Big Ten Football Power Rankings, Week 3: Has Iowa claimed the top spot?

8. No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (1-1)

After losing to Penn State at home to open the season, the Wisconsin Badgers took out their frustrations on Eastern Michigan. Wisconsin won comfortably 34-7, and it was not that close. The Eagles had just 92 yards of offense.

Junior running back Chez Mellusi has taken the RB1 job by the reins the last two games. That is key to their offensive identity. It seems, however, the Badgers have the same limitation they’ve had the last couple of seasons, lack of an explosive playmaker.

The defense is advertised once again, but the Badgers have to find a way to take the top off a defense. Wisconsin’s longest pass play against Eastern Michigan was 18 yards. That’s not good enough.

7. Purdue Boilermakers (2-0)

The Boilermakers are doing what they need to do to play in the postseason. There might not be many wins in the conference for the Boilermakers, especially if they sustain any injuries along the way this season.

The injury bug came to bite the Boilers against the Huskies. Leading rusher Alexander Horvath broke his leg and will miss 4-8 weeks of the season. This week, beating Oregon State and then UConn is key wins on their road to getting to six wins and a bowl game.

That puts the load on King Dorue and Dylan Downing. Hopefully, the Horvath injury doesn’t mean the offense stops trying to run the football.

6. Maryland Terrapins (2-0)

Much like the Boilermakers, the Terps are winning the games they should win to find themselves in the postseason this year. What head coach Mike Locksley and his offensive staff have to be most excited about is the maturation of Taulia Tagovailoa. The younger Tagovailoa brother has yet to throw an interception this season and looks more comfortable in the pocket.

The Terps have not been tested defensively yet, so that is where we’ll see if they are the real deal. However, Maryland is explosive on the perimeter with a solid, complementary running game.