First and Ten – Week Seven

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

BIG TIME BUCKEYES

Ohio State’s win over Indiana on Saturday gave Buckeye fans reason to have a bit more swagger as the season crests the hill of its mid-point. Going into a hostile environment and ending the Hoosiers undefeated streak was exactly what Ohio State needed to do to re establish itself as a powerhouse in a lot of people’s eyes.

COSTLY VICTORY

However there wasn’t complete reason to celebrate as Ohio State lost starting quarterback Julian Sayin with a right throwing shoulder injury. The prognosis is for Sayin to miss several weeks of action and it appears Luke Fahey, who took over in Bloomington, will step into the role behind center until his return.

HOOSIER STREAK ENDS

Indiana hadn’t lost a game since December of 2024, an incredible march that of course included the Hoosier’s National Championship of a year ago. The 22-game winning streak being snapped, albeit in somewhat controversial fashion the way Saturday’s game ended, will go down as perhaps one of the most unlikely runs in recent college football history.

BATTLE AT THE TOP PART ONE

In reality, both Ohio State and Indiana have shown they are beatable this year. The case could be made the Hoosiers’ winning streak could have ended either versus Northwestern and Nebraska. Ohio State’s blemish came at the hands of Texas, which was a better team then than it is now. Can both teams run the table and is a repeat conference championship game in the cards.

BATTLE AT THE TOP PART TWO

UCLA AND USC have more than proven they belong in the championship conversation. The Bruins are the only undefeated team in the Big Ten while the one loss Trojans only stumble came at the hands of Oregon back in Week 4. The two LA-based teams don’t appear they’ll be going away anytime soon.

QB 1

USC has the best quarterback in the conference right now in Jayden Maiava. He’s thrown for 2,045 yards, 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Maiava is second in the nation in passing yards and leads the conference at 292.1 passing yards per game.

QB INJURIES PILING UP

Julian Sayin’s injury was the latest in a season that has seen several top quarterbacks in the conference banged up. UCLA’s Nico Iameleave, Illinois’ Katin Houser, and Oregon’s Dante Moore have all gone down forcing backups to take over. For the Bruins, Ty Dieffenbach has done a nice job stepping in behind center and will have to guide UCLA for the remainder of the season.

MICHIGAN MAN

The Wolverines turning to quarterback Tommy Carr has made Michigan a better team. Heralded Bryce Underwood sputtering forced Kyle Whittingham to make the change and Carr came in to lead Michigan to 14 unanswered points in their win over Penn State.

CORNHUSKERS CLOSE

Nebraska has been a much better team this year. However the Huskers missed a couple of big opportunities for signature wins over Oregon and Indiana, a couple of victories that slipped away in the end. For this season to truly be the step forward figuring out how to win is paramount for Nebraska.

O FOR CONFERENCE UPDATE

Rutgers knocking off Maryland got the Scarlet Knights finally in the conference win column leaving just the Terps, Penn State and Michigan State without Big Ten triumphs so far this year.