B1G Weekly Recap: Wolverines Dominate BYU; NW, IU Remain Undefeated

In what was the final weekend before the conference schedule starts in full, the Big Ten took care of business for the most part. The conference went 12-2 on the weekend, with Maryland and Purdue taking the only losses. Northwestern and Indiana both will start conference play undefeated, which is surely a sign of the human race’s impending doom.

Michigan 31, BYU 0

The Wolverines took care of business and dominated from start to finish in BYU’s visit to Ann Arbor. Jake Rudock accounted for three touchdowns (2 rush, 1 pass) and De’Veon Smith had 60 of his 125 rushing yards on a magician’s disappearing act of a touchdown early in the 2nd quarter.

The Wolverine defense completely shut down Tanner Mangum and the Cougar offense, allowing just 105 total yards on the day. The Wolverines finish nonconference play at 3-1 and will open their Big Ten slate on the road at Maryland.

Michigan State 30, Central Michigan 10

In what was a one-score game until a couple late Gerald Holmes touchdown runs made this win look simple, the Spartans sputtered on offense but managed to avoid embarrassment against the Chippewas.

Connor Cook was just 11-19 passing for 143 yards and a touchdown for Michigan State. Sparty improve to 4-0 on the season and will welcome Purdue to East Lansing in the first Big Ten game for both teams.

Bowling Green 35, Purdue 28

In a back-and-forth battle, Bowling Green made the last play with :09 left in the game when Travis Greene rushed for 12 yards and the game-winning score. Matt Johnson starred yet again for the Falcons, throwing for over 400 yards for the 4th time already this season.

David Blough was solid in his first start at QB for the Boilermakers, completing 29 of his 39 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Purdue falls to 1-3 and things don’t get any easier next week when they have to go on the road to the No. 2 team in the country.

Rutgers 27, Kansas 14

Rutgers bounced back from their loss to Penn State last week to take care of business against Kansas this week in Piscataway. Chris Laviano threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights as they handled the Jayhawks easily.

Josh Hicks also found the end zone twice to go along with 113 yards. Rutgers will take this weekend off and use the extra rest to prep for a visit from Michigan State.

Nebraska 36, Southern Miss 28

First half red zone issues nearly came back to bite Nebraska as a one-time 29-7 lead finished as a one score game. Three times in the first 30 minutes the Cornhuskers had to settle for Drew Brown field goals after they had crossed the 20-yard line. Brown had five field goals in total on the day.

Tommy Armstrong Jr. took care of the rest, throwing for 368 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for the clinching score in the 4th quarter. Nebraska sits at 2-2 and will go to Illinois next weekend for their B1G opener.

Indiana 31, Wake Forest 24

Jordan Howard carried the load yet again for the Hoosiers, racking up 168 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Tony Fields picked off Kendall Hinton early in the 4th quarter and returned it for six, pushing the Indiana lead to 31-10 before Wake Forest narrowed the gap to its final score.

Nate Sudfeld threw for 204 yards and two scores as the Hoosiers improbably made their way through the nonconference schedule undefeated. The last time Ohio State and Indiana played each other with both undefeated, the year was 1954 and the Buckeyes went on to win the national championship. Do similar fortunes await in 2015?

West Virginia 45, Maryland 6

Maryland, your football team, woof! West Virginia basically did whatever they wanted in this matchup, storming out to a 38-0 halftime lead and an eventual 45-0 lead before Jahrvis Davenport took a Daxx Garman 46 yards to the house and spared Maryland from being shut out.

The Terrapin defense gave up 601 total yards (304 rushing, 297 passing) and a whopping 37 first downs. The offense didn’t do much better, turning the ball over six times in the blowout loss. Maryland, now 2-2, will look to bounce back when the Wolverines come to College Park.

Ohio State 38, Western Michigan 12

Things were a little less tense this time around when a MAC West opponent came into the Horseshoe. Cardale Jones hit a wide open Michael Thomas for a 38-yard touchdown on Ohio State’s first drive and the Buckeyes never looked back.

Adolphus Washington lived out every defensive lineman’s dream late in the 1st half when he pulled in a Zach Terrell pass and took it back 20 yards for a touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott went over 100 yards yet again and will look to extend that streak in Bloomington on Saturday.

Penn State 37, San Diego State 21

It took four games, but Christian Hackenberg finally put up some decent passing numbers for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg threw for 296 yards and three scores but Penn State still struggled to put away their Aztec visitors.

Up 27-21 with San Diego State driving, the Nittany Lions defense made a play by forcing a fumble and Austin Jackson picking it up and scampering 71 yards for the dagger. Penn State is now 3-1 and finished out their nonconference schedule next week when Army visits Happy Valley.

Iowa 62, North Texas 16

Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeyes did what they were supposed to do when North Texas came to town. Jordan Canzeri (115 rushing yards, four TDs) and C.J. Beathard (18-21, 278 yards, two TDs) led the way on offense for Iowa.

The Hawkeye defense found the end zone as well, with Josey Jewell and Bo Bower both picking off passes and returning them for scores. Now 4-0, Iowa faces a tough task when they go to Wisconsin for the Big Ten opener.

Minnesota 27, Ohio 24

It took nearly all 60 minutes, but Minnesota finally put away their MAC foe when Shannon Brooks took a handoff and found the end zone from three yards out with :30 left in the game. That was Brooks’ 2nd touchdown of the game and he finished with 82 yards on just 10 carries.

Mitch Leidner was 22-31 for 264 yards and has Minnesota sitting at 3-1 with a trip to undefeated Northwestern next on the docket.

Illinois 27, Middle Tennessee 25

It was Illini kicker Taylor Zalewski who was the hero who saved Illinois from being upset at home by a Sun Belt school. There was barely two minutes left in the game when Zalewski nailed a 51-yard field goal to win the game.

Wes Lunt was 29-49 passing for 238 yards and a score while Geronimo Allison was his main target, pulling down 10 catches for 128 yards. Illinois managed to get out of their nonconference schedule at 3-1 and will now host Nebraska in Champaign.

Northwestern 24, Ball State 19

It took a second half comeback for Northwestern to remain undefeated after Ball State came to Evanston. The Cardinals led 10-7 at half and even made a comeback attempt of their own after the Wildcats came out of the locker room with 17 3rd quarter points.

Clayton Thorson threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns and Justin Jackson pounded the Ball State defense on the ground for a tune of 184 yards on 33 carries. The Wildcats open Big Ten play undefeated for the first time since 2013 and welcome Minnesota to town this weekend.

Wisconsin 28, Hawaii 0

In another visit to B1G country, it was another shutout loss for the Rainbow Warriors. Wisconsin scored once in every quarter to easily put away Hawaii in a game where the Badgers rushed for over 300 yards as a team while Joel Stave added 164 yards and one score through the air.

Taiwan Deal led the way on the ground with 147 yards and two touchdowns with Dare Ogunbowlae added a touchdown of his own in the 4th quarter. These two will need to step up to open conference play with Corey Clement out for a few weeks. Wisconsin opens their Big Ten West title defense at home against Iowa.

What game are you looking forward to most to open B1G play? Is Wisconsin-Iowa a potential B1G West title game despite being the first game of the season?

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  1. […] decided to change my approach to my article a little bit.  Stephan already does a weekly Big Ten Recap and he does it worlds better than I do.  So instead I’m bringing you highlights (and sometimes […]

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