Around the Big Ten: Week 13

Week 13 was yet another wild one. Seven ranked teams fell this week, five of those to teams either ranked lower or unranked. The Big Ten still looks the same despite Indiana’s undefeated season coming to an end. Here’s how the Big Ten did in a wild Week 13:

Bye Weeks: No. 1 Oregon and Washington

The Blowouts

No. 5 Indiana 15 @ No. 2 Ohio State 38

Going into this contest, Ohio State was favored by double-digits. That confidence was deserved. Curt Cignetti’s squad took their first L of the season to arguably the best team in the country. The first quarter was low scoring with Indiana on top 7-0. The Hoosiers also had a huge goal-line stand but had to punt the ball back to the Buckeyes after they couldn’t get their offense going. Right after the punt, Ohio State tied the game up at seven after a quick touchdown drive. Kurtis Rourke then was sacked and fumbled on his next drive, but Will Howard answered back by throwing an interception. On its next drive, Indiana was set on fourth down to punt the ball back to Ohio State. There is a world where this play didn’t happen the way it did and the game is much closer, but a bad snap led to a loss of 23 yards on fourth down and a goal-to-go situation for the Buckeyes. Ohio State scored, taking its first lead of the game and going into the half up 14-7. IU couldn’t get anything going on its first drive of the second half, and Caleb Downs added insult to injury with a 79-yard punt return touchdown. After forcing a punt, OSU scored another touchdown, putting the game out of reach. A little later on, the Buckeyes made a field goal to go up 31-7. Indiana tried to fight back by cutting the lead to 16, but it was too little too late. Ohio State even scored again to finish the day with a 38-15 victory over the No. 5 team in the country.

Wisconsin 25 @ Nebraska 44

Nebraska didn’t just break a 10-game losing streak to Wisconsin, but the Cornhuskers also became bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. After starting the season 5-1, the ‘Huskers looked poised to clinch a bowl game even before November started. However, four straight losses (including some heartbreaking ones) were the only thing holding them back from getting that illustrious sixth win. Dylan Raiola had his first interception-free game since September and Dante Dowdell had three rushing scores to help get Nebraska over the hump.

Northwestern 6 @ Michigan 50

The Close Games

No. 4 Penn State 26 @ Minnesota 25

The No. 4 team in the country was on the ropes the whole way through this one. After forcing an early punt, the Golden Gophers went up 7-0 on the Nittany Lions. After two punts followed by a turnover-on-downs, Minnesota went up 10-0 with a field goal. Penn State immediately answered with a touchdown of its own, then an interception put the Nittany Lions in field goal range. With just a minute left in the first half and the game tied up at 10, Minnesota pulled off a gutsy flea-flicker to take a 17-10 lead. Penn State, of course, answered right back with another TD, but Minnesota blocked the PAT and returned it for two points.

At half, the Golden Gophers were on top 19-16. They went on to extend this lead with a field goal on the opening possession of the second half. It wasn’t long until Penn State took its first lead of the game with a Nicholas Singleton touchdown. The Nittany Lions extended their lead after a forced fumble by knocking in a field goal, putting them up 26-22 with just under 12 minutes to go. Minnesota followed with a methodical drive that took six minutes off the clock, but all the Gophers got was three points. Up by just one, Penn State got the ball with 5:48 left and it looked like Minnesota would get the ball back with a little under four minutes. However, a miraculous fake punt call on 4th-and-1 resulted in a 32-yard gain for the Nittany Lions. They proceeded to convert two more fourth downs on the drive, including a Drew Allar completion to Tyler Warren to ice the game. With a loss, Penn State’s playoff hopes could have been crushed, but the 10-1 Nittany Lions are still in the driver’s seat to earn a first-round bye.

No. 25 Illinois 38 @ Rutgers 31

In a week with some wild endings, this game has to be mentioned. Rutgers took a 3-0 lead with about six minutes left in the first quarter and held the lead up until Illinois got it back with just over three minutes in the fourth quarter at 30-24. The Scarlet Knights answered right back with a 10-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to take a one-point lead with just a minute to go. The Fighting Illini got the ball into the Scarlet Knights territory fairly quickly, but were forced to make a decision on a fourth down from the Rutgers 40-yard line. With 14 seconds to go, Illinois lined up for a long field goal to win. Rutgers decided to take a timeout to ice kicker David Olano, but he didn’t trot back onto the field after the timeout. Instead it was Luke Altmyer and the Illini offense who were ready to go for it all. Miraculously, Pat Bryant found an opening in the Rutgers defense and took it 40 yards to the house, putting Illinois up 36-31 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt. On the kickoff, Rutgers couldn’t get out of the end zone. The safety was the last major play of the day, and the Illini walked out with the 38-31 victory.

Purdue 17 @ Michigan State 24

Iowa 29 @ Maryland 13

USC 19 @ UCLA 13