Only two games are on the Big 10 schedule this weekend, but they are important ones.

Purdue faces Michigan, while Michigan State hosts Wisconsin.

For Purdue, this is a chance to show that last week wasn’t an outlier. The Boilermakers lost, true, but the 31-24 scoreline against Ohio State was a marked improvement from previous years.

“I was really happy with how the squad came out and really brought it to one of the best teams in both the Big 10 and the country,” said Purdue head coach Casey Doten. “We put in a lot of work to be more dynamic and innovative on offense and defense and it’s paying early dividends.”

Purdue has also welcomed some new young players, and Doten thinks they can surprise.

“We were referred to as the ‘wildcard’ of the Big 10 before and the team has really embraced that as their identity,” said the coach. “I think the secret will be out that Purdue is no longer a team that can be looked past on the schedule.” 

No. 8 and lock Robby Honer is the captain and a key veteran leader. In the backs, Nicholas Leiva has been strong at flyhalf, putting his teammates into space. Openside flanker Jake Grossnickle has shown a huge work rate, while freshman Alex Vecchioni is starting at scrumhalf and has tons of potential.

Now Purdue has to show all of that potential against a Michigan team that lost last week to Minnesota in dramatic fashion. Two tries from scrumhalf Jordan Perez, and one from Zachary Senecal, weren’t enough to hold off Minnesota and the Wolverines lost 20-15. Two yellow cards in the first half didn’t help.

It’s early days, but this could be a crucial game for Michigan.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin started off roughly with a non-conference loss to Lindenwood-Belleville, but the Badgers have high hopes and need to show well against a Michigan State team that was close to the top three last year.

Both open their conference seasons this week.

Meanwhile, Indiana is idle, and Ohio State takes on Notre Dame. Minnesota is also idle, while Illinois, fresh off a win over Missouri in a non-conference game, takes on Iowa State in another non-conference match.