Big Ten Football Power Rankings: Oregon Soars as Michigan Stumbles

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

Across the Big Ten, the second week of the college football season presented a fascinating dichotomy in non-conference scheduling philosophy. There were a handful of teams, like No. 15 Michigan and No. 11 Illinois, that challenged themselves with legitimate opponents. But most of the league spent its Saturday absolutely obliterating schools from outside the power leagues, with five different programs winning by 50 points or more.

The best victory of the weekend belonged to Illinois, which pulled away from Duke with an explosive second half in a lopsided 45-19 win, cementing head coach Bret Bielema’s squad as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. A captivating showdown between the Illini and No. 23 Indiana looms at the end of September.

Elsewhere, road stumbles by Iowa and No. 15 Michigan illustrated the potential ceilings for two teams introducing new, highly anticipated quarterbacks this season. Both the Hawkeyes’ Mark Gronowski and the Wolverines’ Bryce Underwood struggled in their first significant tests of the season.

Here’s our next set of Big Ten Power Rankings following Week 2:

The Top 10

Result: 70-0 home win over Grambling State

Were it not for the $1 million payment taken home by Grambling State, whose head coach, Mickey Joseph, all but conceded defeat during a midweek news conference, Saturday’s matchup would have been a complete farce in every sense of the word. Ohio State scored on eight of its first nine possessions as sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin set a school record with 16 consecutive completions to begin the game. He tossed touchdown passes of 47 yards (tight end Will Kacmarek) and 87 yards (wide receiver Jeremiah Smith) on the Buckeyes’ opening two possessions before sitting the entire second half, having already thrown for 306 yards and four scores with only a single incompletion — though his lone misfire was intercepted.

Even Sayin’s replacement, backup Lincoln Kienholz, who lost the quarterback competition during fall camp, finished 6-of-7 for 71 yards and a touchdown before giving way to true freshman Tavien St. Clair for the final 11 minutes.

The Buckeyes’ rushing attack proved just as potent, with true freshman Bo Jackson (nine carries, 108 yards, 1 TD) spearheading a group that averaged better than seven yards per attempt and found the end zone four times. When the clock finally expired, Ohio State had racked up 651 yards of total offense and secured the program’s ninth victory by 70-plus points.

Result: 69-3 home win over Oklahoma State

What might have looked like a compelling non-conference matchup between schools from the Big Ten and Big 12 quickly devolved into a laughingstock that showcased two teams heading in opposite directions. On one end of that spectrum is Oregon — a forward-thinking, cutting-edge program that has embraced its connection with Nike co-founder Phil Knight to position itself among the leaders in the NIL space, with a talent-stuffed roster to prove it. On the other end is Oklahoma State — a once-proud program led by an entrenched head coach, Mike Gundy, whose tenure of 20-plus years with the Cowboys now faces growing challenges as the team works to stay competitive in today’s evolving college football landscape.

The Ducks scored lengthy touchdowns on two of their first three offensive plays as tailback Noah Whittington sliced through Oklahoma State’s defense for a 59-yard run, and then freshman wideout Dakorien Moore, the No. 1 recruit in the country at his position, caught a 65-yard pass from quarterback Dante Moore, who finished 16-of-21 for 266 yards and three scores.

The onslaught from head coach Dan Lanning’s team only continued from there: Oregon led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter, 41-3 at halftime and 69-3 at the end of the third, a stanza that included back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns.

Result: 34-0 home win over Florida International

For the second time in as many weeks, the final score gave the impression of a comprehensive victory for Penn State, which improved to 2-0 by a combined margin of 80-11 against two teams from outside the power conferences. But as was the case during last week’s 46-11 win over Nevada, the Nittany Lions again slogged through a certain amount of sloppiness against the Panthers before finding a groove late. Some of that can be attributed to the weather, which drenched Beaver Stadium with steady rain, especially early. But some of it reflected subpar execution as Penn State had a field goal blocked and failed to convert on two additional fourth-down attempts in the opening half, taking a modest 10-point lead into the break.

The offense began chugging to life in the third quarter with two lengthy scoring drives: a 60-yard march that produced a field goal and an 88-yard jaunt that reached the end zone when quarterback Drew Allar connected with wideout Devonte Ross. Penn State’s running back tandem of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined to rush for 220 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries (7.6 yards per attempt) after neither player could reach 50 yards in Week 1. The Nittany Lions have one more tune-up against Villanova before hosting No. 6 Oregon.

Result: 45-19 road win over Duke

In more ways than one, this was an impressive victory for head coach Bret Bielema and his team. Not only did the Illini score a non-conference road win over an ascending ACC program that won nine games last season, bolstering a résumé that will be highly scrutinized come November and December due to a favorable Big Ten slate that doesn’t include Michigan, Penn State or Oregon. They also pulled away from the Blue Devils in impressive fashion by outscoring them 31-6 in the second half and pairing an efficient, opportunistic offense with ball-hawking defense.

Quarterback Luke Altmyer completed 22 of 31 passes for 296 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while continuing to strengthen his connection with wideout Hank Beatty, who has topped 100 receiving yards in each of Illinois’ first two games and is already within a whisker of matching his 2024 season output. They benefited from several short fields created by an aggressive Illinois defense that generated five turnovers — four fumbles, one interception — and only surrendered four third-down conversions.

Through two games, defensive coordinator Aaron Henry’s group is tied for fourth nationally and tied for first in the Big Ten with six takeaways, which is nearly one-third of the team’s total from last season.

Result: 56-9 home win over Kennesaw State

If last week’s sluggish, 27-14 win over Old Dominion left Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti mildly to moderately annoyed — and he admitted as much during his postgame news conference — then he should be feeling much better about how the Hoosiers performed on Saturday against another overmatched opponent. The offense quickly found its groove with two touchdown drives in the opening 12 minutes to lead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 21-3 by the 3:40 mark of the second.

Transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who labored through an uneven debut in Week 1, looked sharp from the start. He completed 18 of 25 passes for 245 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while developing excellent chemistry with top receiver Elijah Sarratt, whose nine catches for 97 yards included three scores.

The Hoosiers balanced their passing attack with an explosive running game that churned out 316 yards and three touchdowns. Four different players, including one wide receiver, chipped in at least 50 rushing yards on an afternoon when Indiana averaged 8.3 yards per carry. The headliner was junior Lee Beebe Jr., who only needed 11 touches to produce 90 yards and a score. Indiana outgained Kennesaw State 596-271 in total offense.

Result: 68-0 home win over Akron

The poor, poor Zips. After getting shut out by Wyoming, 10-0, to begin the season, Akron traveled to Nebraska for what finished as an absolute evisceration that its head coach, Joe Moorhead, called “an a– kicking of epic proportions in every facet of the game.” But at least the Zips went home $1.45 million richer, such were the terms of this particular contract.

Everything Nebraska did worked to perfection on both sides of the ball as head coach Matt Rhule’s team recorded its most points in a game since 2007, its most yards in a game since 2014 and posted its first shutout since 2009. Though the competition was suspect at best, quarterback Dylan Raiola turned in the finest statistical performance of his career by completing 24 of 31 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns, all of which went to different receivers.

When Raiola wasn’t gashing Akron through the air, tailback Emmett Johnson was slicing the Zips open for 10 yards per carry on 14 attempts, twice finding the end zone on runs of 47 yards and six yards — not to mention his four-yard receiving score. In total, the Cornhuskers racked up 728 yards of total offense and converted eight of 10 times on third down. Nebraska’s defense limited Akron to just 62 passing yards on nine completions.

Result: 24-13 road loss to No. 18 Oklahoma

The marquee game of this week’s college football slate saddled Michigan with a disappointing defeat that unearthed plenty of questions about whether the Wolverines are built to contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff: Can this offensive line, which suffered multiple injuries against the Sooners and was already under scrutiny following a disappointing 2024 campaign, hold up against the rigors of a Big Ten schedule? Can these wide receivers, who continue to look pedestrian at best, win enough one-on-one matchups to earn the respect of blitz-happy defensive coordinators? Can freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who only completed nine of 24 passes for 142 yards, be trusted to push the ball downfield in big moments? Can the Wolverines’ defense, which was dinged for nine missed tackles and five penalties, play with enough discipline to beat elite competition?

These are some of the questions Michigan must answer in the next few weeks as head coach Sherrone Moore serves a self-imposed, two-game suspension that bars him from even being in the team’s facility for practices and meetings. A non-conference matchup with Central Michigan shouldn’t offer much of a test next weekend, but the road game at Nebraska on Sept. 20 could be quite thorny based on how the Wolverines performed against the Sooners.

Result: 59-20 home win over Georgia Southern

There was a unique emotional component to Saturday night’s game, which brought former USC head coach Clay Helton (2015-21) back to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the leading man on the visiting sideline. Helton posted an overall record of 46-24 and a Pac-12 mark of 36-13 during his time with the Trojans before departing just two games into the 2021 season. What’s interesting about Helton’s dismissal is that his winning percentage at USC (.657) is nearly identical to what Riley has managed through his first four years at the helm (.667).

But it was Riley and his high-powered offense that got the last laugh this time around as the Trojans exploded for 755 total yards and exceeded 50 points for the second consecutive game. Quarterback Jayden Maiava, who now ranks fifth nationally in passing yards, completed 16 of 24 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns, including two long-range strikes of 60-plus yards to wideout Makai Lemon. Still, the most exciting development might have been the emergence of former JUCO tailback Waymond Jordan, who transformed his 16 carries into 167 yards and a score, setting a new program-high for rushing by a single player in the Riley era.

Result: 70-10 home win over UC Davis

This was a banner performance for Washington tailback Jonah Coleman, who tied the program’s modern record with five rushing touchdowns, matching the totals put forth by Corey Dillon in 1996 and Hugh McElhenny in 1950. Exactly one-third of Coleman’s carries resulted in touchdowns against the overmatched Aggies’ defense on Saturday night as he rushed 15 times for 111 yards overall, moving himself to third nationally in rushing and first in rushing touchdowns for the season. But he wasn’t alone. Fellow tailback Adam Mohammed (14 carries, 95 yards), starting quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (eight carries, 64 yards) and backup quarterback Kai Horton (three carries, 21 yards) all chipped in with rushing scores of their own in a game when the Huskies found the end zone eight times on the ground, averaging seven yards per carry along the way. There was also a 47-yard touchdown pass from Williams to wideout Dezmen Roebuck and a 78-yard punt return touchdown by wideout Denzel Boston to round out the near-constant scoring.

Washington finished with 628 yards of total offense and converted 13 of 15 times on third- and fourth-down combined, a staggeringly efficient rate.

Result: 42-40 home win over Boston College in 2OT

This was arguably the most exciting game of the weekend as Michigan State and Boston College traded blows in a dizzying affair that featured six ties and eight lead changes, culminating in a double-overtime classic. The two teams swapped touchdowns in both extra sessions but were separated by a successful two-point conversion for the Spartans, who scored a walk-off victory when quarterback Aidan Chiles lofted a lovely pass to wideout Omari Kelly after the Eagles had previously failed to convert.

Often inconsistent, Chiles put forth arguably his best effort since joining Michigan State by completing 19 of 29 passes for 231 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. He also carried the ball 12 times for 39 yards and an additional score, accounting for all five of his team’s touchdowns.

This was an important victory for second-year head coach Jonathan Smith after the Spartans lost to Boston College last year and only defeated Florida Atlantic and Prairie View A&M outside the Big Ten. It was Michigan State’s first non-conference win against a Power 4 opponent since knocking off then-No. 12 Pittsburgh in the Peach Bowl four years ago.

The Rest

Result: 66-0 home win over Northwestern State

What makes this final score even more preposterous is that the game was cut short in the fourth quarter due to severe weather with more than six minutes still to play. Both sides were likely fine with the abbreviation as the Gophers had scored five touchdowns in the opening quarter to assure themselves of a victory several hours earlier. Nine different players reached the end zone for Minnesota.

Result: 42-10 home win over Middle Tennessee

The Badgers entered this game without starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who sprained his knee in the opener against Miami (Ohio). His replacement, sophomore Danny O’Neil, a one-time Colorado commit who ultimately enrolled at San Diego State, played fairly well by completing 23 of 27 passes for 283 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Wisconsin played its first penalty-free game since a win over Iowa in 2016.

Result: 16-13 road loss to No. 16 Iowa State

A second consecutive unsightly offensive performance — albeit against a talented Iowa State defense — is a legitimate cause for concern at Iowa, where transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski continues to struggle in his jump from FCS football to the big leagues. Gronowski was held to under 100 passing yards for the second consecutive week and only managed 37 rushing yards on 16 punishing attempts. The lack of talent among the Hawkeyes’ receivers and tight ends is alarming.

Result: 20-9 home win over Northern Illinois

There’s no doubting how much head coach Mike Locksley trusts true freshman quarterback Malik Washington after the way this game unfolded. Locksley kept his offense on the field for a critical fourth down during a one-score game in the fourth quarter, trusting Washington to make a play with his arm. Washington responded by connecting with wideout Shaleak Knotts for a 42-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.

Result: 45-17 home win over Miami (Ohio)

Despite a weather delay, this was a relatively straightforward win for Rutgers, whose offense looks much improved in back-to-back victories over opponents from the Mid-American Conference. One week after quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis completed 18 of 23 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns against Ohio, he performed even better against the RedHawks by finishing 26-of-36 for 259 yards and four scores. Through two games, Kaliakmanis is tied for 10th nationally and tied for first in the Big Ten with six touchdown passes.

Result: 34-17 home win over Southern Illinois

Two games, two wins for first-year head coach Barry Odom. The Boilermakers overcame a rocky defensive start — they allowed 14 points in the opening quarter — to stifle Southern Illinois over the final 45 minutes to earn a comfortable victory. Purdue out-rushed the Salukis 214-81 overall on the strength of an excellent day for tailback Devin Mockobee, who carried 32 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Result: 42-7 home win over Western Illinois

This was quite a bounce-back performance for quarterback Preston Stone, the highly touted SMU transfer. Stone was appalling in the season-opening loss to Tulane, having thrown zero touchdowns and four interceptions amid a dispiriting loss. But he responded well against the Leathernecks by completing 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Result: 30-23 road loss to UNLV

Things are getting ugly in a hurry for second-year head coach DeShaun Foster, whose Bruins fell behind 23-0 late in the second quarter to an opponent from outside the power conferences. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava did his best to mount a fourth-quarter comeback, ultimately marching down the field for what might have been a game-tying drive, but his bid fell flat when a tipped pass was intercepted by the Rebels with 52 seconds remaining.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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