Week 6 Recap: Indiana Stays Perfect, USC Silences Beaver Stadium

Cole Brennan

Fourth and 1. Nebraska 44. Indiana has not led all day. Nebraska stacks the line to stop the run. Josh Hoover fakes the handoff, and Nick Marsh is wide open behind the secondary. Forty four yards, touchdown. Indiana 20, Nebraska 17. That is the defining play of Week 6.

Cole Brennan

I'm Cole Brennan, and this is the Monday Roundup for Week 6 on This Week in the Big Ten, brought to you by Jellypod AI, the easiest platform to create AI podcasts and generative videos. Let's go through the board.

Cole Brennan

Start with Indiana. Nebraska led 17 to 6 early in the fourth quarter after Anthony Colandrea's 39 yard touchdown run. Indiana answered on the first play of its next drive. Hoover to Marsh, 75 yards, on a run pass option. Then a stop, then the fourth down call. Indiana had an extra lineman in a tight formation, but also three receivers on the field. Nebraska had its goal line defense out there. Matt Rhule said, quote, we should have called a timeout, and that the organization is his fault. Curt Cignetti said he took the play from Kansas and used it against Northwestern two weeks ago. Marsh finished with six catches for 187 yards. The rest of the offense had a hard day. Indiana ran for 65 yards, a season low, and Turbo Richard had eight carries for 10 yards. Still, that's win number 22 in a row, the longest streak in the Big Ten since Ohio State won 23 straight in 2013 and 2014. Indiana is 6 and 0, 3 and 0 in the league. Nebraska falls to 5 and 1, 2 and 1, and has now lost 31 straight against Top 25 opponents.

Cole Brennan

Cross coast, and this one was the preview's big trip. No. 19 USC flew three time zones to State College and played in front of 114,419, the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history, almost all of it in white. USC 31, Penn State 23. Jayden Maiava was 21 of 33 for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Trent Mosley caught nine passes for 111. Penn State's only lead came on a 35 yard field goal after it recovered an onside kick to open the second half. King Miller answered with a 13 yard touchdown run, and USC held the lead from there. Then, with 3:59 left, Christian Pierce punched the ball away from Brett Eskildsen. Penn State never got it back. The Nittany Lions ran for 68 yards on 31 carries. They are 3 and 3, 0 and 3 in the Big Ten, and Matt Campbell is still looking for his first conference win. USC moves to 6 and 1, 3 and 1.

Cole Brennan

No. 21 UCLA beat No. 13 Oregon, 17 to 15, in Eugene. It was sloppy. Ten turnovers, seven of them Oregon's. UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava left late in the first half with a lower leg injury and did not return. Backup Ty Dieffenbach came in and threw a 9 yard touchdown to Wayne Knight early in the fourth for a 17 to 6 lead. Knight also ran for 103 yards and a score. Oregon, with Brock Thomas at quarterback, cut it to 17 to 15 on a 44 yard pass to Evan Stewart with 2:16 left. On the two point try, a UCLA facemask penalty moved the ball to the 1 and a half yard line. The Bruins swarmed Jordon Davison short of the goal line. Oregon's last drive ended on a lost fumble. Dylan Raiola, making his first start in place of Dante Moore, who is in concussion protocol, went 6 of 18 for 43 yards with two interceptions before Thomas replaced him. UCLA is 5 and 0, 3 and 0 in the league. Oregon is 3 and 2, 1 and 1.

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No. 5 Ohio State beat Maryland, 45 to 16, in Ryan Day's 100th game as head coach. He's 87 and 13. Jeremiah Smith caught touchdowns on his first two touches, for 33 and 40 yards, and now has 38 career receiving touchdowns, one shy of the Big Ten record. Julian Sayin threw four touchdown passes, 13 of 21 for 242 yards. Bo Jackson ran for two more. But Day was not happy. Two turnovers, eight penalties, and a Maryland pick six that made it 31 to 16. He said, quote, we've got to get this stuff fixed. Ohio State is 5 and 1, 3 and 0. Maryland is 2 and 4, 0 and 3.

Cole Brennan

Purdue ended Minnesota's unbeaten run in the league, 41 to 13. Fame Ijeboi, who played at Minnesota, ran for a career high 195 yards and three touchdowns against his old team. Ryan Browne added 81 rushing yards and a score. Purdue was perfect on all six red zone trips. Minnesota ran for just 25 yards. Purdue is 3 and 3, 2 and 1. Minnesota is 4 and 2, 2 and 1.

Cole Brennan

Illinois won in overtime at Michigan State, 38 to 37. Starting quarterback Katin Houser broke his hand in the third quarter, and he's out indefinitely. Michael Clayton, throwing passes for the first time in his career, hit Hudson Clement for 25 yards on the first play of overtime. Michigan State scored on Jaziun Patterson's third touchdown, and Pat Fitzgerald went for two and the win. The wildcat pass from Alessio Milivojevic fell incomplete. Illinois is 3 and 3, 1 and 2. Michigan State is 2 and 4, 0 and 3.

Cole Brennan

Two more. Friday night in Seattle, Iowa beat Washington, 41 to 24. Kamari Moulton ran for 208 yards, and Iowa held Washington to minus 3 rushing yards. It's Iowa's first win in the Pacific time zone since the 2019 Holiday Bowl, and its first on the West Coast since the Big Ten expanded. And Northwestern, in a nonconference game, beat Ball State, 45 to 14. Aidan Chiles threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another. The Wildcats are 4 and 1.

Cole Brennan

Now the Indianapolis picture. Six teams started Saturday at 2 and 0 in league play. Four are left. Indiana, Ohio State and UCLA are 3 and 0. Wisconsin is 2 and 0 after a bye. USC is 3 and 1. Iowa, Nebraska, Purdue and Minnesota are 2 and 1. Oregon and Northwestern are 1 and 1. Winless in conference play: Michigan at 0 and 2, and Penn State, Michigan State, Maryland and Washington at 0 and 3.

Cole Brennan

Here's the math. Week 7 has two games between the four unbeatens. Ohio State at Indiana, and Wisconsin at UCLA. Somebody loses both of those games. So by Saturday night, no more than two teams in the Big Ten will be undefeated in league play.

Cole Brennan

The slate. Friday, Washington at Purdue. Saturday at noon Eastern on Fox, Ohio State at Indiana. The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes 13 to 10 in last year's Big Ten title game, but Indiana hasn't beaten Ohio State at home since 1988. Ohio State then plays USC on October 31 and Oregon on November 7. At 7:30 Eastern on NBC, Wisconsin at UCLA. At noon on Peacock, Northwestern at Michigan State, where Pat Fitzgerald faces his old program. Also Saturday, Nebraska at Oregon, with both teams trying to avoid a second league loss. Penn State at Michigan, with neither team having a conference win. And Rutgers at Maryland. Iowa, USC, Minnesota and Illinois are on bye. Ohio State at Indiana, noon Eastern, on Fox.