Adam Hicks
Author
Did Iowa Just Beat Their Game Average in a Quarter? Not Really… But It Felt Like It. Coming into the fourth quarter tied 21-21 with Rutgers, Iowa turned on the jets — and for a team not known for lighting up the scoreboard, it felt like a scoring explosion.
Kicker Drew Stevens kicked things off (literally) with a 26-yard field goal to put the Hawkeyes ahead. But Rutgers QB Mark Gronowski channeled his inner Lee Corso with a “Not so fast, my friend,” answering with two clutch rushing touchdowns from the 2- and 1-yard lines.
Iowa, however, stuck to its bread and butter — pounding the rock. They racked up 160 team rushing yards and added two more touchdowns on the ground to put the game out of reach.
But the highlight of the night? That came early, when Kaden Werjens took a kickoff 100 yards to the house, igniting the crowd and setting the tone for what turned out to be one of Iowa’s most exciting offensive performances of the season.
Final Score: Iowa 38, Rutgers 28
Stats, stats, stats. That’s all the Hoosiers did. They ran up the score and stuffed the stat sheet like they were playing Indiana State for the second week in a row — but this time, they destroyed a Top 10 team: Illinois. Whatever doubts you had about Indiana making another playoff run just got put out like a cigarette.
Indiana’s QB threw 5 touchdowns to 4 different receivers. The team averaged a whopping 12.7 yards per pass and 6.4 yards per rush. Good night, son. RBs Hemby and Black both averaged 8.9 yards per carry and combined for 3 touchdowns.
Not to be outdone, the defense held Illinois to just 10 points and shut them out completely in the second half. Their QBs were on their heels with no wheels, as Indiana racked up 7 team sacks, with Mario Landio and Kellan Wyatt each grabbing a pair.
Final Score: #19 Indiana 63, #9 Illinois 10
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood made sure his second road game didn’t end like the one in Oklahoma. While he completed just 12 of 22 passes for 105 yards, he rocked the Cornhuskers to the core with a 37-yard touchdown run.
The Wolverines’ featured running back, Haynes, is going to have fans in Ann Arbor holding signs that read “Haynes for Heisman” at a College GameDay near you. He rushed for 149 yards, his fourth 100-yard game of the season in Week 4. Haynes broke off a 75-yard touchdown run, and his sidekick, Jalin Marshall, added a 54-yard score of his own.
Michigan ran for 286 yards as a team. Between Underwood, Haynes, and Marshall — the only three players who recorded rushing attempts — they averaged 9.4 yards per carry, nearly a first down on every run.
The defense was humming again. Much like in the Indiana/Illinois game, they racked up 7 team sacks. The score might not show it, but this was a whooping by the Wolverines.
Final Score: #21 Michigan 30, Nebraska 27
In the Civil War, QB Dante Moore posted a career-high 305 passing yards and threw a personal-best four touchdowns for the Ducks. It was a complete turnaround from his last outing in Corvallis, back when he played for the Bruins, where he threw three interceptions. This time, Moore added 53 rushing yards and ran the Beavers right out of Eugene.
More Moores? Sure, why not. WR Dakorien Moore hauled in 3 catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, while Gary Bryant Jr. led the team in receiving with 3 catches for 65 yards and a score. Let’s not forget the three-quarter shutout of their once-in-conference rival.
We all know what’s next! A road game at Penn State. And your boy can’t wait. Beat the Beavers, then head to Beaver Stadium for a shot at the Nittany Lions.
Final Score: #6 Ducks 41, Beavers 7
SC came out hot, controlling the game 24–10 at the half, and it seemed like the Spartans pulled a Trojan Horse on SC. Despite some third-quarter mistakes, the Trojans still played a dominant offensive game, grabbing 517 total yards. Led by SC QB Maiava, who threw for 236 yards with three touchdowns and added two more on the ground.
The real story was the running backs: Waymond Jordan rumbled for 157 yards on 18 carries, and Eli Sanders chipped in 90 yards on 16. SC cruised to another easy win—four in a row now for the Trojans.
For the Spartans, QB Aidan Chiles tried to do it all, accounting for nearly 90% of Michigan State’s total yards. He put up 243 yards, while the rest of the team might as well have stayed back in East Lansing.
Final Score: #25 USC 45, Michigan State 31
Do-it-all Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr.—actually, scratch the Jr. after this one—put on an absolute show in the Apple Cup, dominating his in-state rivals from start to finish.
Williams threw 298 yards and 4 touchdowns, added another 88 yards on the ground, and ran in a score himself. The man had him a game, leading the Huskies to a whopping 471 total yards. Buckeyes, consider this your warning: someone’s coming.
Even though the usual lead rusher for the Huskies took more of a backseat, he still punched in 59 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, WR Denzel Boston was out there rocking defenders, hauling in 107 yards and 2 touchdowns of his own. Washington was in complete control, putting an emphatic stamp on the rivalry.
Final Score: Huskies 59, Cougars 24
True freshman quarterback Malik Washington continues to turn heads, delivering three total touchdowns in another breakout performance. His favorite target on the day? Wide receiver Shaleak Knotts, who hauled in a 9-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, then torched the Badgers again for a 62-yard bomb that capped off a 99-yard drive straight out of a highlight reel. Washington finished 18-of-34 for 265 yards through the air, showing poise well beyond his years.
The tone was set early when Maryland defensive back Jalen Huskey jumped a route and took it 46 yards to the house for a pick-six, opening the scoring and putting the Badgers on their heels from the jump.
Now, with Wisconsin in the rearview and four wins in the bag, the Terp Terror gets a well-earned rest heading into the bye week—just in time to gear up for a deep dive into Big Ten play.
Final Score: Maryland 27, Wisconsin 10
Purdue showed up, got slapped on the first play, and never recovered. Notre Dame hit them for a 66-yard TD immediately, housed a 100-yard kickoff return, and basically turned the game into a highlight reel of Purdue’s worst mistakes.
Purdue’s defense was a joke—tackling like it was optional and giving up big plays automatically. Their effort looked like they left their heart back in West Lafayette. Notre Dame did whatever they wanted with 535 total yards and eight touchdowns. Even the two-hour lightning delay couldn’t save them from this total beatdown.
Final Score: Notre Dame 56, Purdue 30
Luke Fickell’s honeymoon in Madison has been over and is now getting stale. Yet another disappointing loss this time to Maryland, the home crowd made their feelings impossible to ignore, and boos rained down on the Badgers’ head coach like a hailstorm.
Fans came expecting progress, but after several seasons of underwhelming results and questionable game management, patience has run dry. The offense sputters, the defense leaks big plays, and the team just hasn’t lived up to the Fickell hype. The home crowd’s frustration boiled over, turning Camp Randall into a hostile place for their own coach.
Fickell’s tenure has not been a rollercoaster, just a radio flyer down a massive downhill ride in Madison. But after performances like this, the reality is setting in. Wisconsin is no longer the program it once was, and fans are no longer willing to wait around for a turnaround. Booze up, Badgers; it’s going to be another long season.
Nebraska has suffered 28 consecutive losses to ranked opponents, a streak that dates back to its last win over a Top 25 team in 2016 against then No. 22-ranked Oregon. This ongoing drought that seems to be continually parched despite the constant Rhule-aid talk that underscores the program’s struggles against elite competition, particularly at home in Lincoln.
Despite a strong start to the 2025 season, the Cornhuskers’ inability to secure victories against ranked teams continues to be a significant hurdle for the program. This extended losing streak has become a focal point for fans and analysts alike, highlighting the challenges Nebraska faces in returning to national prominence.
What used to be a pinnacle of not just Pac-12 football, but college football itself, now feels like it’s slipping away. The tribal nature, the regionality, the deep-rooted rivalries born from history, all of it seems to be unraveling right in front of our eyes.
I was excited to keep this going and pay homage to the games and traditions of yesteryear, but now, with the widening gap in money and competition, can we truly keep supporting what seems to be the fading future of these once-historic in-state rivalries?
The combined score of the now Big Ten teams: 100. The still PAC 12 teams? 31.
You have to ask yourself, is it worth keeping these rivalries alive in name only?
No. 9 Illinois came into Bloomington thinking they had something—but Indiana made sure they took everything, and then some. Illinois? They could barely get out of their own way. Seven sacks, just 161 total yards, almost no rushing production, and an offense that looked like, well, a steaming pile of absolute crap.
It was the worst loss of Bret Bielema’s tenure both in margin and in embarrassment. If you’re looking for something good, don’t bother; this is one the Illini will want to forget.
The high school football season is heating up, and the stakes are getting higher as teams battle for a chance to win it all. Several future Buckeyes are putting it all on the line to keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. The Southlake Carroll Dragons improved to a perfect 8-0 record on Friday […]
Adam Hicks
Author
The Good Northwestern’s Train Rolls On Northwestern is 5–2. That’s not a typo. It’s not a fever dream. It’s not a glitch in the standings. The Wildcats — who started this season under a cloud of low expectations and low preseason rankings — just shut out Purdue 19–0 and now sit one win away from […]
34-0 was the result, but even the shutout score doesn’t paint the full picture of this dominating performance. The Badgers (2-5, 0-4) only had 144 total yards on offense for the game. For comparison, Ohio State QB Julian Sayin had 169 yards passing in the first quarter alone. The No. 1 Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0) came […]
