Big Ten power rankings after Week 11: Waiting for Week 13

While there were a few upsets in Week 11 in the Big Ten, the best three teams asserted themselves once again.

Ohio State rolled Indiana, Michigan ran all over Nebraska, and Penn State shut out Maryland. But there were some upsets, too, as Illinois lost to Purdue, and Wisconsin fell to Iowa. While Rutgers was competitive against MSU, it lost, and Northwestern got rolled by Minnesota.

PREVIOUSLY: Big Ten power rankings after Week 10

There weren’t a ton of changes in this week’s iteration of the Big Ten power rankings, at least at the top, but the middle saw a lot of shuffling. Here is the latest as far as we see it.

Michigan Wolverines (10-0)

Photo: Isaiah Hole

The interesting thing about this win for the Michigan Wolverines is that it was relatively inane. Yet, the maize and blue won handily.

Blake Corum rushed 28 times for 162 yards and a touchdown and the Wolverines as a squad amassed 264 yards on the ground. The defense held the Huskers to under 150 yards, and knocked current starter, backup Chubba Purdy, out of the game.

The bad: the passing game still seems amess. J.J. McCarthy scored a touchdown on the ground, his only designed run of the day, but threw for under 50% in the game. The receivers aren’t getting open and aren’t making plays when they get their hands on the ball.

Yet, Michigan still had a 31-point win despite all of that. It’s going to win in the trenches, and it did just that on Saturday. Up next: the final home game of the season with Illinois coming to town.

Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0)

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After barely beating Northwestern last week, Ohio State roared into action against Indiana, getting nearly 700 yards of total offense.

QB C.J. Stroud threw for over 300 yards and have five passing touchdowns, and the combo of Miyan Williams and Dallan Hayden were on-point after weeks of underwhelming. The defense stood tall, as QB Connor Bazelak was benched early, but it did allow 150 yards rushing to what has been a bad Indiana rushing attack.

The bad news: Williams was carted off with an injury, a big blow given that Michigan is in two weeks. For now, the Buckeyes will have to contend with Maryland this next week.

Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2)

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Penn State is clearly the third-best team in the conference, having taken down the current best team in the West in Minnesota, and beating up on every East team not named Michigan or Ohio State.

Again, the rushing attack of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen was electric, leading the Nittany Lions to 249 total yards rushing among all backs. The passing attack was OK, but made plays when it needed to.

The defense was outstanding, holding the vaunted Maryland offense to just 134 total yards, including 74 yards passing. The Terps didn’t get into the end zone.

Up next, Penn State faces a reeling Rutgers team.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-3)

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Again without Tanner Morgan, it didn’t matter for the Gophers. Athan Kaliakmanis did next to nothing, but the run game got more than 300 yards, led by Mohamed Ibrahim with 178 and three touchdowns.

Hapless Northwestern got over 200 yards passing, but only 72 yards rushing against the Gophers.

At the moment, Minnesota controls its own destiny, and has Iowa next.

Iowa Hawkeyes (6-4)

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Yet again, Iowa found offense where it’s most likely: on its defense.

Cooper DeJean returned an interception for a touchdown, while Riley Moss had an interception of his own. RB Kaleb Johnson got a rushing touchdown as did Spencer Petras, but the Hawkeyes managed less than 150 yards of total offense.

The defense stood tall, allowing 252 yards total to the Badgers. A date at Minnesota is up next.

Purdue Boilermakers (6-4)

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It wasn’t the passing attack that helped lead the Boilermakers to an upset victory over Illinois — it was the defense. Purdue held Tommy DeVito to 201 yards passing and 102 yards rushing, and held Chase Brown to under 100 yards for the first time of any team this season.

But Aidan O’Connell managed 237 yards passing for three touchdowns and an interception, while Devin Mockobee got more than 100 yards rushing.

Purdue continues its uneven play, but should have another likely win next week against Northwestern.

Illinois Fighting Illini (7-3)

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What was once a promising season — and let’s admit: still a good one in Champaign — is falling off the rails.

For the second-straight week, Illinois underwhelmed and lost a game to an opponent that hasn’t exactly been consistent. The offense was held to just over 300 yards total, while the defense allowed Purdue to both run and pass.

Next week isn’t exactly an easy one, with a road trip to Ann Arbor to face No. 3 Michigan.

Maryland Terrapins (6-4)

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Another team backsliding in a big way, Maryland’s vaunted offense fell short. Taulia Tagovailoa only managed 74 yards while the run game got nothing going, as well.

Meanwhile, the defense got run up and down the field by Penn State’s talented freshman duo.

This next week will require everything the Terps have, with Ohio State up next.

Michigan State Spartans (5-5)

Nick King-Lansing State Journal

Don’t call it a comeback! It seemed as if MSU was bound to go 3-9 this year after losing to Michigan and then losing several players, including two important defensive starters, but the Spartans have now won two in a row and three of four.

The MSU defense wasn’t great against Rutgers, but the offense was. Payton Thorne passed for 256 yards while the rushing attack got going, amassing 197 yards on the ground.

Next week, the Spartans can become bowl eligible should they continue the momentum by beating a bad Indiana team.

Wisconsin Badgers (5-5)

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Interim coach Jim Leonhard’s tenure seems to be an every-other-weekly affair in that every other week features a good team while the next is a bad one.

Wisconsin made several big mistakes offensively against Iowa, allowing the hapless Hawkeye offense to get on the board. The Badgers also allowed two rushing touchdowns in the game.

The defense was solid overall, in terms of total yardage, but it wasn’t enough given Iowa’s ability to find ways to score.

The Badgers have a good chance to rebound with Nebraska up next.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-6)

Nick King-Lansing State Journal

Well, the offense got going, that’s the good news. But Rutgers’ defense couldn’t stop a Michigan State team that’s been inconsistent offensively.

Gavin Wimsatt had a much better game this week than he did against Michigan, and the Scarlet Knights had opportunities, but two MSU field goals made the difference.

The likelihood of bowl eligibility just took a big hit with a surging Penn State team up next.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-7)

Photo: Isaiah Hole

Nebraska never stood a chance.

With Casey Thompson out, the pass game had no legs, while the improved rushing attack of recent weeks disappeared against the nation’s best run defense. The only thing the Huskers could muster was one drive, which resulted in a field goal.

Meanwhile, the defense did a good job holding Michigan’s passing attack — which hasn’t exactly been good in recent weeks — but the rush defense was abysmal. Blake Corum continued his Heisman campaign, though the Huskers did a good job by allowing him no runs over 12 yards.

Next, Nebraska faces Wisconsin.

Indiana Hoosiers (3-7)

Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch

Indiana was no match for the mighty Buckeyes of Columbus.

The pass game was abysmal, and Connor Bazelak was benched quite early. However, Dexter Williams II didn’t fare much better going 6-for-19 for 107 yards, though he did pass for two touchdowns. He was also the Hoosiers’ leading rusher, and helped the unit amass 150 yards on the ground.

But that’s about it. IU allowed 662 yards of offense as C.J. Stroud threw for five touchdowns. It was an abysmal outing, as expected, and MSU is up next.

Northwestern Wildcats (1-9)

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Back in our last place spot after a week where it was competitive with Ohio State, Northwestern fell back down to earth in Week 11.

The Wildcats had no offense to speak of while allowing Minnesota to run with impunity. The pass defense against the backup Gophers QB was solid, but it didn’t matter.

Northwestern has Purdue up next and is likely to go winless in Big Ten play, outside of the Week 0 win over Nebraska.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire