Week 5 Big Ten — Know your enemy

B1G Games of the Week: OhioSt-MichSt, Illinois-PennSt

Sep 27, 2024

Know Your Enemy is an

Oregon FansEdge

series made for college football geeks like us who love to scout the Big Ten race all the way to the CFP — Get time, TV and fan gear in a weekly preview delivered to your inbox:

Game days on Facebook — live updates for every Oregon TD & B1G final scores:

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP

This week in B1G Football

This week’s Big Ten schedule narrows to conference play this week, with a few B1G games the Oregon FansEdge team will be watching for certain: Wisconsin at No. 13 USC, No. 3 Ohio St at Michigan St, and No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn St.

Pressure test

Wisconsin at No. 13 USC

(330pm ET/230pm CT/1230pm PT | CBS)

USC dropped two spots in the AP Top 25 after losing 27-24 at Michigan — a game that saw the Wolverines expose USC’s run defense for 290 rush yards (6.3 yards per carry), and only bother to pass for 32 yards on 12 attempts.

Wisconsin is historically cut from that same cloth — Big Ten power-running, backed by stout defense. In three games, Wisconsin has passed for a season total of 547 yards and rushed for 516. The unranked Badgers (2-1) will give us a look at whether No. 13 USC can bounce back from the conference loss at Michigan, and how durable the Trojans are against another old-school Midwestern ground-pound offense.

Reality check

No. 3 Ohio St at Michigan St

(7pm ET/6pm CT/4pm PT | Peacock)

After Oregon faces UCLA in Week 5, the Ducks will open October with Michigan State and then Ohio State in consecutive weeks at Autzen. We’re watching MSU every chance we get with the question — Did Michigan State hire a legit coach or just a guy they think can beat Oregon once or twice a decade?

No. 3 Ohio State is favored to win the B1G title, but their non-conference strength of schedule didn’t present the level of challenge waiting in the conference race — starting with this Michigan State matchup.

Former Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith brings a mix of old Pac-12 nemesis and Oregon’s first 2024 opponent with old-growth Big Ten roots. Surreal after all those Oregon-State years for Oregon fans to see Smith wearing green — in a way MSU at Oregon is another shot at avenging the Ducks’ 2022 loss in Corvallis.

Previously in 30-Year Throwback:

Chapter 3 — Oregon was short-handed for the ‘94 Pac-10 opener at No. 19 USC; first-time starters and clutch plays sparked Oregon’s first win at the Coliseum in 23 years.

pictured: Alex Molden (1) and Rich Ruhl (48) with an unidentified fan, photo: Matthew Stockman/ALLSPORT

Oregon FansEdge

Chapter 3: 1994 Oregon at USC, Pac-10 on notice

4 months ago · Fans-Edge.net

No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn St

(730pm ET/630pm CT/430Pm PT | NBC)

No. 9 Penn State seems to have found the offense it lacked last season — with early 2024 averages of 282.7 passing yards and 255 rush yards per game.

Illinois seemed to have an advantage in quality depth last weekend in their 31-24 overtime win at Nebraska. The bulk of the game looked every bit as even as the final score suggests but overtime was all Illinois — scoring in two plays, then registering three sacks in four plays for a turnover on downs to end the game.