Big Ten Football Power Rankings 2017: Wisconsin on top in Week 4?

The Nebraska Cornhuskers had easily the most disappointing week of any Big Ten team, falling to the Northern Illinois Huskies 21-17 at home. Quarterback Tanner Lee dug himself and the offense a hole, throwing two pick sixes to the Huskies defense, one of which was in the red zone.

Lee threw three interceptions and the Huskers could not overcome an early Huskies’ fourth quarter touchdown, despite out-gaining Northern Illinois by nearly 200 yards. While we certainly won’t expect Nebraska to sit at the bottom of the conference all year, the Huskers experienced their second loss of the non-conference slate and have put head coach Mike Riley on the hot seat.

Nebraska will host Rutgers this upcoming weekend in their Big Ten opener.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights notched a mark in the win column in their third contest of the season, destroying Morgan State 65-0 in New Jersey. The victory snapped the Scarlet Knights’ 11-game losing streak hopefully will get the confidence up a bit as they enter the tough Big Ten portion of their schedule.

Rutgers has looked promising at times this year. Of course, a 65-0 shellacking will do that for you, but do not forget the team hung around a top ten team in Washington in the season opener. The Scarlet Knights ultimately could not keep up with the Huskies’s offense, but the team, coaching staff, and fans have got to like the direction the team is heading- even though another losing season is more than likely on the horizon.

Illinois shut many people up after their week two victory over Western Kentucky, a game they were listed as underdogs in at home. The Fighting Illini have a long way to go, and their game this past weekend against South Florida proved just that.

Despite hanging with USF for quite a bit, the eye test showed a sloppy game all over the place. The Illini’s offense seemed to look promising at times, but there is a lot of work to on the defensive side of the ball as the team allowed over 600 yards of offense to the Bulls.

Illinois will reset with a bye week before welcoming in Nebraska in a very important and winnable game. Both teams will be looking to make a statement in the Big Ten West and could be an interesting game to keep an eye on as a struggling offense in Nebraska takes on a struggling defense in Champaign.