Big Ten Recap: Spartans Get Needed Win, Nebraska Bouncing Back
Big Ten play moved into full gear this week, and there weren't too many surprising results across the league.
For the most part, all of the teams that were favored took care of business this week. Of the six games in the Big Ten this week, all but one of the favorites won with Maryland's upset at Minnesota standing as the outlier.
There weren't a lot of upsets, but there were still some exciting games that took place this weekend. Michigan State used a few late fourth quarter stops to hold onto a victory over Iowa, while Wisconsin nearly blew a 21-point fourth quarter lead against Northwestern. There were also a few blowouts as well -- Ohio State beat Rutgers by more than 50 points.
Check out all of the Big Ten scores from Week 5 of the regular season and a few key takeaways moving forward.
Scores
Nebraska - 28, Illinois - 6
Northwestern - 24, No. 10 Wisconsin - 33
Maryland - 31, Minnesota - 24
Indiana - 14, No. 4 Penn State - 45
Iowa - 10, Michigan State - 17
No. 11 Ohio State - 56, Rutgers - 0
Teams on bye: Michigan and Purdue
Notable Takeaways From This Week
-Spartans Get Needed Win Before Rival Michigan: After taking a beating last week against Notre Dame, Michigan State had their backs to the wall and they responded with a key victory over Iowa. This wasn't a pretty one by any means, but the Spartans made just enough plays to pull it out. Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke bounced back with 212 passing yards and two touchdowns, as well as 42 rushing yards on 12 carries. Michigan State will now shift its focus to a huge matchup with rival Michigan next week. This will by far be the Spartans' toughest game so far this year.
-Nebraska Back In The Mix?: It might be a little early to throw Nebraska back into the mix for the Big Ten West Division title, but at least the sky isn't falling in Lincoln anymore. The Cornhuskers have bounced back from an embarrassing loss to Northern Illinois with back-to-back wins to begin Big Ten play. Now, those wins were against Rutgers and Illinois so not the stiffest competition, but both were double-digit victories. Nebraska is now 2-0 in Big Ten play but the next two weeks will be very telling -- the Cornhuskers host No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 11 Ohio State.
-What Can't Saquon Do?: We haven't hit October yet but it looks like the Heisman favorite is right here in the Big Ten. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley continued to amaze the college football world with another impressive performance on Saturday. Barkley did it all for the Nittany Lions against Indiana -- he ran for 56 yards, had four receptions for 51 yards, threw a touchdown pass and opened the game with a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. Those numbers may not be as impressive as last week, but again he proved he's arguably the most dynamic player in all of college football. If the Heisman Trophy was given out tomorrow, he'd have to be one of the top contenders.
