Spartan Nation Big Ten Wrap-Up: Week 6

Ohio State (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) v Indiana (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten)

 

(2)Ohio St 38  Indiana 10

 

Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel pounded the Hoosiers into submission in Columbus Saturday, and in-so-doing collected his 100th victory as Ohio State’s lead man. In reaching the century mark  for wins in his 121st game on the job, he is only bested by two past Big Ten coaches; and those coaches are the oft fabled Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost. In what was the 16th straight Buckeye victory over the Hoosiers, Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor had a career day as well, passing for 334 yards and three TD’s. Meanwhile, the torrent pace at which Indiana QB Ben Chappell had been racking up yards this year through the air was largely stymied. Chappell who passed for a remarkable 480 yards last weekend against the woeful Wolverine secondary, only managed to collect 106 yards passing, including two interceptions; against this number two rated Buckeye squad. The stout Ohio State defense managed to keep their own streak alive in holding individual rushers to under 100 yards for the 29th straight game. The lone Hoosier TD in this contest didn’t come until 5:06 left in the game on a one yard TD run by Antonio Banks. The Hoosiers only other score, a Mitch Ewald 36 yard field goal, came at the end of the third Quarter. Previous to this the Buckeyes held a 38-0 edge, mid-way through the third Quarter. Needless to say this one was scarcely ever a ball-game. The high octane Buckeye offense led by the large but elusive Terrelle Pryor, and the stifling Buckeye defense, clearly and immediately over-matched the Hoosier squad. RB Dan Herron led the Buckeye rushing corps, which has been maligned in the media as of late, with 12 carries for 68 yards and two TD’s. DeVier Posey, was once again the team receiving guru with his eight receptions for 103 yards and one TD. Meanwhile no individual Hoosier surpassed 37 yards in either rushing or receiving yards in this one. Each of the last 12 meetings between these schools has led to a double-digit Buckeye victory. This one was another old fashion Buckeye beat-down.

 Scoring Summary:

FIRST QUARTER                              Â

               TD          13:03    Dan Herron 39 Yd Run (Devin Barclay Kick)           IND 0    OSU 7

               TD          06:35    Dane Sanzenbacher 22 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick)   IND 0    OSU 14

SECOND QUARTER                        Â

               TD          13:31    Brandon Saine 60 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick)           IND 0    OSU 21

               TD          06:55    DeVier Posey 17 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick)             IND 0    OSU 28

               FG         00:46    Devin Barclay 36 Yd        IND 0    OSU 31

THIRD QUARTER                             Â

               TD          08:02    Dan Herron 8 Yd Run (Devin Barclay Kick)             IND 0    OSU 38

               FG         04:50    Mitch Ewald 36 Yd           IND 3    OSU 38

FOURTH QUARTER                        Â

               TD          05:06    Antonio Banks 1 Yd Run (Mitch Ewald Kick)         IND 10  OSU 38

 

 

 

Illinois (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) v Penn St (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten)

 

Illinois 33  Penn St 13

 

Penn State Head Coach and veritable institution- Joe Paterno went into this, his 45th Nittany Lion Homecoming game, having lost only a handful, at five losses total, throughout his entire illustrious career in Happy Valley. By games-end however, the Fighting Illini had pulled off the unlikely and handed Paterno and hopeful alumni in attendance, his 6th ever, Homecoming defeat. The often over-looked Illini, one week after making a bit of noise by keeping pace with the number two rated Buckeyes for much of the game, again showed a lot of pluck, this time with a far better outcome for themselves, a convincing victory in hostile territory. The Illini victory, was Penn State’s worst home loss since 1990. The injury plagued Nittany Lion’s- together with their youthful inexperience- simply couldn’t hold off the Illini attack. Meanwhile Illinois QB and Freshman, Nathan Scheelhaase, continued to impress as he progressed in his starting role as a Big Ten snap taker, ending the day with a very decent 15 of 19 passing with one TD and no interceptions, for a total of 151 yards. The Nittany Lion QB, another Freshmen, Rob Bolden faired a bit less favorably, finishing the day with 8 of 21 passing with one TD and one interception, for a total of 142 yards. It was Illini RB Mikel Leshoure that again set the tone rushing the ball for the Fighting Illini, finishing with 119 yards on 27 carries. Penn State running back Evan Royster, who has struggled this year in living up to his performances of seasons-past, once again was largely ineffective running for only 35 yards on 11 carries. The Illini out gained the Nittany Lions in offensive yards 437 to 235.

The Illini defense held Penn State to season lows, 232 total yards, and Nate Bussey collected a pick-six for his squad on a 16 yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. At the half the game’s outcome was still very much in doubt with a very surmountable 20-13 Illinois lead. The Fighting Illini however pitched a second half shutout for the eventual 33-13 blowout. Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook, whose future as head coach has very much been in doubt due to several disappointing seasons, has seemingly breathed new life into the program; at least for now.

 

Scoring Summary:          Â

 

FIRST QUARTER                              Â

               FG         04:39    Collin Wagner 28 Yd       ILL0       PSU3

SECOND QUARTER                        Â

               TD          14:17    A.J. Jenkins 18 Yd Pass From Nathan Scheelhaase (Dimke Kick) ILL7         PSU3

               TD          09:39    Nate Bussey 16 Yd Interception Return (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL14              PSU3

               TD          09:28    Derek Moye 80 Yd Pass From Robert Bolden (Collin Wagner Kick) ILL14  PSU10

               FG         05:19    Derek Dimke 50 Yd         ILL17     PSU10

               FG         02:49    Collin Wagner 22 Yd       ILL17     PSU13

               FG         00:00    Derek Dimke 31 Yd         ILL20     PSU13

THIRD QUARTER                             Â

               TD          08:30    Evan Wilson 4 Yd Pass From Jason Ford (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL27 PSU13

               FG         01:07    Derek Dimke 41 Yd         ILL30     PSU13

FOURTH QUARTER                        Â

               FG         08:55    Derek Dimke 37 Yd         ILL33     PSU13

 

 

 

Minnesota (1-5, 0-2 Big Ten) v (20) Wisconsin (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten)

 

(20)Wisconsin 41  Minnesota 23

 

A week after coming off a disappointing loss at Michigan State, the Badgers attention was refocused into keeping the Paul Bunyan Axe Trophy for the sixth straight year with its tradition rich match-up with border-rival, Minnesota. The beleaguered Gophers, who have won one game all season, desperately needed a respectable showing in Madison. What they got however, was another trouncing with Bret Bielema seemingly attempting to pile on some insult to go with the grievous injury, in his decision to go for a two-point conversion while up 25 points with only 6:39 left in the game. During the post game midfield handshake Minnesota Head Coach Tim Brewster, whose seat was already red hot after a very disappointing season thus far, briefly chided Bielema and threw Bielema’s hand before angrily departing the field. This provided ample drama for the post game presser, where Bielema attempted to explain away his decision as merely customary to his play “card,” and no personal offense was intended. Brewster simply wasn’t buying it, calling it a “very poor decision by a head football coach.”

The game itself was simply a Badger-style drubbing in this, the most-played rivalry game in FBS history. The Badgers have now won seven straight in the match-up. On the day, Wisconsin amassed 473 yards of offense against Minnesota with a very balanced attack of 223 passing yards and 250 rushing. The Badgers nearly doubled their opponent in number of first downs with 30 to 16, and dominated the time of possession 34:02 to 25:58. Additionally, the Badgers went 7-9 on third down conversions, imposing their will for much of the day on the Gopher defense. The Gopher offense could not do the same against the pesky Badger defense going for a paltry 3-13 on third down conversions, themselves. The Badger rushing game was once again led by James White who rambled for 118 yards on 19 carries. Badger RB John Clay however was not far behind with 111 yards on his 21 carries. Wisconsin QB Scott Tolzien was 17 of 23 passing with one TD, for a total of 223 yards. The Gopher offense who sputtered against the Badger defense for much of the day was held to 96 total rushing yards. Gopher QB Adam Weber struggled with an 11 of 25 passing day, but did account for three touchdowns and 249 yards. The Gophers were simply out-manned in most every facet of the game in this years installment of the most-played rivalry.

 

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER                              Â

               TD          09:00    Jared Abbrederis 3 Yd Pass From Scott Tolzien (Welch Kick) MINN0 WIS7

               TD          02:30    John Clay 1 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick) MINN0 WIS14

SECOND QUARTER                        Â

               FG         06:21    Eric Ellestad 24 Yd MINN3 WIS14

               TD          00:24    MarQueis Gray 9 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Pat Failed) MINN9 WIS14

THIRD QUARTER

               TD          09:18    James White 8 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick) MINN9 WIS21

               TD          01:50    John Clay 4 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick)    MINN9WIS28

FOURTH QUARTER                        Â

               TD          11:55    John Clay 8 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick)    MINN9WIS35

               TD          11:11    Da'Jon McKnight 22 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Ellestad Kick) MINN16 WIS35

               TD          06:39    James White 1 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion Failed) MINN16 WIS41

               TD          05:01    Da'Jon McKnight 29 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Ellestad Kick) MINN23 WIS41

 

 

 

Purdue (3-2, 1-0 Big Ten) v Northwestern (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten)

 

Purdue 20Â Northwestern 17

 

The injury depleted Boilermakers picked up a come-from-behind victory in Evanston this weekend during the Big Ten night game. Filling in for former starting Boiler QB Robert Marve, who’s out with a season ending knee injury, redshirt Freshman QB Rob Henry seemed to grow into himself a bit, as he went on to rush for 132 yards in his first ever career start.  Though he struggled in his passing game going 6 of 18 for only 47 yards including and interception, he pulled out the win in clutch fashion with superior intensity and quick feet. His opposing counterpart, Wildcat QB Dan Persa had another exceptional day passing going 30 of 41 for 305 yards, but failed to find the endzone through the air. Ultimately Persa’s performance, though remarkable in its own right,  just wasn’t enough for the Wildcats to get off to the its best start in nearly five decades by going 6-0. Purdue rallied from a 17-10 deficit in the third quarter with a 40 yard late third quarter field goal, followed by a Dan Dierking seven yard TD run with a 3:54 to go in the contest. Northwestern’s Stefan Demo’s missed a 40 yard field goal to tie the game nearing the one minute mark in the fourth quarter. From there Purdue managed to run out the clock thanks to a 15 yard personal foul call against the Wildcats as Boilermaker QB Rob Henry took a knee and was pushed to the turf by Northwestern’s Quentin Davie after the play. The first down was awarded as a result of the infraction and the rest was merely semantics and clock killing. QB Rob Henry led the rushing attack for the Boilermakers with his quick and shifty 132 yard game. The Wildcats could find little gain rushing against the Boilers with only 84 total yards on the ground. The 305 receiving yard attack for the Wildcats was led by WR Jeremy Ebert’s 11 reception, 124 yard performance. Northwestern out-gained the Boilermakers on offense with a 389 to 279 yard edge. In the end the boilers simply struck while the iron was hot, and pulled out an intense win in hostile territory.

 

Scoring Summary:

 

FIRST QUARTER                              Â

               TD          00:57    Jacob Schmidt 2 Yd Run (Stefan Demos Kick) PUR0 NW7

SECOND QUARTER                        Â

               TD          13:46    Rob Henry 1 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick) PUR7   NW7

               FG         04:52    Carson Wiggs 36 Yd   PUR10 NW7

               FG         00:41    Stefan Demos 46 Yd  PUR10 NW10

THIRD QUARTER                             Â

               TD          10:47    Dan Persa 5 Yd Run (Stefan Demos Kick) PUR10 NW17

               FG         03:56    Carson Wiggs 40 Yd   PUR13 NW17

FOURTH QUARTER                        Â

               TD          03:54    Dan Dierking 7 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick) PUR20 NW17