Big Ten Week 4 performances: 1. Indiana, 2. Iowa, 14. Michigan

Each week I rank the Big Ten's football performances based on that week and that week alone.

This week, for a change, it was hard to unsort a cluster of good results. It wasn't as if the conference knocked off a full rack of football powers, but the league did win two road games against previously unbeaten ACC teams and a road game against the defending SEC East champ. That's not bad.

1. Indiana, W 31-27 at Missouri

It's Indiana's best win in a long time. It's beating last year's SEC East champion in Columbia. It's doing it with a go-ahead score with 22 seconds left.

It's pretty sweet for a long-downtrodden football program.

Missouri was ranked 18th, so this was the highest-ranked team the Hoosiers have beaten on the road since 1987.

Indiana's Tevin Coleman has 569 rushing yards in three games. That's getting it done.

2. Iowa, W 24-20 at Pittsburgh

Pitt was 3-0 coming in to this game. It could still be a 10-win team. But the Hawkeyes took the game away from the Panthers in the second half.

That easy Big Ten schedule Iowa supposedly had? Who would you rather play from the East Division now, Michigan or Indiana? Michigan or Maryland? The answers, right now, are Michigan and Michigan.

3. Nebraska, W 41-31 vs. Miami

I'm begrudgingly putting a home win over Miami atop road wins over Syracuse and Navy. This isn't a vintage Miami team.

But this was a good, emotional, entertaining game on ESPN2 Saturday night for those who didn't want to see detoothed Florida State stave off Clemson. And few players are more exciting than Husker running back Ameer Abdullah, who had 35 carries for 229 yards.

'Our running game is what won this game for us,” Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said. 'That's what Nebraska football is all about.”

4. Maryland, W 34-20 at Syracuse

Maryland led 31-13 at halftime. It was quite a bounceback from the Terrapins' 40-37 home loss to West Virginia the previous Saturday. Not that being a scrap with West Virginia is a disgrace, as Oklahoma realized Saturday night.

But for the second-straight week, the Terps' defense was shredded. Syracuse outgained Maryland, 589-369. Cornerback Will Likely however, returned an interception 88 yards for a Terp TD. Likely returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown against West Virginia and forced a fumble in the red zone.

Will Likely. He's only a sophomore.

5. Rutgers, W 31-24 at Navy

Rutgers was the underdog by a touchdown on the road against the Navy triple-option that befuddled Ohio State for much of their Week 1 game.

But the Scarlet Knights took a 24-14 halftime lead and never faltered, even when Navy had a first-and-goal at the Rutgers 6 on its final drive of the game.

'They got after us for most of the game,” Navy Ccoach Ken Niumatalolo said. 'We had a hard time stopping them on the run and we had a hard time running the ball ourselves. They were very physical at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. We had a hard time matching up with them.”

That's two road wins for Rutgers, with the other at Washington State. The 3-1 Scarlet Knights are halfway to the Pinstripe Bowl.

6. Wisconsin, W 68-17 vs. Bowling Green

The Badgers mauled the team that beat Indiana at home last week.

OMG. Wisconsin had 756 yards including a Big Ten-record 644 rushing yards.

Melvin Gordon carried 13 times for 253 yards and five touchdowns.

How is this win not ranked higher? Well, four of the five teams ahead of Wisconsin this week won on the road against decent competition, and beating Miami will always have more meaning than clubbing Bowling Green.

But this was vintage Badger brutality. Four Wisconsin backs had at least 94 rushing yards. One was quarterback Tanner McEvoy, who rushed for more yards (158) than he passed (112).

Wisconsin's season didn't end with its Week 1 loss to LSU.

7. Purdue, W 35-13 vs. Southern Illinois

Hey, Purdue is 2-2. When you were 1-11 the year before, 2-2 is nirvana.

Plus, Southern Illinois was ranked 13th in the FCS coaches' poll. And the Boilermakers dominated the Salukis.

I don't know if the Boilermakers will win a Big Ten game, but they aren't grotesque. So that's improvement.

8. Michigan State, W 73-14 vs. Eastern Michigan

Nothing Michigan State could have done against Eastern Michigan would have helped its ranking this week. Eastern Michigan is too ... too ... aah, let's not go there.

The Eagles already had losses of 65-0 to Florida and 17-3 to Old Dominion.

'They were awesome, and obviously I got out-coached in every way,” Eagles coach Chris Creighton said about Saturday's game.

Give me a coach who says something like that, whether he believes it or not.

9. Penn State, W 48-7 vs. Massachusetts

UMass is a mess. A UMass-Eastern Michigan game would be a real mess.

10. Illinois, W 42-35 vs. Texas State

The Illini now have three second-half comebacks for victories this season. Texas State led 21-6 in this one. But Josh Ferguson rushed for 190 yards for Illinois, and Wes Lunt passed for his 10th and 11th touchdowns of the season.

So, Illinois is entertaining on offense. Maybe Saturday's announced crowd of 41,019 agrees. Of course, a lot of those fans took off during a two-hour delay caused by a lightning storm and driving rain.

During the delay, the Illini invited people to come and watch the rest of the game for free. It's unclear if anyone took them up on the offer.

11. Northwestern, W 24-7 vs. Western Illinois

Northwestern got its first win of the season. It got outgained by 93 yards. It only cares about the first sentence of this paragraph, not the second.

12. Minnesota, W 24-7 vs. San Jose State

The Gophers threw just seven passes, completed only one. That came with 6 1/2 minutes left.

Try selling that in a pro market.

David Cobb rushed 34 times for 207 yards and red-shirt freshman quarterback Chris Streveler rushed 18 times for 161 yards.

'All I care about is winning,” Minnesota Coach Jerry Kill said.

Good luck peddling tickets with that kind of attack. Or recruiting receivers.

13. Ohio State, idle

14. Michigan, L 26-10 vs. Utah

Oh dear.

'I felt like it was the Ute House,” Utah receiver Dres Anderson said. 'We heard so much about the Big House. It was the Ute House at the end.”

Oh dear.

There was booing directed at Michigan.

'I don't like that with 18-22-year-old kids,” Michigan Coach Brady Hoke said. 'I know the fans pay their money and they have the right to do that, but I don't like it. If the boos are for me, that's fine.”

Uh, they probably were booing you, Coach. Your team is 2-2, got thrashed 31-0 at Notre Dame, slogged past terrible Miami (Ohio), and now this.

There was a weather delay of almost 2 1/2 hours. Once the game finally resumed the Ute House - er, the Big House - was virtually empty.

Michigan didn't score an offensive touchdown for the second time in three games.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.