{"id":80594,"date":"2025-09-29T13:34:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=80594"},"modified":"2025-09-29T13:34:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:34:01","slug":"3-overreactions-from-the-big-tens-week-5-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/09\/29\/3-overreactions-from-the-big-tens-week-5-results\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Overreactions From the Big Ten’s Week 5 Results"},"content":{"rendered":"
Last week, the Big Ten got started with some in-conference play as its top two-ranked teams sat idle. Some of its newer members were settling scores with in-state rivals, while others were establishing themselves as contenders. On the Big Ten Week 5 slate, the top-ranked Buckeyes headed west, Indiana had to back up its shellacking of Illinois, and James Franklin had a chance to stave off the “Big Game James” sneers at home against Oregon. This week, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Purdue were idle.<\/div>\n
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What is college football without overreactions? Social media fuels narratives, and everyone has a take on everything. The Big Ten Week 5 slate featured six matchups. Let’s overreact to the biggest three.<\/div>\n

Overreactions From the Big Ten’s Week 5 Results<\/h2>\n

(1) Ohio State at Washington: If That Was a “Bad” Game From Ohio State…Watch Out<\/h3>\n
Washington was a gracious host to the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. The fan base greeted the rare opportunity to face Ohio State with a packed house and decibel readers around the stadium. For a while, the game followed the quintessential upset playbook. Ohio State was making mental mistakes, couldn’t finish early, and let Washington hang around. The Huskies even led 3-0 for almost the entire second quarter. Then,\u00a0the Buckeyes woke up<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Ohio State defense led the way and kept a potent Washington offense out of the end zone. Caden Curry<\/a> had himself a monster day with a trio of sacks. While Washington was able to get chunk plays here and there, the Buckeye defense toughened up, <\/a>allowing the offense to catch up.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Julian Sayin<\/a> finally settled in and was able to dice up the Huskies. Bo Jackson<\/a> solidified himself as RB1 as a true freshman. Jeremiah Smith<\/a> is, well, Jeremiah Smith. There are questions to be answered on the offensive line, but overall, if this was a “bad” game from the Ohio State offense, we could be seeing a back-to-back situation.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Credit where it’s due: Washington is a good team. In reality, the Huskies should have a good year ahead of them.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

(6) Oregon at (3) Penn State: Has Penn State Hit Its Ceiling Under James Franklin?<\/h3>\n
James Franklin and big games, a match made in Hell.<\/div>\n
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Every season, we are inundated with the old “James Franklin can’t win the big game” narrative. At a certain point, you either have to put up or shut up. Penn State under Franklin has been one of the best programs and most consistent in college football. Unfortunately, it just can’t get over that hump.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Last year, the Nittany Lions fell at home to Ohio State after the Buckeyes spotted them 10 points. Those concerns were not put to bed despite Penn State’s run in the College Football Playoff. The Nittany Lions beat SMU and Boise State before falling to Notre Dame. SMU was a controversial addition (to some), and many did not believe it even belonged. Boise State, despite being a Group of 5 blueblood, is still a Group of 5 program, so Penn State could not lose. When it faced a great team in Notre Dame, Franklin blinked.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was the same on Saturday. Oregon got out to an impressive 17-3 lead before Penn State came storming back to force overtime. It was an evenly-matched heavyweight battle. These two teams should be expected to make the CFP again and have what it takes to make a run, at least on paper.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In OT, the Nittany Lions struck first. Then, Oregon answered after having to convert on a fourth-and-one.<\/div>\n
On the first play of the second overtime period, the Ducks scored. Penn State almost made things interesting with an interception and a near-return for its own two-point play. With the game in the balance, Drew Allar<\/a> underthrew his receiver on the first snap of the drive, and Dillon Thieneman<\/a> made an incredible play to steal the win for Oregon.<\/div>\n
Plenty of programs would kill to be in Penn State’s shoes. The Nittany Lions are always contenders and one of the best in the nation, but are never able to take the next step. Has it hit its ceiling under Franklin? He’s now 2-21 against teams ranked in the top six of the AP Poll. He has lost 15 such matchups in a row.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Honestly, we should be focusing on the fact that Dante Moore<\/a> is a certified dawg.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

(11) Indiana at Iowa: Hoosiers Keep Winning Games They Would Have Lost Before<\/h3>\n
The Curt Cignetti era has been nothing but a revelation for the Indiana Hoosiers. Last year’s team was the most successful in program history. This year, the Hoosiers look even better. Last week, Indiana solidified itself as a serious contender with a routine shellacking of Illinois, a program many thought would be an at-large in the CFP. After that, it’s the Hoosiers who are arguing for their right to be among the Big Ten’s elites.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a result, a trip to Kinnick Stadium smelled like a trap game. Fittingly, the Hawkeyes gave the Hoosiers everything they had.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Iowa does not look like a great team this year. However, the now 3-2 team had Indiana on the ropes. It took a lead well into the fourth quarter, and Indiana had to score the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes to go.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was not the cleanest of games from Indiana. The Hoosiers turned the ball over on downs twice and threw a near-back-breaking interception on third down that realistically should have set Iowa up for the win. In the end, the Hawkeyes missed the subsequent field goal, allowing Fernando Mendoza<\/a> to make up for the interception with a threaded touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Before Cignetti, Indiana had decent starts but eventually was snuffed out. Games like this would have ended in an Indiana loss. Battling back in a hostile environment to return with the win shows the Hoosiers are here to stay.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The biggest test will be after the bye this week. A trip to Oregon will show whether or not Indiana is ready to play with the big boys<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Main Photo: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Big Ten Week 5 slate provided some great football. Let’s overreact to the three biggest games of the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":80667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,35605,35649,35609,35602,35610,35612],"tags":[5144,837],"class_list":["post-80594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-indiana-hoosiers","category-iowa-hawkeyes","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","category-oregon-ducks","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","category-washington-huskies","tag-curt-cignetti","tag-james-franklin"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80594"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80668,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80594\/revisions\/80668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}