by Sean Szymczak
The Big Ten delivered some classically ugly football in week 6. Iowa vs Michigan State, Rutgers vs Wisconsin, & Nebraska vs Illinois were both defensive slug fests with sloppy offensive play.
Michigan topped last week’s demolition of Nebraska for its best performance of the season. Maryland proved to be a worthy adversary and was the better team in the 1st against Ohio State, but the Buckeyes proved once again to be a second-half team.
There is finally some stability in the power rankings, as the pecking order of the conference is becoming clear.
I see 5 clear tiers:
- Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State
- Wisconsin, Maryland
- Iowa, Rutgers
- Nebraska, Purdue, Minnesota
- Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan State, Indiana
Read every team’s breakdown below:
The Floor Slap’s Week 7 Big Ten Power Rankings
1) Michigan (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
Last Week: 2
Week 6 Result: W 52-10 at Minnesota
Michigan simply throttled Minnesota. The Wolverines eclipsed 10 yards per pass attempt, rushed at nearly 6 yards per attempt, committed only 1 penalty, and converted 50% of their 3rd downs. Their offensive line has gotten it together over these past two weeks and their defense continues to dominate. It’s nice to finally see the Wolverines dominating, but their opponents are still vastly overmatched. They’ll continue to end games before the 4th quarter until their three-game finale of Penn State, Maryland, & Ohio State. We won’t know how good Michigan truly is until then.
Up Next: Indiana vs Michigan (-34.5), Saturday at 12pm EST on FOX
2) Ohio State (5-0, 2-0 B1G)
Last Week: 1
Week 6 Result: W 37-17 vs Maryland
The 1st half against Maryland was bad. Kyle McCord looked rushed and inaccurate, both lines of scrimmage were being pushed around, and there seemed to be an overall lack of energy. A poor decision by Taulia on a pick-six, a few dropped passes, and a couple big defensive stands allowed the Buckeyes to take a 10-10 tie into halftime. The clock mismanagement as time expired helped too. Maryland took the opening possession for a touchdown, but the Silver Bullets stonewalled the Terps for the rest of the game. Kyle McCord was once again nearly perfect in the 4th quarter and Ohio State rolled. The offensive line concerns are legitimate, but this is undoubtedly one of the nation’s best defenses. If McCord can get in a rhythm earlier, the Buckeyes could become incredibly dangerous.
Up Next: Ohio State (-20.5) vs Purdue, Saturday at 12pm EST on Peacock
3) Penn State (5-0, 3-0 B1G)
Last Week: 3
Week 6 Result: bye
This three-week stretch of Northwestern, idle, and UMass might be the most unceremonious in program history. But the first mega-showdown of the season is only two weeks ago. That game in Columbus should be a classic.
Up Next: UMass vs Penn State, Saturday at 3:30pm EST on BTN
4) Wisconsin (4-1, 2-0 B1G)
Last Week: 5
Week 6 Result: W 24-13 vs Rutgers
A still-growing offensive line got it’s best test of the season against a stout Rutgers front and went blow for blow with them. Although they gave up a couple sacks and were stuffed on a few plays, Wisconsin was able to ride its run game to victory. Rutgers had a chance to go into halftime down one possession, but Gavin Wimsatt telegraphed a late throw near the goal line that was picked off by Ricardo Hallman and returned 95 yards to the house. With a 17-0 halftime lead, the Badgers went into cruise control the rest of the game. Tanner Mordecai made a few big throws in the 1st half but wasn’t asked to do much in the 2nd half. He was a weapon with his legs, rushing for 50 yards and a couple key scrambles on 3rd down. Mordecai has turned into a good game-manager with sneaky-good mobility. The defense and offenisve line continue to get better every week. If Wisconsin beats Iowa this weekend (which they shouldn’t have too much trouble doing), they should cruise to a Big Ten West title.
Up Next: Iowa vs Wisconsin (-9.5), Saturday at 4pm EST on FOX
5) Maryland (5-1, 2-1 B1G)
Last Week: 4
Week 6 Result: L 17-37 at Ohio State
Maryland easily could have had a 24-3 lead over Ohio State at halftime. A dropped TD pass, failure to score a TD inside the 5, a bad decision by Taulia on the pick-six, and an inexplicable check-down in the middle of the field as time expired helped the Buckeyes stay tied at 10. Maryland proved they can hang with the best teams in the conference in that 1st half, but great teams don’t beat themselves like that. Even though the offensive line eventually unraveled in the 2nd half against one of the nation’s best defenses, the Terrapin defensive front was immovable all day long. There are a lot of good things to build off for a Maryland team hoping to reach double-digit wins this season. But letting a program-defining upset fall through their fingers certainly hurts. The Terps host Illinois, get a bye, then travel to Northwestern before welcoming Penn State to town. They have plenty of time to fine-tune those mistakes they made.
Up Next: Illinois vs Maryland (-14.5), Saturday at 3:30pm EST on NBC
6) Iowa (5-1, 2-1 B1G)
Last Week: 7
Week 6 Result: W 20-14 vs Purdue
If you take away Kaleb Johnson’s 67-yard touchdown where he ran untouched to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead on their second possession, Iowa averaged only 4 yards per play. And that was against a defense that was giving up over 6 yards per play coming into the game. In fact, over half of Iowa’s total yardage came on only four plays. Good on the Hawkeyes for finally finding some explosive plays, but it was yet another ugly offensive game. Purdue was able to move the ball on Iowa, but the defense continually came up with big plays as they always do. They held the Boilermakers to 9-19 on 3rd down, 0-2 on 4th, and picked Hudson Card off twice. This was as typical of an Iowa game as you can find. They weren’t necessarily the better team, but the defense just knows how to pull out a win. The season is really riding on this trip Madison. An upset win would put Iowa in the West’s driving seat and right all the wrongs we’ve seen so far this season. But a loss simply confirm what we already know about this team.
Up Next: Iowa (+9.5) vs Wisconsin, Saturday at 4pm EST on FOX
7) Rutgers (4-2, 1-2 B1G)
Last Week: 6
Week 6 Result: L 13-24 at Wisconsin
I came out of this game confident that Rutgers is a bowl-caliber team. This was certainly a winnable game for the Scarlet Knights – one that was lost because they were thrown off script offensively. The pick-six Wimsatt threw right before halftime gutted any chance Rutgers had at the upset. A 17-0 lead was simply too much for this offense to overcome, as they had to move away from their identity of possessing the ball and grinding out tough yardage on the ground. Although Schiano clearly has this program on the right track, fans in Piscataway, NJ deserve more from the offensive side of the ball. Rutgers needs a win this weekend.
Up Next: Michigan State vs Rutgers (-6), Saturday at 3:30pm EST on BTN
8) Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 B1G)
Last Week: 10
Week 6 Result: W 20-7 at Illinois
Another ugly Big Ten West battle. The final eight possessions of the game went: turnover on downs, fumble, punt, interception, interception, fumble, turnover on downs, end of game. But to Nebraska’s credit, this felt like a game they would’ve found a way to lose under Scott Frost. The blackshirt defense left Illinois with zero options. Luke Altmyer was running for his life on seemingly every drop back and they mustered only 1.1 yards per carry. Haarberg doesn’t necessarily throw a pretty ball, but he is running this offense much more effectively than Sims was. The bye week is well-timed, as Nebraska gets Northwestern, Purdue, and Michigan State coming out of it. They may need to win all three to get to a bowl game.
Up Next: bye
9) Purdue (2-4, 1-2 B1G)
Last Week: 8
Week 6 Result: L 14-20 at Iowa
Purdue fought to the very end – I have to give them credit there. On a play-to-play basis, I thought Purdue looked like the better team. In fact, they outgained Iowa by 52 yards on the day. But the Boiler offensive line just couldn’t hold up against an Iowa front that had their best day of the year. Purdue gave up 6 sacks and a staggering 12 TFLs. But one of these teams knew how to win tight, ugly games and another didn’t. Purdue gets a bye week after their upcoming matchup against Ohio State. With a likely blowout loss upcoming, that bye week will be integral to what RyanWalters is building here. Will players quit on the season? Or can Walters get more fight out of this young squad?
Up Next: Purdue (+20.5) vs Ohio State, Saturday at 12pm EST on Peacock
10) Minnesota (3-3, 1-2 B1G)
Last Week: 9
Week 6 Result: L 10-52 vs Michigan
There wasn’t a whole lot of good to take from this week. As was the case with Nebraska when they hosted Michigan the week before, this was a burn the tape week. A bowl game is still attainable for this team as long as they don’t away from should be their winning formula moving forward: run the ball, run the ball again, and keep running the ball. Set up Kaliakmanis to have two or three deep shots off of play action a game but keep the ball out of his hand as much as possible. The defense has to get takeaways too, as their defensive front is not big or athletic enough to hang with even the offenses of the Big Ten West. I’m interested to see what Minnesota looks like when they face Nebraska out of the bye.
Up Next: bye
11) Northwestern (3-3, 1-2 B1G)
Last Week: 11
Week 6 Result: W 23-20 vs Howard
Hey, a win is a win right? David Braun summed it up perfectly after the game: “The second you start taking winning for granted, you have bigger issues. You celebrate wins.” This is a team that has to cherish every win they get. The lack of talent on this roster is apparent, but Braun has this team playing with heart and finding ways to win. The three wins they have entering their bye is more than most expected them to win all season. Even if they don’t win again, this has been a successful season by the Wildcats. They just have to keep fighting.
Up Next: bye
12) Illinois (2-4, 0-2 B1G)
Last Week: 12
Week 6 Result: L 7-20 vs Nebraska
Illinois has allowed 23 sacks in just 6 games (120th in the country) and is averaging 127 rush yrads per game (100th) at merely 4 yards per carry (85th). Needless to say, Illinois’ offensive line might be the worst in the entire Power 5. That much was apparent in Friday’s spanking against Nebraska, as they mustered 21 rush yards on 19 carries. I will continue to stand by Luke Altmyer who has proven to have as much talent as any QB in the West. But he is running for his life every time he steps back to throw. Not to mention he’s constantly playing from behind, as this defense is far from a unit that was expected to at least be in the top half of the conference. Illinois, now 3-8 in their past 11 games, isn’t making a bowl game this year. That much is certain. But how long will both sides of the ball struggle until Bielema makes a drastic change?
Up Next: Illinois (+14.5) at Maryland, Saturday at 3:30pm EST on NBC
13) Michigan State (2-3, 0-2 B1G)
Last Week: 13
Week 6 Result: bye
Hopefully Michigan State buried the film from the first five games and used this bye week to start a new season under interim coach Harlon Barnett. Rutgers is as good of a matchup as they could have hoped for to start off on the right foot out of the bye. For as much as they have struggled over the past three games, the Spartans’ defensive front remains stout. They should be able to contain a Rutgers offense that still has yet to develop a formidable downfield pass attack. They key will be how Katin Houser helps this offense out. They will likely struggle to run the ball again. Can Houser open up this offense while also taking care of the football?
Up Next: Michigan State (+6) vs Rutgers, Saturday at 12pm EST on BTN
14) Indiana (2-3, 0-2 B1G)
Last Week: 14
Week 6 Result: bye
Unlike Michigan State, the Hoosiers get their worst nightmare coming out of the bye. Maybe the defense can find the swagger they played with in their first three games and attempt to make Michigan a one-dimensional team. If McCarthy has to carry the offense with his arm, you can at least hope he makes some mistakes. But even if the best-case scenario plays out and Indiana slows down a Michigan offense that has scored nearly 100 points over the past two games, I can’t see Indiana’s anemic offense mustering much against the Wolverine defense. Any hope Indiana has at salvaging the season will have to come from the offensive line.
Up Next: Indiana (+34.5) vs Michigan, Saturday at 12pm EST on FOX