West Virginia 40, Maryland 37
This one looked like it was going to be a shellacking in favor of the Mountaineers, as West Virgina jumped out to a 28-6 lead in the second quarter, only to see the Terps cut the lead down to 28-20 at halftime before ultimately knotting up the game at 37 late in the ball game, thanks mostly to the CJ Brown-Stefon Diggs connection. WVU however, managed to string together one final drive that got them in close enough range for their kicker Josh Lambert to nail a 47-yard field goal as time expired. Sad Maryland fans were very sad. Also, shout to WVU QB Clint Trickett threw for 511 yards (anyone know of any B1G QB's also capable of putting up such a performance?) as well as WVU associate head coach (and longtime PSU defensive coordinator) Tom Bradley, whose defense totally bended but didn't break.
Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Just when you thought Indiana might be ready to look like a team that's ready to take the next step towards becoming a winning program that goes to bowl games on a regular basis, they fall prey to MACtion. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 14-3 lead early on in the first half, while Bowling Green gradually chipped away at the lead with four total field goals to cut the deficit to 14-12 at halftime. The second half was a wild roller-coaster ride featuring eight of the game's ten different lead changes, as well as offensive explosions (Indiana and Bowling Green finished with 582 and 571 yards of total offense, respectively), and poorly-timed miscues. Ultimately, Bowling Green drove down the field for a two-minute drill to score the winning touchdown with nine seconds remaining.
Ohio State 66, Kent State 0
This was one of the few positives for the B1G this weekend, as the Buckeyes bounced back from being upset by Virginia Tech last week to pound the crap out of a glorified high school team. Move along people...nothing more to see, here.
Michigan 34, Miami (OH) 10
Despite jumping out to an early 10-0 advantage, Michigan blew that lead and allowed a Miami (OH) squad seeking its first win since October 2012 to tie it up at 10 midway through the second quarter before scoring a TD to take a seven point lead to the locker room at halftime. The second half saw Derrick Green run all over the hapless Redhawks for a pair of TD's (Green finished with 139 yards on 22 carries total) as the Wolverines gradually put the game out of reach.
Iowa State 20, Iowa 17
I won't bore you to death with details about this deathly boring game, but as you probably know by now, Iowa State had a missed field goal in the final seconds of regulation discounted due to Kirk Ferentz having called a timeout right before the kick. Iowa State kicker Cole Netten of course, took full advantage by nailing his second attempt right through the uprights. Because words alone don't do this recap justice, here's a little video, followed by Twitter reactions from a few of the Black Heart Gold Pants writers:
Fuck you, Iowa. You're pathetic.
— RossWB (@RossWB) September 13, 2014
Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Fire them all into the fucking sun.
— Patrick Vint (@HS_BHGP) September 13, 2014
Hmmm. That must be how Penn State fans felt in ’08.
— Adam Jacobi (@Adam_Jacobi) September 13, 2014
Washington 44, Illinois 19
Another year, another shellacking of a Tim Beckman-coached Illinois team by a Power 5 conference program. This time, the Washington Huskies got their licks in, as linebacker Shaq Thompson scored touchdowns on a fumble return and an interception return, while the U-Dub offense carved up Illinois' piss-poor defense. While rallying against Youngstown State and Western Kentucky certainly weren't good looks, this loss makes it a pretty good bet to start referring to Illinois' 2014 season as the Tim Beckman Farewell Tour.
TCU 30, Minnesota 7
The one-dimensional Golden Gophers had that one dimension of their offense (the running game) held to merely 99 yards by TCU's defense. Their passing attack was also a total shit show, with QB Mitch Leidner throwing a hat trick of interceptions (Minny turned the ball over five times in total). In fact, the Gophers were 11 playing minutes away from being shut out before finally getting on the board.
Notre Dame 30, Purdue 14
Props go out to Purdue for not getting completely blown out of the building at Lucas Oil Stadium. In fact, Purdue briefly held a 14-10 lead late in the second quarter before Everett Golson quarterbacked the Irish to the end zone right before the half to permanently give Notre Dame the lead.
Nebraska 55, Fresno State 19
This was probably the most impressive showing by a B1G team in non-conference play. Tommy Armstrong (260 yards passing for three touchdowns and 65 rushing yards) led a Nebraska offensive attack (562 yards in total) that absolutely stymied a Fresno State defense that seemed like they were solely focused on shutting down tenth-year senior tailback Ameer Abdullah, who still managed to gain 110 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Even though Fresno State may play in the Mountain West conference, a blowout win against a respectable opponent on the road at night in the Fresno humidity is nothing to scoff at.