Thursday
2 TCU wins at Minnesota 23-17
The Horned Frogs are already trying to show why they belonged in the playoff last year, and Trevone Boykin is looking to win a Heisman. Boykin's 246 yards passing and 92 yards on the ground are a good place to start if he wants that trophy and/or a spot in the playoff at the end of the season. But the Golden Gophers should take some pride in having held the Frogs to their lowest point total (30) last season, and to only 23 points on Thursday night. When you consider that TCU had been averaging 46.5 points per game coming into the season, it makes Minnesota's feat that much more impressive.
Friday
5 Michigan State beats the Broncos 37-24 in K'zoo
The Spartans scored 20 points in the first quarter and looked like they were on their way to a complete rout, but Western Michigan weren't going to go quietly in their own stadium. Broncos QB Zach Terrell went 33-50 for 365 yards and 2 TDs, but also threw two picks. However, he kept his team in the game and brought Western to within 13 points on a day that looked to be over in the first quarter. On the other side, MSU's Connor Cook was 15-31 for 256 yards and 2 TDs. Spartan running backs LJ Scott and Madre London combined for 136 yards, while Aaron Burbridge was Cook's go-to guy with 117 yards receiving. TOC reveals: "The pass defense still leaves something to be desired."
Saturday
Battle of Nerds: Northwestern stuns 21 Stanford 16-6
Desmond Howard picked Stanford for a berth in the playoff at the end of the season, but the Cardinal have already hit a bit of a bump on that road. Sure, Ohio State lost their first game last season, but they didn't lose it to Northwestern! The Wildcats' Clayton Thorson didn't have a spectacular day, but he committed no turnovers through the air, rushed for 68 yards, and added a touchdown with his feet. Justin Jackson put up 4.8 yards per attempt on his way to 134 yards rushing. Stanford mustered only 240 yards of offense, went 3-15 on 3rd-down, and committed two turnovers. With the win, Northwestern's players can go back to studying for ruling the world, while Stanford's players can...well, do the same thing, but AS LOSERS!
Illinois is chief in a 52-3 win over Kent State
I always figured that Bill Cubit would make a big impact on the Illini, but I didn't think it would be as their head coach. After Tim Beckman was let go, at the expense of everyone who loved hating him, Cubit was named the interim coach. However, Illinois had to endure one more piece of drama when their Friday game was postponed to Saturday due to a thunderstorm rolling through the area.
Wes Lunt was a mediocre, but efficient, 11-19 for 162 yards and 4 TDs. However, Lunt wasn't required to pass for too many yards, as three of the Illini's scoring drives needed only one play for the touchdown and were no more than 34 yards.
Rutgers beats Norfolk State by 50, 63-13
Kyle Flood and some of his players have been under intense scrutiny of late, so Saturday's game was a much-needed return to some level of normalcy in Piscataway. Eight touchdowns split between the air and the ground is a good way to get some healing started. Rutgers quarterbacks Chris Laviano and Hayden Rettig shared duties and combined for four TDs, but Rettig also picked one up with his feet.
Terps crush the Spiders 50-21
I'm afraid of spiders (and I'm not ashamed to admit it) so I was happy to see another one crushed and stopped from giving me the creepy-crawlies. After being as close as 22-14 in favor of Maryland, the Terps scored 28 points in the second half to Richmond's 7. Putting the Terrapins up 36-14 was DB Will Likely and this spectacular punt return. Oh, and this was just oone of eight punt returns which totaled 233 yards, breaking a conference record that was 76 years old going into the weekend.
Iowa is good?
The Hawkeyes led by 31-0 in the 4th quarter and I have it on very good authority that Iowa is now a good football team.
— Adam Jacobi (@Adam_Jacobi) September 5, 2015
Adam Jacobi, everyone. I'll be keeping the #Iowaalwayssucks hashtag at the ready, especially if they turn out to actually be...gulp...good.
C.J. Beathard started at Kinnick Stadium for the first time in his career and promptly went 15/24 for 211 and a touch. It was LeShun Daniels, Jr. doing the work on the ground with 123 yards.
Indiana 48, Southern Illinois 47 in a pretty Indiana-type performance
Good job stopping SIU's 2-pt conversion to win the game, Indiana. #B1G
Owls can apparently kill Lions
Temple beats Penn State by 17.
Guess which gorilla represents Penn State.
First year Nebraska coach loses first game for the first time since 1957
BYU lost Taysom Hill for the rest of the season, but Tanner Mangum hooked up with Mitch Mathews with no time left to steal the 33-28 win in Lincoln. Mike Riley becomes the first Nebraska head coach to lose his first game since my parents were six years old.
At least you tried, right, Nebraska?
Okay, this last gif is a little unfair since Nebraska really was in this game, but geez!
Wisconsin gets rolled by the Tide 35-17
Paul Chryst made his return to Madison in the off-season, but Saturday night wasn't the triumph that all Madisonians had hoped for (well, not this Madisonian). Although Joel Stave played surprisingly well for the Badgers, the story of the night was really Corey Clement who left the game with an injury. His departure allowed the Crimson Tide to stuff the Badgers all night long and hold them to only 40 yards rushing. Clement's wasn't the only injury for the evening, as safety Michael Caputo suffered a head injury, which caused him to think he was an Alabama player for a bit.
Sunday
Purdue coughs one up against Marshall, 41-31
The Boilermakers did some of the most Boilermaker stuff ever by not only giving up two leads, but two picks for TDs on four interceptions of Austin Appleby. At least Jake Rudock threw only three interceptions, and none for scores. Woo, Michigan! Ahem. Anyway...the Purdue run game showed some promise with D.J. Knox and Markell Jones combining for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Purdue has struggled at the QB position in recent years (five starters in five years is sign one of some issues), and the folks over at Hammer & Rails feel that a huge part of the problem lies with QB coach John Shoop.
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With the results through Sunday, the Big Ten is 7-6 and the leaders in the West are: Illinois, Iowa, and Northwestern. Indiana and Rutgers are each 1-0 in the East. Sure, it's only one game into the season, but it's already making poot noises.
All gifs are courtesy of reactiongifs.com