Big Ten Football Week 5
- Week five of the 2025 college football season features a full slate of Big Ten Conference games for the first time this year. This week’s schedule includes six games between conference foes, including conference openers for Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA and Washington. Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin will enjoy byes this week, with the complete schedule appearing to the right.
- Eleven of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are mentioned in this week’s AP or US LBM Coaches Polls, announced on Sunday. The AP poll includes No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Oregon, No. 11 Indiana, No. 19 Michigan, No. 21 USC and No. 23 Illinois, with Maryland receiving votes. At No. 1, Ohio State leads 11 Big Ten teams in the coaches’ poll (No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Oregon, No. 12 Indiana, No. 18 Michigan, No. 22 USC and No. 23 Illinois), while Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska and Washington also received recognition.
- Seven Big Ten teams remain undefeated through four weeks of the 2025 season. Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, USC and Washington rank among the 30 NCAA FBS teams sporting perfect records entering Week Five.
- The Big Ten announced its Big Ten Football Players of the Week, presented by IFS.ai on Monday, with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. sharing Offensive Player of the Week honors.
- Mendoza completed 21-of-23 passes for 267 yards and tied a career-high five passing touchdowns in a victory over No. 9/8 Illinois, while Williams Jr. completed 16-of-19 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, while also rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in a, 59-24, win vs. Washington State.
- Maryland’s Daniel Wingate earned Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading Maryland with 11 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1.5 TFLs & one QBH as the Terps held Wisconsin to just 10 points. Wingate leads the Big Ten in total tackles with 39 (fifth nationally), recording 10+ tackles in three of four games this season.
- Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen and Michigan’s Dominic Zvada split the Special Teams Player of the Week plaudit. Wetjen tied an Iowa record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff in the 38-28 road win at Rutgers, while Zvada converted field goals of 21, 46, 56 yards in Michigan’s 30-27 victory against Nebraska.
- Maryland’s Malik Washington was named Freshman of the Week after throwing for 265 yards and accounting for three touchdowns with zero interceptions in Maryland’s 27-10 win at Wisconsin. His 62-yard touchdown pass to Shaleak Knotts was the longest of his career.
- A 2024 Discover Big Ten Championship game rematch is set for this weekend, as No. 3/2 Penn State meets No. 6/5 Oregon in a top-10 matchup for the Penn State White Out Game on NBC. The Nittany Lions and Ducks will meet for the sixth time in program history and just the third time in a regular-season matchup, with Oregon traveling to Happy Valley for the first time since 1964. Oregon enters the 2025 conference season with a 10-game conference win streak after a perfect first year in the Big Ten.
- Indiana snapped a 14-game losing streak against ranked teams on Saturday with a 63-10 victory against Illinois. The Hoosiers’ win also marked the largest margin of victory over an AP top-10 team (53) and the largest overall margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history. The previous mark was 21 points against Ohio State (31-10) in 1987.
- Illinois’ Josh Gesky, Iowa’s Aaron Graves, Michigan’s Greg Tarr, Michigan State’s Sam Edwards, Nebraska’s Malcolm Hartzog Jr., Northwestern’s Aidan Hubbard, Ohio State’s Lorenzo Styles Jr., Oregon’s Bryce Boettcher, Penn State’s Nick Dawkins, Purdue’s Jack McCallister, Rutgers’ Dariel Djabome, USC’s Hank Pepper, Washington’s Jonah Coleman and Wisconsin’s Ricardo Hallman were named semifinalists for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy on Sept. 24. Now in its 36th year, the Campbell Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete. The NFF will announce 12-16 finalists on Oct. 22, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2025 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments.
- The Big Ten claimed back-to-back national championship titles for the first time since 1942 last season as Ohio State defeated Notre Dame, 34-23, in the 2024 College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Buckeyes brought home their sixth national championship to the Horseshoe in Columbus and first since the inaugural CFP National Championship in the 2014-15 season.
- The 2025 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be held on Saturday, December 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The winner will represent the conference as the Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the College Football Playoff.
