Week 9 Football Release

• Week 9 of the 2024 college football season features eight contests between Big Ten Conference opponents, highlighted by a top-20 matchup on Saturday when No. 20 Illinois travels to top-ranked unbeaten Oregon on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Purdue and UCLA will enjoy byes this week, with the complete schedule appearing to the right.
• Six Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week, including three of the top four. Oregon leads the conference at No. 1, followed by No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Indiana and No. 20 Illinois. Nebraska is receiving votes.
• Three Big Ten teams remain undefeated through eight weeks of the 2024 season. Indiana, Oregon and Penn State rank among the 10 NCAA FBS teams sporting perfect records entering Week 9.
• On Monday, the Big Ten announced its Football Players of the Week, presented by IFS.ai. UCLA’s Ethan Garbers earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading the Bruins to their first-ever Big Ten win on Saturday at Rutgers. Garbers posted career-highs in passing yards (383) and touchdowns (4) while recording the fifth-highest completion percentage by a Bruin QB since 1980 (32-38, 84%). 
• Illinois’ Gabe Jacas took home Defensive Player of the Week accolades, recording a career-high 13 tackles including six solo, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble in the Illini’s 21-7 win over No. 24 Michigan. 
• Special Teams Player of the Week honors went to Michigan State’s Jonathan Kim. Kim split the uprights on a school-record 6-of-7 on field goals, including making four of 40+ yards in Michigan State’s 32-20 victory against Iowa. His six field goals tie Big Ten record, matching Jake Moody of Michigan with six field goals vs. Indiana (11/17/18), while his 20 points set a top mark in modern-day Big Ten history by a kicker, bettering 19 (Moody) in the 2018 win over Indiana. 
• Spartan’s Nick Marsh was named Freshman of the Week after recording 113 receiving yards and tying a season high with eight catches to help Michigan State past Iowa, 32-20, Saturday night in Spartan Stadium. Marsh’s last catch went for 11 yards to the one-yard line to set up MSU’s final touchdown of the game with 2:03 remaining to seal the victory.
• Illinois matched their best seven-game start this century with a win over Michigan, improving to 6-1 for the fourth time and second under Bret Bielema (2022). They earned their third ranked win of the season on Saturday, matching a program-record since 1960. The Illini will face the No. 1 team in the nation for the 16th time in program history and the first time since the 2007 win at No. 1 Ohio State. Meanwhile, the unbeaten Ducks have won 12 consecutive home games heading into this weekend’s top-20 showdown. 
• Indiana and Ohio State currently rank among the top 15 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Buckeyes rank third in scoring defense (11.0 points per game), while ranking six in scoring offense (43.5 points per game). The Hoosiers lead the nation in scoring offense (48.7 points per game), while ranking seventh in scoring defense (13.7 points per game).
• Seven additional Big Ten teams rank in the top 25 in terms of scoring defense: Penn State (9th, 14.5 points per game), Minnesota (11th, 15.9 points per game), Oregon (13th, 16.6 points per game), Washington (16th, 17.0 points per game), Wisconsin (18th, 17.6 points per game), Nebraska (19th, 17.7 points per game) and Illinois (22nd, 18.1 points per game). 
• The top two teams in the regular season standings will meet in the 2024 Discover Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, Ind. The game, which will be broadcast on CBS for the first time ever, will be the first in conference history to match the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the overall conference standings.  

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