The Spartans improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2015 behind a 48-31 win over Western Kentucky - they were outscored 15-3 in the fourth quarter, but that’s another story. Northwestern is on bye this week before hosting Rutgers on Oct. (8 catches, 116 yards against the Huskers), the Wildcats have a few offensive playmakers, but they’ll need a lot more to keep pace with the rest of the Big Ten. With running back Evan Hull and receiver Stephon Robinson Jr. Northwestern gave up 500 yards to both Michigan State and Duke, and allowed 657 yards and 28 first downs to Nebraska. That doesn’t appear like it will be the case this season. If they can do the same against Michigan this weekend, we’ll be in for an entertaining one this Saturday.Įven in their worst years under Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) are often able to complete by mucking things up with their defense. In fact, Will Przystup’s lone punt went for 84 yards.Īfter two painful losses, the challenge for the Huskers against a clearly inferior Northwestern team was to put a clean game together. Perhaps most encouragingly, Nebraska committed just four penalties for 19 yards, didn’t turn it over and didn’t commit any special-teams errors. Freshman running backs Jaquez Yant (a former walk-on) and Rahmir Johnson blew up, pacing a 427-yard rushing performance that evoked Husker teams of old - many of those yards came out of triple-option looks. Adrian Martinez completed 11-of-17 passes for 202 yards and a score, and ran for 50 yards and three more scores. Nebraska (3-3, 1-2) obliterated Northwestern, 56-7, this past weekend. The big question for the Huskers so far has been what they might be capable of if they could quit shooting themselves in the foot. Rutgers hosts Michigan State this Saturday. There were no real bright spots for a team hoping to show improvement from past seasons against the Big Ten’s elite, but instead was clearly unable to compete. Noah Vedral tossed three interceptions and the Scarlet Knights’ defense was torched by an Ohio State offense that ripped off big gains at will. Ohio State routed Rutgers (3-2, 0-2), 52-13, in a game that was never close - the Buckeyes led 45-6 at halftime. The Scarlet Knights’ strong start looks a lot more smoke and mirrors after what happened this past Saturday in Piscataway. Next up for Northern Illinois is a road date with Toledo (3-2). It wasn’t the best day for Rocky Lombardi, who completed just 9-of-20 passes for 84 yards, but the Huskies ran for 242 yards on 55 rushing attempts to defend their home turf.
WHERE IS NOAH MAC NOW MAC
NIU (3-2) took a 17-0 lead over Eastern Michigan in their MAC opener, then fended off a late comeback attempt to win 27-20 and improve to 3-2 on the season. Washington is on bye next week before hosting UCLA. But Oregon State used its ground-and-pound to drive the Huskies into submission, going 54 yards - all runs - on their final drive that ended in a game-winning field goal. They also held Beaver quarterback Chance Nolan to 48 yards passing. Their often-dormant run game got going, with Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant combining for 187 yards on 27 carries. Point being, this wasn’t a bad loss for the Huskies, who fell to 2-3. The Beavers look much-improved in their fourth season under Jonathan Smith and are 4-1 and 2-0 in Pac-12 play after their 27-24 win over Washington in Corvallis. It might be a good idea to look out for Oregon State this season. Next up is defending conference champ Ball State at home. Overall, a solid win for the Broncos (4-1), who figure to contend in the MAC this season. The Broncos controlled the game for the most part, holding the ball for over 40 minutes, but Parker Sampson missed two field goals and Eleby was sacked on a fourth-and-goal. Moore went off, catching 11 passes for 163 yards and two scores. WMU’s weapon-laden offense started slow but scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, taking the lead for good on a deep strike from Kaleb Eleby to Skyy Moore. Let’s break it all down.Īfter a successful non-conference portion that included a win over Pitt, the Broncos began their MAC slate with a 24-17 win at Buffalo. Some of Michigan’s 2021 opponents were on the right side of the blowout, while others, like Rutgers and Northwestern, were on the complete opposite side. In fact, a lot of college football games this past weekend were very similar to that. The Michigan Wolverines went to Camp Randall and blew out Wisconsin in dominant fashion this past weekend.