Spartan Nation's Big Ten Football Wrap-Up: Week 8

 

Mark Dantonio was all smiles after the Spartans took care of the Wildcats on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Bill Marklevits.

Penn St (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) @ Minnesota (1-7, 0-4 Big Ten)

 

Penn St 33  Minnesota 21

Things got bad for the Minnesota Golden Gopher football team this season when they lost to South Dakota, an FCS team, at home. They got worse when several dismal performances thereafter led to the firing of their head football coach, Tim Brewster. This weekend’s football game in Minneapolis against Penn State marked just the twelfth game since the opening of their new posh home football digs, TCF Bank Stadium. But the gross preponderance of empty seats seemed to give silent eulogy to the 2010 Gopher football season. Minnesota had amassed 6 straight losses heading into this weeks game. It only got worse for the home team, when an injury laden and inexperienced Penn State squad amidst a rebuilding season themselves, waxed the Gophers who were led by interim replacement coach Jeff Horton, before the waning brave Minnesota faithful in attendance. With ten minutes left in the contest the score was a somber 31-14 Nittany Lion drubbing. Making matters worse for the Gophers was the fact that much of assault was done by third string Penn State QB Matt McGloin after starting QB Rob Bolden was injured in the second quarter. Before leaving the game with a still unspecified injury, Bolden was off to a great start throwing 11 for 13 for 130 yards and one TD. McGloin gave a gutsy and serviceable performance that ultimately was enough to secure the win, passing for 76 yards on 17 of 26 throws, which included two TD’s and one interception. Penn State’s Derek Moye led the Nittany receivers with two TD grabs during his 86 yard, three reception day. Despite the loss Gopher QB Adam Weber did manage to become the fifth Big Ten to attain the 10,000 career yardage mark with a three TD, 26 for 49, 299 yard total day which included an interception. Despite the Gophers out-gaining the Nittany Lions 433 yards to 351 and holding a time of possession edge of several minutes, their offense simply could not capitalize and the defense could not hold in the red zone. This has been a familiar tune sung all year by the Golden Gopher 2010 squad. Da’jon McKnight lead Minnesota’s receivers with 103 yards on eight receptions followed closely by MarQueis Gray’s seven reception 83 yard performance. Gopher rushing was led by DeLeon Eskridge’s 26 carries for 111 yards. Ultimately, Minnesota’s woes continued and Penn State picked up a much needed win.

Scoring Summary:

FIRST QUARTER   Â

               TD          10:19    Brett Brackett 21 Yd Pass From Robert Bolden (Collin Wagner Kick) PSU leads 7-0

               TD          06:27    Da'Jon McKnight 29 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Eric Ellestad Kick) 7-7 tie

SECOND QUARTER             Â

               TD          11:34    Evan Royster 2 Yd Run (Collin Wagner Kick) PSU Leads 14-7

               TD          04:16    Derek Moye 42 Yd Pass From Matthew McGloin (Collin Wagner Kick) PSU Leads 21-7

THIRD QUARTER Â

               TD          08:42    Da'Jon McKnight 4 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Eric Ellestad Kick) PSU 21-14

               FG          05:31    Collin Wagner 49 Yd           24��         14

FOURTH QUARTER             Â

               TD          10:36    Derek Moye 9 Yd Pass From Matthew McGloin (Collin Wagner Kick) PSU 31-14

               SF           09:41                    33          14

               TD          05:01    Da'Jon McKnight 16 Yd Pass From Adam Weber (Eric Ellestad Kick) PSU Wins 33-21

 

 

 

Purdue  (4-3, 2-1 Big Ten) @ (10) Ohio St (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten)

 

Ohio St 49  Purdue 0

One week after having a major wrench thrown into their BCS National Title hopes in Mad Town, the Buckeyes righted the ship, rolled up their sleeves in Columbus and methodically destroyed the Boilermakers. A year ago it was a gritty Boilermaker team that threw the wrench into the Buckeye faithful’s national title dreams with a 26-18 upset, an egregious sentiment apparently not lost on this year’s Jim Tressel led, and very talented Buckeye squad. The Buckeye’s steamed right out of the gates and rode the momentum all the way to a 42-0 halftime beat-down. This one was clearly personal. On pace to reach 84 points by games end, Tressel and crew eased off the throttle, scoring but once in the second half on back-up QB Joe Bauserman’s 23 yard pass-down to Spencer Smith with 7:24 left in the contest. In all the Buckeyes accrued a massive 489 total yards of offense which contrasted sharply with Purdues paltry 118 total yard output. This was truly one of the most brutal Big Ten conference beat-down’s you’re likely to see in this league. Terrelle Pryor threw for three TD’s and 270 yards on 16 of 22 passing. Boilermaker QB Rob Henry however struggled immensely to get anything cooking finishing with a meager 58 yards, zero TD’s and one interception on 9 of 18 passing. The Buckeye defense locked the Boilers down all day in a shut-out. This was a statement game, and that statement was clear: the Buckeye’s might have slipped up, but they can still play…and play big.

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER   Â

               TD          13:05    Dan Herron 10 Yd Run (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-7

               TD          06:48    Dan Herron 2 Yd Run (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-14

SECOND QUARTER             Â

               TD          14:25    Jordan Hall 1 Yd Run (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-21

               TD          04:57    DeVier Posey 22 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-28

               TD          01:54    Dane Sanzenbacher 7 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-35

               TD          00:36    Corey (WR) Brown 15 Yd Pass From Terrelle Pryor (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-42

FOURTH QUARTER             Â

               TD          07:24    Spencer Smith 23 Yd Pass From Joe Bauserman (Devin Barclay Kick) 0-49

 

 

 

Indiana (4-3, 0-3 Big Ten) @ Illinois (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten)

 

Illinois 43  Indiana 13

The Fighting Illini have endured marked disappointment since its January 1, 2008 dream season Rose Bowl appearance under Head Coach Ron Zook. Seemingly chronic, and vast underachievement, has curtailed much of the football optimism in Champaign, and heading into the 2010 season Ron Zook’s future with the University seemed unsure. Despite now sitting at 4-3 this season and 2-2 in the Big Ten, the Illini clearly appear to be on the mend. After playing grittily against two of the Big Ten Conference leaders, In Ohio State and Michigan State earlier this season, Zook’s squad definitively showed it’s not just another dysfunctional bottom dweller again this season by trouncing the Indiana Hoosiers in Champaign Saturday. While Indiana has impressed at times this season with a prolific Ben Chappell-led air attack, it was clearly the superior defensive prowess of the Illini that reigned supreme in this contest. The stingy Illini defense returned two interceptions for TD’s while holding the Hosiers to a mere 13 points. When your defense can single-handedly outscore your opponents offense in this league, you’re on to something; and for Illinois that “something,” spelled victory and provided Coach Ron Zook with a little breathing room. While the Hoosiers did tally 388 total offensive yards, Chappell was held to 279 yards after averaging over 300 yards this year. Chappell was sacked only once in the contest but was continually pressured and not allowed to establish much in the way of rhythm. The swarming Illinois defense caused Indiana to turn the ball over a total of five times, and stopped both fourth down conversion attempts dead in their tracks. The Fighting Illini took a 27-10 half-time lead and opened with a safety with 11:08 left in the third to swell the lead to 29-10. From there on out, there would be only a Hoosier field goal, a 21 yarder from Mitch Ewald, late in the third. The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Illini as premiere RB Mikel Leshoure pounded in a seven yard TD. Late in the fourth was the second Illini pick-six of the day, this time by Jonathan Brown, returning it 66 yards for a TD. The first interception for score came with 7:07 left in the second quarter when Patrick Nixon-Youman reigned in an errant pass for the 68 yard score. Illinois Frosh QB Nathan Scheelhaase gave a serviceable but under the radar performance throwing for 123 yards and two TD’s on 13 of 21 passing. Scheelhaase did not throw an interception though, while the Illini defense was busy capitalizing on forcing Chappell’s three interceptions. Mikel Leshoure led all rushers in the game with 77 yards on 16 carries including one TD. Behind a Frosh QB and a much improved defense the Illini faithful have reason for some optimism as the program moves forward.

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER   Â

               FG          12:52    Derek Dimke 28 Yd ILL leads 0-3

               TD          04:03    Ted Bolser 22 Yd Pass From Ben Chappell (Mitch Ewald Kick) IND leads 7-3

               TD          01:45    Evan Wilson 29 Yd Pass From Nathan Scheelhaase (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL 7-10

SECOND QUARTER             Â

               TD          09:47    Jarred Fayson 17 Yd Pass From Nathan Scheelhaase (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL 7-17

               TD          07:07    Patrick Nixon-Youman 68 Yd Interception Return (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL 7-24

               FG          02:41    Mitch Ewald 19 Yd ILL 10-24

               FG          00:04    Derek Dimke 29 Yd ILL 10-27

THIRD QUARTER Â

               SF           11:08    ILL 10-29

               FG          01:53    Mitch Ewald 21 Yd ILL 13-29

FOURTH QUARTER

               TD          03:54    Mikel Leshoure 7 Yd Run (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL 13-36

               TD          00:44    Jonathan Brown 66 Yd Interception Return (Derek Dimke Kick) ILL Wins 13-43

 

 

 

(13) Wisconsin 31 (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) @ (15) Iowa 30 (5-2, 2-1 Big Ten)

 

Wisconsin 31  Iowa 30

The Marque Big Ten Match-Up of the week turned out to be a smash-mouth barn-burner before a boisterous Hawkeye home crowd that was copiously intermixed with pockets of red-clad Badger fans who had made the trip to Iowa City. Bielema took a page out of Mark Dantonio’s book of tricks this weekend as the Badgers capitalized on a well executed fake punt on fourth down in the fourth quarter of the game. From there the Badgers scored a TD with a mere 1:06 left in the contest when Montee Ball galloped into the endzone after an eight yard jaunt putting Bucky ahead by one point. The Hawkeye's marched all the way on down to the Badger 35 yard line before however, before squandering the remaining seconds of the game as Adam Robinson was tackled shy of reaching the sidelines as time expired. Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeye squad was heavily criticized for a perceived lack of clock management in the closing seconds after they chose to burn their final time out rather than simply spiking the ball the play on the second to last play. Iowa likely could have stopped the clock and provided themselves with an additional last chance opportunity had they done so. This one was a close one throughout with multiple lead changes and gave off a tit-for-tat mystique most of the contest. Wisconsin’s Scott Tolzien was 20 of 26 passing for 205 yards, one TD and one interception. The Badger rushing game again performed decently with RB John Clay leading the way -muscling through the tough Hawkeye interior defense- for 91 yards on 24 carries. High performance Badger weapons Lance Kendricks (ankle sprain) and James White (knee sprain) were both injured in the game and saw limited action. For the home team, QB Ricky Stanzi passed for 258 yards and went 25 for 37, and three TD’s, while refraining from turnovers. Receivers Derrell Johnson-Koulianos led all Hawkeye receivers with 93 yards on five grabs, accounting for one TD. Marvin McNutt followed close-by with seven receptions for a total of 70 yards and a TD. Both offenses but up similar numbers as the home team went for 376 yards and Bielema’s Badgers posted 347 yards of offense. The pass and rush yardage split was similar as well as the Hawkeye's passed for 258 and rushed for 118 yards, while the Badgers went for 205 passing and 142 rushing. In the end this remarkably even-handed match-up simply came down to the little things. One of those little things turned out to be enough. Wisconsin’s JJ Watt blocked a point-after-attempt in the first quarter that kept a point off the board as Iowa gained a 6-3 lead early on. That point proved to the difference when the clock ran out on the home-team Hawkeye's. The Iowa resolve will again be tested when the undefeated Spartans march into Iowa City this weekend, bent on revenge for the Hawkeye's handing them a last second loss in East Lansing last year. Can Iowa get up for yet another power football bruise-fest at home? Don’t you dare miss it!

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER   Â

               FG          06:51    Philip Welch 33 Yd 3-0 Wis lead

               TD          02:31    Adam Robinson 1 Yd Run (Pat Failed) 3-6 Iowa

SECOND QUARTER             Â

               TD          12:11    Bradie Ewing 7 Yd Pass From Scott Tolzien (Philip Welch Kick) 10-6 Wis lead

               TD          00:16    Allen Reisner 3 Yd Pass From Ricky Stanzi (Michael Meyer Kick)              10-13 Iowa

THIRD QUARTER Â

               TD          06:30    John Clay 2 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick)           17-13 Wis

               TD          03:08    Derrell Johnson-Koulianos 45 Yd Pass From Ricky Stanzi (Michael Meyer Kick)     17-20 Iowa

               TD          01:01    John Clay 2 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick)           24-20

FOURTH QUARTER             Â

               TD          10:16    Marvin McNutt 6 Yd Pass From Ricky Stanzi (Michael Meyer Kick) 24-27 Iowa

               FG          08:35    Michael Meyer 40 Yd 24-30 Iowa

               TD          01:06    Montee Ball 8 Yd Run (Philip Welch Kick) 31-30 WIS wins