When Penn State, the preseason No. 2 team in the country, lost its first game of the season to Oregon in double overtime, the Nittany Lions still appeared to be national title contenders. Then, when James Franklin led his team to UCLA and laid an egg at the Rose Bowl, it seemed that a good team had played a bad game.
Now, after James Franklin lost to Northwestern 22-21 in what proved to be his final game as the head coach in Happy Valley, Penn State is just the biggest disaster of the 2025 season. Maybe Penn State quit on the season, or maybe the roster may not have been as good as we all expected.
Perhaps the return of veterans like Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and others overshadowed the monumental losses of first-round NFL Draft picks Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren. Regardless, Penn State is seven weeks into the season with zero wins over Power 4 opponents, and with Allar out for the rest of the season, the Nittany Lions and interim head coach Terry Smith will be lucky to make a bowl game.
Indiana belongs in the Big Ten’s top tier
Last season, every time Indiana got tested, it was overmatched in the trenches and didn’t hang with the best teams in the country. Curt Cignetti’s team went 0-2 against ranked opponents in 2024, but in 2025, they’re 2-0 against top 10 teams, with 23 points allowed by their defense after a 30-20 win over Oregon at Autzen Stadium.
Coming into the game, Oregon QB Dante Moore had been sacked once all season. On Saturday, he was sacked four times and pressured on 45.2 percent of his dropbacks. Indiana’s linebacker play was excellent, and the Hoosiers held up in coverage despite a 40.5 percent blitz rate.
Offensively, Fernando Mendoza’s mobility helps paper over any offensive line deficiencies, but there aren’t many with the transfer portal additions of center Pat Coogan and right tackle Khalil Benson. This sounds wild to say, but after the program’s first-ever road win over a top-five-ranked opponent, there’s no reason why Indiana can’t win the national championship.
USC runs wild in LA
Who is the fourth-best team in the Big Ten? That’s an open question because of Penn State’s demise. Despite losses to Indiana and Ohio State, I’ll submit Illinois and its win over USC, but after Saturday night, you could argue for the Trojans.
Lincoln Riley’s team lost its starting running back, Waymond Jordan, early in the game, but redshirt freshman King Miller played like royalty, rushing for 158 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. The Trojans gashed Michigan on the ground for the most efficient rushing performance against the Wolverines since their 51-45 loss to TCU in the 2022 CFP semifinals.