Many of us remember the commitment of the next “Percy Harvin”. We remember the hype and the build-up for this true freshman at the time, and his name was and is Dontre Wilson.

Let’s start with his recruitment. Dontre was an elite offensive athlete in the 2013 recruiting class from Desoto, Texas. According to the 247composite, Dontre was the 71st ranked player in the class of 2013, and the 6th ranked All-Purpose Back. Obviously, being from Texas, there was a slight draw to become a longhorn, but another school greatly drew his initial attention. With his elite speed, that is apparent whenever he touches the ball, nearly all of the major schools in the country were attracted, but there was one specific school he liked.

In the spring of his junior season, Dontre Wilson verbally committed to Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks. At first look, this would be the perfect fit for him. The flashy uniforms, the elite offenses with some NFL success, and certain success for people with similar builds as Dontre, such as De’Anthony Thomas and LaMichael James. Dontre was the star and excitement of Oregon’s 2013 recruiting class.

In late 2012, after some fear of punishment for fear of recruiting violations, there were persisting rumors that Chip Kelly would leave. Then, on January 16, 2013, Chip Kelly was announced as the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The rumors were true, Chip had left. Dontre and other Oregon commits were in a tough position. For the moment, though, Dontre decided to stay committed to Oregon to see how things would pan out.

On January 25, 2013, a few days before signing day, Dontre Wilson took a visit to Ohio State. He got to meet with the staff, and the players and see the spectacular facilities the Buckeyes have in Columbus. J.T. Barrett even conducted his famous speech to try and persuade him to become a Buckeye during this visit. With the lack of play-makers on the team at the time, Dontre were a near necessity for the team. The coaches showed him how he would play the H-Back position, and made it clear that he would certainly be an immediate contributor.

Then on February 4, 2013, the elite play-maker from Desoto, Texas decided to commit to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Obviously, since he committed in February, Dontre was not an early-enrollee. He came on campus in the summer of that 2013 year along with the majority of that star-studded recruiting class.

Soon after that, the Dontre Wilson Hype-Train began. “I feel like he better be starting this year,” Braxton Miller said at B1G Media Days in 2013. “He can run any route, he can come in the backfield and take a handoff. … He can catch the ball and he bolts like a little fish running from the sharks or something. He’s fast man. I’m glad to have him on my team.” “Dontre looks to be a special player,” former starting safety, Christian Bryant, added before the start of his own final season. “With the speed, and his agility, just when he catches the ball, you can just see how he moves. He’s going to be a special player.”

Many players and fans alike had incredibly high expectations for Dontre Wilson. Many expected him to put up the same numbers as the player who made the “H” position famous, Percy Harvin. Unlike many of us fans, Urban was more realistic with Dontre.

“We’ve got to slow down on Dontre,” Meyer said with a smile at B1G Media Days in 2013. “We’ve gotta slow down.”

Soon enough his freshman campaign began. Dontre was expected to be a vital play-maker that everybody was craving, and with Carlos Hyde suspended for the first several games of the 2013 season, many hoped to have Dontre carry part of that missing load.

The first game of the season was against Buffalo, and now star NFL player Khalil Mack. Dontre certainly showed some glimpses of a bright future which added even more hype into his name. He ended with 3 rushes for 11 yards, 1 reception for 18 yards, and he had a kick return for 51 yards.

Throughout the season, and the lack of big plays, the hype dramatically died for Dontre. Some even began to call him a “bust”. He finished the season with 22 receptions for 210 yards and 2 TDs, along with 31 rushes for 250 yards and 1 TD. He also added 523 kick-return yards to his all purpose stats that added up to 983 yards that was ranked 4th on the team.

Although Dontre ended up being 2nd-team freshmen All-American, and had those stats as a true freshman, most people, including Dontre were frustrated with that season. “I feel like I could have helped the team more,” Dontre admitted after the Orange Bowl loss in 2013. “I did what I could with the reps they gave me, but I think next year with more reps I will help the team more.” “I always joked around with my teammates and said, ‘I’m the Decoy of the Year,’ ” he said. “Every time I do a fake or something, we scored.”

A reporter then asked if that season as a decoy was fulfilling, Dontre said “Not really, man. I wish I could get the ball 30 plays a game, but it’s all good.”

Soon after the Orange Bowl, heading into Dontre’s true sophomore season, the hype started to build again, and perhaps in a more dramatic fashion than before. “Wait until you see him next year” was a popular phrase by Urban. It definitely showed that the coach had a plan, and believed in the potential of Dontre Wilson in his offense.

The off-season before his sophomore season was when Dontre really started to evolve into a wide receiver. “He couldn’t play receiver last year, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. Didn’t know how to do it,” Former Offensive Coordinator, Tom Herman said during that off-season. “He was 175 pounds or whatever the heck he was. So him and his ability limited us, and ability doesn’t just include running fast and making guys miss. There’s a lot that goes into ability and usability in the offense. {He} has had a great off-season and really took to the position and is still learning.” At one point during the off-season, Zach Smith mentioned Dontre Wilson as one of the only players in that unit that was game-ready at the time.

Now, the 2014 season came along with some more huge expectations for Dontre.

This time, his team was very inexperienced in every area of the game. Nobody was really certain how the team would turn out to be. Dontre and the Buckeyes played a difficult team in Navy with their triple-option offense, and a fairly unique defense. Like the previous season’s first game, Dontre had a very good game. Without the speed and agility of Dontre, I think the team would have had a much more difficult time trying to get the win. He ended the game with 6 rushes for 43 yards, and 2 catches for 46 yards, along with several nice punt returns.

Like the one before, as the previous season progressed, the “hate” on Dontre increased. One of his main critiques is that he is always so close to making a big play, but he never does. That seemed to be a pretty decent evaluation as he had some struggles with the new WR role.

Nov. 8th in East Lansing was one of the worst public nights for Dontre Wilson as a Buckeye. He had several embarrassing drops that would’ve led to some big gains, and he also had two fumbles on kick returns. Mistakes like that in games like that are very harmful to the team and individual. But, what everybody didn’t understand about this bad game was the circumstances surrounding it.

First, he had just become a father just that week to his son, Neko, and during the game Dontre suffered a fairly harsh broken foot. When all seemed lost for him, he did what play-makers do; Dontre made a big play. He caught a late TD pass from J.T. Barrett to seal that monumental game for the Buckeyes’ season, even while he was in pain with his broken foot.

Dontre’s season was mostly over for the exception of 3 plays against Oregon. The 3 plays were solely for respect of Dontre, because the coaches thought Dontre was a main reason why they got to that National Championship. But they didn’t want to cause any further injury, so they just gave him a few simple snaps.

Dontre Wilson had some complications with his foot after the initial surgery, so they decided he needed another one. Because of the second surgery, Dontre would be extremely limited through spring camp, and even fairly limited during Fall Camp.

Also, Dontre was one of the 4 Ohio State players suspended for the 1st game of the season against Virginia Tech for a violation of athletic department policy. Fellow H-Back, Jalin Marshall, who many fans favorited over Dontre due to his great games in the absence of Dontre was also suspended.

With Dontre and Jalin both suspended, somebody needed to step up, particularly against VA Tech. That player, of course, was QB turned WR Braxton Miller. Not only is Braxton one of Urban and the fan’s favorite players, he is also a prime-time play-maker, as evidenced by the spin move you have probably seen 1,000 times. So, with Braxton’s emergence, it was yet another thing getting in Dontre’s way.

Dontre entered this season with certainly lowered expectations, partially due to the huge spotlight on the QB competition, but also due to the fact that the team is currently stacked with play-makers.  In his first game back against Hawaii, Dontre played very few snaps and had zero touches. Then against NIU, Dontre again played limited snaps, and had a mere 3 receptions. In both of those games, the offense greatly struggled. That brought up the argument of if this team has too many play-makers, and not enough ball to go around.

After two years of failing to live up to hype that was impossible for anybody, it almost seems that Dontre is now more a back-of-the-mind type players. Urban knows that Dontre is definitely a play-maker, and he does deserve to get the ball. “I see a guy that’s dynamic and a guy that does deserve more touches,” Meyer said when asked about Curtis Samuel Wednesday (9-30-15) after practice. “Dontre Wilson deserves more touches. Zeke probably needs a few more. Then that kid Braxton Miller deserves a few more.”

It would definitely be easy for Dontre to “whine and complain” about not getting enough touches. He was a blue-chip recruit out of high-school, and a guy that was talked up to be Percy Harvin, or even Tavon Austin. With Urban’s culture, though, Dontre knows to go out there and do whatever he can to get better and help the team.

So, will Dontre ever step up and be that next level guy? Who knows. Will he do what the coaches tell him? Yes, or he won’t play. Dontre understands that, and he knows that with all the talented players on the team, he needs to take advantage of whatever opportunity is given to him. You wish Dontre could get the 30 touches a game like he said after his freshman year, but that simply isn’t possible. He will just have to trust that Urban and WR Coach Zach Smith will do whatever they can to make him the most successful Dontre Wilson that he can be.

Artwork:  Mark Simonetti

2 fortnights into the 2015 season and King Brutus is still perched on top of his Champion Throne. This Saturday the Buckeye’s ride west to clash with the Hoosiers of Bloomington who have yet to lose a battle this year.

For the 5^th straight week, OSU is a heavy favorite to claim victory in a battle in the war for the throne, but plenty of threats still loom in the shadows…

Many kingdoms have ended abruptly due to a lack of awareness or a feeling of invincibility. Examples:

The Roman Empire falling apart due to barbarian attacks and social collapse within.

British Empire losing the colonies after not respecting the underdog Americans.

The Alabama Dynasty failing after sleeping on Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott (or for trusting Captain Lane Kiffen).

So who are Ohio State’s barbarians or Americans for 2015? In order to extend the Buckeye reign for another season, I have identified these threats for General Meyer…

Here are the 5 Biggest Threats to the Buckeye Throne:

5. Eastern and Western Fronts

Ohio is a rich land that borders two seemingly helpless kingdoms- Pennsylvania and Indiana. The Buckeye’s will battle two armies from these lands in the next three weeks and I believe that they are both threats.

Indiana and Penn State both have an offense that maybe able to exploit the one weakness of a talented OSU defense-They each can spread the field and attack the Bucks up the middle, which Western Michigan (and somewhat NIU) showed can gash the Buckeyes for some decent gains.

Both schools have an outstanding newcomer with the nations leading rusher/transfer Sir Jordan Howard (Indiana) and freshmen sensation Prince Saquon Barkley (PSU) who must be accounted for when the battle begins. These soldiers are deadly and a strategy must be put in place to out maneuver them.

The difference between our foes to the East and West is Indiana’s other war strategy is to throw the ball while Penn State relies on a solid defense. Each teams weakness is the other armies strength. The Bucks will have to be ready to win battles on multiple fronts.

4. Thy Enemy of the North

Ohio State and Michigan have been at war for over a century now. The past decade has been nothing short of a massacre. Ohio State has only lost one battle (after the 2011 scandal with General Tressel) to the Wolfmen of Ann Arbor during this time.

In a move that surprised many, former Wolverine soldier Jim Harbaugh has now taken over the Michigan army after years of fighting out West. He’s unpredictable, he’s insane and he puts Gatorade on his cereal. Ohio State should be prepared for anything when they invade Ann Arbor at the end of November. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t something similar Mel Gibson’s mooning strategy against the British in Braveheart.

Now, I’ m not going to overreact to last weeks #TransitivePropertymageddon like many Michigan peasants are. Yes Utah, who barely beat Michigan, who destroyed BYU, killed Oregon who barely lost to Michigan State who slept walked against Central Michigan (got it?) but that does not mean the Michigan State army is now less powerful than Michigan’s. Every week is different.

For example, my rec. basketball team (0-7) lost to a team 80-40 three weeks ago. It wasn’t pretty and frankly, I was embarrassed. Last week, we played that exact same team and lost 66-62. Ignoring the fact I missed 2 free throws to tie it with 30 seconds left (curse the yips), this shows that anything can happen in any given game.

I still see Michigan falling to the Spartans.

Speaking of…

3. The Spartans

This is simple, the Spartans are the toughest army left on the schedule. They may pull a “Sparty” to a lesser known army before the November 21^st showdown in Columbus but this will be a bloody war.

Winner of this one claims the East for themselves.

2. The Southern Champion

While General Meyer knows that he must claim his conference before the Final 4 Battle for the Throne, it’s hard not to notice what is going on in the Southeastern Alliance (SEC).

Similar to last year with Alabama, I believe the toughest battle will come from an SEC opponent no matter which date they play.

I’m still not a huge believer in Utah, Baylor, TCU or UCLA. Though Notre Dame or Clemson can try to impress me Saturday night but both teams have been skating on this ice a few times.

LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss look like serious threats to the throne at this current hour.

1.  Casualties

I refuse to use the I word here (it rhymes with pinjuries) but I feel the biggest threat to Ohio State’s throne could be if certain players go down in battle.

Ohio State’s had a few nicked up soldiers but have been relatively lucky so far. There will be more to come but they can’t be serious at a few positions: RB WR LB and DB. Too much youth and inexperience on the bench to count on winning the big battles towards the end of the year.

If they can avoid some tragic losses, I believe the General Meyer reign will continue through the next season.

“I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.”– Mance Rayder

By: Phil Schoch, Twitter me @osuphil95

Each Wednesday evening Pick ’em & Tidbits peers into the Magic 8 Ball and predicts each B1G match-up as well as a few national spotlight games. Will we reach the 50% level?

BUT…

Don’t call it a comeback! I’ve been here for… well, five weeks.

Week 4 proved to be a pleasant bounce-back week for Pick ‘em & Tidbits as I tallied a 10-5 record versus the spread. I was 11-4 straight up. My PM Stukenborg Fearless Prediction covered for the 4^th consecutive week, but for the 3^rd consecutive week fell short of the outright win by a field goal or less. After three weeks, I am 29-34 against the spread and 49-14 straight up.

Bert Bielema’s bacon fat dripping tears continue to flow (Toledo, Texas Tech and Texas A&M). Can Tennessee rebound from a second high profile, double digit collapse (Oklahoma & Florida) to taste the maple-pepper flavored ocular goodness of Bert’s tears? #bertforillini #chiefillinibert

Texas Tech! So close. You could have satisfied millions, if only your defense and bell ringer had more starch and stamina.

Disclaimer: I am not a clairvoyant! Do NOT contact the Cayman Islands to wager actual money based on anything uttered in this weekly post. Do you even know where the Cayman Islands are? Frankly, they sound made up to me.

Around the B1G…

Saturday, October 3

Penn State has pseudo-recovered from their season opening loss to Temple. After Army and Indiana, next week, they could be a 5-1 smoke and mirror show rolling into Columbus for a prime time match-up versus a team wearing ridiculous all-black uniforms.

Pick ’em says… Penn State 31-10.

Is former Jim Tressel assistant coach, Darrell Hazell, making enough progress in year three at Purdue? After a 1-3 non-conference slate that included losses to MAC and C-USA schools, Purdue will certainly be significant underdogs in all eight B1G games.  Hazell currently sits at 5-23 in 2+ seasons in dumpster-scented West Lafayette. The Boilers five wins are less-than-impressive: Indiana State (twice), Southern Illinois, Western Michigan and Tim Beckman’s Illini.

Pick ’em says… By all accounts, Hazell is far too good of a human to get short-circuited this season, but an empty stadium and mounting losses will make the situation difficult. Nothing doing this week. Spartans, 34-10. 

Northwestern skillfully posted a 4-0 non-conference record, including two of the conference’s best wins (Stanford & at Duke). Fitzy & The ‘Cats have been in this position before and have collapsed dramatically. I’m looking forward to my second quarter/halftime nap while this game silently grinds to a nub on TV #2.

Pick ’em says… There will be drool. First team to 20 wins? Northwestern, 17-14.

On TV #1, Iowa and Wisconsin will run the ball, run the ball, punt the ball, punt the ball… zzz… zzz… zzz…

Pick ’em says… Copious amounts of drool. Badgers, 24-18.

Illinois (3-1) vs Nebraska (2-2). This would be far more entertaining to not watch if Tim Beckman and Bo Pelini were coaching. But they’re not, so I’m still not watching.

Pick ’em says… Nebraska, yawn, 31-17. Mike Riley? Really Nebraska? Are you just happy to cash B1G checks and be mediocre with a nice guy coach? I don’t git it. Ya know, you used to be somebody!

Dean Martin (born in Steubenville, OH as Dino Crocetti) was one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. He teamed with Jerry Lewis as the comedy duo Martin & Lewis. He was a member of the Rat Pack, the host of the television variety program, The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974), and starred in motion pictures. His legendary voice earned him dozens of hit singles including his signature songs That’s Amore, Everybody Loves Somebody, You’re Nobody till Somebody Loves You, Volare, and Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds (born and raised in Indianapolis) is an R&B musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 No. 1 R&B hits throughout his career, and has won 11 Grammy Awards. Thanks, Wikipedia!

Pick ’em says… It’s October – time for leaves and losses to pile up in Indiana. Bucks, 45-13.

How long will Maryland continue with the Randy Edsall charade? The Terps got flipped on their shell by Bowling Green and West Virginia in non-conference play and are now staring at the very real possibility of six consecutive losses to kick off B1G play. The Terps have Under Armour cash (founder & CEO, Kevin Plank is a Maryland alum), high caliber recruits who love to leave Maryland, a half-empty stadium and zero juice in the program. One good hire and the Terps could quickly move up the B1G ladder. Who? Suggestions? Anybody?

Pick ’em says… NSFW ALERT! Pure Michigan. https://youtu.be/q4AHzbCBEAA, 34-13.

National Spotlight Games…

I have no idea what to expect from these two in this match-up. But, what I can count on (but not understand) is the announcers will reference Big Game Bob multiple times (even though he hasn’t attended a big game in years). What I also don’t understand is why no one reports that Dana Holgorson is wearing Kelsey Grammer’s prop hair from his Cheers days.

Pick ’em says… Oklahoma, 38-33.

From 1966 – 2012, legendary Minster (Ohio) resident, Paul ‘P.M.’ Stukenborg (pictured above) posted his weekly sports predictions in the hometown paper, The Community Post. Each week, Pick ’em will make a P.M. Stukenborg Fearless Prediction and call for an underdog to to knock off the favorite.

Pick ’em says… If it feels like I’m taking the easy way out in order to pad my Fearless Prediction record – oh, I am. Never trust these ‘Dawgs on the big stage. Tide, 34-28. 

High stakes. High profile. Death Valley. College Game Day. Howard’s Rock. Running down the hill. All of the ingredients are in place for a very public and very tasty Clemsoning.

Pick ’em says… https://youtu.be/y5kgnelyei8 Is anyone listening to me? Is anyone actually reading this?  No seriously, does anyone even read these articles? If so, pleeeease let me know. Irish, 38-34.

Ezekiel Elliott hurdles a Western Michigan defender. (USATSI)

Better, but still not there yet.

In a game where fans and players alike were looking for more out of a lackluster offense the past two weeks, that’s exactly what they got. If it’s one thing that Ohio State’s 38-12 win over Western Michigan told us, it’s that Urban Meyer knows what he is doing – with the decision to start Cardale Jones over JT Barrett.

Jones set a career high for passing yards with 288, and he also threw for two touchdowns. While improved, Jones still made a few mistakes, under-throwing multiple guaranteed touchdown passes.

Jones’ two touchdown passes came in the first and second quarter, one to Michael Thomas and one to Jalin Marshall.

Fleck’s Broncos made the game interesting after quarterback Zach Terrell found wide-out Daniel Braverman for a 55 yard touchdown connection. Broncos’ kicker Andrew Halderman failed to convert the PAT, leaving the score at 14-6.

After a Jack Willoughby field goal, the Silver Bullets came up with their third consecutive game in a row with a defensive touchdown. Adolphus Washington picked off Terrell and ran it back 20 yards to put the Buckeyes up 24-6 going into halftime.

The Buckeye running backs stole the show in the second half. Ezekiel Elliott racked up 124 yards, one touchdown, and two spectacular “ZekeLeaps” in the third quarter, and Curtis Samuel rumbled for a 40 yard score in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.

#ZekeLeap:

The Ohio State offense improved tremendously from the past two weeks on third down, converting 8 of 13 attempts.

Neither the offense or the defense played up to expectation, but at the same time, expectations are high when trying to compare this team to last year’s.

One thing that will still drive Meyer and fans crazy is that OSU committed 12 penalties for 86 yards. False starts have continued to plague the Buckeye offense, and there’s no real excuse for them, especially inside The Horseshoe.

So despite racking up 511 total yards of offense and improving the offensive production, this team still has a lot of work to do. Fortunately, though, there aren’t many other teams out there playing their best football at the moment.

But the Buckeyes better be ready to play their best football this coming weekend against an upset-minded and undefeated Indiana team that will be looking to take their best shot at the defending national champions.

First of all let’s take a deep breath after that win this past Saturday against Western Michigan. While there are still plenty of things that we need to improve on, the offense finally showed some flashes of its past self. Zeke was able to break away on a few nice runs. We were able to make some plays when it mattered, and Cardale was able to make some throws that he had not made since the VT game. But, as I watch the game I always keep my eye on Twitter to see what everyone thinks about the game and I was surprised at how many people were still upset that Cardale was still the QB. So, here are some reasons why I think Jones is the right choice.

First, Coach Urban Meyer has decided that Cardale is the best option for the Buckeyes right now. Honestly that should be the end of the conversation. We are talking about a guy that brought us our first national title in 12 years. A guy that has brought in the best talent that Ohio State has probably ever seen.

Urban gets to watch these guys in practice every single day, he sees things that w do not get to see so if anyone is going to know who is best suited to lead this team, it is THE Urban Meyer.

Secondly, it seems like people have forgotten the things that Cardale was able to do for OSU last year. In his first three starts he proceeded to beat Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon. When you really sit down and think about that, it is incredible. I don’t think there is another player in college football that would be able to gel with a team that fast to be able to beat 3 of the best teams in the country.

There is no doubt that so far this year Jones has not been able to perform as well as he did last year. In fact not even close to what he expected from him, but is that really all his fault to this point? I think not. First of all, he is dealing with a new QB coach along with a new play caller. There is no doubt that there was something about Tom Herman and the way that he coached/ called plays that made guys comfortable in the offense. Both Jones and JT proved that, but this year you can tell that not everyone is on the same page. So is that Cardale’s fault? Not in my opinion.

Another factor that people tend to forget about is the fact that last Saturday was only Cardale’s 7th start for Ohio State. I mean that is insane if you think about what he has accomplished. The kid had his first ever start in the Shoe just 3 weeks ago. His talent in undeniable and Urban obviously sees that and thinks ,with time, he will be the guy that has the best chance to lead this team successfully. If you really look at the game Saturday, things were better than the last two weeks. I noticed that people were really upset with a few of Cardale’s undergrowth balls, as was I, but at least he is starting to go down field. It felt like for 2 games straight we didn’t even attempt going down field, so it’s going to take some time for him to get some chemistry with these guys.

In conclusion, I have to say that during the off season I really thought the coaching staff would go with JT as the starter. It just seemed like everything was pointing in that direction, but when 12 Gauge walked out on the field it felt exciting to me. That was great for a game, but in both the Hawaii and the NIU I was right along with everyone else calling for JT, but the bottom line is JT didn’t perform much better. He has every opportunity in 2 different games to take over and make the team his! But, that didn’t happen so at the end of the day if Cardale is out performing in practice than he should be the starter. Thanks for reading and Go Bucks!

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 2^nd 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 4^th 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 4^th 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 4^th 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 1^st 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’ 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 4^th 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?