SiriusXM Big Ten Radio’s Football Power Rankings – Week 5

Pete Pistone and the rest of the SiriusXM Big Ten Radio team will unveil Power Rankings each week of the college football season. Check out their 2021 preseason Power Rankings below, and start listening to SiriusXM Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372) on the SXM App now.The strong start to the season continued for a number of Big Ten teams that stayed undefeated this past weekend. Things did not go so well for others including some pre-season favorites who have fallen on hard times. Here’s how the Big Ten Radio team voted for this week’s edition of the “Power Rankings:”:

1. PENN STATE

Penn State held Indiana’s offense scoreless in two trips to the red zone, culminating in a 24-0 shutout win Saturday evening at Beaver Stadium in the annual Penn State Stripe Out game. Quarterback Sean Clifford threw for three touchdowns, including two to wide receiver Jahan Dotson for the duo’s 18th-career passing touchdown, the most in Penn State history. The Penn State defense produced its first shutout in two years, its last also coming in Big Ten play at Maryland in 2019.

NEXT: @Iowa (October 9)

2. IOWA

Spencer Petras threw for three touchdowns and ran for two and No. 5 Iowa took advantage of seven Maryland turnovers in a 51-14 victory Friday night. The Hawkeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) intercepted five of Taulia Tagovailoa’s passes, and they outscored the Terrapins 31-0 in the second quarter as Maryland completely unraveled.

NEXT: Penn State (October 9)

3. MICHIGAN

Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten Saturday with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin. The Wolverines (5-0, 2-0) won at Madison for the first time since 2001 by shutting down Wisconsin’s rushing attack, something Michigan had failed to do the last couple of seasons.

NEXT: @Nebraska (October 9)

4. OHIO STATE

The No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes returned to Big Ten play in explosive fashion, defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 52-13, Saturday afternoon on the banks of the Raritan River at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. Redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud returned under center in stellar fashion with 330 passing yards on 17-of-23 attempts with a season-high five touchdown passes.

NEXT: Maryland (October 9)

5. MICHIGAN STATE

Michigan State scored six touchdowns in the first half to open up a 26-point lead and put up more than 500 yards in total offense en route to a 48-31 win over Western Kentucky in front of 70,075 fans at Spartan Stadium Saturday night. Junior running back Kenneth Walker III had 24 carries for 126 yards and scored three touchdowns, while redshirt sophomore quarterback Payton Thorne completed 20-of-30 passes for 327 yards, threw one touchdown pass and had seven carries for 31 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run.

NEXT: @Rutgers (October 9)

6. NEBRASKA

Nebraska improved its record to 3-3 overall and 3-0 at home this season by rolling up 657 yards of offense, including 427 yards on the ground and seven rushing touchdowns, while shutting down Northwestern’s running game (37 yards, 26 carries). After running one offensive play in the third quarter, the Huskers owned six rushing scores, including three by quarterback Adrian Martinez on its way to a 42-7 lead.

NEXT: Michigan (October 9)

7. MARYLAND

Iowa scorers early and often against Maryland in last week’s Friday night spotlight game to spoil the early successful run for the Terrapins.

NEXT: @Ohio State (October 9)

8. MINNESOTA

Trey Potts ran 4 yards for the go-ahead touchdown 70 seconds into the second half, and the Golden Gophers held on for a 20-13 victory Saturday at Purdue. Minnesota (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) won its fourth straight over the Boilermakers — this one giving P.J. Fleck his first second-half comeback in 50 career games at the school. He is now 1-17 with the Gophers when trailing at halftime.

NEXT: Off (October 9)

9. RUTGERS

The Scarlet Knights could not slow down the powerful Ohio State offense and Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes was over rather early on for Greg Schiano’s team.

NEXT: Michigan State (October 9)

10. WISCONSIN

Tough sledding for the Badgers who followed their loss to Notre Dame with an uninspired outing against Michigan that included several key turnovers, an alarming trend for Wisconsin.

NEXT: @Illinois (October 9)

11. INDIANA

Last year’s successful season is getting further and further in the rear view mirror as the Hoosiers lost again this time to a very high-power Penn State team in “Happy Valley.”

NEXT: OFF (October 9)

12. PURDUE

The Boilermakers looked like they’d serve up a happy Homecoming for the Purdue faithful but instead let a lead slip away and wound up with a defeat at the hands of Minnesota.

NEXT: OFF (October 9)

13. ILLINOIS

A career day of 257 yards from sophomore RB Chase Brown led the Fighting Illini to a 24-14 victory against Charlotte Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The Illini offense had its best outing since the UTSA game, while the defense shut out the 49ers in the second half to help Illinois (2-4) snap a four-game losing streak.

NEXT: Wisconsin (October 9)

14. NORTHWESTERN

An already tough season for the Wildcats continued Saturday when Northwestern was hammered in Nebraska by the Cornhuskers 56-7.

NEXT: OFF (October 9)