By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
There are eight games on tap this week in the Big Ten, including seven conference tilts.
The biggest among them is a Top 25 showdown in Eugene, with UCLA looking to prove its unbeaten mark is no fluke against Oregon.
The other West Coast action sees a suddenly reeling Washington hosting Iowa. USC will travel east and look to silence their critics in a challenging environment against Penn State.
Northwestern, meanwhile, steps out to celebrate their homecoming weekend against Ball State. The Cats are looking to continue the good vibes in new Ryan Field after running all over Penn State last week.
We also have a clash of unbeatens in Lincoln as Indiana puts the nation’s longest win streak on the line against Nebraska.
Here is our look at this week’s Big Ten action.
No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes at Washington Huskies
Friday, October 9
5:00 PM PT, FOX
(Connor Onion, Robert Griffin III and Alexa Landestoy)
Washington was the sneaky pick to crash the playoff party this season. Coming off a solid 2025 with a favorable schedule. It has been a struggle all season for the Huskies.
Sure, they escaped the nonconference 3-0, but there were plenty of red flags ahead of the loss to Minnesota. Now it has a chance to right things, but a loss at home to Iowa would signal things going from bad to worse.
Now, with a win at Michigan, the loss to Ohio State in the rearview mirror, and Oregon and Indiana off the schedule, it is suddenly the Hawkeyes who look poised to potentially steal a seat at the table.
But that goes out the window if Iowa does not have a happy flight back from Seattle.
All will not be lost, but by Saturday morning one of these teams will be lamenting things. For UW, it could be a completely lost season, while Iowa could be smiting from a missed chance at taking the next step.
The problem for the Huskies has been a lack of protection for Demond Williams Jr., as UW is allowing 3.0 sacks per outing, the 12th-worst rate in the nation.
Washington is also killing themselves with penalties, ranking 125th in the nation in penalty yards per game. In the two consecutive losses, the Dawgs have also turned it over three times.
The potential is there, and the Husky offense can still connect on explosive plays.
The problem this week? Iowa is among the best in the nation at limiting big plays. They are only allowing eight plays per game of 10+ yards, the third-fewest in the nation.
The penalties and sacks have created a real third-down issue this season as well. Washington is only converting 29% of their third downs, which is last in the Big Ten and 130th in the nation.
Iowa does plenty of things well on defense, and one of them is getting teams off the field on third down.
The Huskies can still turn things around, but they will need to improve on all of these deficiencies in a hurry.
The Hawkeyes will not hurt themselves, and while their offense is still not great, they will make you pay if you give them a short field.
No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers at Nebraska Cornhuskers
Saturday, October 10
9:00 AM PT, FOX
(Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft)
Anthony Colandrea has looked good guiding the Nebraska offense. Matt Rhule finally has the Huskers playing the way they were expected to when he took the job in 2023.
But for the last three and a half seasons, the Huskers have yet to beat a ranked opponent. This was a knock on the prior staff as well—among many knocks leveled against the prior staff.
Nebraska is far better off with Rhule than his predecessor; let’s make that very clear. I also think a three-year-old pointing at shapes incorrectly would also be more successful than his predecessor.
As bad as the previous coach was, and he left a very low bar, I do think Rhule is the right guy for the Huskers. But I digress; the fact is the Huskers need to knock off a ranked opponent to start the breakthrough.
This week, Nebraska has that opportunity. Now will they run with it or not?
Well, for starters, they need to keep mistakes to a minimum. The Huskers are one of the most penalized teams in the nation, and last week they were flagged 16 times for 132 yards. That can’t happen against a Top 10 opponent.
Especially given that, by contrast, the opponent is one of the least penalized teams in the nation. The hidden yards will be a huge factor in this one, both in penalties and special teams play. The Hoosiers have the edge in both.
If Indiana is susceptible to anything, it can be the deep pass. The issue with that is keeping the pocket clean for Colandrea to connect, and the Hoosiers will create a lot of issues in the backfield.
Josh Hoover has found that he does not have to win games for Indiana by himself; the ground attack can churn out chunks of yardage in a hurry.
The Hoosiers have gotten more explosive plays in the run game than any other team in the nation, and on third down, he has a slew of sure-handed receivers to turn to.
The Hoosiers will make too many big plays and bust open a game that should stay tight into the third quarter. Indiana’s 21-game win streak will become 22.
No. 21 UCLA Bruins at No. 13 Oregon Ducks
Saturday, October 10
12:30 PM PT, CBS
(Brad Nessler, Charles Davis, and Jenny Dell)
Both the Ducks and the Bruins are coming off a bye week following a big win.
Oregon logged a high-profile emotional win over USC, and UCLA completely destroyed Maryland on the east coast.
The bye sets up nicely for both: UCLA gets to recover from the cross-country trip while Oregon can regroup with Dylan Raiola at QB.
The Ducks also get an extra week to ensure there is no emotional letdown following the charged win at USC. And that may be the most beneficial aspect for Oregon, after the injury to Dante Moore.
The latest reports indicate that Moore is not likely to return on Saturday.
Bob Chesney has already worked wonders turning around the UCLA program, but the competition ramps up this week with the visit to Autzen Stadium—a litmus test, for sure.
The ground attack for the Bruins has been exceptional, and that could cause problems for Oregon, which has defended the run well in all but one contest.
The Ducks took the ground attack away from USC and left the Coliseum with a win. They did an even better job limiting Boise State on the ground in the opener, and Portland State ran the ball 17 times for 2 yards.
But while Oregon was stout against the run in those three games, the Ducks gave up a whopping 237 yards in the opener against Oklahoma State.
Granted, OSU has averaged 252 on the ground per game since then, so they run the ball well, but so does UCLA, averaging 281.5 per outing.
Again, it is a step up in competition for the Bruins, but have the Ducks corrected the errors from a month ago?
If UCLA is to pull the upset, the key will be stopping the Oregon offense. Containing the Ducks will be a much bigger challenge than containing Maryland or even Purdue.
The Bruins knew going in that the Boilermakers were going to be one-dimensional, pass-heavy. And even then, Purdue threw the ball seemingly at will.
Oregon will keep things balanced and offer a better attack. With proven replacement Raiola expected to start at QB, the Ducks will be able to move the football.
UCLA has not won in Eugene since 2004. This Bruins squad will keep winning games this season, but their losing streak at Autzen will continue for at least one more trip.
Illinois Fighting Illini at Michigan State Spartans
Saturday, October 10
12:30 PM PT, FS1
(Jack Kizer and Mark Helfrich)
When thinking of the sixth game to look at this week, the options were Northwestern hosting Ball State and Ohio State hosting Maryland—both of which seem like the perfect fodder for the host teams to celebrate homecoming.
Then there was this matchup, which, truth be told, doesn’t provide a lot of sizzle; still, it seems like a much better matchup than the other two.
Michigan State is trying to find its way under Pat Fitzgerald, and Year One for the head coach was not expected to deliver a lot of wins. And the Spartans have delivered as expected.
They gave Notre Dame a game for 30 minutes and stayed within reach of Nebraska for the better part of the first half. Things just got away from them.
The wins will be hard to come by, but the Spartans seem like the kind of team that will get one before the season ends. That one game when it all comes together for four quarters.
And then there is Illinois. The Fighting Illini looked to continue ascending under Bret Bielema this season, then rock bottom came last week, as they lost at home to Purdue.
It broke the Boilers’ 19-game conference losing streak and was their first Big Ten road win since 2022. Illinois has been a disappointing team all season, and one has to ask: Is there much fight left in them?
This is MSU’s chance to break through. The Spartans’ defense can keep the Illini in check.
The Spartans have been hurt by dual-threat QBs plenty this season; they won’t have to worry about Katin Houser turning into a runner in this one.
The Spartans’ offense has not been able to create a chunk play to save their lives; Illinois has given up a ton of them this season.
Sparty gets the Homecoming win!
No. 19 USC Trojans at Penn State Nittany Lions
Saturday, October 10
4:30 PM PT, NBC
(Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and Kathryn Tappen)
Perhaps no team was more overhyped in the opening month of the season than Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are a fine team, but in Year One under Matt Campbell, the expectations should have been nowhere near as high as they were made out to be.
Now with things tempered a bit, PSU can get back to being the team they are.
And that starts with the White Out game this week against USC. No matter what version of Penn State we have or who the opponent is, the White Out under the lights at Beaver Stadium always brings out the best in them.
That, along with USC’s historic struggles in the Eastern Time Zone, has the Lions favored.
The Trojans took care of Rutgers in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, but that was just their second win in their last 12 games played in the time zone three hours ahead of LA.
The biggest issue in this contest is the fact that Penn State got manhandled at the line of scrimmage last week at Northwestern.
The USC offense behind Jayden Maiava should be able to push around the Lions’ defense. The QB struggled to a season low last week against Washington, but the defense stepped up and contained UW.
I think Penn State will score some points, but I look for a big game from Maiava, especially if Penn State tries to overcorrect against the rush this week.
Now, there was a time when the Trojans rarely lost on the East Coast. Pete Carroll once engineered a nine-game win streak in the east; but then, his teams rarely lost in any time zone.
I think this one looks more like the SC of the opening month than the SC of the last couple weeks.
Minnesota Golden Gophers at Purdue Boilermakers
Saturday, October 10
5:00 PM PT, BTN
(Wayne Randazzo, Rhett Lewis, and Caroline Hendershot)
The Golden Gophers are coming in hot after a road win over Washington and winning the Little Brown Jug last week against Michigan.
Purdue is coming in with some momentum for the first time in a few years after finally getting a conference win again. It was the first Big Ten win for Barry Odom since taking over the Boilers. The 19-game skid is over!
But how does Purdue turn that into a few wins? They don’t.
Minnesota is a much better team than Illinois, and the Gophers are surely not going to overlook Purdue after last week’s results.
But the Purdue offense will probably be the best one the Gophers have faced since they lost to Mississippi State.
Ryan Brown is 19th in the nation in passing yardage, and the Boilermakers’ air attack will test the Minnesota secondary. But the Gopher pass defense ranks 16th in the nation as well.
Minnesota is also going to turn up the heat on Browne. Purdue has allowed a ton of sacks this season, and I’d expect Minnesota defenders to get to the Boilermaker QB often on Saturday.
Defensively, the Boilers will not be able to contain Drake Lindsey. Purdue is improving, and better days are coming, but this week will not be one of them.
Straight-Up Staff Picks for Selected Games
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
