UCLA holds off Illinois to stay perfect as Indiana keeps pace

UCLA is still the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten. The No. 4 Bruins beat Illinois 22-14 on Friday night in Illinois at UCLA, moving to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

It was not a comfortable margin. An eight-point game against a 6-4 opponent is the kind of week that tests a perfect record, and UCLA got through it. That keeps the Bruins one game clear of Indiana at the top of the standings, and two clear of a three-team group at 5-2.

Illinois falls to 4-3 in the conference and 6-4 overall.

What happened

Illinois at UCLA: UCLA 22, Illinois 14. The Bruins stay perfect and hold the conference lead outright.

USC at Indiana: Indiana 27, USC 13. The Hoosiers handled a ranked visitor by 14 to reach 9-1 and 6-1, while USC drops to 7-3 and 4-3.

Northwestern at Ohio State: Ohio State 28, Northwestern 19. Ohio State improves to 7-3, but Northwestern kept it within two scores.

Michigan at Oregon: Oregon 31, Michigan 7. Oregon moves to 5-2 in the conference, and Michigan falls to 5-5 overall and 2-5 in league play.

Purdue at Iowa: Iowa 28, Purdue 7. Iowa is 8-2 and 5-2; Purdue is 3-7.

Wisconsin at Maryland: Maryland 24, Wisconsin 21. The upset of the week: Maryland, now 4-6, beat a Wisconsin team that came in looking to climb the standings.

Nebraska at Rutgers: Nebraska 31, Rutgers 0. Nebraska posted the only shutout of the week, leaving Rutgers at 2-8.

Minnesota at Penn State: Penn State 42, Minnesota 14. Penn State scored the most points of any Big Ten team this week; Minnesota is 5-5.

Washington at Michigan State: Washington 21, Michigan State 14. Washington gets to 6-4, and Michigan State falls to 3-7.

Rankings and standings

Six Big Ten teams are in the AP Top 25: UCLA at No. 4, Indiana at No. 6, USC at No. 15, Iowa at No. 16, Oregon at No. 18 and Ohio State at No. 21.

The conference race:

• UCLA 7-0 (10-0)
• Indiana 6-1 (9-1)
• Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon 5-2
• USC, Illinois, Wisconsin 4-3
• Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Washington, Minnesota 3-4
• Michigan, Maryland, Purdue 2-5

The middle of the table is crowded. Nine teams sit at 6-4 or 5-5 overall, and the Maryland result kept Wisconsin from joining the 5-2 group.

The desk

Lou Marchetti had the best week on the desk at 2-0. He took Iowa to win against Purdue, and he took Northwestern +12 at Ohio State, which covered with three points to spare in a nine-point loss. He is 20-8 on the season, well clear of the other three.

Priya Raman went 1-1. Iowa to win came in, but Minnesota +9.5 at Penn State was never close in a 28-point loss. She is 15-14.

Marcus Dawkins went 0-2. Wisconsin -7.5 lost outright at Maryland, and USC +7.5 at Indiana missed by more than a touchdown. He drops to 14-15.

Vera Kowalski split. Purdue +17.5 at Iowa fell short in a 21-point loss, but Maryland +8.5 against Wisconsin cashed with an outright win, the same game that sank Dawkins. She is also 14-15.

What's next

UCLA carries a one-game lead into the next round of conference games, with Indiana the only team within a game and Iowa, Ohio State and Oregon two back at 5-2. For Illinois, Wisconsin and USC, another conference loss would make the top of the table very hard to reach. The full slate of upcoming games and kickoff times is on the schedule page.