There has been a clear established top three in the Big Ten all season between Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State, and Week 5 brought us the first head-to-head matchup between the group, and now there’s a clear top two.
Oregon separates as a top national title contender
Yes, Penn State took Oregon to overtime with a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter and some late-game heroics from Drew Allar, but the Ducks, on the road, were clearly the better team throughout the game, and Dante Moore was clearly the better quarterback. Facing a Jim Knowles defense that was much more versatile than Tom Allen’s unit from a season ago, which allowed 45 points to the Ducks in the Big Ten Title game, Will Stein’s Oregon offense managed 0.36 EPA/dropback, an 81st percentile performance, and a 15 percent explosive pass rate.
True freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore and junior tight end Kenyon Sadiq were clearly the two most talented pass-catchers in the game, and though Penn State’s run game picked up steam in the second half, it failed to match the efficiency of the Oregon passing game. Once again, James Franklin found a way to lose a big game, and once again, it was Drew Allar ending it with a back-breaking interception, as he did against Oregon and Notre Dame last season.
Penn State is still one of the most talented teams in the country with two of the best coordinators on either side of the ball, but with the head coach and the quarterback, there is no reason to believe that the Nittany Lions will beat Ohio State later this year, and not a whole lot of confidence that they’ll get the best of Indiana in November. Penn State is out of the top tier, and Ohio State and Oregon are the best two teams in the country.
Ohio State is the class of the conference
Before the Nittany Lions and Ducks kicked off in Happy Valley, Ohio State’s defense was at it again out in Seattle. With a 24-6 win over a lethal Washington offense, Matt Patricia’s unit has yet to allow double-digit points in a game this season. Just because the Ohio State defensive line completely turned over from last season’s championship group, which produced four NFL draft picks, doesn’t mean it isn’t still elite this season. Caden Curry and Arvell Reese have been dominant pass-rushing forces this season, but on this occasion, it was Kenyatta Jackson Jr. who took over, finishing with six pressures, one sack, and a 14.6 percent pass rush win rate.
Rounding out the second tier, a rather exclusive group, Indiana escaped Kinnick in the let-down spot of all let-down spots after pummeling Illinois by 53 points in Week 4. I won’t ding the Hoosiers for winning a close one, just the second one-score game since Curt Cignetti took over the program last year.
In Tier 3, Illinois had a remarkable bounce back, knocking off USC at home on a game-winning field goal. Lincoln Riley left too much time for Luke Altmyer, which is proving to be a big mistake this season, and more importantly for the Illini, they got healthy in the secondary returning four of their five injured defensive backs from Week 4.