While it was a crazy week in college football with five top-10 losses, the Big Ten also produced its fair share of big moments.
UCLA earned its sixth straight victory under new coach Bob Chesney to remain the only undefeated team in the conference, while No. 4 Ohio State edged out No. 5 Indiana.
Here’s a look at what went on around the Big Ten in Week 7.
Top-five matchup
Saturday was a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes. This time, however, it was a different outcome, with Ohio State winning 19-15.
Ohio State marched into Bloomington with one loss, while Indiana was one of two undefeated teams in the conference. The Buckeyes pulled ahead with an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter and kept that three-point margin going into halftime.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a Heisman Trophy frontrunner and top NFL draft prospect, was held silent for most of the game. His big moment came in the fourth quarter as he reeled in a 38-yard pass from quarterback Julian Sayin to make it a two-score game.
After the Hoosiers cut the deficit to four points with a touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Hoover to wide receiver Nick Marsh, the Buckeyes began driving down the field before Sayin was sacked and left the game due to an injury. He returned to the sidelines with a sling on his right arm, and coach Ryan Day said postgame Sayin will be out “several weeks.”
The Buckeyes held onto the victory after Indiana’s go-ahead touchdown on fourth down was ruled incomplete, with Marsh stepping out of bounds in the end zone.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day sings the alma mater after the Penn State football game against Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. The Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions 20-13.
Sienna Pinney
UCLA remains undefeated
Chesney has had as good of a start with the Bruins as anyone could hope for, as he led them to victory against Wisconsin on Saturday, becoming the last undefeated team in the Big Ten.
UCLA was coming off of a thrilling 17-15 win against then-No. 13 Oregon where quarterback Nico Iamaleava suffered a significant knee injury. Saturday’s game was the first without him, and backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach delivered a good enough performance to come out on top.
Despite Dieffenbach throwing for one interception and zero touchdowns, running backs Anthony Woods and Wayne Knight each found the end zone while UCLA’s defense held the Badgers to just 214 total yards, winning 17-10.
The Bruins have a fairly easy schedule the rest of the season, with a top-25 matchup against USC being the main contest standing in the way of them and an undefeated season.
Big Ten nailbiters
Amidst the big matchups that took place across the conference came several close contests that wound up as one-score games.
Rutgers and Maryland, two teams that came into Saturday’s game without a Big Ten victory and combining for just three wins this season, battled it out in College Park, Maryland.
Each team scored in the first quarter, while Maryland put up 16 points in the second quarter and Rutgers scored 24 points in the second half. The Terrapins found the end zone with 2:17 left in the game and held the Scarlet Knights to a three-and-out, but failed to convert on fourth down as Rutgers held on to win, 37-30.
Then-No. 25 Northwestern was nearly upset by 2-4 Michigan State after Spartans’ quarterback Alessio Milivojevic threw for two touchdowns.
The Wildcats had to settle for three field goals, including kicker Jackson Kleather’s 34-yard attempt to win the game, 24-21.
Late Saturday night, it was the Dylan Raiola revenge game, as Raiola and Oregon faced Nebraska, his former team.
Cornhuskers’ quarterback Anthony Colandrea led the team with 164 passing yards and 38 yards on the ground, including both a passing and rushing touchdown.
The Ducks started Brock Thomas, but reverted to Raiola after Thomas threw an interception late in the third quarter. Raiola led Oregon to a 20-play drive capped off by a 4-yard passing touchdown to win 17-14 with 28 seconds left.
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