This was probably the best weekend of the season thus far; at least from a national perspective. Georgia fell for the first time to Auburn, Notre Dame got crushed by the Canes, and Alabama escaped with a win in Starkville.
Oh, and the Buckeyes bounced back nicely with a dominant win over Mark Dantonio and the Spartans.
Thanks to some of the aforementioned madness, would winning these next two games and then whooping Wisconsin for the conference title potentially have the Buckeyes back in the playoff picture?
For now, let's take a look at the week that was in the Big Ten.
No. 8 Wisconsin 38, No. 20 Iowa 14
Last week against the Buckeyes, Iowa started things off with an interception return for a touchdown. It was a similar story in Madison as Josh Jackson picked off Alex Hornibrook and took it 43 yards for a score. Jackson actually did this twice on the day, which means in his last two games he's got five interceptions and two touchdowns. A wise strategy may be to throw the ball elsewhere.
Outside of the Josh Jackson show, the Hawkeyes basically did nothing against a stingy Badger defense. This is one of those stats that Buckeye fans will find especially troubling:
A week after notching 55 points and 487 yards vs. Ohio State, the Hawkeyes had just 66 yards and no offensive TDs vs. Wisconsin.
— Tom Dienhart (@BTNTomDienhart) November 12, 2017
It was the usual story for the Wisconsin offense. Alex Hornibrook wasn't asked to do a whole heck of a lot and Paul Chryst relied primarily on the ground game. Jonathan Taylor carried the ball 29 times for 157 yards as the rushing attack totaled 247 yards and a pair of scores. Those touchdowns came courtesy of Bradrick Shaw and wide receiver Kendric Pryor. The 25-yard end around was Pryor's first career touchdown. The redshirt freshman was also on the receiving end of a Hornibrook touchdown strike.
Putting up just 66 yards is not a good thing, and there's not a lot to say about the Hawkeye offense. Nathan Stanley threw for 41 yards but had –35 rushing, so that means Iowa's quarterback had a total of six (6!) yards on the day. As a whole, the ground game totaled 25 yards on 26 carries. Badger linebacker Leon Jacobs had two fumble recoveries; including a wacky one that resulted in a 21-yard touchdown.
To the surprise of no one, the Badgers will represent the West in Indy.
No. 14 Penn State 35, Rutgers 6
Penn State was down 6-0 to Rutgers at one point in this game, and then the Scarlet Knights faded into oblivion just as most expected.
Trace McSorley became Penn State's all-time touchdown leader as the junior found the end zone three times on the day. Saquon Barkley also scored twice, but he just hasn't been getting it done lately. The former Heisman frontrunner ran for just 35 yards on 14 carries against a Rutgers team that came into the game ranked No. 86 against the run. DaeSean Hamilton and Mike Gesicki were both on the receiving end of touchdown passes.
Havent seen this one before but the game ended with a marriage proposal and PSUs players and coaches were in on it. pic.twitter.com/ByGxXs97uA
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) November 11, 2017
It was an ugly performance for Chris Ash's offense. The Scarlet Knights only managed to put up 200 yards on the day. They recorded only one first down in the second half, and that came on the final drive; a drive that ended with a turnover on downs. Giovanni Rescigno threw for a whopping 43 yards. Robert Martin was the game's leading rusher with 71 yards on 11 carries.
| Team | W-L | Rank | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 10-0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 8-2 | 2 | 2 |
| Penn State | 8-2 | 3 | 4 |
| Michigan State | 7-3 | 4 | 3 |
| MICHIGAN | 8-2 | 5 | 5 |
| NorthwesterN | 7-3 | 6 | 7 |
| Iowa | 6-4 | 7 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 5-5 | 8 | 8 |
| Rutgers | 4-6 | 9 | 9 |
| Maryland | 4-6 | 10 | 10 |
| Nebraska | 4-6 | 11 | 11 |
| Purdue | 4-6 | 12 | 12 |
| Indiana | 4-6 | 13 | 13 |
| Illinois | 2-8 | 14 | 14 |
Michigan 35, Maryland 10
The Wolverines thoroughly dominated Maryland in what Jim Harbaugh described as their most complete game of the season.
Brandon Peters completed 9 of 18 passes for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns. This weekend it was Chris Evans' turn in the backfield as the sophomore accounted for 109 yards rushing and receiving and scored twice. Karan Higdon added 50 yards and another 48 in the passing game.
The Wolverine defense picked off two passes and the special teams pitched in with a blocked punt. The Terps' offense was led by Lorenzo Harrison's 81 yards rushing and Taivon Jacobs' five receptions for 92 yards. Jacobs recorded the lone touchdown for Maryland.
No. 25 Northwestern 23, Purdue 13
Northwestern's hot streak continued last night with a home win over the Boilermakers. Clayton Thorson completed 26 of 46 passes for 296 yards and a score. The junior found the end zone via a four-yard rush as well. Bennett Skowronek hauled in seven passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Justin Jackson and the ground game had a forgettable night. Jackson managed just 46 yards on 25 carries. Jeremy Larkin had a better showing; rushing for 41 yards on six attempts. Overall the Wildcats ran for 94 yards on 38 carries.
Purdue was without David Blough for the first time this season, and the offense had its struggles in Evanston. The Boilermakers put up 438 yards, but a lot of that came late in the game when they were in catch-up mode and throwing the ball all over the place. Elijah Sindelar converted on 37 of 60 attempts for 376 yards with two scores and an interception. Jared Sparks led all pass-catchers with 11 receptions for 130 yards.
Minnesota 54, Nebraska 21
The opening kick was an ominous sign for the Huskers, and things didn't get a whole lot better following Rodney Smith's 99-yard kickoff return touchdown. A ground game that amassed 409 yards was really all the Gophers would need against Mike Riley's hapless bunch.
Only three players recorded rushing yardage for P.J. Fleck's offense, but that was more than enough on Saturday. Quarterback Demry Croft led the way with 183 yards and three touchdowns. The aforementioned Smith pitched in 134 and Kobe McCrary added 93 yards and three scores of his own.
Tanner Lee had a solid first half for the Huskers as he completed 13 of 18 passes for 174 yards and a score. Lee ended up sitting out the second half with an illness, and redshirt freshman Patrick O'Brien threw for 137 yards in his absence. J.D. Spielman led all receivers with nine receptions for 141 yards. The ground game couldn't get it going on the day, rushing for 69 yards on 33 carries. Devine Ozigbo and Mikale Wilbon both ran for touchdowns.
The Huskers need two more wins or they'll miss a bowl game for the first time since 2007. The final two games are at Penn State and at home against Iowa, so I'd say that streak is officially in jeopardy.
Indiana 24, Illinois 14
Two of the conference's bottom-dwellers squared off in Champaign, and when all was said and done, Lovie Smith and the Illini had another one in the loss column; their eighth of the year.
The Hoosiers earned their first conference win thanks to Richard Lagow and a solid defensive performance. Lagow completed 32 of 48 passes for 289 yards and two scores. Cole Gest rushed for 82 yards and true freshman Morgan Ellison added 49 yards and a score. Luke Timian was the Hoosiers' leading receiver with 62 yards on five catches. Simmie Cobbs Jr. had 54 yards receiving and scored his seventh touchdown of the season.
Let's check in with Illinois Football pic.twitter.com/yQ7pysCeig
— Bryan Mac (@Bry_Mac) November 11, 2017
The Indiana defense recorded seven sacks, forced three turnovers, and held Illinois to 294 yards of total offense. Jeff George Jr. connected with Louis Dorsey for a 77-yard touchdown in the second half, but the Illini offense didn't do a whole lot otherwise.
The Badgers remain the top team in our power rankings as they've now earned a win over a ranked football team. I was curious to see how Iowa would look following last weekend's dismantling, and I'm left with more questions than answers. Wisconsin's defense is one of the best in America, but it's just hard to believe that a team who picked the Buckeyes apart failed to reach 70 yards of total offense just seven days later.
The Saquon Barkely disappearing act has been a weird one to follow. In past seasons he's seemingly always had a few lackluster performances, but this is now three straight games where he's been mostly bottled up by the opposition.
Northwestern has now won five straight and Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats are one of the hottest teams in the conference. Purdue actually looked like a program on the rise early on, but a lot has changed since September. And just how bad are things going to get in Lincoln? Mike Riley's awfulness would probably be a bigger story right now if it weren't for schools like Tennessee, Florida, and UCLA who are all in similar situations.
It looks like we're on a Buckeye/Badger collision course for Indianapolis. Last time that happened I'd say things worked out fairly well for the good guys, but there's still two weeks left before we'll really delve into that discussion.
Next week's big one will be in Madison as the Badgers welcome the Wolverines. Ohio State hosts the mighty Illini, Sparty takes on the Terps, and Penn State will head to Lincoln.
