Week 7 Big Ten — Know your enemy

Big Ten Games of the Week: Oregon-OhioSt, USC-PennSt

Oct 11, 2024

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This week in B1G Football

PORTLAND, Ore. — AP No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon is easily the national game of the week. It’s likely Oregon’s biggest game of the 2024 regular season, and possibly a preview of December’s Big Ten title game.

Ohio State at Oregon in Week 7 checks all the boxes:

AP No. 2 at No. 3
B1G Defensive Player of the Week on Oregon’s side
B1G Offensive co-Player of the Week on Ohio State’s side
First meeting of top-five teams in Autzen Stadium history
Immediate impact on the Big Ten standings and title race
Implications in the eventual playoff seeding for the 12-team CFP
ESPN’s College GameDay show will be on-site in Eugene for the game

VIDEO: Watch the preview — AP No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon

No. 2 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.

Oregon’s defense looks at least as good as Iowa, and the Hawkeyes’ trademark strength on defense held Ohio State to a 7-0 first half last week — an entirely different level of resistance than the unranked Sun Belt, MAC, and Michigan State squads that allowed Ohio State to generate a B1G-best 48.8 points and 534.8 yards per game through September.

Ohio State’s next three games will clarify just how legit the midseason Buckeyes are:

Week 7 at No. 6 Oregon
Week 9 vs. Nebraska
Week 10 at No. 7 Penn State

Reality check

No. 4 Penn St at USC: 330pm ET/230pm CT/1230pm PT | CBS

USC can't afford for this one to be as lopsided as unranked vs. AP No. 4 looks:

Unranked USC was No. 11 two weeks ago in the Sept. 29 AP Poll.
Penn State’s 2023 offense was questionable at best, and the midweek Vegas line favored Penn State by less than a touchdown.

For two-loss unranked USC, it’s win-out or the Lincoln Riley experiment jumps the shark.

Riley is 22-10 midway through his third season at USC — One of the historically strongest programs in college football history based in the second biggest city in the country with one of the world's richest TV markets and recruiting pools.

Riley has a .688 win percentage heading into the home stretch of his third season at USC — Something stinks in SoCal, and we don't mean the decades-long sewage leak at Venice Beach.

Something stinks in SoCal — and we don't mean the decades-long sewage leak at Venice Beach.

For Penn State, it’s time to separate from the B1G second tier to keep pace in the conference title race — with as many style points as possible.

Though Oregon and Penn State aren’t scheduled heads-up in the regular season, early rankings and records support scenarios of a potential meeting in the B1G title game or the 12-team CFP — and spark OG memories of Oregon’s 1994 Pac-10 Champions facing Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

Previously in 30-Year Throwback:

Chapter 1 — The 1994 players-only meeting sparks a culture shift and starts Oregon’s transformation from a 1-2 start to ‘94 Pac-10 champions.

pictured: Alex Molden (1), photo: JD Cuban/Allsport

Oregon FansEdge

Chapter 1: Molden puts his hand up, 'Who's with me?'

6 months ago · Fans-Edge.net

Gang Green 30-Year Throwback is an Oregon FansEdge series, built from our exclusive interviews with Oregon's 1994 Pac-10 Champions. Paid subscribers have access to all chapters of Gang Green 30-Year Throwback — Get Oregon FansEdge!

Minnesota at UCLA: 9pm ET/8pm CT/6pm PT | BTN

Unranked Minnesota took down then-No. 11 USC last week with a fourth-quarter energy and grit that looked like they caught a glimpse of the path to a lower seed in the 12-team CFP.

Maybe Minnesota bringing the third consecutive game of classic Big Ten football wore out USC’s durability for old-school, Midwestern ground-pound offense with stout defense. Maybe the 2024 Trojans are a bust.

Either way, 1-4 UCLA is a fairly favorable opponent for Minnesota to stack consecutive conference wins.

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