Former Foes, Week 10

A rare Kent State win, Pitt is toppled at home, and Ohio State continues to struggle

By Chris Lucia Nov 1, 2016, 8:13am EDT

Kent State Golden Flashes (3-6)

Beat Central Michigan 27-24

Football is a wacky sport sometimes. Earlier in the season, the Central Michigan Chippewas beat Power 5 Oklahoma State (thanks in part to some questionable officiating), whereas Kent State looked like a hopeless mess. Now? The Fighting Nick Holleys took down CMU 27-24 in a game where the Flashes trailed by two touchdowns midway through the third quarter. Gotta love the improbable! Speaking of which, KSU takes on the undefeated Broncos of Western Michigan next week.

Up Next: BYE

Pitt Panthers (5-3)

Lost to #25 Virginia Tech 39-36

Pitt lost to the Hokies this weekend, and all but dashed their ACC Coastal Division hopes. The Panthers channeled their inner Tom Bradley, playing the epitome of bend-don’t-break defense – on the day, six VT drives ended up in the Pitt red zone, only to come away with a field goal for their efforts. Pat Narduzzi was fined after the game for calling out the officiating, and his tirades included a mention of the defense making signals to throw off the offense. Sounds rather familiar. Pitt has a tough test this weekend as they travel to visit a stout Miami squad.

Up Next: Miami Hurricanes (4-4)

Temple Owls (6-3)

Beat Cincinnati 34-13

Well would ya looky here? Temple is good at football! Temple opened up the scoring against the Bearcats, going up 10-0, and then finished the scoring on a 17-0 burst. Jahad Thomas ran for 151 yards, and Phillip Walker threw for two touchdowns. With just three games left in their season, the Owls are bowl eligible – and looking to make more noise in the AAC as they travel to take on UConn this week.

Up Next: Connecticut Huskies (3-6)

#3 Michigan Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten)

Beat Michigan State 32-23

I had begun to wonder if this blurb would be best served by copy/pasting the previous week’s write-up, and just updating the opponent and the score. Not so fast, my friend! Rivalry games always bring out the best in teams, and the same holds true for Michigan State. After falling behind 27-10 at the half, the Spartans mounted a fourth-quarter attempt at a comeback, ultimately falling short. Credit to the Wolverines, they got a lead and held onto it, but not before sweating it out a little near the end. I think next week will be more of the copy-paste variety, as Michigan takes on Maryland.

Up Next: Maryland Terrapins (5-3, 2-3)

Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-2, 3-2)

Beat Illinois 40-17

There’s not too much that needs to be said about this game. Minnesota is the better team, and played like it in a solid win over a not-very-good Illini squad. With the win, Minnesota is bowl-eligible, and will look to pad their win total by taking on the recently-steamrolled Boilermakers.

Up Next: Purdue Boilermakers (3-5, 1-4)

Maryland Terrapins (5-3, 2-3)

Lost to Indiana 42-36

Maryland – like Indiana – is a team of question marks this year. They started 4-0 against lesser competition, lost twice to PSU and Minnesota, then beat another bottom-dweller in Michigan State. Indiana is closer to the Penn States of the world than the Michigan States of the world, and so perhaps a loss was inevitable. Instead, the Terrapins led the Hoosiers 24-23 with just over a minute to go in the third quarter, before ultimately surrendering 19 points in the final 15 minutes. A win would have given the Terps bowl eligibility, but they’ll most likely have to wait a few weeks, as their schedule takes a decided turn against them.

Up Next: #3 Michigan Wolverines (8-0, 5-0)

#6 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1, 4-1)

Beat Northwestern 24-20

There were many people concerned that Penn State would suffer a letdown after beating the #2 Buckeyes. Instead it seems that Ohio State is the team still reeling a bit, as they were all knotted up with Northwestern 17-17 entering the fourth quarter. OSU’s offense has sputtered in recent weeks, and it looks like the B1G East all but belongs to Michigan as of right now. That being said, watch the Nuts go out and crack the Cornhuskers just to prove me wrong.

Up Next: #10 Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1, 4-1)

Purdue Boilermakers (3-5, 1-4)

I think we just scored another touchdown

For as poorly as the first half of this week’s game went, the second half was just as good, if not better. It felt amazing to pull the starters early in the fourth quarter of a game for once, and to then watch the backups march up and down the field. This team is playing with expectations again, and I can’t begin to tell you how happy that makes me. We should be in for a fun remainder of the season, and of course, seasons to come.