After week eleven's action things are shaping up around the country as teams tighten their cleats for the last stretch of battle with just three weeks remaining. Arguably the two best teams in the Big Ten enjoyed a week of rest while the ten other teams scratched and clawed for a chance to be mentioned in the same conversation.
Ohio State and Michigan State sat back and watched Saturday to see what teams could make a case to compete for the Big Ten Title once the season ends. The teams that raised their eyebrows could surprise you. Follow along as we recap all the conference action from this weeks games.
Iowa 38 Purdue 14
No surprises here as the Hawkeyes took care of the worst team in the Big Ten. The Boilmakers continue to struggle under first year coach Darrell Hazzel as he continues to rebuild his program. Hazzel has been scrapping the bottom of the barrel of his roster to see if their is anyone under the radar who can compete for a job next season.
He has already benched his preseason senior starting quarterback for freshman Danny Etling in hopes of building a future foundation with his next year. As Etling continues to struggle Hazzel hopes he shows improvement consistently from week to week to prove he can lead Purdue to a winning season next year.
Iowa got a healthy Jake Ruddock back from a week of question marks surrounding the quarterback, who was riddled with injuries.
Ruddock threw for two touchdowns but did most of his work by handing the ball off to running back Jordan Canzeri who rushed for a personal best 165 yards on just 20 carries.
The Hawkeyes got off to a early lead and relied on Canzeri and the run game to wear down Purdue and the game clock for an easy victory. Iowa moves to 6-4 (3-3) as they host the Wolverines next week.
Illinois 35 Indiana 52
With two quarterbacks who know how to let the ball rip and two flaky defenses we knew heading into this game that we would witness a shootout, and that's exactly what we got. Both teams were looking to get picked back up from the mud after a nasty fall in October.
The Hoosiers had lost three in a row and the Fighting Illini were still looking for their first Big Ten win in their last 19 attempts. One team got helped up, while the other sunk deeper. This game was close for most of the way with momentum shifting back and forth throughout the game.
Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase threw for 450 yards and two touchdowns while adding 45 yards and another score with his feet.
He was beat in the "fantasy" department however by Indiana's receiver Cody Latimer who caught 11 catches for 189 yards (career highs) and three touchdowns.
Another fantasy stud to have on your team was the Hoosiers running back Tevin Coleman who ran for a career high 215 yards including a 75 yard scamper to put his team up 42-35 mid way through the fourth quarter.
What's more impressive is Coleman achieved those numbers with just 15 touches giving him a 14.3 yard average per carry.
On the ensuing possession Illinois (after a three-and-out) attempted a fake punt, which failed miserably. Two plays later the Hoosiers walked into the end zone again giving them a 49-35 lead. Tack on a field goal for insurance and that was your game. Illinois drops to 3-6 while Indiana jumps to 4-5.
Nebraska 17 Michigan 13
A show down in Ann Arbor came down to a fourth quarter two minute drive. After three and a half quarters all tied at 10, Michigan kicked a 40-yard field goal to go up three with eight minutes left. Back and fourth they punted until the Cornhuskers took the ball 75 yards capped off by a left handed shovel pass from quarterback Tommy Armstrong to All Conference tailback Ameer Abdullah for a five yard game winning score.
The Wolverines turned the ball over on downs on the next possession as Brady Hoke's 20 home game winning streak was snapped, as well as his teams chances for a Big Ten title. The team came unravelled in the last quarter as they averaged just 1.6 yards per play with negative three rushing yards. MIchigan also had its second game in a row with negative total yards rushing, a first in school history.
Nebraska on the other hand kept their conference title hopes alive. Abdullah was the workhorse in a gritty game carrying the ball 27 times for 105 yards including the game winning touchdown. The Cornhuskers will keep their celebration short as they must take on Michigan State next week who are the leaders in the Legends division and possess the number one defense in the nation.
Penn State 10 Minnesota 24
What's going on with the world today? Gas prices are ridiculous, drone cameras are circling the worlds skies, Obamacare is a mess, and the MInnesota Gophers are 8-2 (record scratches, party stops, and everyone looks very confused).
That's right, those sneaky Gophers led not just by one facet of great play, but a combination of complete team fundamentals and sound coaching has reached the pinnacle of their program for the first time since 2003 when they went 10-3. Minnesota running back David Cobb ran for 139 yards and a touchdown which put him at four consecutive 100 yard games.
Quarterback Phillip Nelson wasn't anything special but came up big when his team needed him, hitting Max Williams on a third-and-ten with 17 second left in the first half. He also helped the Gophers convert all three of their fourth down plays making them 11-14 on fourth downs this season. Minnesota put together drives of 96, 70, 74 in the first half as they jumped out to a 24-10 lead at half time.
The defense filled the second half of the Gophers winning formula by holding Penn State scoreless the last 33 minutes of the game. Minnesota did a phenomenal job of limiting Penn State's biggest weapon Allen Robinson, holding him to seven receptions for 63 yards. Christian Hackenberg had a tough time forcing balls into tight windows all day as the Gophers had tight pass coverage never letting Hackenberg get into any type of rhythm.
Hackenberg was 14-25 for just 163 yards as the Big Ten leader in passing yards admitted having a frustrating day. Even Bill Belton who rushed for over 200 yards last week (first Penn State running back to rush for over 200 yards since Larry Johnson) was stripped on the very first play of the game and was eventually weeded out of the lineup by Zach Zwinak to cap off a complete team loss.
At 4-2 in the Big Ten, the Gophers will have their biggest test of the season as they play Wisconsin and MIchigan State in consecutive weeks. The Gopher players will enjoy a week of rest in the mean time, as coaches will spend day and night finding a way to stop their border rival Badgers' running game (which is still pretty good, see below).
BYU 17 Wisconsin 27
A game that was intriguing for many reason heading into it as two hot teams with multiple game winning streaks hit the field against each other. But, none more intriguing than the fact that both teams possessed two players that were averaging more than 100 yards per game on the ground, making them the only two teams in the nation to do so.
One team's 100 yard rushers were pretty obvious as Melvin Gordon and James White make the best one-two punch in the backfield in the game. While BYU's running back Jamaal Williams and his quarterback Taysom Hill wasn't so obvious. What was different this time around for the BYU stars however, was they had never play linebacker Chris Borland and the Wisconsin defense.
Bothered by a hamstring injury Borland was a game-time decision through out the week but wouldn't let the chance to help his team fight for the Big Ten title slip away.
Borland not only suited up, but led the tone of the defense with his aggressive vocal leadership on top of his dominating physical presence.
A completely different defense when Borland is in the line up as he finished with a team high 13 tackles and two sacks and helped limit a hot BYU offense to just 370 yards, with nearly half of those yards coming in the fourth quarter against a "prevent" style of defense.
James White continued his impressive play running for two scores and catching a third. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry as him and Gordon combined for 233 yards rushing.
Coach Gary Anderson said it was his teams best "complete team victory" he had seen this year, hoping a victory like this against a talented team would be enough to boost their national respect in the coaches polls. They stay at home next week to play the 4-5 Indiana Hoosiers.