Big Ten football power rankings, Week 7: Purdue chugging along

Another week and another loss for Michigan State. This time it was at the hands of Ohio State 49-20. The Spartans were completely overmatched and had no answers against the Buckeyes.

In the preseason many pundits pondered if Michigan State would take a slight step back this season from their 11 wins a year ago. Not sure anyone saw this coming though. There are no quick fixes for how bad the defense is and the offense lacks any kind of identity. The Spartans stay at home next Saturday where they will be desperate for a win against Wisconsin.

Nebraska has now won two in a row under interim coach Mickey Joseph. His team also did something they rarely could do under Scott Frost. Winning a one-score game.

After giving up 13 points in the first half, the Cornhusker defense pitched a shutout in the second half. The Husker offense did just enough to rally back for a victory, with quarterback Casey Thompson tossing two touchdowns.

Nebraska now has two conference wins and, believe it or not, is in the Big Ten West race. They face an uptick in competition next Saturday as they travel to Purdue.

In a game that set back offense 100 years, Iowa lost to Illinois 9-6 Saturday night in Champaign. The two teams combined for 14 punts, 15 penalties, and four turnovers.

This is a historically bad Iowa offense, scoring seven points or less in half their games this season and they are averaging a little over 14 points per game. The Iowa defense is doing its part to win games but is getting no help from the offense. Kirk Ferentz seems too stubborn to make any kind of changes so the Hawkeyes will likely continue to limp along this season.

After a bye week, Iowa travels to Ohio State which could turn ugly real quick.