A few things stand out over the weekend:

The first is Wisconsin’s destruction of Michigan State. Wisconsin had two things that set them apart in this game. They had an exceptional pass rush, and they had a pretty decent passing game led by their redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook. The Badgers have now beaten two top 10 teams. More on that later.

The second was how bad Iowa’s offense looked against Rutgers. Maybe it’s just hard to play football in New Jersey, but Iowa’s quarterback CJ Beathard third didn’t look crisp and the offense had no fire or no spark. The Hawkeyes don’t have any game changers and it shows. Rutgers lost their best playmaker, Janarion Grant, otherwise Iowa might not have been so lucky.

Third, the firings have come early this season. Les Miles was fired from LSU, as was his offensive coordinator, and Ron Turner was fired from Florida International. Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator was also fired. Given the circumstances I can’t blame administrators for any of these firings.

The Big Ten West outlook has completely changed. Wisconsin looks like a potential contender for the Big Ten title, while Iowa looks like they’re going to have a rough season. It isn’t nearly the doormat it was thought of throughout the off-season and that’s a good thing for Nebraska.

News

Nebraska Cornhuskers open as 21-point favorite over Illinois Football - The Champaign Room

The Orange and Blue start their Big Ten season in Lincoln next Saturday.

Player grades from Northwestern’s 24-13 loss to Nebraska - Inside NU

The first week of actual classes didn’t help out the grades.

Northwestern’s defense buried once again in 24-13 loss to Nebraska - Inside NU

Northwestern simply couldn’t contain the Cornhusker offense.

Huskers Fall at No. 16 Penn State, 2-1 - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

The Nebraska soccer team (8-4-0, 2-2-0 Big Ten) split its weekend road trip after falling to 16th-ranked Penn State, 2-1, at Jeffrey Field on Sunday afternoon.

Big Ten

THE DAY AFTER: Rutgers - Black Heart Gold Pants

What went right and went wrong against Rutgers?

FOUR KEY STATS: IOWA VS RUTGERS | Go Iowa Awesome

Which stats can help us understand what happened in Iowa's game with Rutgers yesterday?

Minnesota Football vs Colorado State: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - The Daily Gopher

The Gophers are 3-0 for the first time since they were last 3-0 to start the season

Penn State Football Lost By 39 Points And It’s All Michigan’s Fault - Black Shoe Diaries

There’s only one place to put the blame for this one.

The Loss To Iowa Gives Hope For The Second Half Of The Season - On the Banks

It’s fair to be disappointed with yesterday’s outcome, but this team is improving each week.

Wisconsin’s defense, Alex Hornibrook among many bright spots in 30-6 win - Bucky's 5th Quarter

A roundtable discussion of a huge win in East Lansing.

Elsewhere

Lots and lots of LSU, mostly because Les Miles was a really fun guy to have around and he’s been (temporarily?) replaced by Ed Orgeron who might even be more magical.

Why LSU had to fire Les Miles | FOX Sports

The clock ran out on Les Miles twice in one weekend. It’s hard to imagine a national championship coach’s 12-year tenure ending more cruelly yet fittingly than that.

Reports: LSU Has Fired Les Miles - And The Valley Shook

And the end has finally come.

Tom Herman leads list of 10 candidates to replace Les Miles at LSU - CBSSports.com

The Tigers have an opening -- in September -- which means we need to figure out who will fill it

Les Miles lost his job because he refused to evolve like Nick Saban - CBSSports.com

The downfall for Les Miles was undoubtedly self-inflicted. No matter how likable he was, how many games he won in the past or how often he ate grass, Miles stubbornly refused to evolve on offense.

The 4 biggest names to know in LSU’s coaching search - SBNation.com

By parting with Les Miles, the Tigers sort of joined the early-firing trend, and sort of didn’t. Here’s what we know now about what happens next.

6 things to know about Ed Orgeron, LSU’s new head coach (for now) - SBNation.com

LSU fired Les Miles after 12 seasons, and a boisterous local with impressive interim experience takes his place.

FIU Does The Wrong Thing And Fires Ron Turner - Underdog Dynasty

FIU’s announcement of Turner’s dismissal could not have come at a worse time.

UCF Crushes FIU 53-14 - Underdog Dynasty

Scott Frost promised big numbers on offense when named the head coach of the UCF Knights last year and against FIU his offense delivered as the Knights had 501 total yards of offense, zero turnovers, and dropped 53 points on the road for a 53-14 win over FIU.

A Dynasty Isn't Built Overnight - Dawg Sports

Alright. Alright. Alright. Yesterday sucked. There’s really no other way to put it. It’s never fun getting obliterated by another team, much less those lying, cheating F**ks from Ole Miss.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M 2016 final score: 3 things we learned from the Aggies’ 45-24 win over the Razorbacks - Team Speed Kills

The Hogs and Ags didn’t have a nail-biter, but both proved their worth in Arlington.

Art Briles: Ken Starr defends coach in Baylor scandal | SI.com

“Briles has devoted his life to molding the lives of young men,” Starr said. “A grave injustice was done to Art Briles. Coach Briles has been calumnied...it's completely unfair.

Tennessee's Win Over Florida Wasn't What You Think It Was - Team Speed Kills

Narrative crowded out an accurate assessment of the game.

Tennessee finally beat my team, so I’m ranking Tennessee No. 1 - SBNation.com

The Top Whatever is Spencer Hall’s ranking of only the teams he feels like ranking at this time.

Oak tree at Toomer's Corner set on fire after Auburn win over LSU, suspect arrested | AL.com

One of the oak trees at Toomer's Corner was set on fire following Auburn's win over LSU on Saturday and police arrested a 29-year-old Auburn resident on charges of desecration of a venerable object.

Then There's This

If you want to read a site that gives you an honest run-down of health reporting, this is it.

Exercise can cancel out the booze? Association ≠ causation - HealthNewsReview.org

CNN reports: “Exercise can cancel out the booze, says study.” No, it did not. What the study, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, stated was “We found a direct association between alcohol consumption and cancer mortality risk.” And – repeat after me – association ≠ causation. So a statement of causation – such as “exercise can cancel out the booze” – is an overstatement.