The Big Ten expanded this season to 18 with the addition of Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA. As a unit, the conference took care of business and even capped it all off with a massive Nationally Televised (unless you had DirecTV) win over a favored SEC power.
As the dust settled, the 18-team Big Ten took home 17 of its 18 contests in Week 1, making it the winningest single conference in college football.
How’d they do it?
New-Look, 18-Team Big Ten Goes 17-1 in Week 1
Make Your Free Throws
Rutgers beat Howard (FCS), 44-7
Illinois beat Eastern Illinois (FCS), 45-0
Ohio State beat Akron, 52-6
Iowa beat Illinois State (FCS), 40-0
Maryland beat UConn, 50-7
Purdue beat Indiana State (FCS), 49-0
Indiana beat Florida International, 31-7
Nebraska beat UTEP, 40-7
Washington beat Weber State (FCS), 35-3
It was Week 1. It’s only natural that the Big Ten has a few buy games on the schedule that they can sacrifice to knock off the rust. As a result, the Big Ten had nine comfortable wins over Group of 5 and FCS programs on the week.
Rutgers began its 2024 campaign thanks to a big day from stud running back Kyle Monangai. He got the year started with 165 yards and a score in the win. New quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis got going with three touchdown passes, picking up where he left off when he was in Minnesota.
Illinois, Iowa (!), and Purdue each managed blowout shutouts. Purdue was paced by a quartet of Hudson Card touchdowns, as did the Illini with Luke Altmyer. Iowa’s defense pitching a shutout is not surprising. Cade McNamara tossing three touchdowns and the Hawkeyes gaining nearly 500 yards was a surprise. It is just Illinois State but if Iowa can have even an average offense in 2024, they could take some Big Ten teams by surprise.
Dylan Raiola looked like the real deal against UTEP for the Cornhuskers. He will be one to watch.
Ohio State and Washington were both able to keep lesser opponents out of the end zone as well. A slow start allowed narratives to fly around about the Buckeyes but a strong second half paced by a pair of defensive scores allowed them to take care of business. Will Rogers looked solid for Washington but it was Jonah Coleman‘s three touchdowns that stole the show in Jedd Fisch’s first game at the Greatest Setting in college football.
Indiana and Maryland got off to great starts as well with blowout victories over Group of 5 foes.
Made ‘Em Sweat
Michigan State beat Florida Atlantic, 16-10
Wisconsin beat Western Michigan, 28-14
Oregon beat Idaho (FCS), 24-14
Michigan beat Fresno State, 30-10
Northwestern beat Miami (OH), 13-6
UCLA beat Hawai’i, 16-13
Not every Big Ten matchup was a snooze-fest. Some matchups, including games involving two new programs, were a tad too close for comfort.
Oregon, a College Football Playoff candidate heading into the year, struggled with Idaho. In reality, the game wasn’t quite as close as the score would suggest. The Ducks outgained the Vandals 487-217. Oregon converted 31 first downs while Idaho only managed 10. The issue was the fact that Oregon missed a field goal, lost a fumble on a sack deep in Idaho territory, and turned it over on downs twice. Oregon will be okay but cleaning up those massive mistakes will be paramount.
UCLA, meanwhile, traveled out to Hawai’i and needed a last-minute field goal to win. It wasn’t the prettiest outing for Deshaun Foster’s head coach debut but the Bruins got the job done.
Another College Football Playoff hopeful had a little issue taking care of a seemingly lesser opponent. Fresno State gave Michigan everything it could handle. Davis Warren was given the keys to the Michigan offense…but there may be a question at running back. College Football 25 cover athlete Donovan Edwards only managed 27 yards off 11 carries. Kalel Mullings, meanwhile, led the way with 95 yards off 15 carries. Will Johnson put the game away with a fourth-quarter pick-six but there are some serious questions on offense for the Wolverines.
Wisconsin and Northwestern narrowly avoided upsets at the hands of several MAC teams. Did you know that up until last year, at least one MAC team beat a Big Ten team every single year from 2006 through 2022 (minus 2020 for obvious reasons)? Both teams were close to getting another streak going this week.
Power 4 on Power 4 Violence
Penn State beat West Virginia, 34-12
USC beat LSU, 27-20
It wasn’t all cupcakes on the Big Ten Week 1 slate. Penn State dominated West Virginia behind an efficient outing from Drew Allar and another strong game from Nick Singleton. The stud running back logged yet another 100-yard performance with 114 yards and a touchdown. Allar’s top receiver on the day was fourth-year wideout, Harrison Wallace III. Heading into this season, Wallace had amassed 501 yards and two touchdowns over three seasons. He logged 117 yards and two scores in this game.
The Nittany Lions’ defense was elite as expected. They only allowed 246 yards, forced three turnovers, and only allowed a touchdown in the fourth with the game pretty much in hand.
The weekend’s biggest win came in Las Vegas as Miller Moss out-dueled Garrett Nussmeier and USC took down LSU. The biggest question for the 2024 Trojans was will the USC defense improve with the hire of D’anton Lynn? The early returns say yes. While Nussmeier did pass for 304 yards and two touchdowns, USC limited the explosive plays.
Kyron Hudson and Zachariah Branch are going to be a serious one-two punch for defenses to contend with this year. Hudson made a handful of spectacular plays on the night and abused the LSU secondary. Branch showed his play-making ability on a number of opportunities but was not quite able to break through. LSU may not be as good as initially thought, but USC is certainly better. That matchup with Michigan on September 21 in Ann Arbor is going to be massive.
Minnesota.
Minnesota lost to North Carolina, 19-17
Finally, the lone Big Ten Week 1 loss was thanks to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota falling short against the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels. With 11:43 to go in the game, Minnesota fumbled to give the ball back with a 14-13 lead. Then, UNC kicked a field goal answered by a Minnesota field goal. A chunk play helped set North Carolina up to kick the go-ahead field goal with just 1:44 to go.
Minnesota drove down the field and had their opportunity to kick a game-winner. Alas, Minnesota’s second miss on the night sailed wide right and ruined the Big Ten Week 1 perfection.
