Things to watch this week in the Big Ten Conference:
Game of the week
No. 11 Southern California (2-0) at No. 18 Michigan (2-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
This is a must-see game for college football fans who grew up watching these teams square off in the Rose Bowl. It’s a conference game now and USC’s first as a Big Ten member. The teams haven’t met in the regular season since Michigan held on for a 20-19 win at the Big House in 1958.
The programs are on different tracks entering this game. USC has a rising star in QB Miller Moss and a revitalized defense, and the Trojans must be considered contenders to win the Big Ten or, short of that, make the College Football Playoff.
Defending national champion Michigan’s struggling offense will have QB Alex Orji make his first start this week, and it doesn’t bode well that its defense has been susceptible to giving up big pass plays.
USC is a six-point favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The undercard
No. 24 Illinois visits No. 22 Nebraska for a Friday night conference opener. The Illini are 3-0 for the first time since 2011 and the Cornhuskers for the first time since 2016. Five-star QB recruit Dylan Raiola has been everything the Huskers could have hoped for, but he will be tested by an Illinois defense that’s sophisticated in how it changes coverages.
UCLA travels to No. 16 LSU for a matchup that has lost some of its luster. The Bruins under first-year coach DeShaun Foster struggled to win at Hawaii and were thoroughly beaten by Indiana at home. Though the Tigers have had their issues, they likely will make it a long night for UCLA in Death Valley.
Iowa heads to Minnesota to play for Floyd of Rosedale. This will be the earliest in a season the teams have played the game for the bronze pig. The Gophers won 12-10 in Iowa City last year in a game that had the lowest over-under point total (30.5) in 20 years. The oddsmakers expect more offense this year: the over-under is 35.5 on BetMGM.
Impact players
Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke goes into the home game against Charlotte completing 74.3% of his passes for 251.7 yards per game. He’s thrown a Big Ten-high seven touchdown passes and has not been intercepted.
Maryland WR Tai Felton enters the home game against Villanova as the first player in program history to open a season with three straight 100-yard receiving games.
Rutgers’ Athan Kaliakmanis goes into his game at Virginia Tech as the first Scarlet Knights quarterback in nine years to throw for three touchdowns in consecutive games.
Inside the numbers
Ohio State, which hosts Marshall, has allowed six points through its first two games. That’s the Buckeyes’ third-lowest total since 1950. The 1960 and 1963 teams opened with consecutive shutouts. … When Kent State visits Penn State, it will mark the 21st time in 23 seasons that the Nittany Lions will play a Mid-American Conference opponent. … Northwestern, which visits Washington, has allowed one sack through three games compared with nine at this point in 2023. … Washington has won 16 straight home games, the second-longest streak in the FBS behind Georgia (26). … Purdue’s 2,229-mile trip to Oregon State marks the farthest the Boilermakers have traveled for a game since they went 2,233 miles to play Oregon in 2009.
Now don’t get upset
Michigan State (3-0) is a 6 1/2-point underdog for its visit to Boston College (2-1). Both teams are playing with newfound confidence under first-year coaches. Two weeks ago the Spartans won a down-to-the-wire Big Ten road game against Maryland that they probably would have lost a year ago. QB Aidan Chiles’ confidence is growing, the run game has been productive though a bit too reliant on the big play, and the defense has picked off four passes and leads the Big Ten with 27 tackles for loss.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
