Creeping the B1G: Week 5

For the second straight week, the league was pretty predictable (outside of what happened in Happy Valley.)

Indiana 24, Rutgers 17

Rutgers jumped to an early 7-0 lead! And then Indiana scored on its next four possessions to go ahead for good. Rutgers tried to make it close late with 10 fourth-quarter points, but wasn’t able to stop Peyton Ramsey and co. in the end.

What this means for Indiana: It’s another win towards bowl eligibility! In the Big Ten East, any win is a good one.

What this means for Rutgers: I don’t know. I feel like this is going to be hard to write every week. Rutgers is really, reeally, reeeeealllllly bad. We knew they’d be bad. The Chris Ash Era might be coming to a slow, painful close.

#14 Michigan 20, Northwestern 17

Man, Northwestern had this one. The Wildcats went up 17-0 in the second quarter, but gave up 20 straight points to lose its third straight game. Karan Higdon scored with 4:06 left in the game to put Michigan on top.

What this means for Michigan: If the Wolverines want to have any chance to win the Big Ten East, they have to keep pace with Ohio State. This win allows them to do that.

What this means for Northwestern: This is just brutal. It could have finally been that breakthrough in a big game Pat Fitzgerald’s squad seemingly can never get. With 3 ranked teams left on its schedule, bowl eligibility seems to be slipping away.

#21 Michigan State 31, Central Michigan 20

The Spartans were able to overcome yet another underwhelming effort in this one. Central jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, but Michigan State had 31 straight sandwiched in the middle to put themselves ahead.

What this means for Michigan State: Is Michigan State good? I feel like we haven’t seen a full, 60-minute effort from the team yet. Northwestern won’t really put up the biggest challenge for Mark Dantonio’s team next week I don’t think, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do against Penn State in two weeks. They’ll either beat Penn State in an ugly game, or get blown out.

Purdue 42, Nebraska 28

Nebraska played a good game, highlighted by 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Devine Ozigbo, but Purdue’s offense is just better. David Blough had another big day with 366 total yards, and the Boilermakers used a 27-unanswered point burst to keep the game out of reach.

What this means for Nebraska: This freefall is getting bad. The Huskers now have the nations second-longest losing streak at eight games dating back to last year.

What this means for Purdue: The 0-3 start for Purdue is starting to look weirder and weirder. The team has a real chance to make a bowl game -- its offense will keep it in every game it plays. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them pull an upset over one of the three ranked teams it plays this year.