Ranking Big Ten's Week 8 efforts: 1. Nebraska, 11. Iowa

The Big Ten had five favorites and five underdogs Saturday. The favorites won, the underdogs fell.

That wouldn't make more much of a movie, would it?

Oh well, here is the ranking of the Week 8 performances of Big Ten teams:

1. Nebraska, W 35-17

at Northwestern.

The Cornhuskers shut out Northwestern in the second half, outgaining the Wildcats 245 yards to 28 after halftime. Ameer Abdullah played like Ameer Abdullah, carrying 23 times for 146 yards and four touchdowns.

For the second-straight visit, Husker fans were chanting 'Go Big Red!' in the fourth quarter as Northwestern fans left early.

'We just needed to win a football game,' Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said.

2. Maryland, W 38-31

vs. Iowa

The Terrapins are now one victory from being eligible for the Pinstripe Bowl. One suspects they will have tougher sledding at Wisconsin this week than it did against Iowa Saturday in College Park.

'That was a huge win today against a very fine football team,' Maryland Coach Randy Edsall said.

The Hawkeyes hope he is right.

3. Ohio State, W 56-17

vs. Rutgers

Remember the good old days, when the Buckeyes lost at home to Virginia Tech and looked like they were going to have an uncertain future with freshman J.T. Barrett at quarterback in place of the injured Braxton Miller?

Those days are gone, long gone. Barrett and the Buckeyes treated Rutgers like it was just another Illinois or Purdue. He passed for 261 yards, rushed for 107.

That is a player you would never have seen this year had Miller not suffered a season-ending injury before the first game. That is Ohio State.

4. Michigan State, W 56-17

at Indiana

The Spartans racked up 662 yards, the most they've gained in a game under Mark Dantonio. Of those, 332 came via passing, 330 via rushing. Yipes!

Week after week, MSU receiver Tony Lippett impresses. He had an over-the-shoulder 41-yard catch against the Hoosiers that was highlight-reel stuff.

'Has anyone improved as much as Tony Lippett since last year? I don't think so,'' BTN analyst Gerry DiNardo said Saturday.

5. Minnesota, W 39-38

vs. Purdue

Ryan Santoro's 52-yard field goal with 4:59 left put the Gophers ahead after facing uphill sledding all day.

That's the thin margin between being 3-0 and atop the Big Ten West or being dismissed as the same old Minnesota.

For the first time in the 23 the Gophers trailed at halftime with Jerry Kill as coach, they won.

The Gophers' David Cobb rushed for 194 yards to bring his season-total to 1,013. His team is 3-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1990.

Minnesota became bowl-eligible for the third-straight year. Now can it get to a bowl anyone cares about?

6. Purdue, L 39-38

at Minnesota

Three games ago, the Boilermakers lost 24-10 at home to Iowa and looked quite a ways from being a truly competitive Big Ten team. Then they won at Illinois, gave Michigan State a good battle in West Lafayette, and did everything except close the deal at Minnesota.

'You look at (turnaround stories) all of the time,' Purdue Coach Darrell Hazell said last week. 'Jerry (Kill) was one of the guys, Kirk Ferentz at Iowa was one of those guys that started struggling the first couple years and got it flipped and did some great things and is still doing great things.

'You draw inspiration from those guys. You know that the process works and that you have to stay with the process and the guys start to see that. They start to feed off that. As long as you don't waver as a coach, they go full steam ahead and do the things you're asking them to do.'

7-10. Illinois, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin (idle)

11. Iowa, L 37-31

at Maryland

The sky isn't falling. If the Hawkeyes win their remaining five games, they win the West. But that's going to require a lot more than they showed against the Terrapins.

There isn't a game left that Iowa can't win. There isn't also isn't one left it can't lose. Which makes winning five straight seem kind of unlikely, come to think of it. But this is the Big Ten, and the league's only two monsters reside in the East and don't play the Hawkeyes.

12. Northwestern, L 35-17

vs. Nebraska.

The Wildcats led 17-14 at halftime. Then Abdullah went to work.

'He's a senior, right? That's terrific,' said Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald. 'I'm going to send him a present for his graduation.'

The renaissance of the Wildcats of a few weeks ago appears to have been doused with consecutive losses to Minnesota and Nebraska. Northwestern averaged 1.1 yards per play in the second half.

13. Indiana, L 56-17

vs. Michigan State

Football's toll on football players' bodies never changes.

At Iowa the week before, Hoosier starting quarterback Nate Sudfeld separated a shoulder and replacement Chris Covington tore an ACL. It's kind of sick.

True freshman Zander Diamont started against the Spartans. He completed 5 of 15 passes for a total of 11 yards.

'You can't blame him for anything, it's his first game,' said Indiana running back Tevin Coleman.

Coleman somehow got his ninth-straight 100-yard rushing game. He is sensational.

14. Rutgers, L 56-17

at Ohio State. You didn't have an opponent like Ohio State in the American Athletic Conference last year, Rutgers.

And guess what? You go to Nebraska this week and play Wisconsin the week after.

But you get Indiana at home on Nov. 15. By then, the Hoosiers may be using a team manager at quarterback.