Big Ten Clashes That Are Worth Your Attention Saturday

For college football fans, life is about to get a lot better. Most teams are through their non-conference schedule where most of them played teams where they had a big advantage in talent, NIL money and resources.  

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This week, the rubber meets the road with conference matchups that will have fans from around the country watching because these could be some of the best games of the year. 

Minnesota (2-1/0-0) Hosting Rutgers (3-1/0-1) 

The Minnesota Golden Gophers aren’t in a marquee match-up but it’s an important one as they host Rutgers. The Gophers are coming off their bye week where they tried to get some things fixed after a loss to Cal two weeks ago.   

The Gophers are also trying to get some redemption after last year's 26-19 loss to the Scarlet Knights on the road. Rutgers is scoring nearly 44 points per game while Minnesota has averaged 34 thus far, but the Rutgers defense seems more porous allowing 28 points per contest, including 38 to Iowa last week. The Gophers are allowing only 12 points per game.  

Mix in the fact that the Scarlet Knights Offensive Coordinator, Kirk Ciarrocca used to call plays for Coach Fleck’s team and the Rutgers Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis spent three seasons with the Gophers.  Watch this one on the Big Ten Network at 11 or hear it on WJON Radio 95.3 FM/1240 AM. 

#6 Oregon (4-0/1-0) at #3 Penn State (3-0/0-0) 

This battle of unbeatens will be held in Happy Valley for the tradition of the “White Out” where all Nittany Lions fans will wear white in the stadium. This is traditionally a raucous place for opponents to play, although it seems that Penn State struggles in some of the “Clash of the Titans” type settings. They’re 12-8 overall in these “white out” games. 

This year's game features two of the strongest offenses in the country, Oregon is 7th in the country averaging just under 51 points per game, while Penn States 44-point average is good enough for a tie for 13th.  

Both defenses are in the Top 10 in the country when it comes to points allowed, Penn State is third at just under 6 points on average, while Oregon is tied for 9th at just over 9 points per game.  

This one has the make-up to be one of the games of the year. See this one on NBC/Peacock at 6:30.  

 #21 USC (4-0/2-0) at #23 Illinois (3-1/0-1) 

 

USC already has two conference wins under their belt and is over halfway to bowl eligibility, but they have much bigger sites this year after struggling the last couple of years. The Trojans are 5th in the country in scoring at 52.5 points per game. The fewest difference in points they’ve had this year has been 12 points, in other words they’re beating their opponents soundly.  

Illinois is coming off an embarrassing outing where they were lashed last week by Indiana, 63-10. This will be a gut-check game for the Fightin Illini, can they bounce back from a game where they were dominated in every way?  

Illinois’ offense is putting up 36 points per game, but the bigger hurdle may be the review mirror. Will last week’s game still be present in their minds or not?  

You can find this one on FOX at 11am. 

#1 Ohio State (3-0/0-0) at Washington (3-0/0-0) 

Ohio State beat Texas to start the season and then has had cupcakes Grambling and Ohio University to help build their 3-0 start. The Buckeyes Offense is scoring 34 points per game, which is tied for 24th.  

Washington’s offense is 2nd in the country, averaging over 55 points per game, but they’ve only played one viable opponent thus far, Washington State and they’re in a rebuilding season right now.  

The big story of this game will be can the Huskie offense move the ball at all against Ohio State who allows 5 points and 227 yards per game. If you want to check this one out, it’ll be on CBS at 2:30.