defense. If Illinois wants to hold on to its top-25 ranking (and a potential playoff bid), it’ll either need to get better at forcing punts or trust Altmyer and the offense to keep on outsourcing everyone they play.

7. USC (+1)

If you’re USC, you can be confident that the offense still looks like one of the best in the nation in its fifth game. Yes, the Trojans played an Illinois team coming off a 63-burger. That doesn’t mean Jayden Maiava’s 364 passing yards shouldn’t count for anything. He was making multiple impressive throws on the run all day.

One can get the feeling USC’s offense beat itself, though. A fumble and interception on promising drives helped Illinois build the lead. Outside of that, three out of six drives ended in touchdowns, with a fourth turning into a chip-shot field goal right before halftime.

The Trojans will ask themselves many of the same questions that Illinois will after this game regarding defense. USC gave up nearly 500 yards on the day, and it provided little to no resistance when Illinois was driving for the win. How much of that is due to Illinois being one of the best offenses in the country? That remains to be seen. Lincoln Riley will look for answers when his squad hosts Michigan this weekend. 

8. Iowa (-)

Iowa has managed to play both No. 14 Iowa State and No. 8 Indiana extremely close this season. When talking about rankings, no one really likes to hear the term “quality loss.” But in terms of a resume, losing to those teams by a combined eight points is more than most of the teams below them in these rankings can brag about on the season.

The Iowa defense is always going to be stout; it’s a part of the brand down in Iowa. The Hawkeyes managed to hold Indiana to ten points through three quarters and 325 yards for the game, which becomes all the more impressive when you realize the Hoosiers average 538 per contest.

It’s a bit worrying that 144 yards, one interception and no touchdowns was one of quarterback Mark Gronowski’s better games on the year in terms of passing, but again, that’s almost part of Iowa’s brand at this point. 

The Hawkeyes will look to lean on their defense and ground game when they visit a floundering Wisconsin team. Expect Iowa to be back in the win column.

9. Maryland (+2)

The main thing with Maryland’s ranking is it’s hard to justify putting an undefeated team much lower than this.

Are Maryland’s wins convincing? An in-conference win will always be valuable, even if it’s against a struggling Wisconsin unit.

But you beat who’s in front of you, and that’s what Maryland has done this year.

Malik Washington continues to look electric under center. While his completion percentage does leave a little to be desired, he can stretch the field vertically when he needs to and is a threat on the ground in the redzone 

The defensive line ran absolutely wild against the Badgers, to the tune of six sacks and 11 tackles. If Mike Locksley’s defense can replicate that kind of performance, the Terps will jump up the rankings in the coming weeks.

10. Washington (-1) 

Admittedly, it’s harsh to move a team down in the power rankings for losing to the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes this past week, especially considering the Huskies kept the game close until late in the fourth quarter.

While the Huskies offense could only put up 188 total yards and convert one third down all day, they can be trusted to get back on track when they’re not facing the best secondary in the country. 

Washington visits Maryland for its next game, and while the offense might not reach the 55.67 points per game it was putting up during the first three weeks, it’ll have a much easier time against the Terrapins than the Buckeyes.

11. Nebraska (-1)

All jokes aside about Raiola’s continued Patrick Mahomes impersonation, he’s led the Cornhuskers to having one of the best passing offenses in the nation through their first four games. It felt like Michigan lived in the Nebraska backfield in their matchup, yet Raiola still put up over 300 yards and three touchdowns. 

The passing attack is balanced as well, with four receivers being over 20 targets and five sitting at 128 yards or above. Nebraska has numerous offensive playmakers and a quarterback who has the ability to find them.

The problem with Nebraska lies in its ability to stop the run. Michigan ran for 286 yards against the Cornhuskers in their last matchup, and Cincinnati had 202 yards on the ground in the Week 1 meeting between the two.

It’s hard to justify moving a team far down on its week off, and Nebraska has shown it can compete against an opponent higher up on this list. That should be enough to warrant trusting the Cornhuskers for the rest of the season.

12. Minnesota (-)

The script seemed to flip in Minnesota’s 14-point comeback victory against Rutgers on Saturday. The run game was stifled, with the Golden Gophers only managing 35 yards on the ground all night.

But this opened up an opportunity for quarterback Drake Lindsey and the passing game to flourish. Through three games, Lindsey was averaging 211 passing yards a game, but against Rutgers, he had 324 with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The defensive line has been able to get home, putting up 10 sacks in the last two games. While the defense ranks near the top of the FBS in numerous categories, giving up 27+ points in back-to-back weeks is a point of concern. 

A visit to the Shoe to face Ohio State isn’t the best environment for a “get-right” game, but the Gophers have winnable games on their schedule after that if their defense can get back to keeping the score low.

13. Michigan State (-)

A loss at the Coliseum brought the Spartans down to Earth after their 3-0 start to the season. 

But the writing probably should have been on the wall. The Spartans gave up 24 points to FCS outfit Youngstown State and 40 to Boston College. Having USC go for 523 yards against them was probably to be expected.

The question for Michigan State becomes how to fix the defense that couldn’t get a single tackle for loss or sack last time out. As it stands, Raiola and the Cornhuskers are itching at the prospect of playing this team next week.

14. Northwestern (+1)

It was a tale of two halves for the Wildcats on the lakefront Saturday. A 17-3 lead at the half and what should have been a comfortable win turned into a 17-14 dogfight that went down to the wire.

The positive? Northwestern can run the ball. In Cam Porter’s absence, Caleb Komolafe has been churning out yards on the ground, hitting a career-high 119 against the Bruins. 

You’d hope this game is a sign of things to come for quarterback Preston Stone, too, who connected with Griffin Wilde for numerous chunk plays downfield. More importantly, Stone limited his turnovers this week. 

While Northwestern seemingly took its foot off the gas in the second half, this is a performance to build off of. If the run game can continue to be effective, and if the secondary holds up like it did this week, Northwestern should be able to pick up some wins in the next few weeks.

15. Wisconsin (-1)

Outside of a 42-point showing against a 1-4 Middle Tennessee team, Wisconsin’s offense has not been able to find its rhythm at any point this season. Maybe that was understandable against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but you would’ve hoped for more than 10 points against the Terrapins at home. Michigan doesn’t seem like the opponent the Badgers will find their groove against, so they’ll likely occupy a similar position in next week’s Power Rankings as well.

16. Rutgers (-)

It was a high-scoring affair against Minnesota in Rutgers’ most recent game, which is something it has gotten used to this season. This is an offense that has proven it can put up points, even against elite defenses, as proven by its 28-point showing against Iowa.

Protecting the quarterback proved to be an issue, and Rutgers will have to improve on that front if they want more success this season.

Rutgers will also need to take advantage of these strong offensive performances with better play on the other side of the ball. Washington should serve as a good test in that department.

17. Purdue (-)

Not much to say about the Boilermakers on a bye week. They’ll hope they can replicate their 30-point offensive showing against Notre Dame in the coming weeks. 303 total yards through the air is nothing to scoff at. 

The 56 points allowed was less than ideal, but you can chalk that up to differences in talent.

Unfortunately, Purdue plays another ranked team next week in Illinois, which has one of the nation’s best offenses. The talent difference will likely still be there, and so will the potential for the Boilermakers to give up lots of points.

18. UCLA (-)

0-4. Coach fired. Offensive coordinator fired. This season could not have started any worse for UCLA.

In one of the few winnable games left on their schedule, the Bruins came out flat against Northwestern. They were getting dominated in the run game, and nothing was materializing downfield.

They did claw back to 17-14, in large part due to Nico Iamaleava’s ability to use his legs to create downfield and get chunk plays.

The Bruins had two chances for a game-winning drive. One was a quick three-and-out, and the other ended in their own territory as time expired.

There are few positives to give regarding UCLA this season, as its year is already effectively over after four weeks. The Bruins will likely serve as nothing more than a “get-right” game for Penn State next week.