Week five of Big Ten play was devoid of a single upset, surprising nobody with the outcomes but impressing us with some performances. There was still plenty of interesting and arguably defining action in all of the games.
Every week brings another educational piece to the puzzle of how the 2023 season will shape up. Then, suddenly, late in the season upsets will be around every corner and all that we thought to be true gets blown up. Let's take a look at what we saw this week: who performed best, who struggled the most, and what does it mean?

QB Taulia Tagovailoa (Maryland)

Tagovailoa proved exactly why he is one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten and nationwide, as the Terrapins trounced the Indiana Hoosiers 44-17. With a 70.5% completion percentage on 34 attempts for 352 yards and five touchdowns, there was no better performance across the weekend's action in the conference.

Tagovailoa may be making an argument for being the second best QB in the Big Ten behind J.J. McCarthy as he looks to steal Penn State QB Drew Allar's spot. Watch out for the Terrapins as a disruptor among the top of the Big Ten East.

DB Cooper DeJean (Iowa)

If there was one player who single handedly won the game for the Hawkeyes against Michigan State it was DeJean. The Safety had six tackles but made a huge impact with an interception and a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. Iowa mustered a cumulative 222 yards of offense, which was still nearly three times better than their game against Penn State the week prior. The Hawkeyes needed every bit of DeJean's performance to come out with a win.

The punt return touchdown was also particularly timely as the game was tied at 16 all with less than four minutes remaining in the 26-16 victory.

QB J.J. McCarthy (Michigan)

The nation's leader in quarterback rating, J.J. McCarthy, had his best game of the season efficiency wise at 99.2 with an average of 94.2 on the season. Going 12-for-16 for 156 yards and two touchdowns through the air was very solid, but adding two rushes for 30 yards and another touchdown was the cherry on top. McCarthy continues to prove himself this season with the three interception game against Bowling Green looking like a blip in the radar.

He looks decisive and in rhythm, while still making tough off-schedule throws as both of his touchdowns to Roman Wilson were thrown on the run en route to a 45-7 victory over Nebraska.

QB Noah Kim (Michigan State)

Noah Kim has been struggling mightily as the Spartans continue to make him throw the ball with frequency. Against the Hawkeyes, Kim threw three interceptions while going 25-for-44 with 193 yards passing. His team did him no good forcing him to throw that much, especially with how mightily he has struggled over the last three weeks. The Spartans may be forced to give backup QB Katin Hauser (who lost the job in fall camp) more of a look at Rutgers on Oct. 14 after their bye.

It would be the perfect time to prep Hauser, who can get two weeks of reps with the ones, if they ultimately decide to do so.

Nebraska's Rushing Offense & Defense

The two things that the Cornhuskers felt like they could hang their hat on, the top running defense and offense in the Big Ten, they were deceived by. Michigan fans saw their team beat Penn State on the ground in 2022 (the nations top rush defense last Oct.) were hardly surprised that their team put up almost 250 yards rushing.

The struggles on offense from Nebraska stemmed from QB Heinrich Haarberg's inability to run. The Wolverines held Haarberg, who ran for nearly 300 yards combined in the two weeks prior, to a measly negative two yards on nine carries. It is safe to say that Michigan came in looking to prove a point, doing so emphatically, leaving the Cornhuskers in shambles as they pick up the pieces of their 2-3 season.

Second Half Northwestern Defense

Stuck at a 10-all tie at halftime, the Wildcats found themselves in the game against one of the top teams in the nation. However, that did not last long once the third quarter began. On their first possession of the second half the Nittany Lions punched in a 1-yard Drew Allar touchdown run. They followed that up with a field goal just minutes later and a Nick Singleton touchdown catch shortly after that. Two late touchdowns stretched the lead to 28, as Penn State dominated the second half scoring and time of possession after looking out of sync early.

Northwestern was anticipated to be one of the worst teams in the conference, and while nothing has changed on that front, if there was something to think they could rely on it would have been their defense. 31 second half points proved that wrong pretty easily.

Things are finally beginning to sort themselves out across the board. Michigan State continues their downward spiral as bottom-tier teams continue to struggle, while the top powers of the east remain decisive and in control. If your favorite team, player, or position group ended up on this list in the "those who disappointed" section, they have every chance to show up in the "those who impressed". The flipside also applies.

Keep an eye out for who that might be in next week's reiteration of this article.

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