Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 13: More than playoffs on the line in Michigan vs. Ohio State

Watching Tommy Armstrong start against Minnesota last week was unthinkable. But they rested him against Maryland and their offense didn’t miss a beat. Granted, a big reason why they could rest Armstrong was because the Terps had to go with a back-up quarterback too, but nobody expected Ryker Fyfe to put up the stats that he had.

More from College Football

• College football neutral site games in 2023: Full list
• College GameDay announces surprise Week 1 destination
• College football analyst warns Oklahoma that Texas is doing better prep for SEC
• College Football Playoff national championship game locations for 2024, 2025 and beyond
• A Howard Schnellenberger Trophy to boot adds a little kick to emerging Miami-Louisville rivalry

Having Jordan Westerkamp certainly helped as far as easing him into the game, and he showed off his creativity on a number of occasions. Westerkamp caught eight passes, and was responsible for a third of Fyfe’s completions. When the passing stalled, they could simply go to their ground game and Terrell Newby. Newby’s three touchdowns came in the red zone, though, and they wouldn’t have gotten there so often without Fyfe.

While the defense did great in holding a shutout until the fourth quarter, the reason Maryland couldn’t score until then is because Nebraska’s offense was on the field for more than 35 minutes. If Armstrong was playing, the scoreline would’ve been a lot larger.

Nebraska may not be a Top 10 team, but they’re still a very good one. Two road losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State are nothing to be ashamed of, and improving to nine regular season wins after going 5-7 last year is a massive achievement. The Cornhuskers are one of the most complete teams in the Big Ten, and one that nobody wants to face in bowl season.