B1G Weekly Recap: Iowa Wins the West, Michigan State Takes Control of East

Iowa jumped out to a 20-0 lead just 16 minutes into their matchup with Purdue and never looked back as they clinched their spot in Indianapolis. That Team Up North beat Penn State to keep their hopes of an East Division title alive, but it will take a collapse from Michigan State for that to be a possibility after Sparty took down the Buckeyes on Senior Day.

Iowa 40, Purdue 20

It was one of the coldest games in Kinnick Stadium history, but that couldn’t stop the party as the Hawkeyes moved to 11-0 with their sights set on making the College Football Playoff. C.J. Beathard led the way for Iowa, throwing for 213 yards and three touchdowns. LeShun Daniels found the end zone twice in the 1st quarter to set the tone and the Hawkeyes never looked back.

Austin Appleby came in to backup duty for Purdue after David Blough went down with an injury to his head. Appleby was serviceable, throwing for 259 yards and a touchdown as the Boilermakers fell to 2-9 on the season. Purdue head back home for a date with Indiana while Iowa will take its Playoff hopes on the road to Nebraska.

TTUN 28, Penn State 16

Despite another mediocre game from Christian Hackenberg, the Wolverines got everything they could handle from Penn State before De’Veon Smith sealed things with a 1-yard touchdown run with five minutes to play. That drive succeeded a Penn State drive that made it to the 1-yard line before James Franklin elected to kick a field goal instead of try for a tying touchdown.

It was another solid outing for the Wolverines and QB Jake Rudock. Rudock threw for 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns while being intercepted once. The Wolverines look to win The Game for the first time since 2011 while Penn State has a chance to send the winner of the Ohio State-TTUN game to the B1G Championship with an upset of Michigan State.

Rutgers 31, Army 21

Rutgers did its best SEC East impression by scheduling a cupcake for the second-to-last weekend of the season and struggling to win when it took down Army. Paul James was the workhorse for the Scarlet Knights, rushing for 116 yards and three touchdowns as Rutgers snapped a four-game losing streak.

Rutgers will play host to Maryland on Saturday in what might be Kyle Flood’s final game in charge.

Minnesota 32, Illinois 23

Both Minnesota and Illinois will head into the final weekend of the regular season with their bowl hopes still alive after Minnesota held on to take down the Illini. Shannon Brooks was the star of the show for the Gophers, rushing for 174 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-clincher from 75 yards out with 85 seconds to play.

Malik Turner had himself quite a day receiving for the Illini, hauling in 11 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Both teams now sit at 5-6 with Illinois heading up to Chicago to take on Northwestern at Soldier Field while Minnesota will play their final home game against Wisconsin.

Indiana 47, Maryland 28

10 minutes into the game, it looked like Indiana was going to be blown out and their bowl chances out the door. Maryland jumped out to a 21-3 lead thanks mostly to the legs of Brandon Ross before the Hoosiers turned things around and dominated the final 50 minutes. Ross finished with 250 yards on the ground and three touchdowns for the Terrapins.

Nate Sudfeld was the driving force behind the Hoosiers’ comeback victory, tossing four touchdowns to go with 385 yards in the air. Indiana’s bowl hopes rely on Sudfeld leading the Hoosiers to a victory over rival Purdue in West Lafayette while Maryland heads to Rutgers to just get their season over with.

Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14

Ugly weather brought about an ugly game in Columbus on Saturday. The Buckeyes’ play-calling has been brought into question over the past couple days after Ezekiel Elliott ran the ball just two times in the 2nd half. Elliott finished with just 33 yards and a touchdown that gave the Buckeyes the first lead of the game.

Tyler O’Connor and Damion Terry split time at quarterback for the injured Connor Cook, but it was the Spartan ground attack that did most of the damage. As a team, Michigan State ran the ball 51 times for 203, hitting the Buckeyes with body blow after body blow on the final drive that ended with a Michael Geiger 41-yard field goal. Sparty will wrap up the B1G East with a win over Penn State on Saturday and you should probably already know who Ohio State has this week.

Northwestern 13, Wisconsin 7

It was not a pretty game for the Wisconsin Badger offense. The Badgers turned the ball over five times in the defeat and managed just 203 yards of offense to go with it. Corey Clement scored Wisconsin’s lone touchdown in the 3rd quarter but the Badgers were never able to officially find the end zone again.

Northwestern’s defense held strong, preventing the Badgers from scoring after obtaining a 1st & Goal at the 1-yard line late in the game. Justin Jackson was the workhorse for the Wildcats, toting the rock 35 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. Northwestern heads to Chicago to take on Illinois while Wisconsin heads to Minnesota for their final regular season game.

Are you impressed by Iowa yet? Will Michigan State take care of business against Penn State or will they leave the door open for the Buckeyes or Wolverines to sneak in?

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