Week 2 of the Big Ten season showed some pure high-powered offenses racking up big points and big yards. And also Penn State won at home. Ohio State, Oregon, USC, and Washington were among the schools flexing some muscle this week against inferior opponents, and it seems Oregon took something personally against Oklahoma State. But it wasn’t all fun times this weekend in the Big Ten, with Michigan and Iowa each losing on the road against ranked power conference competition and UCLA dropping its second straight game to start the season.
Here is a look at how Week 2 around the Big Ten went down. Rankings noted are the US LBM Coaches Poll rankings going into Week 2.
No. 1 Ohio State 70, Grambling 0
There was no hangover for the Buckeyes in Week 2 after a big win to start the year last week against Texas. Julian Sayin set a school record for the most completed passes to start a game and passed for four touchdowns as Ohio State routed visiting Grambling. Sayin completed 18 of 19 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns, including an 87-yard touchdown strike to Jeremiah Smith, who had 5 catches for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. As a team, Ohio State rushed for 274 yards, led by Bo Jackson’s 108 yards. The Ohio State defense only allowed a total of 166 offensive yards to Grambling. Caleb Downs had an interception as well.
Next up for Ohio State: vs. Ohio
No. 2 Penn State 34, FIU 0
Penn State left many watching to wonder if this really is the second-best team in the country, as the national polls have indicated. It was a sluggish start for Drew Allar and the Penn State offense, but Penn State slowly continued to build a decisive-looking final score in the end with the defense pitching a shutout. Big explosive plays were there with some long touchdown plays by Devonte Ross and Kaytron Allen, but head coach James Franklin wants to see more moving forward..
Next up for Penn State: vs. Villanova
No. 6 Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3
What was one of the more interesting non-conference matchups on the Big Ten schedule this season quickly turned into a lopsided affair in favor of the home team, the Oregon Ducks. Oregon blasted Oklahoma State behind 266 passing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Dante Moore. Oregon handed Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy the worst loss of his career and the Ducks racked up 631 yards of offense. Oregon was up 13-0 in the first two minutes of the game, led 41-3 at halftime, and had two pick-sixes in a 28-0 outburst in the third quarter, highlighted by three touchdowns in 50 seconds of game-time.
Next up for Oregon: at Northwestern
No. 11 Illinois 45, Duke 19
Illinois was in a battle with Duke in the first half but managed to pull away with some authority in the second half. The Illini outscored the Blue Devils 31-6 after halftime. Hank Beatty had a 25-yard touchdown run and led Illinois with 8 receptions and 128 receiving yards. Quarterback Luke Altmyer passed for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns and the Illini forced five Duke turnovers in the game, including four fumble recoveries.
Next up for Illinois: vs. Western Michigan
No. 18 Oklahoma 24, No. 15 Michigan 13
This one did not go quite according to plan for Michigan. Star freshman quarterback, playing in just his second game, struggled in his first major road test of his young career by completing 9 of 24 passes for 142 yards. Michigan was shut out in the first half before Justice Haynes scored a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the third quarter. Haynes rushed for 125 yards in the game but the Wolverines could only manage to kick two more field goals in the game as Oklahoma celebrated a major win for head coach Brent Venables.
Next up for Michigan: vs. Central Michigan
As expected, Iowa was in a tight battle with in-state rival Iowa State. A late field goal gave Iowa State to lead with a little under two minutes remaining in the game and Iowa went four-and-out for a turnover on downs to allow the Cyclones to run out the remainder of the clock for the win. Kirk Ferentz will wait at least one more week to try and become the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten history.
Next up for Iowa: vs. UMass
No. 23 Indiana 56, Kennesaw State 9
Fernando Mendoza passed for 245 yards and four touchdowns and the Indiana offense combined to rush for 316 yards in an absolute rout of Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington. Indiana piled up 596 yards of offense and held the Owls to 2-of-13 on third-down attempts.
Next up for Indiana: vs. Indiana State
Wisconsin 42, Middle Tennessee 10
Wisconsin shrugged off a bit of a slow start to run away with this one against Middle Tennessee. The Badgers were trailing 3-0 after the first quarter and then put up two touchdowns in each of the remaining quarters. Trech Kekahuna had a 61-yard touchdown run on his only carry of the game to go with the wide receiver’s 4 catches for 28 yards. Danny O’Neil completed 23 of 27 pass attempts for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception.
Next up for Wisconsin: at Alabama
Rutgers 45, Miami (OH) 17
Athan Kaliakmanis passed for 259 yards and four touchdowns as Rutgers easily put away Miami (OH) on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey. Rutgers was efficient on third down conversions by going 7 of 10. Rutgers racked up 31 first downs in the game and controlled the football for nearly 40 minutes of game time.
Next up for Rutgers: vs. Norfolk State
Nebraska 68, Akron 0
It was not a pleasant weekend for former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, the head coach of Akron. Moorhead’s Zips were destroyed by Nebraska behind a big day from quarterback Dylan Raiola. Raiola passed for 364 yards and four touchdowns in the win. The 730 yards of total offense and 68 points are the most by a Nebraska team in a game against an FBS opponent since 2007 and 2014, respectively. This is also the first shutout by Nebraska since the 2009 Holiday Bowl against Arizona (33-0). Akron has now gone the first two games of the season without scoring a point.
Necx up for Nebraska: vs. Houston Christian
USC 59, Georgia Southern 20
USC got off to another fast start in Week 2 and cruisewd to a lopsided victory with a big offensive showing. Waymond Jordan rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown and Jayden Maiava passed for 412 yards and 4 touchdowns. USC rushed for 309 yards and had 755 total yards of offense in the blowout win. Makai Lemon had touchdown catches of 74 and 62 yards in the first quarter to help spark the Trojans early on.
Next up for USC: at Purdue
Michigan State 42, Boston College 40 (2 OT)
Boston College kicked a field goal late in the fourth quarter to set the stage for a double overtime finish in East Lansing. Jay Coyne scored a touchdown on the first OT possession by Michigan State but the Eagles answered with a short touchdown pass. Boston College scored a touchdown on the first possession of the second overtime but missed on the two-point conversion attempt. Aidan Chiles drew the game even with a short touchdown run on Michigan State’s possession and then completed a pass to Omari Kelly for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Next up for Michigan State: vs. Youngstown State
UNLV 30, UCLA 23
UCLA dropped its second striaght game to start the season with a road loss at UNLV on Saturday night. New starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 29 of 41 pass attempts for 255 yards with a touchdown and an interception and he led the Bruins with 59 rushing yards. He also scored once on the ground. UNLV took command of this game in the first half and led the Bruins 23-3 at halftime. The Bruins did make a second-half push but UNLV kept the game out of reach with a fourth-quarter touchdown to extend the lead to 30-13 at the time. On 2nd & 10 from the UNLV 24-yard line is when Iamaleava threw his only interception of the game.
Next up for UCLA: vs. New Mexico
Washington 70, UC Davis 10
Washington running back Jonah Coleman rushed for 111 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Huskies dominated FCS opponent UC Davis. Coleman touched the football 16 times with 15 carries and 1 reception, which went for a 24-yard gain. Washington gets an early bye now to prepare for its big in-state rivalry matchup in the Apple Cup in two weeks.
Next up for Washington: at Washington State (Week 4)
Purdue 34, Southern Illinois 17
Purdue got a balanced offensive outing with Devin Mockobee rushing for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns and Ryan Browne passing for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win against Southern Illinois. The Salukis gave Purdue some trouble early with the two teams tied at 14-14 after the first quarter, but the Boilermakers took the upper hand from there to improve to 2-0 to start the season.
Next up for Purdue: vs. USC
Minnesota 66, Northwestern State 0
Minnesota led this game almost literally from start to finish. The Gopehrs scored a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage when Johnson intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a defensive touchdown six seconds into the game. It was the start of a 35-point outburst by the Gophers in the first quarter, and Minnesota led 59-0 at halftime. Mother Nature eventually took pity on Northwestern State and prompted the game to be called midway through the fourth quarter due to weather conditions moving through the area.
Next up for Minnesota: at California
Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 2
And now, here is a look at the updated Big Ten standings, even though Big Ten play has yet to begin. There will be Big Ten games on the schedule starting next week.
| W | L | B1G W | B1G L | |
| Illinois | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oregon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Penn State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Purdue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rutgers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| USC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Northwestern | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCLA | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
