Ouch. The Big Ten had two big games this week (OSU @ Miami and MSU @ ND) and came out flat in both of them. This couple with Northwestern dropping their game to Army, and Penn State and Minnesota's struggles to beat MAC teams, it wasn't a great week for the Big Ten. They did save some face with Illinois victory over 22nd ranked Arizona State.
Game of the Week: Ohio State Buckeyes 2-1 (0-0) @ Miami Hurricanes 1-1 (0-1)
Final Score: Miami - 24 Ohio State - 6
Miami jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead, and despite Jacory Harris being Jacory Harris (2 INTs), they maintained the lead throughout the game and never let it get close. If you think that Penn State has issues at QB, a quick look at Ohio State's quarterback situation should help you breathe a bit easier. Joe Bauserman and Braxton Miller were a combined 4/18 for 35 yards and 1 INT. This was the first time since the PSU game in 2008 that OSU didn't score a TD.
OSU Player of the Game: Punter Ben Buchanan had 6 punts and averaged 45.6 yards per punt.
All the Rest:
Pittsburgh Panthers 2-1 (0-0) @ Iowa Hawkeyes 2-1 (0-0)
Final Score: Iowa - 31 Pittsburgh - 27
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 24-3 lead with 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter... and then they forgot to play the fourth quarter. James Vandenberg threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth TD over the final 16 minutes of the game to lead Iowa to a four point win. Pittsburgh's Ray Graham was relatively quiet. After scoring 3 TDs in each of the first two games, he was held to 97 yards and 0 TDs against Iowa.
Iowa Player of the Game: James Vandenberg threw for 399 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT while leading Iowa's furious comeback. Keenan Davis and Marvin McNutt each had over 100 yards receiving though.
Eastern Michigan Eagles 2-1 (0-0) @ Michigan Wolverines 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Michigan - 31 EMU - 3
Penn State's week four opponent took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, then surrendered the next 31 points in the game en route to a blow out loss. Denard Robinson continues to be a mediocre passer, but an electrifying runner. He threw for 2 TDs, but only 95 yards and added an INT. He paced the Wolverines on the ground though, running for 198 yards, though Vincent Smith chipped in 118 yards of his own.
Michigan Players of the Game: Robinson and Smith combined for nearly 400 yards of offense between the two of them.
SE Missouri State Redhawks 0-2 (0-0) @ Purdue Boilermakers
Final Score: Purdue - 59 SEMS - 0
Purdue notched it's first shutout in 7 years against their FCS opponent. Three different running backs each ran for two scores as Purdue rushed for 393 yards. Even Robert Marve got some playing time in this one.
Purdue Players of the Game: The three headed attack of Akeem Shavers, Ralph Bolden and Akeem Hunt. The three accounted for 189 yards rushing and 6 TDs on 28 carries.
Northwestern Wildcats 2-1 (0-0) @ Army Black Knights 1-2
Final Score: Army - 21 NW - 14
Northwestern's magic without Dan Persa finally ran out. Kain Colter completed 12 passes for 89 yards, and ran for 57 more, but was replaced by freshman Trevor Siemian in the third quarter. Siemian tied the game up with an 62 yard TD pass to Jeremy Ebert in the fourth, but Northwestern couldn't stop Army's triple option attack and surrendered the winning TD with 2:49 remaining.
Northwestern Player of the Game: Jeremy Ebert had 6 receptions for 108 yards and 1 TD.
South Carolina State Bulldogs 1-2 (1-0) @ Indiana Hoosiers 1-2 (0-0)
Final Score: Indiana - 38 SC St. - 21
Indiana finally got their first win of the season against their FCS opponent. They jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Indiana Player of the Game: Edward Wright-Baker passed for 273 yards and 2 TDs.
Miami (OH) Redhawks 0-2 (0-0) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers 1-2 (0-0)
Final Score: Minnesota - 29 Miami - 23
Minnesota assured that the Big 10 wouldn't go 0-2 against Miami teams this weekend. The balanced attack from Marqueis Gray kept the Redhawks off balance and Minnesota's offense moving. However, Minnesota still let Miami mount a late drive deep into Gopher territory before finally stopping them and preserving Jerry Kill's first win as head coach.
Minnesota Player of the Game: Marqueis Gray threw for 163 yards and a TD and ran for another 173 yards.
Washington Huskies 2-1 (0-0) @ Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Nebraska - 51 Washington - 28
Hey all, this is Mike filling in on the rest of these game recaps for Kyle, who's out trying to get a real job today. Good luck, bro! Anyway, Nebraska and Washington were locked in a tight 20-17 game at halftime, but the Husk-IES decided the Husk-ERS should get 14 gift-wrapped points to blow the game open, on 20 yards in penalties one drive, then bumbling the kickoff to give it right back to NU on the UW one.
Nebraska Player of the Game: Rex Burkhead scored two touchdowns and rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries.
Wisconsin Badgers 3-0 (0-0) @ Northern Illinois Huskies 1-1 (0-0)
Final Score: Wisconsin - 49 NIU - 7
Wisconsin won yet another laugher of a non-conference game. Yes, Northern Illinois isn't terrible, but this is the way a Big Ten team with a pulse should beat any MAC team. Not much of interest, as the offense did its usual thing, and the defense had little trouble stuffing the run game that NIU abandoned as expected once they were down big.
Wisconsin Player of the Game: Russell OMG Wilson completed 23 of 32 passes for 347 yards, 3 touchdowns (1 INT), while rushing for 37 yards on five carries.
Michigan State Spartans 2-1 (0-0) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1-2
Final Score: ND - 31 MSU - 13
Sparty NO! Michigan State did it again, failing to live up to its expectations. Though this one wasn't really a surprise, as Notre Dame lost two stupid games before this win, Michigan State played like it didn't want to win the game. Twelve penalties for almost a football field worth of lost yards, and several turnovers doomed Sparty. The overall player of the game was the Notre Dame rushing defense, which limited MSU to a pathetic 29 yards on the ground.
Michigan State Player of the Game: B.J. Cunningham caught 12 passes for 158 yards.
Arizona State Sun Devils 2-1 (0-0) @ Illinois Fighting Illini 3-0 (0-0)
Final Score: Illinois - 17 ASU - 14
Arizona State went into Champaign and left with a vic--wait, what? Illinois beat a ranked non-conference opponent from a BCS conference? Lordy, the time has come! The Fightin' Illini used stifling defense and just enough offense to smother an Arizona State team that was getting a lot of attention this season. Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase went 11-of-15 for 135 yards with a pick and a touchdown, but ended up being the leading rusher with 67 yards.
Illinois Player of the Game: Jonathan Brown finished with 7 tackles, 3.5 TFL, an interception, a pass break up, and 1.5 sacks.
My Record for the Week: 7-5
My Record Overall: 26-10