Big Ten Radio Football Power Rankings – Week 5

Pete Pistone and the rest of the SiriusXM Big Ten Radio team will unveil “Power Rankings” each week of the college football season. Check out this week’s “Power Rankings” below, and start listening to SiriusXM Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372) on the SiriusXM App now.

Here’s how the SiriusXM Big Ten Radio team voted after Week Five to determine this week’s “Power Rankings:”

1. MICHIGAN

J.J. McCarthy passed for two touchdowns to Roman Wilson and ran for another, and second-ranked Michigan rolled past Nebraska 45-7 in record heat Saturday. Michigan (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) made fast work of the Cornhuskers, scoring on its first three possessions and leading 28-0 at half. The Wolverines came in having allowed a nation-low 5.8 points per game, and they held the Huskers (2-3, 0-2) scoreless until the final five minutes.

2. PENN STATE 

Drew Allar threw for a touchdown and ran for one, and No. 6 Penn State beat Northwestern 41-13 on Saturday. The Nittany Lions buried the Wildcats in the second half, scoring 17 in the third quarter to break open a game that was tied at 10 at halftime, and won their 10th in a row since losing to Ohio State last October. Allar completed 18 of 33 passes for 189 yards. He scored from the 1 on Penn State’s first possession of the second half and threw a 2-yard TD to Liam Clifford in the closing minutes of the third to make it a 17-point game.

3. OHIO STATE 

The Buckeyes were idle last week.

4. MARYLAND 

Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 352 yards and accounted for all six Maryland touchdowns, leading the Terrapins to a 44-17 rout of Indiana on Saturday and their first 5-0 start since 2001. Tai Felton caught seven passes for 134 yards and three first-half TDs for the Terrapins, who are 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the league before the 2014 season. Now they face their first big test of the season when they play at No. 4 Ohio State next weekend. Tagovailoa’s five touchdown passes were one shy of the school record, set by Frank Reich in his famous comeback victory over Miami in 1984.

5. RUTGERS 

Gavin Wimsatt ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third and Kyle Monangai added 87 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead Rutgers to a commanding non-conference 52-3 win over FCS-member Wagner on Saturday. Rutgers scored on all of its eight full possessions of the game. The only time it failed to score was when its drive ended due to half time. The Scarlet Knights have outscored Wagner (2-3) 118-10 in two straight games. They knocked them off 66-7 last season in Piscataway.

6. IOWA

Cooper DeJean’s 70-yard punt return with less than four minutes to play helped give Iowa a 26-16 win over Michigan State on Saturday night. Iowa’s Ethan Hurkett recovered a fumble by Michigan State wide receiver Tre Mosley on the Spartans’ next possession to help clinch the win for the Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten), who lost starting quarterback Cade McNamara to a left leg injury in the first quarter. With the score tied at 16, DeJean fielded Ryan Eckley’s punt near the center of the field and immediately cut to the left sideline, where he shook off three Michigan State tacklers before heading down the sideline for the touchdown with 3:45 to play.

7. WISCONSIN

The Badgers were idle last week.

8. MINNESOTA

Daniel Jackson caught a pair of touchdown passes Saturday and Minnesota pulled away in the second half to beat Louisiana 35-24 and end a two-game slide. Minnesota (3-2) did it without freshman running back Darius Taylor who ran for 198 yards before injuring his leg late in last week’s loss. His 133 rushing yards per game rank second nationally, and he’s received three straight Big Ten freshman of the week honors.

9. PURDUE

Hudson Card threw two touchdown passes, Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing each had TD runs and Purdue used a 21-point third-quarter scoring flurry Saturday to pull away from Illinois 44-19. The Boilermakers (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak and gave first-year coach Ryan Walters his first home victory against his former team. Walters spent the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator of the Fighting Illini.

10. NORTHWESTERN

The Wildcats lost to Penn State 41-13 in Evanston last Saturday.

11. ILLINOIS

The Fighting Illini lost 44-19 to Purdue last Saturday.

12. NEBRASKA 

The Huskers lost 45-7 to Michigan last Saturday.

13. INDIANA 

The Hoosiers lost 44-17 to Maryland last Saturday.

14. MICHIGAN STATE 

The Spartans lost 26-16 to Iowa last Saturday.

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