One of the Big 10's biggest rivalries took place Saturday, with a Big 10 title shot at stake. Michigan State as able to dominate Michigan from the opening kick, sacking them 7 times, and forcing them to -48 rushing yards. Michigan was held well below their season average in almost ever offensive statistic. They scored just 6 points even though the team usually scores over 42 points per game. We all knew that Michigan State had a great defense coming into the game, but nobody thought that they could be this dominant. If their defense continues to play this great, Michigan State could be a major threat to Ohio State for the Big 10 championship. Michigan State is now in the drivers seat in the legends, and if they can beat Nebraska in a few weeks, they could clinch their spot in the title.
On the other side of the conference, Ohio State continued its dominance, beating Purdue 56-0. They scored 42 points in the first half alone. Ohio State is finally starting to look good while winning, which is huge in trying to pass one of the top 3 teams and get into the national championship. Purdue is clearly the worst team in the conference, but Ohio State has a few more chances to dominate and look good, as their final three opponents are Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.
Back in the legends division, Nebraska stayed alive in contention for the division with a last second hail mary touchdown to beat Northwestern. Northwestern deserved to win as they played a great game. Nebraska was able to pull it out late though and Northwestern has now dropped 5 games in a row. Nebraska plays Michigan next week and still faces Michigan State after that, if the Huskers can win those games, they could still get to the Big 10 championship and a BCS bowl game.
Everyone, including me, had Wisconsin on upset alert going into their game against Iowa last week. Early on, it looked like Iowa might just get that upset, as they got the ball into Wisconsin territory four times, their only problem with it was that the only thing the Hawkeyes got on those trips were two field goals. The defense was playing very well and Iowa still kept a 6-0 lead late in the first half. Eventually, nothing but field goals will catch up to you though, and Wisconsin as able to score a touchdown late in the half, and although Iowa clearly controlled the first half, Wisconsin held a 7-6 halftime lead. Wisconsin dominated the rest of the way, winning 28-9 and showing that they are right there with Ohio State and Michigan State as the top teams in the conference. This isn't the end of the road for Iowa, who can still make a solid bowl game. They now have Purdue next week, a team they should be able to beat quite easily.
Penn State won a second overtime thriller in their last 3 games on Saturday against an Illinois team that has now lost 20 conference games in a row. Penn State was able to fight back after going down 17-14 in the fourth quarter. They were able to hit a field goal that sent it into overtime and win it from there. They might not be able to play in the postseason, bu they can still play for pride and a winning record, the win puts them at 5-3 (2-2), with games against Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska, and Wisconsin still left.
Indiana just loves to lose in high scoring shootouts . Their offense is playing great, scoring over 35 points in all but two of their games so far. Even with all those points, the Hoosiers still have a record of just 3-5 (1-3). Minnesota is now 7-2 (3-2) and shouldn't be taken lightly. They are becoming a team in the Big 10 that nobody wants to play against. They now take on Penn State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State to end the year.
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