First and Ten – Week Nine

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

BRUINS THE BEST

Raise your hands if you thought UCLA would be the last undefeated team in the Big Ten after the ninth week of the season. Only Bob Chesney’s relatives may have had that kind of faith in what the first year coach could do with the Bruins. But here they are with an 8-0 overall record heading into Saturday’s trip to Minnesota.

LIFE OR RILEY

USC’s win over Ohio State was the signature win head coach Lincoln Riley had been searching for in his tenure with the Trojans. USC looked very much in control on both sides of the ball last Saturday against the Buckeyes and have a huge boost of momentum now for the closing stretch of the regular season.

BUCKEYE BLACK EYE

On the other side of the coin, Ohio State has now lost two very night profile games this year to both Texas and now Ohio State. Although the Buckeyes are still in the picture to make the College Football Playoff, it’s questionable whether this team can make a sustained run to another title.

GETTING A KICK OUT OF THE HOOSIERS

Indiana’s battle with Minnesota was another example of how much this Hoosier team has to grind out wins this year versus last. Taking nothing away from a Golden Gopher team that has shown a lot of fight this season, the battle of 60-yard field goals that got the game to overtime before Indiana won probably shouldn’t have been as close it it turned out.

WHAT UP WISCONSIN?

Just a week after upsetting USC the Badgers went to Iowa and were shut out 30-0. Wisconsin had climbed into the AP Top 25, but will obviously slide back after a more than disappointing outing against the Hawkeyes.

HAWKEYE HANK

Iowa’s offense, or lack of it, as usual was a topic of conversation headlng into the weekend and at Wisconsin matchup. But quarterback Hank Brown stepped up in a big way and sparked an offense that had Iowa up 20-0 at half and never looked back.

DUCKS STILL HUNTING WINS

Oregon rose up with a performance that was more in line of what most people thought the Ducks would be this year. A 34-26 comeback win over Northwestern led by quarterback Dylan Raiola who threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns showed there’s still life in Eugene.

NEBRASKA MELT DOWN

A 5-0 Corn Husker start to the season is now a 5-3 Nebraska team after another late game breakdown against Washington. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr., engineered a crucial 12-play, 81-yard drive capped by a 25-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Chris Lawson with 1:30 remaining for Washington to get back in the game Then moments later, Alex McLaughlin’s interception and return for a 48 yards pick-six to sealed the win and stunned the Husker crowd.

TGI FRIDAYS

There are just four weeks left in the season and the rest of the way, the Big Ten weekends will kick off a bit early with Friday nights dotting the remaining conference schedule.

0 FOR CONFERENCE

And then there were two…..Michigan State and Rutgers are the only two teams left without Big Ten Conference victories this season.