Week ten didn't see too much craziness until the latter portion of the day, but one of the conference's unbeatens didn't make it out unscathed. Mike Riley's inaugural season at Nebraska has seen a number of heartbreaking defeats, but the tables were turned on Saturday night.
Nebraska 39, No. 7 Michigan State 38
So that actually happened, and Michigan State is no longer one of the unbeatens. Interested to see everyone's thoughts on the call that everybody is talking about it, but boy that was a weird one. Was he forced out of bounds?
Michigan State loses on this final blow from Nebraska. The refs say the receiver was pushed out of bounds. https://t.co/mxbzKc9O7A
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) November 8, 2015
The Huskers found themselves up 10-3 after the first quarter thanks to Tommy Armstrong connecting with wideout Jordan Westerkamp for a 38-yard score. The Spartans were able to find the endzone twice in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 17-13 lead. After exchanging blows in the third quarter, Mike Riley's squad was down by 12 with just over four minutes left to play. Armstrong then rallied the Husks for two scores, including the game-winning 30-yard touchdown strike with just 17 seconds left on the clock.
Armstrong totaled four touchdowns on the night and accounted for 339 yards of total offense. Despite battling an injury, Westerkamp was Armstrong's favorite target on the day, hauling in nine passes for 143 yards and a score. Senior tailback Imani Cross rushed for 98 yards and a score
Connor Cook led the Spartans with 335 yards passing and four touchdowns. Aaron Burbridge led all receivers with ten receptions for 164 yards and a score while fellow wideout Macgarrett Kings Jr. found the endzone twice. Sophomore Gerald Holmes added 117 yards rushing and a score.
No. 9 Iowa 35, Indiana 27
The Hawkeyes were able to take care of the Hoosiers despite a sluggish start in Bloomington. Iowa trailed 17-14 with less than a minute to play in the first half, but a seven-yard touchdown scamper by C.J. Beathard put them back on top and they never relinquished the lead. The game paid homage to Veteran's Day with some patriotic helmets, and former quarterback Ricky Stanzi had to have been proud.
A couple patriotic helmets featured in the #Iowa #Indiana matchup. #IOWAvsIU #B1G #VeteransDay #MilitaryAppreciation pic.twitter.com/WJYUP1k85H
— Uniform Review (@UniformReview) November 7, 2015
Beathard and the backfield duo of Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels led the way for the Hawkeye offense. Beathard threw for 233 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 yards and another score with his legs. Wadley rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on just ten carries. Daniels added 78 yards and a pair of scores.
Tailback Jordan Howard was the star of the show for the Hoosiers on offense. The junior rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Nate Sudfeld threw for 180 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The Hawkeyes remain unbeaten and look to to continue their climb up the College Football Playoff rankings.
Northwestern up 20-7 on Penn State. Someone remind the committee that undefeated Iowa won by 30 in Evanston.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 7, 2015
No. 17 Michigan 49, Rutgers 16
The Scarlet Knights were no match for Jake Rudock and the Wolverines Saturday in Ann Arbor. The senior signal-caller had arguably his best game of the season, completing 18 of 25 passes for 337 yards and two scores while also adding a nifty four-yard touchdown run. Rudock hadn't thrown for more than 200 yards since his Wolverine debut against Utah.
Deveon Smith saw the bulk of the carries for the Michigan offense, ending the day with 15 carries for 73 yards and a score. Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson each hauled in a touchdown pass and Jake Butt topped the century mark with 102 yards on four receptions. Jabrill Peppers—who continues to be utilized in all facets of the game—found the endzone again on a nice little 18-yard swing pass.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Jabrill Peppers catches the lateral and dances his way into the end zone. #GoBlue https://t.co/IW6Z5BgrCT
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) November 7, 2015
With Leonte Carroo being held out again, the Rutgers passing game was only able to put up 97 yards and zero scores. Sophomore running back Robert Martin led the way on the ground with 81 yards on ten carries; the bulk of those yards coming on a 54-yarder. The Wolverines held the Scarlet Knights to 225 yards of total offense.
No. 21 Northwestern 23, Penn State 21
I made a pretty big mistake Saturday afternoon when I decided to watch the entire first quarter of this game. Dropped passes, horrible officiating, and Christian Hackenberg doing his usual thing made this a pretty awful experience. Thankfully things picked up a bit as the game went on, culminating with a 35-yard field goal to give Pat Fitzgerald his seventh win of the season.
Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson left the game in the first quarter with an injury and the freshman did not return. Senior Zack Oliver took over but the Wildcat passing game struggled through most of the game. Oliver ended the day 11 of 24 for 111 yards with one interception and an interception. The Wildcats' running game showed up in a big way against the nation's 13th-ranked defense. Justin Jackson led the way with 186 of the team's 227 rushing yards while Oliver added a one-yard touchdown rush.
Hackenberg struggled again for Penn State. The junior completed 21 of 40 passes for 205 yards and one really bad interception. Wide receiver Geno Lewis delivered the prettiest pass of Penn State's season when he tossed a 32-yard touchdown to fellow wideout DaeSean Hamilton on a nearly-disastrous trick play.
REPLAY: Have to see that one again. First completion and passing TD for @GENOALLDAY7 since his Valley West days. https://t.co/xVinzDbvPF
— Derek Levarse (@TLdlevarse) November 7, 2015
Saquon Barkley continues to impress. The freshman rushed for 120 yards and two scores to go along with 50 receiving yards. Chris Godwin led all receivers with eight catches for 104 yards. On the other side of the ball, defensive end Carl Nassib has now recorded 15.5 sacks on the season, a new Nittany Lion record.
| Team | W-L | Rank | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 9-0 | 1 | 1 |
| Iowa | 9-0 | 2 | 3 |
| Michigan State | 8-1 | 3 | 2 |
| Michigan | 7-2 | 4 | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 8-2 | 5 | 5 |
| Northwestern | 7-2 | 6 | 7 |
| Penn State | 7-3 | 7 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 4-5 | 8 | 8 |
| Illinois | 5-4 | 9 | 11 |
| Nebraska | 4-6 | 10 | 14 |
| Rutgers | 3-6 | 11 | 9 |
| Indiana | 4-5 | 12 | 10 |
| Maryland | 2-7 | 13 | 12 |
| Purdue | 2-7 | 14 | 13 |
Wisconsin 31, Maryland 24
The Badgers rebounded after a slow start in College Park to pick up their fifth straight win. The Terrapins' offense actually outgained Wisconsin on the day, but they were hurt by some costly turnovers and shoddy special teams play.
Senior quarterback Joel Stave threw for 188 yards with one touchdown and an interception. With Corey Clement held out, the usually reliable Wisconsin ground game struggled a bit. Dare Ogunbowale rushed for 47 yards but averaged just 2.5 yards per carry. The junior found the endzone on a 21-yard rush in the first quarter and helped to seal the victory with a seven-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter. The Badger offense failed to get to 100 yards of total offense in the first half, but they were helped out by a 98-yard kickoff return by Natrell Jamerson.
The Terrapins were able to move the ball a bit against the nation's top scoring defense. Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe combined for 204 yards passing and two touchdowns. Cornerback Will Likely was the leading rusher on the day with 56 yards on three carries. Wide receivers Levern Jacobs and D.J. Moore each caught touchdown passes.
Illinois 48, Purdue 14
Coming off a shootout victory over Nebraska, the Boilermakers went back to their losing ways on Saturday. It took just over three minutes for the Illini to find the endzone as quarterback Wes Lunt connected with Malik Turner for a 32-yard score on the game's opening drive. Lunt finished the day 19 of 33 for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Desmond Cain, Josh Ferguson, and Turner all hauled in touchdown passes. Cain led all receivers with six receptions for 74 yards.
The Illinois ground game did most of the work for the offense, totaling 383 yards and three scores. True freshman Ke'Shawn Vaughn led the way with 180 yards on just sixteen carries while finding the endzone twice, including a 78-yarder. Ferguson also rushed for 133 yards. The Illini offense put up 596 yards on the hapless Purdue defense.
The Boilermaker offense just couldn't get a lot going on Saturday. Quarterback David Blough threw for 174 yards with a touchdown and one interception. Freshman tailback Markell Jones led the way on the ground, rushing for 84 yards on 14 carries.
So after falling to the awful Boilermakers last week, Nebraska answers with a win over the nation's seventh-ranked team. Just like everyone expected, right? Gotta love college football. The good news for the Spartans is that they do still control their own destiny and there's a lot of football to be played yet.
Next week the Buckeyes travel to Champaign to face an Illinois squad that looked pretty darn good this week. The Hoosiers will host the Wolverines, the Spartans travel to Maryland, and the Hawkeyes and Gophers face off for a 100-pound pig trophy.
