After Penn State came up short once again against Ohio State, a rematch between the Ducks and Buckeyes in Indianapolis to decide the Big Ten championship appears imminent. Both teams will take it easy at home this week, with Ohio State hosting 1-7 Purdue and Oregon hosting 4-4 Maryland. This will be a light Saturday across the Big Ten, with six teams on bye and Iowa meeting with UCLA on Friday night. But the conference's top contenders — including the Ducks — will all be in action, so let's break down three games to watch besides Oregon's.
1. Purdue (1-7, 0-5) at No. 2 Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) - 9 AM on Fox
The Buckeyes did it again last week, taking down Penn State for the sixth time in six tries under head coach Ryan Day. Ohio State battled back after a disastrous start that saw the Nittany Lions up 10-0 less than 10 minutes into the game thanks to a Will Howard pick-six on his first pass attempt. Despite Howard's potentially costly mistake, the Buckeyes battled — employing a relentless three-headed rushing attack of Howard, TreVeyon Henderson, and Quinshon Judkins to go with a stifling defense that held Penn State to 270 total yards. No sequence better captured the nature of this rivalry than the final two drives when Penn State was stood up on fourth-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line before the Buckeyes put the game away with an 11-play drive that saw Howard, Henderson, and Judkins combine for 59 yards on 10 carries. This should be an easy one for the Buckeyes against the Big Ten's worst team — and possibly the worst in any Power Four conference — but they have been caught lacking by Purdue before, falling as the No. 2 team in the country in 2018.
The defending champs continued to struggle on offense last week, albeit against the No. 1 team in the country. Davis Warren provided the Wolverines with some of the most consistent quarterback play they've seen this season — completing 12-of-21 passes for 164 yards and a pair of scores. But Michigan was held back by its ground game, totaling just 105 yards on 28 carries, the second-fewest rushing yards the Wolverines have posted in a game this season. Without a consistent rushing attack, Michigan was simply limited against the Ducks' defense, only driving past the 50-yard line three times compared to four three-and-outs. The final score of 38-17 was largely helped by an early punt return fumble that set up a short field for Michigan by true freshman receiver Ryan Pellum, who was only in the game after Tez Johnson suffered a shoulder injury — although Oregon did punch in a late touchdown to cover the spread with 25 seconds to play. The Wolverines already have four losses this season, and a fifth would make them the first defending champ since 2011 Auburn to lose at least five games in a full season (2020 LSU went 5-5 in a pandemic-shortened season). Indiana found itself in a spot it had yet to be this season in the first quarter against Michigan State, trailing in a game. After falling behind 10-0 near the end of the first quarter, the Hoosiers reeled off 47 straight to end the game. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was excellent in his return from injury, tossing for 263 yards and four touchdowns to add to his outstanding final college campaign. The Hoosiers still haven't really played anybody — ESPN ranked their strength of schedule 103rd in the country — but they have eviscerated every opponent in their path with an FBS-best average scoring margin of 27.8 points per game. Indiana will have a bye after this week before traveling to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Nov. 23.
3. Washington (5-4, 3-3) at No. 6 Penn State (7-1, 4-1) - 5 PM on Peacock
The Huskies won one of their schedule's two remaining must-win games for reaching bowl eligibility last week, holding off USC 26-21. Washington still has an upcoming home game against UCLA, but their two road games are this week against No. 6 Penn State and Nov. 30 against No. 1 Oregon. Neither game looks very winnable. The Huskies were powered by another strong week from running back Jonah Coleman, who tallied 104 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against the Trojans — his fifth 100-yard game of the season after following head coach Jedd Fisch from Arizona. On the other side of the ball, Washington intercepted USC quarterback Miller Moss three times, including two from linebacker Carson Bruener — one of the few remaining starters from last year's national championship runner-up. As I mentioned above, no sequence better represented the recent history between Penn State and Ohio State than the final two drives, especially for the Nittany Lions. After a 33-yard run by star tight end Tyler Warren, Penn State was set up to tie the game at 20 apiece with a first-and-goal from the Ohio State 3-yard line. On first down, Penn State lined up in jumbo personnel — with an extra offensive lineman and two tight ends — and ran the ball right up the middle where running back Kaytron Allen was stuffed for no gain. On second down, they lined up in jumbo personnel again — this time lining the extra lineman out wide before motioning him in to block — and ran the ball up the middle again with Allen gaining a single yard this time. On third down, they ran the exact same play again — and when I say exact same here I mean the exact same — and got the same result, another one-yard gain. On fourth down, they lined up again with heavy personnel, motioning the extra lineman the other way to try to sneak Warren open into the flat. But with the Buckeye defense not respecting the extra lineman as a receiving threat, they were all over Warren, forcing quarterback Drew Allar to throw back over the crowded middle of the field where his pass fell incomplete. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while respecting a different result. Penn State ran the ball up the middle three straight times expecting a different result, just like how head coach James Franklin has tried to take down Ohio State the same way year after year and has continued to get the same result, a loss. Penn State will likely win this game as well as its final three against Purdue, Minnesota, and Maryland en route to its first playoff appearance, but until the results on the field change, it's hard to expect anything different from Franklin's Nittany Lions.
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