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Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 3: The book is out on Ohio State

By David Rouben

COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners shakes hands with head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes after the Sooners defeated the Buckeyes 31-16 at Ohio Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners shakes hands with head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes after the Sooners defeated the Buckeyes 31-16 at Ohio Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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DURHAM, NC – SEPTEMBER 09: Brittain Brown #22 of the Duke Blue Devils avoids a tackle by JR Pace #4 of the Northwestern Wildcats at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC – SEPTEMBER 09: Brittain Brown #22 of the Duke Blue Devils avoids a tackle by JR Pace #4 of the Northwestern Wildcats at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
12

Northwestern Wildcats (1-1)

Last week: 1-0 record
Last rank: 7th

The team that took the biggest fall in the rankings is Northwestern, who lost 41-17 to a basketball school. A team that’s this talented shouldn’t be losing to anyone, let alone Duke, by this much, but it was a poor showing all around for the Wildcats. Clayton Thorson was 11-of-29 with no touchdowns and two interceptions, while Justin Jackson only put together 18 yards on seven carries.

The one positive to take from this game is that Northwestern, for whatever reason, is a team that always starts slow. Everyone wrote them out of a bowl game last year when they went 1-3, and they ended up beating Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl. If they were going to lose like this, it might as well be during non-conference play, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be admonished for this effort.

11

Purdue Boilermakers (1-1)

Last week: 0-1 record
Last rank: 11th

Purdue had a nice bounce-back game after coming up short against Louisville. And if Jeff Brohm had any concerns over playing David Blough, he put them to rest. As soon as he came in, the Boilermakers scored on all four of their second-quarter possessions with three of them being touchdowns. That gave them a 34-7 halftime lead they never looked back on.

Blough is by no means a top-tier quarterback, but he’s the best option they’ve got, and he’ll lead them to more wins under center than Elijah Sindelar will. However, the worst is in store for Purdue as they have a tough four-game stretch – Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin – to look forward to before they get another winnable opponent in Rutgers.

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