Big Ten power rankings after Week 7: A few surprises this week

When it came to the top of the Big Ten Conference, there weren’t many surprises.

Michigan football rolled Indiana, 52-7, but looked shaky in the first quarter before dominating thoroughly. Ohio State blasted lowly Purdue, and Penn State played a mid-October game against UMass that went about exactly as expected.

But there were some surprises.

Rutgers came back from down 24-6 to Michigan State to win 27-24, Illinois surprised Maryland, and Iowa outlasted Wisconsin.

Nebraska, Northwestern and Minnesota were on bye.

Were there any big changes in our latest Big Ten power rankings? You can see the full update below.

Michigan Wolverines (7-0)

Michigan football struggled in the first quarter, but absolutely annihilated Indiana all the same. J.J. McCarthy only had three incompletions, Donovan Edwards finally got into the end zone, and the defense only allowed the one touchdown early. The Wolverines continue to be a boa constrictor, as Joel Klatt has been saying.

Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0)

Penn State did what it was supposed to against UMass, absolutely annihilating the Minutemen, while shutting out Don Brown’s group. Up next, however, the Nittany Lions face Ohio State in Columbus.

Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0)

Ohio State played a much better first half against a bad Purdue team, and Kyle McCord appears to be getting more comfortable with every week. The defense really does appear legit, but it’s difficult to fully measure it until it plays Penn State next week and Michigan to end the season.

Iowa Hawkeyes (6-1)

Iowa didn’t score on defense, but it did score on special teams. The offense continues to be anemic, but the defense is electric and forced two turnovers against what appeared to be a surging Badgers team. The Hawkeyes have the inside track when it comes to winning the Big Ten West.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-2)

Rutgers looked like its old self for most of the game, allowing a bad MSU team to take a 24-6 advantage. But, the Scarlet Knights battled back, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win. RU is one win away from bowl eligibility, and with a game next week against Indiana, there’s a good chance the Scarlet Knights will get there.

Wisconsin Badgers (4-2)

Yes, despite beating Rutgers last week, we dropped the Badgers below the Scarlet Knights this week.

Wisconsin was uncharacteristically bad offensively, not getting much going through the air or on the ground — though it is par for the course against Iowa. Still, it’s alarming, and for now, the Badgers fall to the middle of the pack.

Maryland Terrapins (5-2)

Not like this, Maryland. Not like this.

The Terps looked good last week for two-and-a-half quarters against Ohio State, but followed that with an incredibly disappointing home loss against a hapless Illinois team. Maryland goes on bye this week and faces Northwestern to (hopefully and finally) get bowl eligible.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-3)

Minnesota was on bye this week and has a tough matchup against Iowa next week.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-3)

Nebraska was on bye this week and takes on Northwestern next week.

Illinois Fighting Illini (3-4)

It’s somewhat surprising Illinois won on the road against a team with a winning record. Even in down years like this one, it seems as if the Illini have jumped up and surprised at least one team. Luke Altmyer stopped turning the ball over with impunity and you see what happens when he takes care of the football.

Michigan State Spartans (2-4)

Spartan hopes that Katin Houser was the answer at quarterback have quickly come to a close; he averaged 4.6 yards per throw against Rutgers. The run game was anemic. Worse, MSU squandered a 24-6 fourth-quarter lead.

Michigan State remains winless in conference and hosts Michigan next.

Northwestern Wildcats (3-3)

Northwestern was on bye this week. A game against Nebraska is up next.

Purdue Boilermakers (2-5)

The hopes that Purdue could recapture the glory of its 2018 win over Ohio State in West Lafayette were short-lived. The Buckeyes came to town and nearly shut out the Boilermakers. This just isn’t a good team and is far from its Big Ten West division championship from a year ago. Jeff Brohm made all the difference, as Louisville fans can now attest.

Indiana Hoosiers (2-4)

With a new offensive coordinator and some early inspiring play, it looked like the Hoosiers would contend with Michigan. In fact, they had more than 100 yards of offense after the first quarter while holding the Wolverines to negative yards. But the game ended up exactly as the rest of Michigan’s games have: in blowout fashion.

IU is far, far away from being in league with the rest of the conference at the moment — Purdue and Northwestern perhaps being the exceptions.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire