Big Ten Power Rankings Week 10: Terps, Wolverines Rise, Wildcats, Nittany Lions Fall

Nov 1, 2014; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes players look towards Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Jake Rudock (15) during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

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Iowa Hawkeyes 6-2 (3-1)

Last week: Defeated Northwestern Wildcats 48-7
Last rank: 9

Just when we were ready to write off the Iowa Hawkeyes after losing to the Maryland Terrapins, they come away with an amazing win. Okay, so we’ve already established that we don’t believe in Northwestern. But for this team to beat anybody 48-7, it shows that they clearly made improvements coming off the bye week.

Starting with late in the Maryland game, Kirk Ferentz’s offense has all of a sudden found a rhythm that nobody knew they had earlier this year. Jake Ruddock is playing very efficient at quarterback, and the rushing attack found new life with Akrum Wadley and Mark Weisman Saturday. Weisman has been good all year, but where did Wadley come from? Wherever it is, he added a whole new element to the Iowa offense. And the defense is still pretty good, so watch out for this team.

A match-up this Saturday with Minnesota will show which team will be in the Big Ten West race the rest of the year. If Iowa can pull it off, they get Wisconsin and Nebraska at home at the end of the year. Could they sneak into the title game? Maybe.