Big Ten Week in Review: Mendoza's Ascent, LeCroy's Outreach, and Tournament Hopes

Football Fever and Gridiron Glory

The Big Ten had a week, alright. Let's start with the obvious: Fernando Mendoza at Indiana. Connecting on 22 of 24 passes—that's a completion rate of 91.7%—for 299 yards and four touchdowns isn't just good, it's statistically absurd. The last time I saw numbers like that, I was auditing a software company's Q4 earnings (turned out to be a rounding error, but still). What's more telling is that Mendoza engineered five scoring drives. Four passing touchdowns and one field goal. Balanced offense is key in today's game, but Mendoza's arm was the clear catalyst.

And let’s not forget Kaytron Allen at Penn State. A career-high 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Allen scoring on an eight-yard rush in the first quarter and then adding a 26-yard touchdown in the fourth. He has 3,794 career rushing yards, trailing only Saquon Barkley (3,843; 2015-17) and Evan Royster (3,932; 2007-10) for the Penn State career rushing record. The guy is on track to be a legend.

Speaking of Penn State, Dani Dennis-Sutton snagged Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after tallying two sacks against Michigan State. Sacks are always a good metric, but what were the average yards lost per sack? That tells you more about the impact.

Over at USC, Ryon Sayeri nabbed the Special Teams Player of the Week. Two field goals (40 and 28 yards) and three PATs. Solid, but not earth-shattering. What’s more interesting is his kickoff stats: six kickoffs for 388 yards (64.7 avg.) and three touchbacks. Field position matters and Sayeri is clearly winning that battle for USC.

Finally, Andrew Marsh from Michigan was named Freshman of the Week with 12 catches and 189 yards against Northwestern. Marsh recorded 12 catches and 189 yards in Michigan’s victory against Northwestern at Wrigley Field. Marsh eclipsed 100 receiving yards at 13:50 in the second quarter with a 32-yard catch down the sideline. That’s the kind of performance that can make or break a season.

Soccer, Volleyball, and Reality TV

Shifting gears from the gridiron to the green, five Big Ten teams are heading to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, UCLA, and Washington. Indiana and Michigan even snagged first-round byes. Indiana will play the winner of Saint Louis and Kentucky at Bill Armstrong Stadium on November 23 at Noon ET. Maryland will play the winner of North Carolina and North Florida at Ludwig Field on November 23 at 1 p.m. ET. Michigan will face Notre Dame on November 20 at 6 p.m. ET at U-M Soccer Stadium in Ann Arbor. UCLA will host Grand Canyon on November 20 at 10 p.m. ET at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles. Washington will face Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore. on November 20 at 9 p.m. ET.

In volleyball, Mimi Colyer from Wisconsin took home Player of the Week honors. Colyer collected 45 kills in six sets against Michigan State and Illinois. Colyer tallied 21 kills against the Spartans and 24 against the Illini. Jordan Taylor from Minnesota was named Defensive Player of the Week with an average of 2.13 blocks per set (a solid number). Charlie Fuerbringer, also from Wisconsin, earned Setter of the Week, setting the Badgers to a .337 hitting percentage. And Oregon’s Alanah Clemente was named Freshman of the Week after tallying 25 kills in a five-set win over Purdue.

And because apparently we need a dose of reality TV drama with our sports news: Craig Conover and Madison LeCroy from "Southern Charm" popped up on Radio Andy's "Jeff Lewis Live." Craig Conover Addresses Shep Rose’s Rant About His Relationship with Paige DeSorbo - SiriusXM Conover claims he knows about a leaked video of Shep Rose trashing his relationship with Paige DeSorbo but won’t watch it. LeCroy reached out to Kathryn Dennis (no response), while Conover has been in contact with Dennis. Honestly, the cross-talk between reality TV and sports is minimal but a celebrity appearance is always a good way to attract viewers and boost ratings. How much does this actually move the needle? I'd love to see the viewership numbers for that segment.

So, What's the Real Story?

The Big Ten had a statistically strong week across multiple sports. Mendoza's performance stands out as a potential inflection point for Indiana's football program. The "Southern Charm" tidbits? Pure noise.