College Football Week 5, Big Ten Results

Friends, Fans, and Followers, good morning! Well, I told you it was going to be a wild weekend of college football, and that’s exactly what it was. Wild! Check out the results below, and let’s see how we did with our picks.

I want to remind you guys that you could win money with me this college football season. All you have to do is email me, noonoo@noozbuffet.com, and ask for the Big Ten Pick Sheet. This year, I’m selling my Big Ten picks versus the spread separately.

Rutgers at Minnesota
Rutgers 28 Minnesota 31

(21)USC at (23)Illinois
USC 32 Illinois 34

UCLA at Northwestern
UCLA 14 Northwestern 17

(1)Ohio State at Washington
Ohio State 24 Washington 6

(11)Indiana at Iowa
Indiana 20 Iowa 15

(6)Oregon at (3)Penn State
Oregon 30 Penn State 24

Week 5 Picks Straight Up
Minnesota, USC, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, UCLA
Win: 5
Loss: 1

Week 5 Picks Versus the Points
Oregon +3.5, USC -6.5, Iowa +7.5, Washington +8.5, Minnesota -4.5, UCLA +6
Win: 3
Loss:3

Records Overall (Since Week 3)

Straight Up: 21-5

Versus the Points: 13-10-1

Big Ten Game of the Week; Oregon at Penn State

September 24, 2025

This weekend’s game between the Oregon Ducks and the Penn State Nittany Lions is scheduled for Saturday, September 27^th at 7:30 pm. As a matter of fact, there aren’t any games featuring Big Ten teams scheduled for Friday night. All six games will be played on Saturday.

Third ranked, Penn State, is home again for their fourth straight game, and so far at home, they’ve put wins together against Nevada, Florida International, and Villanova. That’s not that impressive, however, Florida International did seem decent. Penn State was leading 10-0 at halftime, and I guess most fans expected to see a 35-0 halftime score.

Oregon is sitting steady at number six in the AP Top 25, and the Ducks actually have four games under their belt. Oregon won twice at home against Montana State and Oklahoma State and twice on the road against Northwestern and Oregon State. Northwestern was somewhat successful running the football against the Ducks. Even if you take away Dashun Reeder’s 79-yard run in the fourth quarter, Joseph Himon and Caleb Komolafe combined for 28 carries and 112 yards. Northwestern had 178 yards of total rushing offense when it was all said and done.

When I look at this game between Oregon and Penn State, from a prediction standpoint, I’m looking at it like it’s the first game of the season for both teams because both teams came into this season with such high expectations, and neither has faced an opponent of equal caliber. In a sense, it’s like it’s all practice leading up to this point, and Oregon got a little bit more practice in.

Up to this point, Penn State quarterback, Drew Allar, hasn’t really been that impressive. In three games, he’s completing 65% of his passes for an average of 208 yards and 4 touchdowns. I mean, wow, that hardly sounds like the numbers of a quarterback who’s running the offense of a team ranked third in the country, but they must have something going for them.

Penn State has an excellent backfield with senior running backs, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. Their offensive line is very good too. Luke Reynolds, their tight end, has 13 catches for 142 yards, and the wide receiver transfer from USC, Kyron Hudson, caught 14 balls for 156 yards and 1 touchdown. The point is that they do have guys who catch the ball, and when you add everything up, Drew Allar, seems to be getting the job done.

I expect Oregon to commit to stopping the run this weekend even though stopping the run hasn’t exactly been their greatest strength so far. If the Duck defense is effective against the run, then maybe they can put the pressure on Allar, and we’ll finally get to see what he’s made of.

How good is Penn State’s defense? We’ll find out this weekend.

Oregon’s quarterback, Dante Moore, is their leader, and he just played his best game of the season in Week 4 against Oregon State. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Their running back situation isn’t as stable as Penn State’s. Tulane transfer, Makhi Huges, was supposed to be the starter, but the job was won by Noah Whittington. Then, Whittington got hurt and missed the Northwestern game. He’s expected to return this week for Penn State, but if he’s limited or can’t go at all, we’ll probably see a lot of Jayden Limar.

Oregon’s tight end, Kenyon Sadiq, is athletic with good hands. Senior wide receiver, Evan Stewart, is still recovering from an offseason knee injury, but Gary Bryant Jr. and Dakorian Moore are stepping up.

You know what, I feel really good about Oregon going to Happy Valley and stealing a win this weekend. Penn State has definitely been flying under the radar, but there’s no holding back this week. The Nittany Lions will have to show up on both sides of the ball for this one because we’re not talking about Villanova anymore.

I expect Penn State to play a Big Ten style game, which is ball control, clock control, and hard defense, but the Penn State defense hasn’t faced an offense like Oregon yet. So, while I’m sure they’ll be capable of executing their plans offensively, it all goes out the window if Penn State’s defense can’t stop Dante Moore and the Duck’s offense.

I haven’t seen enough yet, so I’m going with Ducks.

College Football Week 5, Preview & Picks

September 22, 2025

Welcome, and thank you for visiting N.B. This weekend, there are six college football games featuring teams from the Big Ten Conference. Oregon and Penn State is the big one this weekend, but we also have the undefeated Buckeyes against the undefeated Huskies, and #21 USC against #23 Illinois. It’s going to be another great week of college football.

Saturday, September 27^th

12:00 Noon

Rutgers (3-1) @ Minnesota (2-1)

Most recently, Minnesota had a Week 4 bye, and a Week 3 loss to Cal 27-14. The Golden Gophers are 2-1 overall, and this is a game they think they can win at home. We saw Rutgers lose a heart breaker to Iowa at home last week 38-28. It was their first loss of the season and definitely something the Scarlett Knights don’t want to make a habit of doing. Rutgers is explosive on offense, and Kaliakmanis to Ian Strong is one of the most dangerous QB/WR duos in the country, but Rutgers has a lot to overcome this week. Rutgers is banged up on both sides of the ball, they’re on the road, and Minnesota’s defense is pretty good.

(21) USC (4-0) @ (23) Illinois (3-1)

The Trojans are 4-0 overall, and 2-0 in Big Ten play. Last week, they beat Michigan State 45-31, and Purdue the previous week 33-17. USC is rolling, and they moved up four spots to #21 in the AP Top 25. Wide receiver, Makai Lemon is fun to watch. Lemon racked up 127 receiving yards against the Spartans.

Illinois is now 3-1 after getting abused and embarrassed by the Indiana Hoosiers. If you go back to last week’s preview, I called the game between Indiana and Illinois a “rubber-meets-the-road” game because both teams were unbeaten/unproven. Illinois was ranked #9 in the country last week before that game, and now they’ve fallen to #23 after losing 63-10. If they don’t watch out, USC is going to knock them right out of the national scene. Last week, Illinois was held to just 2 rushing yards! As a matter of fact, they could barely put a drive together (1/10 on 3rd downs). Defensively, it’s gut check time for the Fighting Illini.

3:30 P.M.

(11) Indiana (4-0) @ Iowa (3-1)

Indiana is now 4-0, and they’re riding high off of a huge win against Big Ten foe, Illinois. With that win, the Hoosiers moved up to #11 from #19! Quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, is hot. He completed 21 of 23 passes last week without an interception, and he threw 5 touchdown passes. Running back, Khobie Martin, carried the rock 12 times for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns. Offensively, the Hoosiers amassed 579 total yards, but the real story is their defense. They held Illinois to 2 yards rushing and 161 yards of total offense!

Luckily for the Iowa Hawkeyes, they were able to rediscover their defense last week against Rutgers before it was too late. They won on the road in New Jersey 38-28 and improved to 3-1 overall. This week against Indiana, they’re going to need their defense to continue right where it left off against Rutgers, and I can’t wait to see defensive ends, Hurkett and Llewellyn.

Running back, Kamari Moulton is real treat to watch. He’s an explosive-downhill type of guy. A feel lot better about Mark Gronowski as well. That guy doesn’t look like anything special, but he’s a winner. With Wetjen and Dayton Howard, that Hawkeye offense has life, but their defense will have to show up to stop an Indiana offense that put up over 500 total yards and 63 points last week.

I don’t know what happened to Indiana’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, but he has been playing on another level since his second game. Mendoza completed 18 passes out of 31 attempts for 193 yards in his first game of the season. In his last three games, Mendoza has been as close to perfect as you can get. His completion percentage is 85%, and he has thrown for 782 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions!

(1) Ohio State (3-0) @ Washington (3-0)

Ohio State had a bye last week, and now they’re on the road against Washington. The Buckeyes are the number one team in the country and 3-0 overall. Don’t forget, one of their three wins came against a Texas team who at that time, was ranked #1.

The Washington Huskies are 3-0 after defeating Washington State 59-24 during Week 4. Offensively, the Huskies look good. They’re led by their quarterback, Demond Williams. Williams is fast, he can definitely run the football, and he has good arm. Against the Cougars, Williams completed 16 of 19 passes for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns. He has one-hell-of-a receiver to throw to in Denzel Boston. Boston is 6’4″, and he’s a gamechanger.

Wow, so the Huskies are going to challenge the Buckeyes in ways they haven’t been challenged so far this season. Williams to Boston is a dangerous connection, but if Washington can establish a ground game early with their physical back, Jonah Coleman, who rushed for 107 yards on 6 carries last week, the Ohio State defense will be forced to show up. Not that they have a problem doing that, but this game has upset written all over it.

UCLA (0-3) at Northwestern (1-2)

Northwestern fell to 1-2 overall after losing to Oregon 34-14. The Wildcats were kind of capable of running the football against the Ducks, well, they had more rushing yards than passing yards. They just didn’t do very well on 3rd down and they turned the ball over twice. Those are two things you must do well if you want to win football games, but UCLA offers Northwestern a chance at redemption.

UCLA is the only Big Ten team that hasn’t won a game all season, and I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about sophomore quarterback, Nico Lamaleava, hitting the transfer portal. Lamaleava said, “I’m a leave ya!” LOL, well, no not really, but that’s funny.

Any-who, the Bruins are winless, but in their defense, Utah, UNLV, and New Mexico turned out to be a tougher three-game stretch than anyone would’ve imagined. Utah is 3-1, UNLV is 4-0, and New Mexico is 2-1. So, maybe the Bruins aren’t that bad? Maybe they just seriously underestimated their competition? We’ll see this week. If they lose to Northwestern, then the Bruins are who we thought they were.

7:30 P.M.

(6) Oregon (4-0) @ (3) Penn State (3-0)

Here it is, the Big Ten game of the week. The Oregon Ducks are sixth in the nation, and the Nittany Lions are number three. Oregon returns undefeated at 4-0 this week after crushing Oregon State in Week 4. Duck’s quarterback, Dante Moore, is steadily improving and getting better each week. He looked like a team leader against Oregon State, and that’s important. Also, he threw for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns with zero interceptions, and well, that’s important too.

Penn State had a Week 4 bye, which I’m sure they enjoyed after beating Villanova 52-6. The Nittany Lions haven’t faced anyone yet worth mentioning, but they’re still undefeated and ranked nationally. Personally, I have to be honest. I’m not a believer in Penn State yet. I feel like this is going to be another season where they get all hype and all the accolades before they play, but once the season starts, it’s mediocracy. We know about Drew Allar, and we know running back, Kaytron Allen, is a work horse, but what do we really know?

Week 5 Picks Strait Up

Minnesota, USC, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, UCLA

Week 5 Picks Versus the Point Spread

This week, the Big Ten Pick Sheet versus the point spread is $3.00. Please, email me at noonooz@noozbuffet.com, if you’re interested.

Overall Record

Straight Up: 16-4

Versus the Points: 10-7-1

College Football Week 5, Big Ten Schedule

September 21, 2025

Good morning, everyone! Here’s a look at the College Football Week 5 schedule for games involving Big Ten teams. I know, I know, there are only six games this weekend, but this is going to be an interesting week of football for the Big Ten.

First of all, we have the game between Oregon and Penn State, which really needs no introduction, but how about the game between Ohio State and Washington? Both teams are undefeated, but how good is this Washington team? Can you imagine if the Huskies beat the Buckeyes and go 4-0?

Then, we have USC and Illinois. The Fighting Illini are looking to avenge last week’s embarrassing loss to Indiana, and USC is looking to extend their winning streak to five games. If Illinois loses this one, it might be a fall from grace right out of the AP Top 25.

The situation is similar for Rutgers. After suffering a heart-breaking loss to Iowa at home, the Scarlett Knights are looking to get back on track, but Minnesota isn’t going to be easy, and, finally, will UCLA get their first win of the 2025 season against Northwestern?

College Football Week 5
Big Ten Conference Schedule 

Oregon (4-0) @ Penn State (3-0)

USC (4-0) @ Illinois (3-1)

Indiana (4-0) @ Iowa (3-1)

Ohio State (3-0) @ Washington (3-0)

Rutgers (3-1) @ Minnesota (2-1)

UCLA (0-3) @ Northwestern (1-2)

Bye Week

College Football Week 5; The Results are In!

Every week, I write a review, which includes a game by game analysis, a list of my winning picks, and a list of my picks versus the point spread for all the games featuring teams from the Big 10 Conference.

Here are the results of those games and the outcomes of our picks for week 5.

Penn State 41 Northwestern 13

Louisiana 24 Minnesota 35

Michigan 45 Nebraska 7

Indiana 17 Maryland 44

Wagner 3 Rutgers 52

Illinois 19 Purdue 44

Michigan State 16 Iowa 26

My Winning Picks

Week 5 Record: 6-1 Overall Record: 25-4

Michigan

Penn State

Minnesota

Maryland

Rutgers

Illinois (L)

Iowa

Versus the Point Spread

Week 5 Record: 4-2-1 Overall Record: 17-11-1

Penn State -26.5

Minnesota -11 (Push)

Maryland -14

Michigan -18

Wagner +48 (L)

Illinois +1 (L)

Michigan State +11.5

Big 10 College Football Analysis for Week 5

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Welcome, and thank you for choosing Nooz Buffet! It’s week 5 of the college football season, and what better way to get into the action than with our Big 10 College Football Analysis?

With the serious college football fan in mind, I’ve put together a game by game analysis for all seven games featuring teams from the Big 10 conference for week 5. This analysis includes a list of my winning picks, and a list of my picks versus the spread.

I’ve been super-successful! Overall, I’m 19-3 picking winners (86%), and I’m 13-9 versus the point spread (59%). When it comes to betting football, nothing is guaranteed, but my record speaks for itself.

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A Look At What’s Inside:

Saturday, September 30th @ 3:30 PM

(2)Michigan, 4-0 at Nebraska, 2-2: Michigan is ranked 2nd nationally, and they’re undefeated. They just picked up their 4th win of the season against a Rutgers team that was also undefeated at the time. Michigan was a 23-point favorite, but a lot of people thought Rutgers had a chance to actually win it. When Rutgers took a 7-0 lead early in the game, that thought was starting to look like a possibility, but it was all Michigan from that point forward. The Wolverines are now 4-0, and they beat Rutgers 31-7.

Nebraska, Nebraska. At this point, Nebraska could easily be 3-1, if not 4-0. We watched their QB, Jeff Simms, turn the ball over a damaging number of times in their first two games, and the Cornhuskers suddenly found themselves with their backs against a wall. But, that’s old news. Last week, Nebraska beat LA Tech, a game they were expected to win, 28-14, and new QB, Heinrich Haarberg, passed for 107 yards and threw a touchdown, and he also rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown. Offensively, he accounted for 12 points, and 264 yards.

This week, Nebraska is hosting Michigan, and there’s some talk about this being one of those trap games for Michigan. Maybe the Wolverines are looking too far ahead at their games against Penn State and Ohio State, that they quite possibly dismiss the Cornhuskers. We’ve seen it happen before, suddenly nothing goes as planned and the offense starts turning the ball over, and a game you’re picked to win by three touchdowns is tied late in the fourth quarter. I feel like that won’t happen as long as the Wolverines stay focused, but truth be told-Michigan hasn’t been tested yet. It’s unlikely that Nebraska’s QB, Haarberg, can win this game all by himself, but he has given Nebraska new life and little bit of confidence. And that alone, Michigan cannot overlook.

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College Football Week 5, Big 10 Schedule

Week 5 of the college football season contains seven games featuring teams from the Big 10 conference. Ohio State and Wisconsin have a bye this week.

Saturday, September 30th @ 12 Noon

(6)Penn State, 4-0 at Northwestern, 2-2

Louisiana, 3-1 at Minnesota, 2-2

Saturday, September 30th @ 3:30 PM

Indiana, 2-2 at Maryland, 4-0

(2)Michigan, 4-0 at Nebraska, 2-2

Wagner, 2-2 at Rutgers, 3-1

Illinois, 2-2 at Purdue, 1-3

Saturday, September 30th @ 7:30 PM

Michigan State, 2-2 @ Iowa, 3-1