If you didn’t have your eyes on Big Ten Football this week, you missed out on some great games. Not to worry, our Around the Big Ten series has you covered to fill you in on what you missed.
A Fun Week Of B10 Football
N0.1 Ohio State
24, Washington 6: Getting the least close matchup out of the way first, Ohio State was able to pull away from the Huskies late in the fourth quarter despite a slow start to the game. The Buckeye defense was able to suffocate the Washington offense long enough for their own offense to start moving down the field. Ohio State held Washington to just 234 yards of total offense and kept them out of the end zone all game long. Despite this, the Huskie defense was able to keep the Buckeye offense in check for most of the game until they scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Northwestern 17, UCLA 14: UCLA continues its downward spiral as it could not overcome an early 17-point deficit to pull off the win despite Northwestern not scoring in the second half. The Wildcat rushing attack was too much for the Bruins to handle, as they ran for 199 yards on 42 rushing attempts, good for 4.7 yards per attempt. UCLA hampered their own efforts on several occasions, having six penalties called on them. Despite all of this, the Bruins rallied for a late push in the second half, scoring 11 unanswered points before getting stopped on fourth down to end the game.
No. 11 Indiana 20, Iowa 15: When Iowa attempts to pull off an upset against a top 25 team, they do so by making the game as ugly as possible for their opponents, especially on defense. For most of the game, the Hawkeyes were successful in dragging their opponent into the mud. In fact, they were almost able to take a late lead, but whiffed on a field goal after Indiana threw a pick. The Hoosiers took advantage of this break as quarterback Fernando Mendoza launched one deep to Elijah Sarratt for the go ahead touchdown with a minute and 28 seconds left to go in the game. The Hoosiers would hold on and stop Iowa on their next drive before using a safety on a punt to run out the clock.
No. 23 Illinios 34, No. 21 USC 32: After getting blown out by Indiana last week, Illinios responded by taking care of business against a ranked USC team. Despite a few turnovers, both offenses were flying high, with USC racking up 490 total yards and Illinios having 502 total yards. Both teams had two turnovers so neither team won that battle. After scoring a touchdown on their first drive in the fourth quarter, the Illini led the Trojans 31-17. USC would then rattle off two touchdowns and one two point conversation to take a one point lead. Quarterback Luke Altmeyer would lead the Illini down the field on their last drive before kicker David Olano would hit a 41 yard field goal to seal the win for Illinios.
No.6 Oregon 30, No.3 Penn State 24: Going into the whiteout and pulling off a win is never easy. To do so in this fashion is even harder. Both teams started off slow on offense, only tallying 3 points a piece before halftime. Oregon would score 14 unanswered before the momentum swung back into Penn States favor allowing them to tie it up. Overtime. Both teams would score in the opening window forcing a second overtime. Dante Moore would throw a two yard pass to take the lead in the second overtime overtime but the Ducks were unable to covert on their two points attempt, making it a 6 point game. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Ducks defensive back Dillon Thieneman would intercept Penn State’s Drew Allar to seal the win for Oregon. Oregon’s defense was the true star of this show, as they were able to hold the Nittany Lions to 276 yards of total offense despite the game going into extra minutes. Their ability to go into a very hostile environment and pull off a win against a very good Penn State team makes Oregon OUR BIG TEN STAR OF THE WEEK.
