Week 7 was highlighted by the highly anticipated Top 5 clash of Ohio State at Oregon and the game lived up to its billing and more. We got two thrilling overtime games but also three unexpected blowouts by at least 24 points. So, let’s get into our Week 7 Big Ten football top storylines …
Big Jeff’s Week 7 Big Ten Football Picks of the Week Big Jeff’s Football (bigjeffsfootball.com)
1. In an instant classic, Oregon defeats Ohio State 32-31 giving Dan Lanning his first marquee win and putting the Ducks in great position for the playoffs.
The most highly anticipated game of the Big Ten season became must see TV as Oregon defeated Ohio State 32-31 in what felt like a heavyweight fight as both teams gave body blows in a game that saw six lead changes.
Oregon and Dan Lanning were looking for their first true marquee win after two close losses last year to eventual National Championship finalist Washington and their 49-3 blowout loss to Georgia in their opener back in 2022. Key was a brilliant game by Heisman hopeful quarterback Dillon Gabriel who went 23-34 with 341 yards and 2 touchdowns against the top-rated defense in college football. He also had a key 27-yard touchdown run with 13 minutes left in the game to put Oregon up 29-28.
And the game had a slew of crazy plays that fans will be talking about all week and maybe for years to come including:
- A disputed Ohio State completion in the first quarter that could have been an Oregon interception but, was not reviewed
- An Oregon missed extra point, a failed two-point conversion, and a missed 44-yard field goal
- An Ohio State turnover when RB Quinshon Judkins had the ball taken from him as he went down by Ducks lineman Derrick Harmon
- A kick bouncing off an Ohio State front-line kick return player recovered by Oregon
- An Oregon receiver getting ejected for spitting on an Ohio State defensive back
- And Ohio State QB Will Howard finishing the game with a run that drained the clock and left the Buckeyes unable to attempt the game-winning field goal
- The list could go on …
Oregon overcame not having probably their best defensive player being out in defensive end Jordan Burch though to be fair Ohio State lost their best offensive lineman and future potential first round draft pick Left Tackle Josh Simmons. This gives Oregon probably the best win in college football so far this year putting them in great position to make both the Big Ten title game and 12-team playoff field.
2. Ohio State defense comes up small and mistakes at games-end doom the Buckeyes in loss – but there is a silver lining.
The 32-31 loss to Oregon on Saturday night will bring out all the Ryan Day nay-sayers. I am not one of them.
On the road against a team that clearly has among the Top 5 most talented rosters in the nation, Ohio State ultimately could have won if not for an offensive pass interference penalty on a freshman star wide receiver in his sixth game (Jeremiah Smith) with under a minute left and Ohio State already in range to make a game-winning field goal. And a mistake by quarterback Will Howard in not sliding and calling timeout in time with six seconds left in the game for a hopeful long field goal.
This was a game where just one play that is different on either side results in a different outcome. What is super disappointing for Ohio State beyond the mistakes at the end, was the performance of the defense which came into the game rated 1st in defense for both the Big Ten and in the nation (giving up 202 yards/game) and just 73 yards/game in rushing, good for 3rd in the nation.
Ohio State gave up 496 yards of offense including a season-high 155 yards on the ground at 5.0 yards/carry. But the real issue was giving up big chunk plays that came from the Oregon passing game which is now a concerning pattern we have seen in really big games for Ohio State and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
In this one, it came from the Ducks passing game. Dillon Gabriel threw for 341 yards that included second quarter connections of 69-yards to Evan Stewart in the second quarter and a 48-yard pass to Tez Johnson. In general, the OSU secondary struggled to cover the Ducks receivers and cornerback Denzel Burke especially struggled giving up two TDs to his receivers in coverage. Was this a case of just a bad game for OSU or do they have a real problem in the secondary? The Penn State game will probably reveal that.
There are several silver linings here for OSU. In the old college landscape, this game could have been life or death. But with the 12-team playoffs, this could be the first of possibly two or even three matchups of these two teams this year including the Big Ten Championship and the playoffs.
Also, despite the misstep at the end, Ohio State found out quarterback Will Howard was more than up to the challenge of excelling in big games. That bodes well for the future. Also, we know from the past it’s vital to be battle tested in games which toughens you up for future opportunities. And you learn a lot about your team and what adjustments are needed.
3. Penn State overcomes 14-point halftime deficit to USC and guts out win with late clutch plays that in the past has been a struggle under James Franklin.
Down 20-6 at the half on the road to an inspired USC team. Most Penn State fans would have to be thinking the likelihood of a comeback under a James Franklin team is really small. Maybe this team is different as quarterback Drew Allar and TE Tyler Warren played inspired football in the second half and Penn State got several key plays to pull out the 33-30 overtime win over the Trojans.
Allar had to overcome three interceptions in going 20-43 for 391 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Nits opened the second half going 75 yards in about two minutes capped by a 32-yard pass to Tyler Warren who had a monster game with 17 receptions for 224 yards and was virtually un-guardable by USC. Those stats are what many tight ends have in an entire season.
Penn State still found themselves down 30-23 with 6 minutes left in the game and marched 75 yards over 9 plays that included two clutch fourth-down conversion passes from Allar to Ohio State transfer WR Julian Fleming.
Penn State did get two favorable non-calls for pass interference, but good teams put themselves in position to take advantage of things like that. Now, there is more work to do with the next two games at Wisconsin and Ohio State at home but winning at least one of those will put the Nittany Lions in a great spot to make the 12-team playoffs.
4. USC wastes big win opportunity by doing “anti-Belichick thing” letting Penn State’s star player (TE Tyler Warren) dominate.
USC and Lincoln Riley needed this game badly after a couple close losses and came out focused and fired up and held a 20-6 lead at the half with a well-balanced offensive attack. New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn clearly has made this defense better and tougher.
But USC came into the game with the second to last rated Big Ten run defense and Penn State had the third best Big Ten rushing attack. For the game, USC held PSU to just 118 yards rushing at 3.8 yards/carry. In addition, USC rode running back Woody Mark’s 111 rushing yards to compile 189 total at 7.9 yards/rush easily outgaining the Nits which should have resulted in a win.
Instead, USC ignored what I believe is defensive guru Bill Belichick’s number one rule. Try to take away the other teams #1 offensive strength and make them beat you some other way. In this case, it is clearly TE Tyler Warren who had a tight end game for the ages with 17 receptions for 224 yards. He had more yards than USC had in total passing yards (220).
It wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter that USC had one of their best defensive backs try to track Warren, but by then the damage had been done. Winning football games sometimes just comes down to in-game adjustments and USC and D’Anton Lynn failed that test and got their 3rd Big Ten loss moving to 3-3 overall and has head coach Lincoln Riley looking for answers.
5. The big winner Saturday was the Big Ten. The Oregon/OSU and Penn St/USC games must watch TV and showed they have 3 legitimate playoff teams.
Typically, in the Big Ten, other than the end of season “THE Game” between Ohio State and Michigan, the excitement and drama around games has come up well short vs the SEC. It just has. But this is a new era, and we got to see the results of that on Saturday.
First with Penn State at USC on Saturday afternoon and then Ohio State at Oregon that night, the Big Ten delivered compelling games, with big plays by big-time players in electric atmospheres. The addition of the four former Pac 12 teams (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington) was hoped to provide much more compelling and competitive matchups. So far this year – mission accomplished.
Not only will this generate strong TV ratings giving the conference even more power, but more competitive games mean whatever Big Ten teams end up making the 12-team playoff will be much more battle tested to possibly make a deep run at a National Title. I believe this has been a problem for the Big Ten vs the SEC since the SEC typically is deeper and the teams who emerge are better positioned to win.
Ohio State is a team in particular that will benefit and the loss at Oregon is perfect preparation to go play better at Penn State in Happy Valley later this month. I anticipate impressive TV ratings for these two games.
6. Wisconsin rolls at Rutgers showing Luke Fickell’s team may be settling into their new Air Raid system.
Coming off a 52-6 beatdown of Purdue after a disappointing loss at USC, Wisconsin was hoping to keep their momentum going at Rutgers who were 2.5-point favorites despite Wisconsin’s 5-0 overall record against the Scarlet Knights. The Badgers did exactly that generating a 14-0 lead at the half, and then outscoring Rutgers 28-7 in the second half to win in a rout 42-7.
Rutgers issue of being one-dimensional on offense was magnified by the Badgers stellar play where they outgained the Scarlet Knights 551 to 271 and had a 24 to 13 first down advantage. It took until the second half for Rutgers finally to generate ground game success running for 168 yards at 4.8 carry.
But the passing game was dreadful with many dropped passes and poor throws. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis went a dismal 12-32 for 103 yards and an interception.
Meanwhile the Badgers rolled to 551 yards of offense including 311-yards rushing at 6.8/carry. Senior running back Tawee Walker had a breakout game rushing for 198 yards and three touchdowns at 8.3 yards/carry. QB Braedyn Locke was mostly efficient going 20-28 for 240 yards for a touchdown with one interception. This is what a good Air Raid offense should look like. Fairly equal success running and passing.
The Badgers are 4-2 and 2-1 in conference and are still in the Big Ten title hunt. Next up is at Northwestern, followed by a rugged 3-game stretch of Penn State, Iowa and Oregon.
7. Purdue finally shows they haven’t quit on HC Ryan Walters in heartbreaking OT loss to the Illini.
After watching Purdue get blown out the week before at Wisconsin, I really felt Purdue had quit in the second half of that game. And it still looked like that for Purdue up until the half where they trailed Illinois 24-3 and looked dead in the water as 21.5-point underdogs.
In the second half Illinois kicked a field goal on their first drive to go up 27-3 but then Purdue got a 53-yard TD pass from Ryan Browne to Jahmal Edrine with 7:33 left in the third and that lit a spark in the Boilermakers who cut the lead to 27-20 at the end of the quarter. It looked like Purdue would pull off the 24-point comeback when Devin Mockobee took a 13-yard pass from Browne with 0:46 seconds left to go up 43-40.
But credit to Illinois and Luke Altmeyer who quickly marched down the field and kicked a game tying 38-yard field goal as time expired. In overtime Illinois scored first on a 25-yard touchdown to go up 50-43 and Purdue responded with a 3-yard run on their possession and went for two but Ryan Browne’s 2-point conversion attempt to Jahmal Edrine failed as Purdue lost a 50-49 heartbreaker.
But for Ryan Walters and his team, this was encouraging as they took the #23 ranked team in the country down to the wire and it wasn’t a fluke as they piled up 536 yards to Illinois 556. The tough part for 1-5 Purdue is the schedule. Three of the next four games are against #2 Oregon, #4 Ohio State and #3 Penn State. Brutal.
8. Washington lays an egg at Iowa losing the momentum they had from the big Michigan victory.
I have been saying since the Rutgers game a couple weeks back that Washington is my number one choice in the Big Ten to have a big second half of the year. They backed that up with a huge win over #10 Michigan last week and this week I picked them to cover the 2.5 points and beat Iowa.
This was a dangerous game for Washington as Iowa was coming off a big 35-7 loss to Ohio State and with their return home you knew there were going to play well. But I really felt Washington was so well rounded as a team ranking fifth in total defense in the Big Ten and third in offense with a balanced attack averaging 463 yards/game behind only Indiana and Ohio State.
I was wrong. Iowa showed they are just a different team at home and controlled this game from the start scoring first and leading 20-10 at the half. Then easily pulled away in the second half winning 40-16 behind Kaleb Johnson’s 166 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
This was Kirk Ferentz’s 200th career win as a head coach and it was a vintage Hawkeye win. Statistically Washington won the yardage battle 393 to 328 but stats can be deceiving as Iowa consistently had short fields to work with while Washington had to drive long distances. QB Cade McNamara threw just 14 times for 108 yards but had two touchdowns, and Iowa had two takeaways and zero turnovers themselves which is part of their winning formula.
At 2-1 in the Big Ten, Iowa is still in the hunt for the Big Ten championship and their schedule is very reasonable with no remaining games against ranked teams. It’s a much different story for 2-2 in the Big Ten Washington as this loss virtually eliminates them, so their focus will become a top line bowl game, but their schedule includes three teams ranked in the Top 25 (Indiana, Penn State and Oregon).
9. Minnesota rallies from 10 down at half as UCLA blows a win due to penalties and turnovers.
UCLA came in 1-4 and 0-3 in the conference and in need of a big win for first-year coach DeShaun Foster. And at the half it looked good as the Bruins led Minnesota 10-0. But Minnesota transfer quarterback Max Brosmer showed what a difference maker he is for the Gophers and led the comeback with two second half touchdown passes including the game-winning 4-yard pass to Darius Taylor with 0:27 to pull out the 21-17 win for the Gophers.
UCLA outgained the Gophers 329 to 234 and neither team could run the ball. UCLA came in with the worst rated rushing attack in the Big Ten and had only 36 yards on 26 carries so that was no big surprise. The problem though is in the Big Ten if you can’t run at all, you can’t win. It is that simple, so the Bruins need to figure that out or they may not win a game the rest of this year. And what is CRAZY is the Bruins led the Pac 12 in rushing just last year.
The surprise is the Gophers could not run the ball either. Even though Minnesota came in second to last in the Big Ten in rushing, last week they got 144 yards rushing from tailback Darius Taylor, so I thought the Gophers had possibly solved their rushing issues. But they only had 41 yards in 24 attempts vs the Bruins and Taylor had just 30 yards on 16 carries.
Long-term the Gophers are going to need to run more efficiently to continue winning these close games.
10. Ugly loss to Northwestern means Maryland’s 4-year streak of bowl games is likely over.
It was a badly needed first Big Ten win for Northwestern and coach Ryan Braun over Maryland 37-10, who are looking to show last year’s success was no fluke. They moved to 3-3 and 1-2 in the Big Ten and have a really tough schedule the rest of the way so this was likely a must win for their bowl hopes. Next up will be Wisconsin but they also have three ranked teams remaining on their schedule (Ohio State, Michigan, and Illinois).
For Maryland (3-3) and coach Mike Locksley, this was an absolutely devastating loss that saw their Big Ten record fall to 0-3, and I think puts their 4-year bowl streak in jeopardy as they need to find six wins. Next up is home at USC. They still have road games at Minnesota, Oregon and Penn State. And home games vs Rutgers and Iowa. It looks like they need to win those three home games of USC, Rutgers and Iowa which is not going to be easy.
For Mike Locksley, to come off of a bye week and play so poorly with 4 turnovers including 3 fumbles lost, is inexplicable. This was the Terrapins 10th straight loss after a bye going back to 2017. Maryland couldn’t run the ball with 59 yards rushing and had 296 yards passing but a lot of came in the second half after Northwestern was well ahead in the game.
Locksley needs to show some positive momentum the second half of this year or Maryland fans will wonder if he’s the right coach to lead them in the more rugged 18-team Big Ten.
College Football Week 7 Takeaways: National Championship Contenders Separate From the Pack (msn.com)
