Recaps
Cockeye 35, Minnesota 7
Tyler Goodson rushed for a career-high 142 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, and Cockeye's defense clamped down hard on Minnesota for a 35-7 victory on Friday night that gave the Cockeyes possession of the Floyd of Rosedale trophy for the sixth straight season. Jack Koerner and Riley Moss each picked off Tanner Morgan for the Gopher quarterback's first two-interception game in two years, and Zach VanValkenburg had three of the team's four sacks. Cockeye's defense has a streak of 11 straight games with at least one interception.
Minnesota's Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 144 yards on 33 attempts, but the junior tailback who entered the evening with the highest rushing average in the FBS didn't come close to controlling the game like the last two weeks.
Morgan finished 16-of-33 for 167 yards -- hitting Rashod Bateman eight times for 111 yards and their one touchdown with just 14 seconds remaining. The Gophers had seven penalties for 75 yards in the first half and just 110 total yards on offense. With his team trailing 14-0 in the third quarter, coach P.J. Fleck opted for a 39-yard field goal on a 4th-and-7 that was blocked -- leaving a 17-play, 74-yard drive that lasted nearly 11 minutes with no points. Goodson broke off on a 45-yard run on the next snap.
NIco Ragaini and Mekhi Sargent each rushed for scores, and Spencer Petras was 9-of-18 for 111 yards passing and one touchdown to Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Petras also threw one interception in the game.
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Indiana 24, Michigan State 0
The 10th-ranked Hoosiers took down the Michigan State Spartans 24-0 on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium. With the win, Indiana took back the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time since 2016. The victory also marked the first for the Hoosiers on the road against the Spartans since 2001. Senior wide receiver Tye Fryfogle turned in a career day with personal bests in receptions (11), yards (200) and touchdowns (2). Redshirt sophomore quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was 25-of-38 for 320 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory. Cornerback Taiwan Mullen, who led the Big Ten last year with 13 pass breakups, recorded two interceptions in the victory, and recorded three tackles. The defense held Michigan State to 191 total yards, just 60 on the ground (38 coming on quarterback Payton Thorne's run). In 12 possessions, the Spartans never crossed the Indiana 38-yard line.
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Nebraska 30, Penn State 23
In a tale of two very different halves, Nebraska's defense held on fourth down on back-to-back drives inside the Husker 11-yard line to secure a 30-23 win over Penn State at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Nebraska's impressive defensive stands in the final four minutes came after Penn State threatened to erase a 27-6 halftime advantage for the Big Red, which won its 2020 home opener to improve to 1-2 on the year, while Penn State falls to 0-4. The Husker defense bent-but-didn't break for most of the game and added two big plays that turned to points as well. The Husker defense spent 91 plays on the field as the Nittany Lions totaled 501 yards, racked up a 36:24 to 23:36 edge in time of possession, but surrendered just two touchdowns and three field goals. Offensively, redshirt freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey picked up a victory in his first career start, completing 13-of-21 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 13 times for 67 yards and another score. Sophomore Wan'Dale Robinson added a season-high 16 carries out of the backfield for 60 yards, while adding five receptions for 11 yards. As a team, the Huskers managed 298 yards of total offense, including 146 rushing yards.
A preseason Top 10 team to start the season, Penn State is off to its worst start since Joe Paterno's 2001 team also opened the year with four straight losses. Quarterback Sean Clifford struggled again, getting replaced by Will Levis after turning the ball over on two of the Lions' first three possessions. Levis ended the day 14-of-31 for 219 yards and ran 18 times for 61 yards.
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Illinois 23, Rutgers 20
Illinois recorded its first win of the season as James McCourt made a game-winning 47-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to defeat the Scarlet Knights 23-20 on Saturday afternoon. The Illini rushed for 342 yards and forced three interceptions in the victory. In his first start for the Illini, redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Williams set the Illinois single-game rushing record with 192 yards (31 carries), passing A.J Bush Jr. (187 at Nebraska). Starting quarterback Brandon Peters missed his third straight game following a COVID-19 test, giving Williams the start after his own quarantine ended, the fourth different starting quarterback for Illinois this season. Williams was also 7-of-18 for 104 yards through the air. Running back Chase Brown also added 131 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Illinois outgained Rutgers in total offense 442 to 422. For Rutgers, quarterback Noah Vedral was 21-of-34 for 259 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs while also rushing six times for 23 yards. Isaih Pacheco carried 20 times for 134 yards in the loss. Vedral's third pick of the game came when Rutgers had the ball 1st-and-10 on the Illinois 37-yard line with 67 seconds to play. After a hot start, the Rutgers offense simply couldn't find its way, and Vedral's interceptions proved too costly.
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Northwestern 27, Purdue 20
No. 23 Northwestern knocked off Purdue 27-20 on a rainy night at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette to continue its unbeaten start to the season. The win takes the Wildcats to 4-0, the program's best start in Big Ten play since 1996 when head coach Pat Fitzgerald was playing linebacker for the Wildcats. Despite, the unfavorable weather conditions, it was the Northwestern passing attack that led the way with Peyton Ramsey completing 23-of-36 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns (and one INT), with all three touchdowns to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman (8 rec, 86 yards). Purdue has now lost five straight home games in the series with Northwestern. The Wildcat defense made two late stops to preserve the win. Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell was 28-of-51 with 263 yards and two scores. Zander Horvath had nine catches for 100 yards in the loss. David Bell added nine catches for 78 yards, stopping his school-record streak of consecutive 100-yard receiving games at five. Northwestern held Purdue to just 2 yards rushing. Northwestern rushed 40 times in the game for just 80 yards. The 'Cats totaled 292 yards of offense to Purdue's 265.
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Wisconsin 49, Michigan 11
Wisconsin jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead and never looked back, defeating Michigan 49-11 Saturday night at Michigan Stadium. The Badgers recorded 468 yards of offense in the contest, including 341 yards rushing. Four different Badgers combined to tally five rushing touchdowns in the game, including a pair of scores by Nakia Watson. It was Wisconsin's first game back after having their last two games canceled due to COVID-19 (at Nebraska, Purdue). The 28-0 halftime deficit was the largest for Michigan at home since the Big House opened in 1927, and the Wolverines are off to their worst start (1-3) since 1967. Michigan totaled just 219 total yards in the contest, with 172 through the air and just 47 yards on the ground. For the Badgers, Graham Mertz was 12-of-22 for 127 yards with 2 TD passes. The Badgers four rushers over 65 yards, but none topped the 100 yard mark in a balanced attack. For Michigan, Joe Milton was 9-of-19 for 98 yards with 2 INT and Cade McNamara was 4-of-7 for 74 yards with a TD pass. Zach Charbonnet was the leading rusher with three carries for 21 yards.
