2025 Week 4 Football Release
BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE - WEEK 4 | STANDINGS | SCHEDULE | MEDIA GUIDE | WE GIVE BLOOD DRIVE
• Week 4 of the 2025 Big Ten season features eight games, highlighted by five conference matchups. Conference action kicks off on Friday when Rutgers plays host to Iowa at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. The complete Week 4 slate appears to the right.
• Nine of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are mentioned in this week’s AP and US LBM Coaches Polls, announced on Sunday. The AP poll includes No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 6 Oregon, No. 9 Illinois, No. 19 Indiana, No. 21 Michigan and No. 25 USC, with Nebraska receiving votes. At No. 1, Ohio State leads nine Big Ten teams in the coaches’ poll (No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Oregon, No. 8 Illinois, No. 17 Indiana and No. 20 Michigan), while Nebraska, USC and Washington also received recognition.
• Of the 39 teams who remain undefeated, 11 of them reside in the Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, USC and Washington. The Big Ten is the only conference with more than nine unbeaten teams.
• The Big Ten announced its Big Ten Football Players of the Week, presented by IFS.ai on Monday, with Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. capturing Offensive Player of the Week honors. The junior wide receiver set career highs for yards receiving (207), receptions (10) and receiving touchdowns (4) in the Hoosiers 73-0 victory against Indiana State.
• Oregon’s Jerry Mixon earned Defensive Player of the Week honors after returning an interception 36 yards to set up an Oregon touchdown in the third quarter, while also recording a career-high five tackles and adding his first TFL of the season. It marked his second straight game with an interception and the first Duck with an interception in back-to-back games since Khyree Jackson in 2023.
• Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen took home the Special Teams Player of the Week plaudit after recording a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter in Iowa’s 47-7 win over UMass. The return tied a Big Ten and Iowa record (Michigan State’s Al Brenner at Illinois, 1966 and Iowa’s Bill Happel vs. Minnesota, 1984) and is the longest punt return in Kinnick Stadium history, besting Bob Longley (94 vs. Oregon in 1949).
• Michigan’s Bryce Underwood was named Freshman of the Week after completing 16 of 25 passes for 235 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Michigan’s 63-3 victory against Central Michigan. He accounted for 339 yards of total offense and three scores, scoring the first two rushing touchdowns of his career, a 20-yard run in the second quarter and an 18-yard run in the third.
• With a 47-7 win over UMass on Saturday, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz collected his 206th career victory, passing Ohio State’s Woody Hayes to become the winningest coach in Big Ten history. Ferentz now leads a list of head coaches that features Hayes (205), Amos Alonzo Stagg (199), Bo Schembechler (194), Joe Paterno (162), Hayden Fry (143), Henry Williams (136), Robert Zuppke (131), Lloyd Carr (122) and Barry Alvarez (118).
• The Big Ten claimed back-to-back national championship titles for the first time since 1942 last season as Ohio State defeated Notre Dame, 34-23, in the 2024 College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Buckeyes brought home their sixth national championship to the Horseshoe in Columbus and first since the inaugural CFP National Championship in the 2014-15 season.
• The 2025 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be held on Saturday, December 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The winner will represent the conference as the Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the College Football Playoff.
• Abbott and the Big Ten Conference are kicking off Season 2 of the We Give Blood drive. Students, fans, alumni and communities across the country are backing their favorite Big Ten schools by donating blood. Every donation can help save up to three lives - and bring your school one step closer to winning $1 million to advance student or community health. The top school will be announced at the 2025 Discover® Big Ten Football Championship Game on December 6, 2025.