Big News From the Big Ten: Week 7 of College Football
On Oct. 11, the Big Ten Conference sent out the seventh press release of the 2021 NCAA College Football Season. Here are the top storylines from the release.
Big Ten Dominates Top 10
Five Big Ten Teams were named within the Top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since the ranking's inception back in 1936. The University of Iowa moved up to No. 2 and are trailed by No. 6 Ohio State University, No. 7 Penn State University, No. 8 University of Michigan and No. 10 Michigan State University.
Undefeated Teams
Three teams within the conference, Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State, remain undefeated to this point in the season. All three teams are 6–0 overall and Ohio State joins the trio as being undefeated within conference play.
Hawkeyes Prevail
The biggest game of the year thus far took place last weekend when Iowa defeated Penn State 23–20 in a game where the Hawkeyes trailed 17–3 at one point before the epic comeback catapulted them to the victory. This was the first top-5 win for Iowa since 2017 when the Hawkeyes took down No. 3 Ohio State. Dating back to 2019, Iowa has won six consecutive games against ranked opponents. The Hawkeyes also held its 28th consecutive opponent to under 25 points. Overall, Iowa has won 12 consecutive games and have outscored opponent 403–161 in that stretch.
Spartans Suffocate Scarlet Knights
Michigan State cruised to a 31–13 victory over Rutgers University in an offensive explosion that saw the Spartans accumulate 588 yards of total offense. The effort resulted in Michigan State becoming the fifth team in FBS history to have a 300-yard passer, 200-yard rusher and a 200-yard receiver in the same game. These came in the form of 339 yards from redshirt senior quarterback Payton Thorne, 233 from junior running back Kenneth Walker III and 221 from redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Nailor.
Terrapins Thrashed by Buckeyes
Ohio State dominated its matchup against the University of Maryland, cruising to a 66–17 victory. This was the fifth game out of six this season that the Buckeyes have scored more than 40 points in a game and this is the third consecutive game that the team has score at least 50 points in a game. Ohio State leads the nation in total offense and ranks third in scoring offense and team passing efficiency. The team ranks second in third. Freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud tossed his second 400+ yard game of the season in the effort and has also thrown for five touchdowns in back to back games. The gunslinger is third in the country in passer efficiency and sixth in passing yards per game.
Wolverines Stays Undefeated
Michigan defeated the University of Nebraska 32–19 and have improved to 6–0 for the first time since 2016. The Wolverines rank 15th in scoring offense and ninth in scoring defense.
Wisconsin Earns Crucial Win
The University of Wisconsin defeated the University of Illinois 24–0 for the Badgers first conference victory of the season. This was the first shutout for Wisconsin since 2019 and the first road shutout within the conference since 2017. The dominance for the Badgers was significant on the run as the team gained 391 yards as opposed to 29 for the Illini. This was the fourth time in the past five games that Wisconsin has held its opponent to under 50 yards.
Repeat Information
All of the information below has appeared in past press releases. It will be summarized, but for more on this visit the older stories.
13 Big Ten players were named semi-finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy. The award is given to the nation's top scholar-athlete across all three divisions
The Cotton and Orange Bowls will serve as the semi-final games in the CFP. 120 players in the Big Ten this season were All-Big Ten honorees in 2020.