Big Ten power rankings entering Week 4: Penn State Football or Iowa No. 1?

Penn State Football added a signature win to its resumé, but was Saturday’s victory over Auburn enough to leapfrog Iowa in the Big Ten? 

Week 3 of the college football season is complete. It was a week that lacked marque matchups, but one Big Ten team, Penn State Football, did have the national spotlight with a 28-20 whiteout win over Auburn.

Many Big Ten teams faced non-conference foes in Week 3, with the exception being a matchup between Illinois and Maryland on Friday night. Some games were notable than others, with Nebraska traveling to Oklahoma and Michigan State heading to Miami.

Let’s take a look at where each Big Ten team, including Penn State Football stands a quarter through the season.

Illinois had a chance to play spoiler on Friday night against Maryland.

The Illini held a 17-10 lead with 2:13 remaining in the game and then promptly gave up the game-tying touchdown. Illinois was unable to do anything when they got the ball back, losing 18 yards on the drive. Punter Blake Hayes then had a 37 yard punt, which set up Maryland at the Illinois 46.

Three plays later, Joseph Petrino hit the game winning field goal for Maryland, a brutal loss for Illinois.

Starting quarterback Brandon Peters did return for Illinois, but he struggled, going just 10-26 for 185 yards and an interception. The defense gave up 481 yards of total offense, but allowed only 20 points. The problem is, they allowed 10 of those points in the last two minutes of the game and their offense only scored 17.

Since recording the first win of the 2021 college football season, Illinois has had a season to forget. Illinois heads to Purdue next week, which should be another challenge.