Big Ten: Illini go for 4 wins in row in showdown with Iowa

Iowa and Illinois are playing a game on Saturday night. Iowa is looking for a quality win to jumpstart its West Division title defense. Illinois is riding a wave of momentum under second-year coach Bret Bielema.

Purdue and Maryland are playing a game featuring two of the Big Ten's top quarterbacks. Aidan O'Connell beat Minnesota in his return from injury, but he didn't throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 14 games. Taulia Tagovailoa has led the Terrapins' surge the past half of this season.

Jim Leonhard takes over at Northwestern. Wisconsin is 0-2 in the Big Ten. No. 3 Ohio State has won six straight over Michigan State. Rutgers is 8-0 since 2020 when not committing a turnover. Illinois coach Bielema is the first to start .500 or better through his first 17 games since John Mackovic was 10-6-1 in 1988-89.

Northwestern is a 9 1/2-point home underdog to Wisconsin. Northwestern won 17-7 when Wisconsin visited Ryan Field in 2020. The Wildcats are 5-18 since and have lost 10 of 11 games.

Nebraska's quarterback is injured. He's been injured this season. The team needs him to be on the field if they want to win consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since 2018.