Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 10: Ohio State back in the playoff mix
By David Rouben
After three games under Gerad Parker, Purdue fans know exactly what to expect. If their team is leading at halftime, it’s guaranteed that they will blow it in the second half, and get outscored by a wide margin to make it look less respectable than it should’ve been.
That’s what happened against Nebraska and Penn State, but against Minnesota, Purdue lost despite David Blough throwing four first half touchdowns (at this rate, he must lead the country in great performances in defeat). They lost three turnovers, all of which led to scores for the Gophers, while Blough wouldn’t throw another touchdown in the second half. They have now been outscored 83-10 in the second half in their last three games.
Officially, Purdue has a four-game losing streak, even though they know they’re better than this. But with Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Indiana remaining, it’s hard to call them winning another game this year.
Even though everyone knew how this game would go, it was still one that Michigan fans circled on their calendar. That’s because it was DJ Durkin’s first game back at the Big House after serving as the team’s defensive coordinator in Jim Harbaugh’s first year. His success at Michigan has spilled over to Maryland, as he has transformed a three-win team into one that will likely play a bowl game this year. But losses like this will severely stunt their momentum up until that point.
Just one quarter into the game, Perry Hills had to leave the game after landing hard on his shoulder. Caleb Rowe came in, and could only muster a 12-for-23 statline with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
They were able to string together some good drives, but couldn’t finish them, as they had three turnover-on-downs, and a missed field goal. One play that summed up their frustrating game was when, on the last play of the first half, DJ Moore broke off for a 47-yard gain but went down at the 1 instead of crossing the goal line.
Simply put, the Terps ran into an unstoppable force and an immovable object. However, they’ll hardly get a chance to recover with Ohio State looming.
Even though all of Iowa’s losses up to this point have come at home, winning in Beaver Stadium against a resurgent Penn State team was always going to be a tall order.
They had no answer for Saquon Barkley, who had 167 yards and a touchdown. They also couldn’t break through Penn State’s offensive line as they gave up 599 total yards, the most amount of yards Iowa has allowed this season. Iowa’s o-line didn’t do CJ Beathard either, as he was sacked four times.
Having already suffered losses to Northwestern and Wisconsin, nobody was under the impression that Iowa could compete with the Big Ten’s elite. This shellacking at the hands of Penn State only reinforced that. And against the conference’s top scoring offense in Michigan, things could turn into a bloodbath quickly.