First and Ten – Week Five

Ten takeaways from the fifth weekend of Big Ten Football. You can follow along all season on SiriusXM Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372).

SHINY AND NEW

Northwestern’s new Ryan Field made its impressive debut Friday night in a prime time matchup between the Wildcats and Penn State. The state-of-the-art stadium ushered in a new era for the Northwestern football program and immediately became the envy of more than one school/program around the country.

CATS ON THE PROWL

The night couldn’t have gone better for the home team as Northwestern pounced on the Nittany Lions in a hurry and led by a relentless ground game rolled to a 34-13 victory. It didn’t matter quarterback Aidan Chiles had less than 100 yards passing when the prolific running game was so good.

RANKINGS SNUB

Despite the 3-1 start and Friday night’s solid win over Penn State, Northwestern did not crack the AP Top 25. But head coach David Braun made it very clear, it doesn’t matter to his squad. “That’s bait,” Braun told reporters Monday. “Those are things that just turn into a distraction. And if you asked any of our players about the message this morning, I was very direct on all that.”

HUGE TROJAN COMEBACK

Speaking of USC, the Trojans had to pull one out late versus Washington last Saturday night. Late heroics by quarterback Jayden Maiava and a fumble return touchdown by Jahkeem Stewart helped USA squad past a very good Washington team. Now it’s back on the road and a cross country trip to play Penn State.

PENN STATE WOES

Friday night’s game did raise a couple of questions – is Northwestern that good or is Penn State not as good as many people expected. Truth be told, the answer is probably a bit of both. No question Northwestern is playing great football on both sides of the line and it certainly showed against Penn State. However, Matt Campbell’s squad, who many felt might be in the upper echelon of the conference in the -re-season has underperformed and now doesn’t get a breather with USC in town for Saturday night’s “White Out” game.

BUCKEYES BACK ON TRACK

Anyone that might have questioned how good Ohio State is had an answer Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes went into a hostile Iowa environment and dominated the Hawkeyes 31-14 with a combo of offensive firepower and shut down defense. That was bad news for Maryland, who comes to The Horseshoe this Saturday,

GO GO GOPHERS

Minnesota scored its second straight conference win with a thrilling 20-14 victory over Michigan. PJ Fleck’s team has already exceeded a lot of pre-season expectations, which is exactly what drives the energetic head coach. Now it’s what all of a sudden is an intriguing road game at Purdue on Saturday.

RED HOT BOILERMAKERS

Purdue hosting Minnesota takes on a new dynamic after the Boilermakers went into Champaign and upset Illinois 24-17. Purdue scored points in every quarter and played solid defense when it mattered most to thwart any hopes of an Illinois comeback to secure the win. The win was definitely the biggest in head coach Barry Odom’s one year and change Purdue tenure.

HUSKERS HOT TOO

Two unbeaten teams meet Saturday as 5-0 Nebraska hosts reigning National Champs Indiana, who hasn’t lost a game in its last 21 contests. Cornhuskers quarterback Anthony Colandrea versus Hoosiers signal caller Josh Hoover has the makings of a very intriguing day in Lincoln.

O FOR CONFERENCE

Seven teams have yet to put a W on the board in conference play. Illinois, Michigan, Penn State, Washington, Michigan State, Maryland and Rutgers. Illinois and Michigan State play each other in East Lansing on Saturday so at least one team this weekend will erase the goose egg in the conference win total.