WEEK 3 SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, SEPT. 15
Virginia at MARYLAND
7 p.m. | FS1
SATURDAY, SEPT. 16
PENN STATE at ILLINOIS
Noon | FOX
Georgia Southern at WISCONSIN
Noon | Big Ten Network
INDIANA vs. Louisville [1]
Noon | Big Ten Network
Western Michigan at IOWA
3:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
Virginia Tech at RUTGERS
3:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
MINNESOTA at North Carolina
3:30 p.m. | ESPN
NORTHWESTERN at Duke
3:30 p.m. | ACC Network
Western Kentucky at OHIO STATE
4 p.m. | FOX
Washington at MICHIGAN STATE
5 p.m. | Peacock
Northern Illinois at NEBRASKA
7 p.m. | FS1
Syracuse at PURDUE
7:30 p.m. | NBC
Bowling Green at MICHIGAN
7:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
All times Eastern
[1] Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, Ind.)
BIG TEN. BIG NEWS.
- Twelve Big Ten schools will continue their non-conference schedules this weekend, while Illinois hosts Penn State in conference action on Saturday at noon on FOX. The complete Week 3 schedule appears to the right.
- Four Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week. Michigan leads the conference at No. 2, followed by No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State and No. 25 Iowa. Maryland, Minnesota and Wisconsin are each receiving votes.
- Eight Big Ten teams remain undefeated on the season, as Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers are all 2-0.
- Penn State currently ranks among the top 20 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Nittany Lions rank sixth in scoring offense, averaging 50.5 points per contest, while ranking No. 17 nationally in scoring defense (11.0 points per game).
- Six additional Big Ten teams rank in the top 20 in terms of scoring defense: Michigan (2nd, 5.0 points per game), Ohio State (2nd, 5.0 points per game), Rutgers (8th, 7.0 points per game), Minnesota (10th, 8.0 points per game), Michigan State (16th, 10.5 points per game) and Maryland (23rd, 13.0 points per game).
- Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy completed 13 consecutive passing attempts to open Saturday’s game against UNLV, a record for quarterbacks under Harbaugh. Previously, the longest streak occurred when McCarthy went 8-for-8 to open last season’s Indiana game. Through two games, McCarthy has completed 48-of-55 pass attempts (26-of-30 in week one). McCarthy has the fourth-highest completion percentage through two games in NCAA Division I history and currently leads the country in completion percentage (87.3 percent).
- Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz won his 200th career game on Sept. 9 when the Hawkeyes won a 20-13 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup at Iowa State. Ferentz is the 27th head coach to reach the milestone at an FBS institution and just the 99th college coach across all divisions since 1890.
- Michigan State’s Noah Kim went 18-for-22, passing for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-14 win over Richmond, completing 15-straight passes to close out the game. His 292 yards marked a career-high for the second week in a row, topping last week’s 279 yards in his starting debut vs. Central Michigan, while the 18 completions match last week’s 18-for-31 passing. The 15 consecutive completions set a new school record and tied for the sixth-longest single-game streak in Big Ten history.
- Minnesota running back Darius Taylor rushed 33 times for 193 yards and one touchdown in Minnesota’s 25-6 win against Eastern Michigan. His 193 yards were second most in school history for a true freshman, behind only Darrell Thompson who rushed for 205 yards against Bowling Green in 1986. Taylor rushed eight times for 44 yards in the first half before logging 25 carries for 149 yards in the second half. His lone touchdown of the game was a two-yard burst in the second quarter.
- Michigan and Purdue will look to repeat as division champions this season, as the Wolverines finished 9-0 to win the East Division and the Boilermakers finished atop the West Division standings at 6-3 in conference play.
- The 2023 campaign will feature 99 All-Big Ten honorees (first-, second-, third-team or honorable mention) selected by either the coaches or the media last season, with Ohio State leading the way with 16 all-conference returnees. The East Division welcomes back 56 all-conference players, while the West returns 43. Illinois is the only West team with double-digit all-conference returnees with 10, while each team has at least one All-Big Ten performer returning.
- The Big Ten finished last season with three teams ranked in the AP Top 25, tying for the third-most of any conference. All three teams finished in the Top 10, marking the second straight year that the conference had three top 10 teams at the end of the season. The 2023 AP Preseason Poll also featured five Big Ten teams in No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 19 Wisconsin, and No. 25 Iowa, while Illinois and Minnesota are both receiving votes.
- Last season, the Big Ten posted the fifth-highest single-season attendance total in conference history with 6,333,196 fans attending home games. Excluding 2020, this marked the ninth consecutive season and 10th time in 11 seasons that more than six million fans have attended Big Ten home football games.
- This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Monday, January 1, 2024, at the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Houston will host the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium. The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game.
