There was a lot of good and some bad during opening week for the Big Ten, which went 12-2 but missed a golden opportunity Saturday night with Wisconsin. Let's review:

Team of the week: Rutgers. That’s right. All the naysayers (and you can include me in that group) said the Scarlet Knights were bound for an ugly first season in the Big Ten. Though it was just one game and the remaining schedule is still daunting, beating Washington State 41-38 on the road should quiet that chatter. Kyle Flood’s team showed it has top-level athletes and cannot be taken lightly. The Sept. 13 league opener against Penn State should be a whole lot of fun.

Game of the week: Penn State's dramatic, 26-24 win over UCF in Ireland was the perfect way to begin the first Saturday of college football season. Nittany Lions fans should thank George O'Leary for playing the wrong quarterback for a half. James Franklin looked like he had just won the Super Bowl after Sam Ficken's game-winning field goal, though he might never want to go back to Croke Park after the first-half headset malfunctions. This game had to be great simply to overshadow the mesmerizing hurling display at halftime.

Biggest play: Was LSU's fake punt against Wisconsin in the third quarter the turning point in the Tigers' comeback, 28-24 win? Badgers coach Gary Andersen didn't think so, because his defense only allowed a field goal after the fake and his team still led 24-13. Maybe LSU still storms back regardless, given how little Wisconsin's offense could do in the final 25-plus minutes. But the heavily pro-Tigers crowd was absolutely dead before that fake, and that field goal brought it back to life. If the Badgers get the ball back there and at least burn some clock and change field position, who knows? One thing's for certain: When leading a Les Miles team in the second half, just keep your defense on the field for all kicking situations.

Acrobatic and important catches by Penn State's Geno Lewis and Iowa's Tevaun Smith also deserve mention.

Coolest play: It wasn't all that significant, since Nebraska was already well on its way to a 55-7 whitewashing of Florida Atlantic at the time. But receiver Jordan Westerkamp's behind-the-back grab was still one of the coolest plays you'll ever see. He almost looked like another guy named Jordan.

Big Man on Campus (offense): Penn State's Christian Hackenberg. He shattered the school's single-game record with 454 passing yards, and it was even more impressive considering how little run support and or experience at receiver he had. He needed to be great and he was, especially on his game-winning drive that included a key fourth-down scramble. Very honorable mention to Rutgers' Paul James (29 carries, 173 yards, three TDs).

Big Man on Campus (defense): Ohio State's Darron Lee had a pair of tackles for loss and scooped up a fumble that he returned 61 yards for the Buckeyes' first touchdown in a 34-17 win over Navy.

Big Man on Campus (special teams): Ficken drilled all four of his field-goal attempts for the Nittany Lions, including the 36-yard game-winner.

Biggest hangover: Northwestern talked in the summer about how the unionization effort brought them closer together as a team. The Wildcats looked like a prime bounce-back candidate this year, until a slew of bad news (Venric Mark’s suspension and subsequent transfer, season-ending injuries to starters) began cropping up in August. Then Cal raced out to a 31-7 lead at Ryan Field Saturday and held on for a 31-24 upset win. Northwestern is 1-7 since "GameDay" came to Evanston last October.

Numbers to know: In the last two games he has played, dating back to last season, before his ankle injury, Indiana’s Tevin Coleman has run for 462 yards and four touchdowns on just 38 carries. His 247 rushing yards Saturday against Indiana State were the second-most by an FBS player in Week 1, behind USF's Marlon Mack. ... Nebraska set a modern Big Ten record for total offense with 748 yards and threw a pass on the final play of the game. That one’s for you, Carl Pelini. … Michigan had two running backs gain more than 100 yards -- Derrick Green (170) and De'Veon Smith (115) -- in the same game for the first time since 2007. The Wolverines only had a tailback eclipse 100 yards in a game twice all of last season.