Big Ten news: Buckeyes bully No.1 Texas, Penn State, SC roll, Sleepy start in Seattle

After the opening week of college football the Big Ten racked up a 16-2 record, the only losses by Northwestern and UCLA. The Mildcats lost to Tulane 23-3 while Nico Iamaleava and the Bruins got clubbed by Utah 43-10 at home.

The conference's biggest win came in Columbus, where Ohio State's hard-hitting, stubborn defense throttled Arch Manning and No.2 Texas 14-7. The Buckeyes will move to AP No. 1 after winning the defensive battle. Carnell Tate hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from new quarterback Julian Sayin to give OSU a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter.

OSU won despite just managing 215 yards of offense and 11 first downs. The Longhorns HELD All-American wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to six catches for 43 yards.

Penn State won easily over Nevada in Happy Valley, 46-11, an extremely weird score. The defense held the Wolfpack to 203 yards with three sacks and nine tackles for loss, 2.5 TFL and a sack by defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.

Drew Allar put together an efficient day, 22-26 passing for 217 yards and a touchdown, looking to USC transfer Kyron Hudson as his go-to receiver, six catches for 89 yards and a TD. Curiously, the vaunted Penn State rushing attack was held to 135 yards on 36 carries, 3.8 per carry as Kaytron Allen and Preseason All-American Nicholas Singleton found little running room, Singleton held to 19 yards on 8 carries, Allen only 43 on his.

Washington played a sleepy first half in Seattle, tied 14-14 with Colorado State. They broke out in the second with 24 points and won 38-21. Running back Jonah Coleman led the surge, 24 carries for 177 yards and two touchdowns for the game.

Seattle Times columnist Mike Vorel wrote, "The Huskies’ headliners — Coleman, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and wide receiver Denzel Boston — are good, maybe even great.



But have the Huskies, as a whole, gotten better? Can they go further than they did a year ago?



I don’t know that."

At Autzen Stadium, the Ducks skinned Montana State 59-13 behind a crisp debut by Dante Moore, 18-23 passing for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Ten different ball carriers ran for 254 yards, with 235-pound true freshman Jordon Davison bulling his way into the end zone for three scores.

Scott Reed of Ducks Sports Central wrote: "Oregon’s new QB1 delivered a polished debut, showing patience in his reads and confidence in attacking downfield. His 78% completion rate and 199.1 passer rating set the tone for a balanced offensive attack.



The Ducks limited Montana State to 1.7 yards per carry and just six rushing first downs, thanks to quicker penetration and improved gap discipline."

USC looked relentless in a 73-13 destruction of Missouri State in the Coliseum. Junior quarterback Jaiden Maiava completed 15-18 passes for 295 yards and two TDs; it was 42-10 at halftime and 56-13 after three quarters.

The Trojans rolled up 597 yards of offense and held the Bears of Conference USA to 224. They host Georgia Southern next week before traveling to Purdue, probably won't be tested until the end of September when they visit Illinois, host Michigan and go to South Bend on October 18.

Rutgers nudged Ohio, the Drake Lindsey era began in Minnesota with a 23-10 win over Buffalo and the Illini drubbed Western Illinois 52-3 behind 217 yards passing by Luke Altmyer. They are at Duke next Saturday morning.

Bryce Underwood and Michigan put away New Mexico 34-17. The Wolverines are at Oklahoma next week. Fernando Mendoza led Indiana to a 27-14 win over Old Dominion as the Hoosiers rolled up 309 yards on the ground and got a 91-yard punt return for a touchdown from Jonathan Brady. On Friday Nebraska got by Cincinnati 20-17 at Arrowhead Stadium when the Huskers intercepted at pass at the goal line on the last drive of the game.

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