Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 4: Michigan’s offense sputters again
By David Rouben
Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-2)
Last week: L to Northern Illinois, 21-17
Last rank: 9th
Nebraska is a name brand program, so seeing them struggle this mightily could be hard to accept. But the earlier people accept this fact, the better: Nebraska is not winning anything with Mike Riley as their head coach.
Having been with the Huskers for three years now, this loss drops Riley’s head coaching record to 16-13. But this might’ve been Nebraska’s worst game under his tenure, and it was certainly enough to make his extension through 2020 seem premature.
In what was their first loss to a MAC team in program history, Tanner Lee followed up his four-interception game against Oregon with a three-interception game. As a team, Nebraska only had 85 rushing yards. And defensively, they only forced one turnover against a Northern Illinois team that coughed up the ball three times last week to Eastern Illinois.
Give credit where it’s due, Northern Illinois showed up, particularly on defense. They’ve also made it a yearly tradition to beat a Big Ten team. With Nebraska facing the top two teams in the Big Ten East, it was imperative that they got off to a perfect start in the non-conference schedule. This fanbase deserves better.
Indiana Hoosiers (1-1, 0-1)
Last week: Game vs. FIU cancelled
Last rank: 10th
Indiana didn’t play this week because their game against FIU got cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. However, they will get another chance to earn a non-conference win against Georgia Southern before resuming their Big Ten slate against Penn State.