Big Ten weekend review: Week Two

Maryland football picked up right where it left off last weekend and it claimed a dominant 62-0 win over Howard last night.

The offense came out on fire against the Bison, leading the way in the shutout victory for the program's second win of the season. Senior wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. and sophomore wide receiver Rakim Jarrett stayed hot and both found the end zone yet again after a strong opening-week performance.

Demus Jr. has now scored a touchdown in his last six games, which includes the final four games from last season. The Terps will look to keep it rolling next week when they go on the road to face Illinois on Friday night.

Let’s take a look at how the Big Ten is shaping up after the second week of college football.

Upset game: No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Oregon

Ohio State came into the second week as -14.5 point favorites against the No. 12 Oregon Ducks. Despite being the underdog, Oregon never looked like one on Saturday. The Ducks jumped on the Buckeyes early and dictated the pace of the game the whole way.

After the Buckeyes got off to a slow start in their first game of the season, quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Ohio State offense failed to get anything going early yet again. Oregon established the run early behind both running back C.J. Verdell and quarterback Anthony Brown.

Verdell opened the scoring in the second quarter, barreling into the end zone from 14 yards out to give the Ducks a quick 7-0 lead. With 8:55 left in the first half, Stroud finally hit a big play and answered Oregon’s touchdown with a 26-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who finished with seven catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Verdell continued his dominant afternoon and broke the game open with an electric 77-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter. Verdell killed the Buckeyes on the ground all day, rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns. The star running back also added four receptions for 34 yards and a third touchdown.

Stroud finished with 484 yards and three touchdowns for Ohio State but only completed 35-of-54 pass attempts. Stud wideout Chris Olave had yet another big game for the Buckeyes, finishing with 12 catches and 126 yards on 16 targets.

Credit to Oregon, a rising program that played a solid all-around game. The Ducks’ rushing attack was unstoppable from the opening kickoff and once they broke it open, they never looked back. That being said, Ohio State hasn’t looked like the team many expected.

Now just two weeks into the season, both Ohio State and Clemson, two top teams in the nation entering the season, find themselves outside of the playoff picture. With a long season ahead, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out in Columbus. There is still a path to the playoff but it’s going to be an uphill battle.

Statement game: Rutgers vs. Syracuse

After destroying Temple, 61-14, in the opening week, Rutgers went on the road to Syracuse and picked up a 17-7 win against the Orange. Over the past six seasons, the Scarlet Knights are just 16-53. For Rutgers to jump out to a 2-0 start in Greg Schiano’s second year as the head coach signals that change is near or perhaps already here.

After a defensive battle for the entirety of the first half, both teams went back to the locker room with the score still 0-0. Rutgers finally opened the scoring behind freshman running back Kyle Monangai, who ran in an 11-yard touchdown to cap off a 63-yard drive with about seven minutes left in the third quarter. Syracuse answered immediately, as it marched down the field on back-to-back big plays, with the second play being a 24-yard touchdown run from running back Sean Tucker.

With 33 seconds left in the third quarter, Rutgers quarterback Noah Vedral found tight end Jovani Haskins for a 30-yard touchdown, giving the Scarlet Knights a 14-7 lead. Vedral finished the game completing 22-of-28 passes for 145 yards and one score. He wasn’t perfect, but he was efficient and did enough to get his team to the finish line. Rutgers would go on to add a field goal in the fourth quarter to win this one by 10.

Schiano has the Scarlet Knights rolling. The former Ohio State defensive coordinator has instilled a new culture in New Brunswick, N.J., and Rutgers is officially a team to keep an eye on.

Surprise game: No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 9 Iowa State

The Iowa Hawkeyes are off to quite the start. It started the season with a dominant 34-6 win against Indiana at home a week ago and then it went on the road to take down Iowa State, 27-17, in a hostile environment. The defense has been one of the most impressive defensive units in the country through the first two weeks of the season, holding two top 25 opponents to a total of 23 points.

Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation entering the season, only managed 138 yards on 13-of-27 passing, including three interceptions. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras hasn’t been as sharp as expected but the defense has done more than enough to carry the Hawkeyes to two massive victories. Petras finished 11-for-21 with 106 yards and one touchdown in Iowa’s win.

It took a while for the scoring to get underway in this one. After a quiet start to the first quarter from both sides, Iowa State chipped in a 23-yard field with 43 seconds left in the quarter. In the second frame, Purdy threw his first interception of the game as Iowa defensive back Matt Hankins corralled his first of two interceptions on the day. That turnover led to points for the Hawkeyes as Iowa running back Tyler Goodson punched it in from four yards out after the Iowa offense was faced with a short field.

Iowa would go on to score again in the second quarter, a 26-yard touchdown strike from Petras to Charlie Jones giving the Hawkeyes a 14-3 lead.

With just 12 seconds left in the half, Breece Hall got the Cyclones in the end zone for the first time. Hall, who many regard as one of the best running backs in college football, only managed 69 yards on 16 carries for an average of 4.6 yards per carry.

Iowa sealed the deal with a forced fumble that they recovered for a touchdown with five minutes left in the third quarter. The play gave Iowa a 21-10 lead and completely silenced the Iowa State crowd. From there, Iowa eventually collected the win. With two massive victories already, Iowa might be the team to beat in the Big Ten.