Big Ten Football: Where does Nebraska stand in the Big Ten West
It was a smaller slate of games in Week 9 for the Big Ten Conference, with just five games being played last week.
One of those games was, of course, the Huskers’ 31-14 win over the Purdue Boilermakers, giving Matt Rhule’s program their fifth win in their last six games. With the win, the Cornhuskers, like most of the Big Ten West, control their destiny. It’s straightforward, if the Huskers can win out the remainder of their schedule, they’ll represent the Big Ten West in the Big Ten Championship game in December in Indianapolis.
Beyond the Huskers and Boilermakers, the Big Ten also saw the now No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes defeat the Wisconsin Badgers 24-10 in Madison behind a big day from Treyveon Henderson.
Penn State survived an upset scare from Indiana, the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions being tied late in the fourth quarter before a 57-yard touchdown pass in the final minutes won the game for Penn State.
Northwestern won their fourth game of the season with a 33-27 win over Maryland, the Terrapins third consecutive loss, and Minnesota defeated Michigan State 27-12, giving the Spartans their sixth straight loss.
HOME | HOME SCORE | AWAY | AWAY SCORE |
Wisconsin Badgers | 10 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 24 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 33 | 24 | |
33 | 27 | ||
27 | 12 | ||
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 31 | Purdue Boilermakers | 14 |
With that, here is how the Big Ten standings look after week nine, which players took home the conference’s weekly awards, how ESPN’s FPI view each program in the conference, how the conference’s quarterbacks stack up in terms of QBR and a look ahead to the schedule for Week 10.
Big Ten Standings
Big Ten East Standings
TEAM | CONFERENCE RECORD | OVERALL RECORD |
5-0 | 8-0 | |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 5-0 | 8-0 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 4-1 | 7-1 |
3-2 | 6-2 | |
Maryland Terrapins | 2-3 | 5-3 |
Indiana Hoosiers | 0-5 | 2-6 |
Michigan State Spartans | 0-5 | 2-6 |
Big Ten West Standings
TEAM | CONFERENCE RECORD | OVERALL RECORD |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 3-2 | 5-3 |
3-2 | 6-2 | |
Wisconsin Badgers | 3-2 | 5-3 |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 3-2 | 5-3 |
Northwestern Wildcats | 2-3 | 4-4 |
Purdue Boilermakers | 1-4 | 2-6 |
1-4 | 3-5 |
Week 9 Big Ten Awards
Offensive Player of the Week: RB Jordan Nubin – Minnesota Golden Gophers
The walk-on running back had a huge game for Minnesota with the Golden Gophers top two running backs out with injuries. In a 27-12 win over Michigan State, Nubin had 40 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensive Player of the Week: DL Aidan Hubbard – Northwestern Wildcats
Hubbard was a huge part of Northwestern’s 33-27 win over Maryland as he totaled three sacks and five tackles for a loss in the win.
Special Teams Player of the Week: CB Quinton Newsome – Nebraska Cornhuskers
The senior cornerback out of Georgia blocked a field goal in the third quarter for the Cornhuskers win over Purdue and returned it for a 68-yard touchdown. The score that put the Huskers up 21 was all but the nail in the coffin for Purdue.
Freshman of the Week: Dillon Theieman – Purdue Boilermakers
The talented defensive back has been one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten all season and continued that performance last week with 12 tackles including seven solo tackles and one tackle for a loss.
Big Ten FPI Rankings
TEAM | RECORD | FPI | RANK | WIN CONF. % | WIN DIV. % |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 8-0 | 27.5 | 1 | 52.7% | 57.3% |
Michigan Wolverines | 8-0 | 26.8 | 2 | 31.6% | 37.2% |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 6-1 | 23.2 | 5 | 5.6% | 5.5% |
Wisconsin Badgers | 5-2 | 9.0 | 29 | 0.0% | 37.4% |
Maryland Terrapins | 5-2 | 7.8 | 32 | 4.3% | 0.0% |
Iowa Hawkeyes | 6-2 | 6.4 | 39 | 3.4% | 41.2% |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 6-2 | 4.3 | 44 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 4-3 | 2.2 | 53 | 0.3% | 11.5% |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 2-5 | 1.1 | 61 | 0.0% | 8.6% |
Illinois Fighting Illini | 3-5 | 0.1 | 68 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
Purdue Boilermakers | 4-3 | -1.0 | 73 | 0.4% | 0.0% |
Michigan State Spartans | 2-5 | -2.6 | 77 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Northwestern Wildcats | 3-4 | -3.4 | 82 | 0.0% | 1.2% |
Indiana Hoosiers | 2-5 | -3.9 | 85 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Season QBR Update
RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | QBR |
1 | Michigan Wolverines | 93.8 | |
2 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 83.4 | |
3 | Taulia Tagovailoa | 69.5 | |
4 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 66.4 | |
5 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 65.0 | |
6 | Indiana Hoosiers | 60.2 | |
7 | Illinois Fighting Illini | 59.1 | |
8 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 57.4 | |
9 | Wisconsin Badgers | 54.9 | |
10 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 46.3 | |
11 | Purdue Boilermakers | 43.2 | |
12 | Northwestern Wildcats | 41.5 | |
13 | Michigan State Spartans | 41.4 | |
14 | Indiana Hoosiers | 37.5 |
Week 10 Look Ahead
HOME TEAM | AWAY TEAM | KICKOFF TIME (CT) | TV |
Ohio State Buckeyes | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 11:00 a.m. | CBS |
Wisconsin Badgers | Indiana Hoosiers | 11:00 a.m. | BTN |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | Michigan State Spartans | 11:00 a.m. | FS1 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | Maryland Terrapins | 2:30 p.m. | FOX |
Illinois Fighting Illini | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 2:30 p.m. | BTN |
Iowa Hawkeyes | Northwestern Wildcats | 2:30 p.m. | Peacock |
Purdue Boilermakers | Michigan Wolverines | 6:30 p.m. | NBC |
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