Minneapolis and Madison were the places to be on Saturday, with both Minnesota and Wisconsin pulling off ranked upsets at home in front of sold-out crowds. Meanwhile, the defending champs went toe-to-toe in Ann Arbor, and UCLA kept its unblemished record intact.
“Great for College Football”: Gophers, Badgers Pull Home Upsets
In a gritty Big Ten rivalry game, Minnesota reclaimed the Floyd of Rosedale in walk-off fashion with a dramatic 13-10 upset over No. 15 Iowa at Huntington Bank Stadium, its first win over the Hawkeyes since 2023. P.J. Fleck’s defense set a relentless tone from the opening kickoff, suffocating a ground game that entered averaging nearly 200 yards per game and holding them to just 90 yards while forcing four total turnovers.
After Iowa mounted a 98-yard fourth-quarter drive to level the score at 10 late, the Gophers refused to play for overtime. Minnesota engineered a crisp 54-yard drive with seconds remaining, setting up Luke Drzewiecki to drill a 46-yard field goal as time expired to seal the win and spark a field-storming celebration.
The walk-off victory not only delivered Minnesota its first home win over Iowa since 2014, but it also marked a rare moment in program lore: for the first time since October 1978, the Golden Gophers simultaneously hold possession of three rivalry trophies — Floyd of Rosedale (Iowa), Paul Bunyan’s Axe (Wisconsin), and the Little Brown Jug (Michigan).
“This is what college football is all about,” Fleck said. “A team like Minnesota doing what we’re doing with the players we have. Rivalries are about the players. They’re about the past, the culture now and the future.” More from a historic day in Minneapolis.
Then, the scene shifted to Madison, where another Minnesota rival in Wisconsin defeated No. 16 USC 24-7. The Badgers picked up a signature win with a defensive masterclass, holding the Trojans to –17 yards on the ground and picking off Jayden Maiava twice. Wisconsin held USC’s offense — which entered the game second in the Big Ten in total offense — to its lowest point total since September 2018.
USC scored the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter, but from that point on, it was all Badgers. A Colton Joseph touchdown pass to Chris Brooks Jr. sandwiched between two rushing touchdowns from former Trojan Bryan Jackson II and Ryan Schwendeman had Wisconsin roll to the win at home.
The win marked the highest-ranked victory of the Luke Fickell era and the highest-ranked since defeating No. 15 Nebraska in 2021. Though they were outgained in yards by the Trojans on the night, Wisconsin got the most important result: a win. As the coach said on the field after the game, “gritty ain’t pretty but that’s who we are.”
“Feels great for the guys. This whole place needs this,” Fickell said on the field postgame. “This is great for college football, and this is great for us.” Read about the Badgers.
Top-10 Teams Stay the Course
For the first time in 59 years, No. 6 Indiana won at the Big House, outlasting Michigan 13-6 in an overtime defensive brawl.
After four field goals sent the game to extra time without a touchdown, the Hoosiers needed just two plays to strike: Josh Hoover connected with Brock Schott for 21 yards before punching in a 4-yard game-winning touchdown run himself. Despite being banged up and posting just 81 passing yards, the fifth-year quarterback validated Curt Cignetti’s trust when it mattered most.
“I had to battle through some things this week to get out here,” Hoover said. "I knew I was going to find a way to get out here and find a way to win this game for this team regardless of how I felt.”
In Pasadena, No. 9 UCLA remained the Big Ten’s lone undefeated team, leaning on a suffocating defense to spark 28 straight points in a 28-10 homecoming victory over Michigan State. The Bruins surrendered a season-low 156 total yards, while a 245-yard rushing display — capped by Wayne Knight's conference-leading 12th touchdown —powered Bob Chesney’s squad to its first 7-0 start (and 5-0 in conference) since 2005.
In other Big Ten matchups, the state of Illinois was home to No. 24 Northwestern defeating Rutgers and Illinois beating Oregon. Check out the full results and standings here.