Big Ten power rankings: Michigan, Purdue move up; Ohio State exposed

Remember when Minnesota started the 2018 season with a 3-0 record? The Golden Gophers showed so much promise to get this year going and they’ve struggled so much since then. Right now, Minnesota is on a four-game losing streak. The Golden Gophers’ most recent loss came at the hands of a Nebraska team that previously hadn’t won a game all year. The Cornhuskers are in the midst of one of the rockiest seasons in their program’s history and that didn’t come close to stopping Minnesota from giving up 53 points on Saturday.

Illinois shouldn’t be criticized too much for losing to Wisconsin. It’s not like the Fighting Illini had high expectations coming into the year and the fact that they’re still halfway to bowl eligibility is a commendable thing. But Illinois is still bad. Don’t disregard that fact at all.

The Fighting Illini haven’t had a truly good performance all year and that continued against Wisconsin. Illinois tried to keep this game close and, well, that didn’t really happen. Wisconsin was able to get out ahead early and cruise for most of the game. The Illini did go on a bit of a scoring run in this contest, ultimately cutting the game to a 28-17 deficit at one point in the third quarter.

However, Illinois still lost by 29 points. There was nothing good about that.

The Indiana Hoosiers actually came close to beating the Penn State Nittany Lions. Late in the third quarter, the Hoosiers held a lead over Penn State, challenging James Franklin and his team to find a way to win on the road. As it turns out, Franklin and his team found a way to win on the road. The Hoosiers did a great job on offense in this game, gaining 549 total yards and moving up and down the field at will. But it wasn’t enough and the Hoosiers couldn’t do enough to get into the end zone frequently enough.