Michigan State and Minnesota both unexpectedly trailed in their matchups before prevailing and moving to 3-0 in conference play while Ohio State dominated Rutgers from start to finish improving to 2-0. Iowa suffered their first Big Ten loss after falling to Maryland. Despite trailing at halftime to Northwestern, Nebraska rallied in the second half to beat the Wildcats.
Maryland 38, Iowa 31
The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but Iowa could not hold on their lead and fell to the Terrapins for their first loss of the Big Ten season. Jake Rudock had an impressive day throwing the ball, finishing with 317 yards on 32-of-56 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. That interception would prove costly as it was returned 45 yards by William Likely for a score when the Hawkeyes only trailed by three points.
Stefon Diggs led the way for Maryland, hauling in 9 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. QB C.J. Brown had just 120 yards passing as he had to leave the game briefly in the third quarter with a back injury but added 99 yards on the ground in the Terrapins’ victory that improved their conference record to 2-1. Maryland takes on Wisconsin in Camp Randall on Saturday while Iowa has the week off and will host Northwestern Nov. 1.
Minnesota 39, Purdue 38
In a surprising offensive shootout, Purdue and Minnesota both ran the ball extremely well, totaling more than 285 rushing yards each. Austin Appleby threw for 153 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions and also ran the ball for 79 yards and another score for the Boilermakers. Mitch Leidner had 165 passing yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota. He had 84 rushing yards and a touchdown while David Cobb led the way with 194 yards on the ground.
Purdue managed just seven points in the second half as the Golden Gophers completed their comeback with a 52-yard field goal by Ryan Santoso with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Purdue (3-5, 1-3 B1G) is idle this weekend as they prepare for a trip to Nebraska and Minnesota will visit Illinois on Saturday.
Michigan State 56, Indiana 17
While this game ended up being the blowout that many predicted, Indiana actually led Michigan State 17-14 late in the first half. It was a balanced, dominant performance from the Spartans, tallying 332 yards passing and 330 yards rushing. Nick Hill ran the ball 16 times for 178 yards and one touchdown and Jeremy Langford had 109 yards rushing and three scores for the Spartans.
Tevin Coleman ran for 132 yards, extending his streak of 100-yard games to nine. The Hoosiers managed just 11 yards passing and a once-promising game turned ugly quickly for Kevin Wilson’s squad. Indiana will get next week off to get ready for a trip to the Big House and Michigan State will host that same Wolverine team this weekend in East Lansing.
Ohio State 56, Rutgers 17
In front of the third-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history, Ohio State took down Rutgers easily on Homecoming for their 18th straight Big Ten regular season victory. Once again, J.T. Barrett played an impressive game, throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns and adding 107 rushing yards and two more scores.
Gary Nova threw for 192 yards but no touchdowns and Desmon Peoples ran for 83 yards and Rutgers’ only two touchdowns of the game. Rutgers will face off against Nebraska on Saturday in Lincoln and Ohio State will travel into “White Out†conditions to take on Penn State.
Nebraska 38, Northwestern 17
Northwestern took a 17-14 lead into the halftime break, but a quartet of touchdowns from Ameer Abdullah would be the difference as Nebraska stormed back and easily dispatched the Wildcats. Abdullah had 146 yards to go with his four touchdowns as he continued his campaign for the Heisman Trophy. Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw for 221 yards and caught a touchdown from De’Mornay Pierson-El late in the first half.
Justin Jackson led the way for Northwestern with 128 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Nebraska hosts Rutgers on Saturday and Northwestern will have a week off before going to Iowa.
What were your thoughts on last weekend’s set of games? Will all of the conference unbeatens remain that way after this weekend? Let us know your favorite plays of the B1G weekend in the comments!
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