SiriusXM Big Ten Radio’s Football Power Rankings – Week Three

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 Three to determine this week’s “Power Rankings:”

1. MICHIGAN

Blake Corum had a 54-yard run on his first snap and finished with 101 yards and two touchdowns, helping No. 2 Michigan overcome a turnover-filled game in a 31-6 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night. J.J. McCarthy threw a career-high three interceptions, one more than he had in last year’s College Football Playoff loss to TCU. McCarthy was 8 of 13 for 143 yards with two touchdowns. He had a 33-yard pass to Roman Wilson late in the second quarter to put the Wolverines ahead 14-6 and a 50-yard touchdown pass to Cornelius Johnson on a flea flicker to give them a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter.

2.   OHIO STATE 

Kyle McCord threw for three touchdowns and 318 yards and No. 6 Ohio State used a 35-point second quarter to rout Western Kentucky 63-10 at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. McCord’s 75-yard TD pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. on the first play from scrimmage after Western Kentucky had pulled to within four points gave the Buckeyes (3-0) a 21-10 lead and Chip Trayanum ran for a 40-yard score on the first play of their next series to make it 28-10.

3.    PENN STATE 

Cam Miller, Abdul Carter, Daequan Dixon and Johnny Hardy had interceptions and No. 7 Penn State took advantage of five turnovers by Illinois to beat the Illini 30-13 Saturday. The Nittany Lions (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) overcame a sub-par effort by Drew Allar, who completed just 16 of 33 passes for 208 yards, and the offense. The second-year quarterback connected on 78% of his passes in his first two games.

4.   IOWA

Cade McNamara threw for two touchdowns and freshman Kamari Moulton scored twice after halftime in his debut, helping No. 25 Iowa beat Western Michigan 41-10 on Saturday. Leshon Williams rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 12 carries as the Hawkeyes (3-0) pulled away in the second half of a game delayed 42 minutes by lightning in the first quarter. Iowa, which led just 14-10 at halftime, had a season-high 387 total yards.

5.   MARYLAND 

Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 342 yards and a touchdown, and Maryland came back from an early deficit to rout Virginia 42-14 on Friday night in the teams’ first meeting in a decade. Braeden Wisloski scored on a 98-yard kickoff return to help the Terrapins (3-0) climb out of a 14-0 hole. Freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea again showed some promise for Virginia (0-3), but he threw three interceptions and lost a fourth-quarter fumble as the game got away from the Cavaliers.

6.   RUTGERS 

Kyle Monangai ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns, leading Rutgers to a 35-16 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Gavin Wimsatt continued his trajectory as a dual-threat quarterback for Rutgers, running for a career-high 87 yards to help the Scarlet Knights get off to a 3-0 start for the third straight season. The last time Rutgers started three consecutive seasons with three straight wins was from 1959 to 1961

7.   WISCONSIN

Tanner Mordecai ran for two touchdowns, Braelon Allen added two more and Wisconsin beat Georgia Southern 35-14 on Saturday. Mordecai finished 19 of 30 for 236 passing yards. He had touchdown runs of 1 and 18 yards for Wisconsin (2-1) in its first meeting against the Eagles. Mordecai, a SMU transfer, also had seven carries for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

8.   MINNESOTA

Drake Maye threw for a season-high 414 yards to go with two touchdowns, Nate McCollum flirted with a single-game UNC receiving record and No. 20 North Carolina pushed past Minnesota 31-13 on Saturday. Darius Taylor ran for 138 yards and a touchdown shortly before halftime to lead Minnesota (2-1), but the Gophers generated little else beyond the dynamic running from the true freshman. Athan Kaliakmanis threw for just 133 yards on 11-for-29 passing, and that played a big role in Minnesota converting just 3 of 12 third downs.

9.   PURDUE

Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader rushed for 195 yards on 25 carries, including four touchdowns, and passed for 184 yards Saturday night to lead the Orange to a 35-20 victory over Purdue. Purdue quarterback Hudson Card’s 5-yard touchdown run closed the deficit to 21-14 with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Syracuse (3-0) regained a 14-point cushion with Shrader’s 1-yard TD early in the fourth.

10.  ILLINOIS

Penn State defeated Illinois 30-13 Saturday in Champaign.

11.  MICHIGAN STATE 

Michael Penix Jr. threw for 473 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Jack Westover, to lead No. 8 Washington to a 41-7 victory over Michigan State. The Spartans (2-1) struggled offensively through most of the game and didn’t score until backup quarterback Katin Houser had a 4-yard run with 5:48 left.

12.  INDIANA 

Jamari Thrash caught an 85-yard touchdown pass and Jawhar Jordan added a 25-yard scoring run in the first half, and Louisville made a late goal-line stand to preserve a 21-14 victory over Indiana on Saturday. Indiana started the second half by recovering an onside kick. Three plays later, new starting quarterback Tayven Jackson hooked up with Jaylin Lucas on a 30-yard TD pass — the first of Jackson’s college career — to make it 21-7.

13.  NEBRASKA 

Heinrich Haarberg threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his first start, and Nebraska beat Northern Illinois 35-11 Saturday night for coach Matt Rhule’s first win with the Cornhuskers. The Huskers (1-2) bounced back from losses at Minnesota and Colorado to win their home opener for the 36th time in 38 years. Haarberg, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound sophomore completed 14 of 24 passes for 158 yards and showed fearlessness as a runner, initiating contact rather than sliding feet-first and leading the Huskers with 21 carries for 98 yards.

14.  NORTHWESTERN

Riley Leonard ran for two touchdowns and threw for 219 yards to lead No. 21 Duke to a 38-14 win over Northwestern on Saturday. Northwestern quarterback Ben Bryant was 17-for-34 for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Wildcats (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten) had 267 yards of total offense, with 90 of those in the fourth quarter.

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