Big Ten’s top game has Michigan State’s Pat Fitzgerald trying to deliver another upset at Notre Dame

Things to watch this weekend in the Big Ten:

Game of the week

Michigan State (2-0) at No. 3 Notre Dame (2-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

This is the 80th matchup between these teams, but they haven’t met since a Notre Dame 38-18 victory at Michigan State in 2017. Although Notre Dame leads the series 49-29-1, only Southern California has beaten the Fighting Irish more often than the Spartans have.

Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald posted upset wins at Notre Dame as a Northwestern linebacker in 1995 and as Northwestern’s coach in 2014. Notre Dame is favored by 29 1/2 points.

The undercard

Virginia Tech (2-0) at Maryland (2-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)

These two former Atlantic Coast Conference rivals face off for the first time since Maryland’s 54-10 blowout victory in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl. Maryland has won 20 straight nonconference games, which represents the longest active streak of any Bowl Subdivision team.

Purdue (1-1) at UCLA (2-0), Saturday, 11 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

This is the first Big ten game for new UCLA coach Bob Chesney after he led the Bruins to nonconference victories over California and San Diego State. Purdue is seeking its first Big Ten win since a 35-31 triumph over Indiana in its 2023 season finale.

Colorado (2-0) at Northwestern (1-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

An early measuring stick game for each program. Northwestern QB Aidan Chiles threw for 273 yards and a touchdown in his debut for the Wildcats, a 34-18 win over South Dakota State, an FCS playoff team last season. Colorado is 2-0 after a thriller at Georgia Tech and then a comfortable win at home over Weber State.

Impact players

— Penn State QB Rocco Becht has thrown seven touchdown passes without an interception this season. He is ranked fourth among all Bowl Subdivision players in passer rating.

— Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea is the first Cornhuskers quarterback since Tommy Armstrong Jr. in 2016 to throw at least three touchdown passes in back-to-back games. Colandrea threw four touchdown passes in the first half of a 56-7 victory over Bowling Green.

— Michigan DE John Henry Daley had three tackles for loss and one sack in a 17-10 win over then-No. 11 Oklahoma.

Inside the numbers

The Big Ten’s six losses in nonconference games last week represented its highest total in a single week since Week 3 of the 2018 season, when it had seven. … Oregon had won 41 straight matchups with unranked opponents before falling 39-31 at Oklahoma State. The loss, which dropped Oregon from No. 6 to No. 21, snapped an FBS-leading 12-game road winning streak. … During Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin coaching tenure, the Badgers are 9-0 when they’ve had someone run for at least 100 yards and 9-22 when they haven’t had a 100-yard rusher. … Four players are tied for the FBS lead in touchdown catches with five, and three of them are from the Big Ten: Indiana TE Charlie Becker, Rutgers WR KJ Duff and Illinois WR Collin Dixon. … Illinois and No. 18 Iowa are among the 10 FBS teams that haven’t allowed a sack this season.

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