To get a better picture of the league hierarchy, On3 is rolling out Big Ten power rankings. Remember, power rankings are fluid: There’s movement week-to-week, and the rankings reflect a team’s current position compared to the rest of the conference.
It’s only a matter of time before the Ohio State defense delivers its first shutout since 2019. The Buckeyes piled up 10 tackles for loss, including five sacks, three takeaways and two defensive touchdowns in a 52-6 win over Akron.
The Ohio State offense, on the other hand, came out tight. But a flurry of touchdowns in the second half and the head-turning connection between Kansas State graduate transfer quarterback Will Howard and true freshman wideout Jeremiah Smith stole the show.
Drew Allar picked apart West Virginia in the season opener for the second year in a row. Allar tossed three touchdowns, most notably a pair to finally-healthy Harrison “Trey” Wallace III , in the second quarter. Running back Nick Singleton rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown.
In short, the first game of the Andy Kotelnicki offense was a good one. Penn State had four plays of 40-plus yards from scrimmage in a 34-12 rout of WVU — the Nittany Lions had eight of those all last season .
Oregon didn’t look like the trendy Big Ten champion pick it became this offseason. The Ducks underwhelmed in their opener, beating Idaho only 24-14 despite recording 487 total yards of offense.
Former UCF and Oklahoma star quarterback Dillon Gabriel dinked and dunked Oregon to victory, completing 41-of-49 passes for 380 yards and two scores. But the Ducks had just three plays of 20-plus yards from scrimmage while giving up four to an Idaho team that might make some FCS noise this year.
USC hasn’t started Big Ten play yet, but the Trojans looked like a Big Ten team against LSU. The Trojans seized the top-25, neutral-site matchup in Allegiant Stadium, defeating the No. 13 Tigers, 27-20, and doing so with much-needed physicality on the defensive side of the ball.
New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s imprint was felt on his unit, which allowed only 117 rushing yards to an LSU team publicly confident in its ability to run the ball this year. Quarterback Miller Moss picked up where he left off in the Holiday Bowl, throwing for 378 yards. And USC wideout Kyron Hudson made what could easily be the catch of the year.
As was the case at Oregon, things were too close for comfort at Michigan Saturday. The Wolverines defeated Fresno State, 30-10, but the margin of victory is misleading.
In Sherrone Moore’s first game as full-time head coach, Michigan had a mere 13-3 advantage going into the fourth quarter. Then Fresno State made it a one-score game with about 10 minutes to go. A touchdown pass and pick-six cleaned things up for the Wolverines, but it’s still yet to be seen how explosive this offense can be with (1) Davis Warren at quarterback and (2) a new-look offensive line working out kinks.
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, I guess: After scoring only six points in the first half against FCS Illinois State, Iowa pulled away with 34 points over the final two quarters, securing a 40-0 victory. Cade McNamara settled in, throwing for three touchdowns in Tim Lester’s new Hawkeyes offense.
Defensive lineman Aaron Graves wowed with three sacks — that’s double his 2023 total. Look, it’s still “wait and see” for Lester’s group, but Iowa’s defense is pretty darn imposing.
Dylan Raiola was as advertised in his Nebraska debut. The swaggy true freshman quarterback flashed his ability to make off-platform throws and diced up the UTEP defense for 238 passing yards and two touchdowns in less than three quarters of action.
Nebraska held the Miners to 205 total yards, their fewest since 2019 when they finished with just 131 yards in a loss to Texas Tech. The Cornhuskers took care of business and played a mostly clean game, an expected step in the right direction for head coach Matt Rhule.
If Athan Kaliakmanis can make the kind of throws he did against Howard when Rutgers opens up Big Ten play, the Scarlet Knights might reach the top third of the conference. The Minnesota transfer wasn’t extraordinary — he doesn’t have to be with all the talent Rutgers has — but he tossed three touchdowns and displayed passing touch that his predecessor, Gavin Wimsatt , struggled to locate.
Watch out for linebacker Dariel Djabome . The junior mounted a team-high 14 total tackles in the 44-7 win.
Maryland brought in MJ Morris from North Carolina State to compete for the starting quarterback job. Billy Edwards Jr. won it, anyway. The two-year backup for Taulia Tagovailoa got his chance to shine as a season-opening starter and turned in a 300-yard game, plus, more importantly, a 50-7 win over UConn.
The Terrapins obliterated the Huskies to the tune of 629 yards. Maryland in September and Maryland in October/November are often two different teams. If the Terps start hot … again … can they stay hot?
Yes, Washington returned the fewest starters of any team in the Big Ten. Yes, Washington has a new head coach and quarterback … and, well, a lot of other newness, too. But the Huskies are still talented, and they’re in the hands of capable leaders.
Jedd Fisch is wearing the head set, and former Mississippi State signal caller Will Rogers is orchestrating an offense that enjoyed 482 total yards in a 35-3 win over FCS Weber State. Washington is very different in 2024, but the drop-off doesn’t have to be seismic.
There are more candidates to reach the Big Ten Championship than just Ohio State and Oregon. That’s clear after Week 1. Penn State looked legit, and so did USC. Iowa and Michigan are mighty again defensively, but the jury is out on their offenses. The middle of the league has some fun dark horses, like Nebraska and Rutgers. Then there’s the back half of the conference, which will come into picture more as the season goes on — even that bunch has teams that can make a jump into the top 10, namely Wisconsin.
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