Week 8 was full of great games in Big Ten football. Many contenders proved themselves. UCLA keeps rolling, and the bottom of the Big Ten remains Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State. Penn State could fall to those teams with yet another collapse. Oregon got a bounce-back win, as did Michigan, which gave Washington an old-fashioned Big Ten thrashing. It is not a complete week in the Big Ten without a USC disappointment.
Here are the scores from this weekend in Big Ten football for Week 8, along with my breakdown for each team:
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Minnesota 24-6 vs Nebraska (Friday)
This was a game Nebraska needed to win, if they wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive. Nebraska could not run the ball, and Minnesota had zero issues running the ball. The Gophers’ defense stifled a hot Nebraska offense. Big win by the Gophers, and the Penn State rumors might have distracted this team and Matt Rhule.
Michigan 24-7 vs Washington
The superstar quarterback on the field in this game was Bryce Underwood and not Demond Williams. Williams threw three picks, and this offense ran out of magic against a good Big Ten team. Jordan Marshall was great running the ball in place of Haynes. It was the freshmen Underwood and Jordan Marsh that were too much for the Huskies in this game. Huge bounce-back win for the Wolverines.
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Northwestern 19-0 vs Purdue
Northwestern gets its 4th straight win as Preston Stone continues to keep rolling. Northwestern is trending in the right direction. Purdue is heading towards a 2-win season.
Ohio State 34-0 vs Wisconsin
This was actually a better performance than I was expecting. Carnell Tate and Julian Sayin dominate the Badgers in this one. Yet another aftermath, the question grows larger will Luke Fickell be fired after this one?
Indiana 38-13 vs Michigan State
Fernando Mendoza put up a clinic passing performance against Michigan State, one of his best passing performances this season. Indiana is rolling, and so is the Mendoza Heisman campaign.
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Oregon 56-10 vs Rutgers
Great response by Oregon yesterday. Rutgers has been competitive with the teams they have faced this season. Not in this one. Dante Moore got back to playing at an elite level, and the Ducks have two 100-yard rushers in this game.
Iowa 25-24 vs Penn State
At a point in this game, Penn State was looking like UCLA. Then things fell back into reality and Penn State collapsed again. This season continues to be disastrous. Who would have thought that James Franklin would appear on College Gameday? Mark Gronowski was brought in to win games through the air. In this game, he had 68 yards. The passing attack still remains in question. However, Gronowski carried the Hawkeyes to a comeback from behind victory with 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
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UCLA 20-17 vs Maryland
Three late scoring drives for the Bruins to get their third straight win. It is no longer a question; this turnaround is for real. This team just continues to win games.
Notre Dame 34-24 vs USC
This was the typical Lincoln Riley choke job. A lot of things went wrong for the Trojans, yet they still had many opportunities to win this football game. Notre Dame was the team that capitalized more on their opponents’ mistakes, and did not make mistakes in crucial moments. USC beat themselves and lost all the momentum that was built up from last week’s Michigan win.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Biggest winners and losers from Week 8 in Big Ten football
