Big Ten power rankings after Week 9: Showdowns to come soon

It wasn’t a crazy week in the Big Ten, despite a ranked-on-ranked matchup between Penn State and Ohio State, and a rivalry game between Michigan football and Michigan State. However, some teams really got things going, while others could do next to nothing.

In a strange turn of events, the Iowa offense wasn’t the one that did next to nothing.

PREVIOUSLY: Big Ten power rankings after Week 8

Four teams were off this week, but OSU beat PSU, Michigan beat MSU, Illinois beat Nebraska, Iowa beat Northwestern, and Minnesota dominated Rutgers. With all those games now in the books, here are our latest Big Ten power rankings with Week 9 in the rear view mirror.

Northwestern Wildcats (1-7)

Syndication: The Des Moines Register

What can be said about a team that makes Iowa’s offense look — passable? Somehow, the Hawkeyes — the worst offense in the country — managed nearly 400 yards of offense while getting going both on the ground and through the air.

Brendan Sullivan passed for 159 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but the ground game was anemic, with only 18 yards rushing.

Northwestern will not win another game this season, unless another team gifts it to Pat Fitzgerald’s squad, at this point. It’s about to get worse as the Wildcats host Ohio State next week.

Indiana Hoosiers (3-5)

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Indiana was mercifully on a bye week on Saturday. It hosts Penn State this Saturday.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-5)

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The Huskers continue to be up and down, although they had a tough task facing a surging Illinois on Saturday.

Casey Thompson was lost with injury in the second quarter, which meant  Nebraska had to rely on lesser quarterbacks Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers. It managed 60 yards on the ground while allowing Chase Brown and company 188.

Up next, the Huskers play Minnesota at home.

Michigan State Spartans (3-5)

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It’s obvious Michigan State has improved defensively, but it could get next to nothing going on offense, outside of one drive filled with 50-50 balls to Keon Coleman.

The Spartans scored once, a touchdown, to take a 7-3 lead over Michigan. But it was all Wolverines after that, with the maize and blue rushing for 284 yards in a 29-7 victory. Payton Thorne managed 215 yards through the air overall, but also threw an interception late — though a touchdown there would have been too little, given the score.

MSU certainly looks more competitive these past few weeks, but it faces a ranked Illinois team next.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-4)

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Perhaps we were too kind to Rutgers after last week’s win over Indiana. The offense was beyond nonexistent at Minnesota, while the defense could not stop Gopher running back Mo Ibrahim.

The Scarlet Knights managed 134 total yards of offense (yes, between both running and passing) while allowing 253 to the Minnesota rushing attack. Tanner Morgan was relatively pedestrian, but was only 12 yards shy of eclipsing the entire Rutgers offensive attack.

It doesn’t get any better this next week with Michigan coming to Piscataway.

Iowa Hawkeyes (4-4)

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OK, who taught Iowa how to offense?

Spencer Petras completed 70% of his passes for 220 yards, a touchdown and — believe it or not — zero interceptions. The rushing game got going with 178 yards, led by freshman Kaleb Johnson. While it may have been against Northwestern, it was still — surprising?

Meanwhile, the defense did what it does, allowing 159 yards passing and just 18 yards rushing. Suddenly, everyone who took the under in this game is lamenting the Hawkeyes’ luck.

Iowa plays Purdue next.

Wisconsin Badgers (4-4)

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Wisconsin was on bye, but faces a tough Maryland team this week.

Purdue Boilermakers (5-3)

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Purdue was on bye, but faces a tough Iowa defense and possibly resurgent offense this week.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3)

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Minnesota certainly rounded into form once again, getting Tanner Morgan back while dominating both in the run game and defensively.

Rutgers produced next to nothing on offense, while Mo Ibrahim continued his electric level of play with 159 yards and three touchdowns. With one  fumble lost and two interceptions, the Scarlet Knights didn’t stand a chance.

Next, Minnesota heads to Lincoln to take on Nebraska.

Penn State Nittany Lions (6-2)

Syndication: York Daily Record

If you squint real hard, you’ll see a Penn State team that nearly pulled off the upset. That is, if you look solely at the first three quarters, and maybe a few minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions took a halftime lead into the locker room, and took the lead back from Ohio State with about nine minutes remaining in the game. However, Sean Clifford was a turnover machine, tossing three interceptions while also losing a fumble. The defense played great for about 52 minutes before the Buckeyes not only came back, but they piled on in a hurry — as they tend to do.

Had PSU managed to take care of the football, it could have been a different story. Clifford passed for 371 yards (more than CJ Stroud!) while the Nittany Lions also outgained OSU on the ground.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Penn State should be able to get right next week with a trip to Bloomington.

Maryland Terrapins (6-2)

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Maryland was on bye this week, which was perfect timing, given Taulia Tagovailoa’s injury. It takes on Wisconsin next.

Illinois Fighting Illini (7-1)

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Illinois won exactly how it’s been winning. It went into Lincoln, ran Chase Brown a ton while Tommy DeVito passed efficiently, albeit without gaudy numbers. Meanwhile, the defense was stellar, allowing next to nothing to a reeling Huskers team — 248 yards, to be exact.

The Illini appear to be for real this year, and they’ll certainly be looking forward to the big test in a couple of weeks when they head to Ann Arbor. However, next, they’ll have to take care of Michigan State and Purdue.

Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0)

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Ohio State did not look terribly impressive until very late in its trip to Happy Valley. However, the defense, which was less than stellar at defending the run (when Penn State actually chose to run the ball) or the pass, stepped up big by forcing turnover after turnover.

Four to be exact.

However, the offense wasn’t exactly humming until late, either, as the Buckeye run game struggled for yet another week. Regardless: scoreboard.

Ohio State has two easy wins the next two weeks, Northwestern and Indiana, before facing Maryland and Michigan in consecutive weeks.

Michigan Wolverines (8-0)

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The scoreboard didn’t show a necessarily gaudy number, as Michigan struggled time and time again resorting to field goals rather than touchdowns. However, after the pass defense let Keon Coleman amass more than 100 yards through the air in the first half, the defense as a whole locked MSU down for the rest of the game.

J.J. McCarthy had an OK night passing, but was electric using his legs, along with — per usual — Heisman candidate Blake Corum, who had 181 yards on the ground. He now has over 100 yards rushing in every Big Ten game this season.

The Wolverines are clearly a second-half team. The only issues are the lack of touchdowns compared to field goals and lack of creativity (particularly in using the personnel) in the offensive play calling. However, Michigan has run all over every team it’s wanted to. The question is: when Ohio State is the team across from it, will the Wolverines have the firepower outside of the run game to take advantage?

Up next, the maize and blue travel to Rutgers.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire