Ranking Week 7’s Big Ten Efforts: 1. Minnesota, 2. Iowa, 14. Penn State

1. Minnesota, W 24-17 vs. Northwestern

It was the opposite of fancy. The Gophers were outgained, 393 yards to 274. The Wildcats ran 84 plays to Minnesota's 54.

But Minnesota never trailed, protected the ball when it had it, made big defensive stops. And Jalen Myrick took a kickoff return 100 yards with 7:19 left for the final and deciding score.

'We could have just gone in the tank,” Minnesota Coach Jerry Kill said. 'This team right now is finding a way to win. We've got a lot of things to clean up, but we're going to enjoy the moment and get back to work.”

Northwestern had held its previous two foes -- Penn State and Wisconsin -- to a total of 20 points. This was a big win for the 5-1 Gophers. If they and Iowa win their next two games, they'll both be 4-0 in the Big Ten when they meet Nov. 8 in Minneapolis.

This is the Gophers' first 2-0 Big Ten start since 2004. They haven't been 4-0 in the conference since 1967, their last championship season.

2. Iowa, W 45-29 vs. Indiana

Entering the day, Iowa had fewer plays of 20 or more yards (11) than all but two other FBS teams, Eastern Michigan and SMU. They had four this game. That's not a lot, given that Nebraska averages 6.3 and Ohio State 6.2. But ...

They included a 72-yard touchdown pass from Jake Rudock to Damond Powell and a 60-yard TD run by Jonathan Parker. The others were a 33-yard pass from Rudock to Tevaun Smith, and a 20-yard run by C.J. Beathard.

This was a long game, 3 hours and 30 minutes. OK, it wasn't as long as almost all Major League Baseball postseason games, but it l was long.

3. Michigan, W 18-13 vs. Penn State

This game was about as pretty as certain abandoned sections of Detroit in the middle of January.

'It wasn't pretty at times,” Wolverines Coach Brady Hoke said, 'but I don't know if anything is pretty all the time.”

But Michigan desperately, deperately, desperately needed a win. It played shutout defense in the second half, and held the Nittany Lions to 214 total yards.

You can't quarrel with that. Especially when you came in 2-4.

4. Wisconsin, W 38-28 vs. Illinois

The Badgers trailed 14-7 after one quarter. That was surprising.

They led 38-14 early in the fourth quarter. That wasn't surprising.

Melvin Gordon was Melvin Gordon, which means he carried 27 times for 175 yards. He became the first Badger to rush for 1,000 yards in the first six games of a season. He averages 7.9 yards per rush. He is good.

'Melvin is a special young man,” Wisconsin Coach Gary Andersen said, 'and I'm just glad he has on that motion W. I promise you that much.”

The Badgers still don't have a passing game, but they're still very much a threat to win the Big Ten West.

5. Michigan State, W 45-31 at Purdue

Purdue had the ball at its 22 with under three minutes left, trailing 38-31. But Michigan State linebacker Darien Harris intercepted an Austin Appleby pass and jogged in for a touchdown with 1:22 left to seal the deal for the team widely believed to be the Big Ten's best.

That's 11 straight league wins for the Spartans.

'To play it through and close it out on defense with a big stop and the touchdown, that is a positive for us,” MSU Coach Mark Dantonio said. 'It helps because when you get in a close game, you'll know what's on the line and understand how you've got to measure back up.”

But to the world, it was a humdrum win over a meager opponent. No College Football Playoff points this week, Spartans.

6. Purdue, L 45-31 vs. Michigan State

Two weeks ago, this looked like a nothing-happening Purdue team when it was blanked in the second half and lost to Iowa at home, 24-10.

Teams get better. The Boilermakers won at Illinois last week, then competed hard against the defending league-champions.

'Every time we went out there we said we were going to score a touchdown or make a field goal,” said Purdue's Danny Anthrop, who had nine catches for 133 yards. 'We were able to spread them out a little more. I think the offensive line stepped up and played well. We just need to make more plays and we will be in a good spot at the end of the year.”

Michigan State gained 533 yards to the Boilers' 340, so there are still miles to go. But things are getting better.

7-10. Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers (idle)

11. Northwestern, L 24-17 at Minnesota

'I'm not trying to take away from Minnesota's effort, but we gave it to them,” said Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald.

How would that take away from Minnesota's effort?

The Wildcats had a 97-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 17, then immediately gave up the 100-yard TD return to Minnesota's Myrick.

Oh, what might have been. Northwestern's defense played well for a third-straight Big Ten game, the first two of which were wins against Penn State and Wisconsin.

'To Minnesota's credit, Jerry's offense takes half the game away by standing in the huddle and talking about what they're ordering for dinner,” Fitzgerald said.

At least Fitz had the Big Ten's best quote of the week.

12. Illinois, L 38-28 at Wisconsin

Remember, it was 38-14 in the fourth quarter. But at least this wasn't a blowout. Third-string quarterback Aaron Bailey came on to lead two touchdown drives that look good in the scorebook, but meant little.

The Illini are 1-18 in the Big Ten under Tim Beckman. His Wikipedia page got monkeyed with last week. There, he was called the 'soon-to-be-former head coach at the University of Illinois” and 'One of the worst hires in the last 20 years in all of NCAA football.”

That's unkind.

13. Indiana, L 45-29 at Iowa

The second-quarter shoulder-separation suffered by quarterback Nate Sudfeld obviously didn't help the Hoosiers' cause at Iowa. But at least 18-year-old backup Chris Covington looked like someone who will have a lot of good days ahead.

The Hoosiers aren't bad. But they aren't whole. The defense is coming along slowly, but perhaps too slowly to get IU (3-3) its first 6-win season and bowl game since 2007.

14. Penn State, L 18-13 at Michigan

Penn State's offense stunk Saturday. Again.

Then there was this: Down 16-13 with 1:43 left, the Nittany Lions took a timeout on a 4th-and-30 inside their own 5 instead of taking a delay-of-game penalty, and used the timeout after burning about 30 seconds of game clock. The Lions then took an intentional safety, were called for offsides on an otherwise-successful onside kick, failed on the second onside kick, and lost.

Michigan and Penn State used to be a feature matchup. This year's matchup was just unpleasant.