Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539550
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 41 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M No Illinois. And their annual matchup against Ohio State will take place in the Big House. If they can get past USC in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, it's hard to imagine anyone threatening them until the Buck- eyes roll into Ann Arbor on Nov. 29. 6. USC Impressed with their season-opening 27-20 victory over LSU, we ranked the Trojans second on this list a year ago. Les- son learned. After stunning the Tigers, USC spent much of its inaugural Big Ten campaign struggling to hold onto second-half leads and went on to finish 7-6. It was the team's worst showing in three seasons under Lincoln Riley. With USC sporting a 29-14 record dur- ing Riley's tenure through the first three weeks of the 2025 season, it would be fair to say the former Oklahoma coach has been an expensive disappointment so far. Their backs pressed firmly against the wall, Riley and his staff needed to get off to a fast start in Year 4, and that's just what they did. Redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava completed 15 of 18 passes for 295 yards (19.7 yards per completion), and the Trojans romped to a 73-13 win over Missouri State. They followed with a 59-20 thrashing of Georgia Southern and a 33-17 victory at Purdue. We'll find out soon whether they're for real. They play consecutive games against Illinois (Sept. 27), Michigan (Oct. 11), Notre Dame (Oct. 18) and Nebraska (Nov. 1), with only the matchup against the Wolverines taking place in Los Angeles. Then in November come games against Iowa and Oregon. After last year's showing, a wait-and- see approach seems warranted here. 7. Indiana Indiana gave up an eye-popping 9.5 yards per carry in its opener against Old Dominion, but that was mostly due to touchdown runs of 75 and 78 yards by Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph. Assuming the Hoosiers get those issues cleaned up by the start of Big Ten play, their star-studded defense should be fine. The questions have more to do with how Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza will fare as the Hoosiers' starting quarterback. Mendoza struggled at times in Indiana's 27-14 season-opening win, completing 18 of 31 passes for 193 yards. He misfired on a few throws and had several others dropped. Mendoza fared better the fol- lowing week, tossing 4 touchdown passes in a 56-9 romp over Kennesaw State. As with USC, we won't have to wait long to see if the Hoosiers are CFP mate- rial. They open the Big Ten season with consecutive games against Illinois, Iowa and Oregon, and the latter two are set to take place on the road, as is their Nov. 8 clash with Penn State. 8. Washington Senior running back Jonah Coleman got off to a great start, totaling 177 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground while adding 22 receiving yards and a 26-yard kickoff return in the Huskies' 38-21 vic- tory over Colorado State. He and sopho- more quarterback Demond Williams Jr. will team up to give Washington a formi- dable backfield combo. The Huskies will face a tough Big Ten schedule, starting Sept. 27 with a matchup against Ohio State and continu- ing with games against Michigan (Oct. 18), Illinois (Oct. 25) and Oregon (Nov. 29). The good news is that the Buckeyes, Illini and Ducks will all have to venture to Seattle. This is a team that should bear watching in Jedd Fisch's second season as head coach. 9. Nebraska All eyes will be on sophomore Dylan True freshman Bryce Underwood won Michigan's starting quarterback job in preseason camp. He struggled in a 24-13 loss at Oklahoma in Week 2 but has shown potential in his first few games at the college level. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL