Following the biggest home win in program history, the No. 2 Oregon Ducks have another Friday night game this week, this time on the road when they will pay a visit to the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette. With the game on Friday night, it will give Duck fans another full Saturday to take in the Big Ten slate.
Let's look at the three games Oregon fans should take note of this weekend with the Ducks now sitting as the frontrunners for the Big Ten title.
1. No. 16 Indiana (6-0, 3-0) vs. Nebraska (5-1, 2-1) - 9 AM on Fox
First-year head coach Curt Cignetti has his Hoosiers rolling through the first half of the season. The program is off to its first 6-0 start since 1967. Indiana was the first team to reach bowl eligibility this year thanks to a high-powered offense that ranks second in the country in points (47.5) and fourth in yards (515.7) per game. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke has thrived after transferring from Ohio — where he was the MAC MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 — leading the Big Ten with an impeccable 91.9 QBR so far this season. The Hoosiers haven't just been airing it out though, they've had a balanced offensive attack, and are also 32nd nationally in rushing yards per game. Despite what seems like a pretty flawless resume, Indiana is untested. ESPN ranks their schedule as the 112th most difficult among the 134 FBS teams. Over the remainder of their schedule, that number jumps up to 23rd. Nebraska will be fresh, coming off its first bye of the season. Last time out, the Huskers beat Rutgers 14-7 in a rock fight, with neither team passing for over 200 yards or rushing for over 100. Nebraska holds a stronger win than any of Indiana's. Its 28-10 victory over Colorado while its lone loss came to No. 22 Illinois in overtime. Head coach Matt Rhule has his defense in lockdown mode, allowing 11.3 points per game — the seventh-best mark in the country. This will be by far the toughest test that Indiana has faced this season, and the first true opportunity to see how dangerous Cignetti's Hoosiers have the chance to be in the Big Ten.
2. No. 22 Illinois (5-1, 2-1) vs. No. 24 Michigan (4-2, 2-1) - 12:30 PM on CBS
Illinois and Michigan are the only remaining ranked teams on Oregon's schedule. That makes this a good opportunity for Duck fans to scout what could be their toughest two remaining opponents. Illinois survived an overtime scare last week against Purdue, holding on to win 50-49. The Illini led 27-3 at halftime before Purdue embarked on a massive comeback, going on a 40-13 run to take the lead with less than a minute to play before Illinois hit a field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns in overtime — Illinois first with an extra point, giving Purdue the opportunity to go for the win with a two-point conversion that failed. Illinois entered the week as the best one-loss team in the Big Ten and left with plenty of question marks after being taken to the wire by the only Big Ten team without a win over an FBS opponent this year. Michigan will enter this game hungry, coming off a bye after its national championship rematch loss to Washington in week six. This is a must-win game for the Wolverines if they want to stick in the top 25. Michigan made its third quarterback switch of the season against the Huskies, and head coach Sherrone Moore announced on Monday that he would be sticking with seventh-year senior Jack Tuttle. The Wolverines rank 132nd in the country in passing offense — the only two teams behind them are service academies — following J.J. McCarthy's departure for the NFL. They are in desperate need of any sort of consistency from their quarterback position. Both teams still have dates with the Ducks coming up — Illinois on the road and Michigan at home — which will likely be losses, but the Wolverines also play No. 16 Indiana and No. 4 Ohio State, meaning they truly need a win this week.
3. Michigan State (3-3, 1-2) vs. Iowa (4-2, 2-1) - 4:30 PM on NBC
Michigan State's last time out, the Spartans got thumped 31-10 by the Ducks in Autzen. Head coach Jonathan Smith's time in East Lansing got off to a good start as Michigan State won its first three games, but has since gone downhill with losses to Boston College, Ohio State, and Oregon. A three-game losing streak may not be as bad as it seems though, with two of those losses coming to top five teams in the country. After their bout with the Hawkeyes, the Spartans play three ranked teams — No. 24 Michigan, No. 16 Indiana, and No. 22 Illinois — meaning this week's contest is a near must-win if they want to reach bowl eligibility this season. Iowa is coming off a 40-16 beatdown of Washington. That is a game I thought the Huskies would win based on how they handled similarly built Michigan. The Hawkeyes ran the ball straight through Washington, with running back Kaleb Johnson totaling 166 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Quarterback Cade McNamara even tossed a pair of touchdowns, his first game with a passing touchdown since Iowa's week one win over Illinois State. Iowa's schedule is one of the easiest in the conference, as they somehow miss five of the Big Ten's six currently ranked teams. A win in this game means a lot more for Michigan State than it does for Iowa.
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