Big Ten Football Roundup, Week 7: Ohio State-Indiana, UCLA Without Nico Iamaleava, and Big Ten Officiating Questions
By Owain Jones
Six weeks into the college football season, the Big Ten looks considerably different from the conference we expected in August.
The middle ground has performed better than expected, while potential title contenders have been battered and bruised. Oregon has gone from national championship contender to unranked, UCLA is unbeaten despite losing its starting quarterback, and Northwestern has returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2020.
Week 7 ramps up again. Quarterback injuries are beginning to test the depth of several programs, and the Big Ten has found itself answering more uncomfortable questions about its officiating.
But perhaps the biggest story of the week is still to come.
Ohio State travels to Bloomington on Saturday to face defending national champion Indiana in a matchup between the two teams that have separated themselves from the rest of the conference. The Buckeyes have looked like the Big Ten’s best team this season, but the Hoosiers have the championship pedigree, home-field advantage, and a remarkable ability to grind out wins.
There’s plenty to unpack across the Big Ten ahead of Week 7.
Why Big Ten Officiating Is Under Scrutiny Again
🚨🏈 The Big Ten admits officials got it wrong. Do you think it cost Oregon the game against UCLA? Oregon had a chance to tie it up with a 2-point conversion against UCLA on Saturday. But after a facemask penalty gave the Ducks another attempt, officials placed the ball at the 1.5-yard line instead of the half-yard line. The Big Ten acknowledged the officiating error saying it's been in contact with the officiating team "regarding the error and will continue to emphasize consistent application of the playing rule." Watch the entire play for yourself. You can hear the confusion as the ball is moved to the wrong spot.
— Mckenzie Richmond (@kenziestuvland) October 12, 2026
One yard was the difference between the two-point conversion Oregon should have attempted against UCLA and the one officials actually gave the Ducks.
That doesn’t feel like that much, but in the context of Oregon’s season, one yard is narrative-leading.
Following a UCLA facemask penalty on Oregon’s late touchdown, the ball should have been placed at the half-yard line for a potential game-tying conversion. Instead, officials spotted it at the 1½-yard line, and Oregon failed to convert in a 17-15 defeat.
The Big Ten has since acknowledged the mistake, but that admission does little for Dan Lanning’s team.
There is an enormous difference between needing 18 inches and 54 inches in short-yardage football. We cannot say whether Oregon would have converted from the correct spot, let alone gone on to win, but the Ducks were denied an opportunity they were entitled to.
And the margins matter enormously when a team that entered the season ranked No. 2 is suddenly 3-2, unranked and facing serious questions about its coaching and its future.
Nevertheless, Lanning deserves credit for refusing to hide behind the controversy.
“That’s not the reason we lost the game. I’m not going to use that as an excuse for us,” Lanning said.
He’s right. Oregon committed seven turnovers and converted just one of 12 third downs. As we explored in our analysis of what has gone wrong at Oregon, the Ducks have considerably bigger problems than one officiating decision.
But this is now the second major Big Ten officiating controversy of the season.
In Week 1, a disputed replay-clock decision gave Michigan one final play against Western Michigan, which the Wolverines used to score the winning touchdown. The controversy subsequently prompted an NCAA clarification on replay timing procedures.
The Big Ten deserves some credit for acknowledging its latest error. But with no publicly disclosed disciplinary consequences, questions remain about how the conference holds officials accountable when mistakes affect such consequential moments.
Oregon must take responsibility for its performance. They didn’t deserve to win that game. But that shouldn’t absolve the officials of responsibility for theirs.
What the AP Poll Says About the Big Ten's New Hierarchy
If you want an illustration of just how dramatically expectations have shifted in the Big Ten, look no further than the latest AP Poll.
Oregon entered the season ranked No. 2 and is now unranked for the first time since September 2022. Meanwhile, UCLA has climbed to No. 12, and Northwestern is back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2020.
We were optimistic about UCLA entering the season, predicting Bob Chesney would lead the Bruins to a 6-6 record after winning just three games in 2025. Clearly, we weren’t optimistic enough.
The Bruins are 5-0, already one victory away from matching our preseason prediction. Chesney has also transformed an offense that averaged just 18.2 points per game last season.
Northwestern might be an even bigger surprise. We expected Chip Kelly to make the Wildcats more competitive offensively, but scoring at least 30 points in four of their first five games? That is considerably more than we anticipated. David Braun’s team sits at 4-1, with its only defeat coming by six points against unbeaten Indiana.
Elsewhere, the established contenders have largely held their ground.
Ohio State sits at No. 4 and has arguably looked like the best team in the conference, a disastrous fourth quarter against Texas away from being unbeaten. Indiana is No. 5, having occasionally struggled to look convincing while consistently finding ways to make plays when it matters.
Iowa looks distinctly like Iowa and is on course for another strong season at No. 17, while Wisconsin remains unranked despite a promising start and a 2-0 conference record.
The AP Poll isn’t a definitive measure of the Big Ten’s pecking order. It rightly has its critics. But six weeks into the season, the conference looks considerably deeper and less predictable than we imagined in August.
Can UCLA Stay Unbeaten Without Nico Iamaleava?
Just as UCLA was beginning to look like a genuine Big Ten championship contender, Bob Chesney has been dealt an enormous blow.
Nico Iamaleava is reportedly expected to miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, leaving the unbeaten Bruins facing the prospect of navigating the rest of their schedule without their starting quarterback.
There’s no escaping its significance. Iamaleava has accounted for 982 of UCLA’s 1,025 passing yards this season, and his mobility has added another dimension to an offense that has undergone a remarkable transformation.
But there’s also reason to believe UCLA is better equipped to cope than most teams would be.
The Bruins are averaging 253.2 rushing yards per game at 6.1 yards per carry, with Wayne Knight, Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas combining for 1,019 yards and 17 touchdowns. Meanwhile, a defense allowing just 18 points per game has already forced 19 turnovers. Which means the quarterback doesn’t need to carry the team.
And Chesney has more than enough credit in the bank to be trusted here.
Backup Ty Dieffenbach started nine games at Cal Poly last season and already helped UCLA beat Oregon after replacing Iamaleava. His three completions for 43 yards and a touchdown hardly establish him as a proven Big Ten starter, but he isn’t arriving without experience.
There will of course be challenges. UCLA managed just 17 points against Oregon despite benefiting from seven turnovers, and opponents will undoubtedly look to force Dieffenbach into difficult passing situations.
Yet the schedule offers consequential opportunities, starting with Wisconsin this weekend.
Losing Iamaleava might ultimately limit UCLA’s championship ceiling. But with five victories already secured after a three-win season in 2025, it would take considerably more than this injury to make Chesney’s first year anything other than a success.
Quarterback Injuries Are Reshaping the Big Ten
If losing Iamaleava wasn’t enough, UCLA is far from the only Big Ten program dealing with quarterback injuries. Oregon, Illinois, Washington, and Iowa are all facing uncertainty at the position, although the circumstances are contrastingly different.
Oregon’s situation might be the most concerning. Dante Moore remains sidelined by a concussion, and Oregon’s confidence in its quarterback depth has taken a considerable hit.
Dylan Raiola looked excellent replacing Moore against USC, completing 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. But last week against UCLA, he completed just six of 19 attempts for 43 yards and two interceptions before being benched for Brock Thomas, who provided a spark with 156 yards and a touchdown.
Suddenly, Oregon has questions about its backup hierarchy that few anticipated only a week ago.
Illinois, meanwhile, has lost Katin Houser to a fractured bone in his throwing hand, with Bret Bielema expecting him to miss considerable time.
But freshman Michael Clayton II offered genuine encouragement against Michigan State, completing six of eight passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns, including the overtime winner. Bielema praised his “super explosive arm,” and the Illini have a bye week to prepare Clayton before facing Oregon on October 24.
Washington, on the other hand, faces a different challenge. Demond Williams Jr. is dealing with a rib injury and appears unlikely to face Purdue, although his absence might be relatively brief.
Elijah Brown threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns against Iowa, but replacing Williams’ mobility and improvisation with a more conventional passer changes what Washington can do offensively, particularly behind a struggling offensive line. And Purdue are no slouches in 2026.
Perhaps the most encouraging development came at Iowa.
Hank Brown was medically cleared against Washington, but the Hawkeyes opted for caution. Jeremy Hecklinski responded by throwing three touchdowns in his first career start, helping Iowa win 41-24.
We backed Hecklinski in Iowa’s preseason quarterback competition because of the explosiveness he could bring to the offense. His performance offered a reminder of that potential, but we will see whether Kirk Ferentz returns to Brown as the presumed starter.
Can Indiana Beat Ohio State Again?
For decades, Indiana was one of the Big Ten’s perennial bottom dwellers. Fast-forward to 2026, and the Hoosiers belong alongside Ohio State at the top of the conference.
Now the Hoosiers welcome the Buckeyes to Bloomington as defending Big Ten and national champions, having beaten Ryan Day’s team to both titles last season.
It’s a remarkable reversal in a rivalry Ohio State leads 81-13-5, having not lost in Bloomington since 1988.
But despite Indiana’s 22-game winning streak and Curt Cignetti’s perfect 19-0 home record, Ohio State has looked like the best team in the Big Ten in 2026.
The Buckeyes are one disastrous fourth quarter against Texas away from being unbeaten and, presumably, the No. 1 team in the country. Their offense is averaging 42.7 points and more than 500 yards per game. Julian Sayin has thrown for 1,772 yards and 17 touchdowns, while Jeremiah Smith already has 916 receiving yards and 11 scores and looks every bit like a Heisman Trophy winner.
Indiana, meanwhile, hasn’t always looked convincing at all. The Hoosiers have repeatedly found ways to make plays when it matters, but it has been a grind at times through six weeks, and they’ll need their best performance of the season to extend their unbeaten run.
But there’s reason to believe they can produce it.
Indiana held Ohio State to just ten points in last season’s Big Ten Championship Game, sacking Sayin five times and shutting out the Buckeyes in the second half. The Hoosiers lead the conference with 20 sacks this season, making Ohio State’s uncertainty at offensive tackle particularly concerning.
Now Indiana’s offense must also deliver. Josh Hoover has thrown 17 touchdowns without an interception, while Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh have combined for 1,057 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. But those explosive plays have often come with the game on the line and when Indiana needs it most.
A great sign of resilience, but against Ohio State’s formidable defense, the Hoosiers cannot rely solely on finding another late moment of inspiration.
With Oregon and Michigan struggling, these two have emerged as the Big Ten’s clear leading contenders in 2026, and Saturday brings the first top-five matchup ever played at Indiana’s Memorial Stadium.
Ohio State has earned the right to be considered the conference’s best team. Indiana has the home-field advantage, championship pedigree, and the knowledge that it can beat the Buckeyes.
The Hoosiers must now show they can still do it against an Ohio State team playing considerably better football than they have so far this season.
OWAIN JONES
COLLEGE FOOTBALL & NFL DRAFT ANALYST
OWAIN jones COVERS EVERYTHING college football & NFL DRAFT. COMING WITH PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE, OWAIN was PREVIOUSLY a writer for pfsn, and WAS THE NFL DRAFT EDITOR AT NINETY-NINE YARDS, WHERE HE CREATED DRAFT TALK. YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @OwainJonesCFB.
