About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Week 5 of the 2026 college football season is now in the books! And while USC narrowly survived against Washington , there were numerous other Big Ten games played over the weekend as well.
So what did we learn from the rest of the conference? Here are a few non-USC takeaways from Week 5 in the Big Ten:
Don't look now, but the Wildcats are 3-1, with dominant home wins over Colorado and Penn State. Northwestern's only loss was by six points on the road against defending national champion Indiana.
At 4-1, the Badgers have already matched last season's win total. After dominating Michigan State, it appears as though Luke Fickell's seat has cooled off considerably.
Meanwhile, both Michigan and Michigan State are 0-2 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines appear to have major issues at quarterback, while the Spartans' two conference losses have come by a combined 46 points.
On the other side of Northwestern's latest win were the Nittany Lions, who also find themselves 0-2 in conference play. Penn State clearly has some major issues. Can USC take advantage of them this week?
Finally, prior to this past weekend, Purdue had not won a conference game in nearly three years. At long last, that finally changed on Saturday, as the Boilermakers took down Illinois.
Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; General view inside the stadium prior to the game between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley looks on against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch reacts against the USC Trojans during the fourth quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) passes the ball against the Washington Huskies during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (1) passes the ball against the USC Trojans during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans running back Waymond Jordan (2) scores a rushing touchdown against the Washington Huskies during the second quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies tight end Baron Naone (85) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the USC Trojans during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans cheerleaders during the first half between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans wide receiver Tanook Hines (16) scores a touchdown against Washington Huskies cornerback Dylan Robinson (6) during the third quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch shake hands after the game at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 1 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; General view inside the stadium prior to the game between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 1 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; General view inside the stadium prior to the game between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 2 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley looks on against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 3 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch reacts against the USC Trojans during the fourth quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 4 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) passes the ball against the Washington Huskies during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 5 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (1) passes the ball against the USC Trojans during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 6 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans running back Waymond Jordan (2) scores a rushing touchdown against the Washington Huskies during the second quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 7 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington Huskies tight end Baron Naone (85) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the USC Trojans during the first quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 8 / 10 Photos from USC’s ugly 25-21 victory over Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans cheerleaders during the first half between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 9 / 10 USC can't be lulled into false sense of confidence after win over UW Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans wide receiver Tanook Hines (16) scores a touchdown against Washington Huskies cornerback Dylan Robinson (6) during the third quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 10 / 10 USC rises in US LBM Coaches Poll despite poor display vs Washington Oct 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch shake hands after the game at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images (Griffin Hooper, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Contact/Follow @TrojansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of USC Trojans news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: What we learned from Week 5 of college football in the Big Ten
Source: Sport
0 Comments