With the penultimate week of the College Football regular season coming to a close, most of the Big Ten games in Week 13 were blowouts. However, there were two one-score games plus one big upset. Here’s
what happened in the conference this week:
Bye Weeks:
No. 2 Indiana (11-0, 8-0 B1G), Purdue (2-9, 0-8 B1G)
Saturday
Rutgers 9 @ No. 1 Ohio State 42
No surprise here, as Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 B1G) once again got the job done. Rutgers (5-6, 2-6 B1G) couldn’t pull off the upset despite the score being just 14-3 in favor of the Buckeyes at halftime. Even without both Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sayin had a solid game, as he was 13-of-19 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
Purdue transfer tight end Max Klare had his best game of the season, catching seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, freshman running back Bo Jackson carried the rock 19 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Ohio State’s star-studded defense also shined, as it had four sacks of Athan Kaliakmanis and held the Scarlet Knights to just 147 total yards on offense.
Next up, as I’ve been alluding to every week, is The Game.
Minnesota 35 @ Northwestern 38
Wow, oh, wow. What a game. For the first time ever, Northwestern (6-5, 4-4 B1G) has won a game at Wrigley Field.
And the Wildcats did so in comeback fashion, as they found a groove in the second half against Minnesota (6-5, 4-4 B1G). Preston Stone had his best game quarterbacking NU, as he threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns while completing 25 of his 30 throws, including going 15-of-15 in the second half. Caleb Komolafe became the first Northwestern running back since 2005 to rush for over 100 yards (he had 129), score a rushing touchdown (he had one) and catch a touchdown pass (also one).
Additionally, Griffin Wilde and Hayden Eligon II became the first Wildcat wide receiver duo in the last 12 years to both go for over 100 yards. Wilde caught 11 passes for 111 yards and a score while Eligon hauled in seven for 127.
Minnesota also had a huge day offensively. Drake Lindsey had a career-high four touchdown passes as he threw for 264 yards while going 20-of-30 passing. Darius Taylor led the way on the ground with 43 rushing yards and a score, while also catching a team-high six passes.
Javon Tracy caught four passes for 87 yards with three of those receptions going for touchdowns. Star sophomore safety Koi Perich also had a big day, totaling 242 all-purpose yards between kickoff returns and punt returns (230 kickoff return yards, 12 punt return yards), including a 93-yard kick return that set up the Golden Gophers for a touchdown.
All in all, there’s a reason this is the Northwestern game I’ve written the most about in an Around the Big Ten. It was one of the best games this week. Period.
No. 15 USC 27 @ No. 7 Oregon 42
USC (8-3, 6-2 B1G) has a special teams problem. With the game all tied up at 14-14, the Trojans punted the ball to Malik Benson, who took the ball all the way back to the end zone to score. Jayden Maiava then threw an interception on USC’s next drive as Oregon (10-1, 7-1 B1G) would open the floodgates the rest of the way.
In the fourth quarter, the Trojans did score to make it 35-27, but the Ducks responded to take a 15-point lead that held the rest of the way. If not for Benson’s punt return touchdown, this game could have gone completely differently. Oregon did also stop USC in a goal-to-go situation to end the first half as the Trojans missed a 27-yard field goal.
The Ducks made their case to be in the College Football Playoff while crushing USC’s dreams in the process. If they can get by Washington, it’s almost a guarantee that they will be playing in the tournament for the National Championship trophy.
Dante Moore had a good showing at Autzen, going 22-of-30 for 257 yards and two touchdowns to go alongside one interception. Kenyon Sadiq was Moore’s leading receiver, as he hauled in six passes for 72 yards and two scores as both continue to see their draft stocks rise. Noah Whittington had a good day on the ground as well, rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown (his third 100+ yard rushing yard game of the season).
For the Trojans, Maiava was 25-of-43 for 306 yards and three touchdowns, plus two interceptions. Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane both had good days, as Lemon caught seven passes for 34 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass and Lane hauled in six passes for 108 yards. Surprisingly though, it was Tanook Hines who led the Trojans in receiving yards, as he caught six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown from Lemon.
Michigan State 17 @ Iowa 20
Although Michigan State (3-8, 0-8 B1G) was already out of bowl game contention and Iowa (7-4, 5-3 B1G) was out of the College Football Playoff race, this game went to the wire with the Hawkeyes kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired. For the first time all season, Mark Gronowski failed to score a rushing touchdown. He did, however, throw one.
Alessio Milivojevic had a good showing, going 25-of-42 passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns to one interception. Despite a huge comeback effort from Iowa and good play in the middle two quarters from Michigan State, Kaden Wetjen had the standout performance, as he returned his third punt of the season for a touchdown.
No. 18 Michigan 45 @ Maryland 20
No Jordan Marshall, no problem. With its top two running backs to start the season both out, Michigan (9-2, 7-1 B1G) stuck to its roots and still ran the ball with ease against Maryland (4-7, 1-7 B1G).
Bryce Underwood did show up and play well, going 16-of-23 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He outdueled fellow true freshman quarterback Malik Washington, who finished the day 19-of-39 passing for 210 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception. Andrew Marsh kept his momentum from last week as he hauled in five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The biggest standout of the day, though, was Bryson Kuzdzal. Prior to this game, Kuzdzal had just 25 carries total for 106 rushing yards. Against the Terrapins alone, Kuzdzal carried the rock 20 times for 100 yards and three touchdowns.
For Michigan, a win against Ohio State in The Game plus a loss by either Indiana or Oregon would put them in the Big Ten Championship game. However, the Wolverines need to get past the Buckeyes for the fifth straight year for those other scenarios to be possible.
Nebraska 10 @ Penn State 37
Penn State (5-6, 2-6 B1G) has a groove back. Interim Head Coach Terry Smith made his case to be the next head coach for the Nittany Lions as they dominated Nebraska (7-4, 4-4 B1G) from start to finish. Ethan Grunkemeyer did his job, going 11-of-12 passing for 181 yards and a touchdown. The real story of the day was the running back duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton.
Allen followed last week’s career high of 181 rushing yards with his second-highest rushing yard total in a game of his career. He put up 25 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns, cementing his name into the Penn State football record books as now the player with the most career rushing yards as a Nittany Lion.
Allen’s teammate, Singleton, had just seven carries for 44 yards. He did score twice though, which brought him to 43 career rushing touchdowns with Penn State to tie Saquon Barkley for the most rushing scores in PSU history. Two talented running backs that have embedded their legacies into their school.
No. 21 Illinois 10 @ Wisconsin 27
Wisconsin (4-7, 2-6 B1G) has done it again. In their last two home games, the Badgers have taken down then-No. 23 Washington, and now-No. 21 Illinois (7-4, 4-4 B1G). After forcing the Fighting Illini to punt, Wisconsin had a 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that lasted 9:30 with Vinny Anthony II picking up the rushing score.
Illinois followed that by missing a field goal before scoring on its next drive following a Wisconsin three-and-out. Luke Altmyer’s second-quarter rushing touchdown would be the only time the Illini found the end zone, as they would kick a field goal in the third quarter before being held scoreless in the fourth. The Badgers led just 10-7 at halftime thanks to a late field goal in the second quarter, but a Darrion Dupree 84-yard rushing touchdown about midway through the third quarter completely changed the game.
Headed into the fourth quarter, Wisconsin led 17-10. With just over eight minutes to go, Dupree scored his second touchdown of the day, and the Badgers never looked back and pulled off the huge upset at Camp Randall.
Washington 48 @ UCLA 14
A throwback to the Pac-12 after dark days. In possibly the last home game at the Rose Bowl for UCLA (3-8, 3-5 B1G), the Bruins were outmatched all the way through. Washington (8-3, 5-3 B1G), coming off a blowout win against Purdue after being upset by Wisconsin, took control early, as Demond Williams Jr. had four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing).
True freshman wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck had one of his best games this season, catching seven passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. The Huskies defense allowed just 207 total yards as well, as UCLA went scoreless in the first half. Big win for Washington as it looks to ruin Oregon’s CFP dreams.
