Big Ten Week 5 performance rankings: 1. Northwestern, 7. Iowa, 14. Michigan (again)

This is my ranking of how Big Ten teams did in Week 5, and Week 5 alone. Alone, by the way, is where Michigan's team finds itself after yet another debacle.

1. Northwestern, W 29-6 at Penn State

Who saw this coming? The Wildcats lost to California and Northern Illinois at home. Penn State was unbeaten. Naturally, the ‘Cats went to Happy Valley, jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, and never let up.

Northwestern did the best defensive job anyone's done on Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg this season and held the Nittany Lions to 50 rushing yards and 266 overall.

How about this rushing stat line for Wildcat quarterback Trevor Siemian: Five carries, minus-8 yards ... three touchdowns!

Siemian also passed for 257 yards and no touchdowns.

'Everybody wanted (this win) as bad as I did,” said Northwestern's Dan Vitale, who had 7 catches for 113 yards. 'You could see the passion in everyone's eyes, and we didn't have that the first three weeks.”

2. Minnesota, W 30-14 at Michigan

The Golden Gophers got their biggest win under Jerry Kill, and did so authoritatively.

David Cobb rushed for 183 yards, which was 12 more yards than Michigan's entire offense accumulated.

'All the things that we've dreamed about came true today,” Kill said. 'This is the best we've played in a long time.”

It's hard to move the needle in a pro sports city. But beating Michigan for the first time since 2005 is a good way to try.

3. Maryland, W 37-15 at Indiana

Welcome to the Big Ten, Terrapins. You're alone at the top of the East Division at 1-0.

Maryland starting quarterback C.J. Brown left the game in the third quarter with an injury. He had completed 10 of 15 passes for 163 yards and a TD, and ran for a score. Caleb Rowe came in and completed 12 of 18 passes for 198 yards and two TDs. Two Terrapins had over 100 receiving yards.

Saturday morning, Maryland safety Zach Dansel posted a tweet asking 'What the hell is a Hoosier?”

The answer: A 37-15 loser to Maryland.

4. Nebraska, W 45-14 vs. Illinois

The Huskers dominated this game, outgaining Illinois by 285 yards. No. 21 Nebraska may have run 29 more plays, gained 285 more yards and possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes.

After the game, Huskers Coach Bo Pelini didn't sound like someone who is coaching a 5-0 team.

'There were times when we didn't play very clean,” Pelini said. 'At the end of the day, if you want to be a great football team - which we're not yet - we have to have high standards. And we do. That's what we hold our guys to. Believe me, I'll take a lot of the things statistically. But stats don't win football games.”

On Nebraska's radio broadcast, Pelini was irked with his defense when he spoke to the sideline reporter at halftime. That was with his team ahead 31-14.

This all tells me one thing: He thinks his team can be really good.

But like Iowa, the Huskers have yet to play someone who is really good. They will Saturday, at Michigan State.

5. Ohio State W 50-28 vs. Cincinnati

The Buckeyes haven't lost to an in-state school since 1921. This game was 33-28 at one point, but Ohio State is still Ohio State and Cincinnati is still Cincinnati despite the special helmet decal the Bearcats wore Saturday with the outline of Ohio.

Ohio State gained 710 yards, eight yards shy of the school-record, set in 1930 against Mount Union. Another Ohio school.

Mount Union beat Marietta Saturday, 63-7, to extend its regular-season winning streak to 86.

Oh, the last Ohio team to beat the Buckeyes was the Oberlin Yeomen. Oberlin lost to Wittenberg Saturday, 48-10.

6. Michigan 3-7.State, W 56-14 vs. Wyoming

The opponent was nothing special, but the brand of destruction the Spartans are showing just might be.

MSU had touchdown drives of 78, 68 and 59 yards. In the first quarter.

That's 129 points in the last two weeks for the Spartans.

'We've all been with each other so long, we have the timing,” MSU quarterback Connor Cook said. 'It shows in games.”

7. Iowa, W 24-10 at Purdue

That's six wins in the last seven road games for the Hawkeyes. I'm not sure what it means that the team Iowa conquered the previous week, Pittsburgh, turned around and lost 21-10 at home to Akron.

Or that Ball State, which Iowa struggled to defeat, turned around and lost to Indiana State and Toledo.

Are the Hawkeyes doing something to these teams to drain them of their spirits? The only team Iowa has played that won a game afterward is Northern Iowa.

8. Rutgers, W 31-6 vs. Tulane

Rutgers is two wins from being eligible for the Pinstripe Bowl ... and all bowls, actually. Well, not the College Football Playoff bowls. But you get the idea.

Gary Nova threw three touchdown passes Saturday to his Don Bosco Prep teammate, Leonte Carroo. Nova became Rutgers' all-time leader in TD passes with 61.

Tulane, by the way, isn't great.

9. Wisconsin, W 27-10 vs. South Florida

This was an uninspiring win for the Badgers against a team from the American Athletic Conference. USF was one of the teams left out of the Power 5 when the Big East collapsed.

This game was 3-3 at halftime. Melvin Gordon rushed for 131 of his 181 yards after halftime.

USF had just eight first downs. Wisconsin had the ball for almost 41 minutes.

But like Iowa, the Badgers' offense continues to sputter in the first halves of games.

10. Purdue, L 24-10 at Iowa

The Boilermakers got off to a 10-0 lead. And that's all the good you can say about them without stretching the truth.

11. Illinois, L 45-14 at Nebraska

The Illini played without injured quarterback Wes Lunt, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his first four games.

It wouldn't have mattered had Lunt played. Illinois couldn't defend Ameer Abdullah (208 rushing yards) or the rest of the Huskers' offense.

Purdue is at Illinois Saturday. Consider this your final warning.

12. Indiana, L 37-15 vs. Maryland

The Hoosiers were No. 1 here last week for winning at Missouri. Then they remembered that they were Indiana.

'I felt like, as a team, we didn't come to play like we should have,” IU quarterback Nate Sudfeld said.

Sudfeld completed 14 of 37 passes, so it's not like he was crisper than his teammates.

'He's got to play better,” Indiana Coach Kevin Wilson said. 'But at the same time, as a team, the offense let him down more than anything he did, I'm pretty sure. And as coaches, we let him down.”

13. Penn State, L 29-6 vs. Northwestern

You're 4-0, you're at home, you've been freed of NCAA sanctions, you're playing a team that has lost at home to California and Northern Illinois. What do you do?

You lay the biggest egg Penn State football has laid in the last three seasons. If, that is, you discount the Nittany Lions' 63-14 loss at Ohio State last year.

But even that game probably didn't feel as disappointing as this one. Penn State was held without a touchdown at home for the first time since 2004.

14. Michigan, L 30-14 vs. Minnesota

All you can do if you're Michigan is look to the future, not the present. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports wrote a column Sunday suggesting why Michigan should pursue Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers as its next coach.

Yes, Brady Hoke is under contract at Michigan. But, c'mon. Consecutive homefield thrashings to Utah and Minnesota?

Utah lost at home Saturday night to Washington State, which has lost at Nevada, which has lost at Arizona, which is coached by ... former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.

'I think this team can still win this championship,” Hoke said after Saturday's game. Which invites two questions.

1. What championship would that be? Certainly not the Big Ten East.

2. Has he been watching his team play lately?