After some marquee matchups this week, this year might be the closest the Big Ten has been in a while.
Week 7 was maybe the most action-packed week yet for the Big Ten. Two overtime games, two huge upsets and the most anticipated Big Ten matchup of the season, all in one week. Here’s what happened in the Big Ten in Week 7:
Bye Weeks: No. 18 Indiana, No. 24 Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State
The Upsets
Northwestern 37 @ Maryland 10
Wisconsin 42 @ Rutgers 7
The Blowouts
Washington 16 @ Iowa 40
Wait, what?! The Iowa Hawkeyes just put up a 40-piece in a Big Ten game. Kaleb Johnson had himself a day. That’s all.
The Close Games
No. 4 Penn State 33 @ USC 30 (OT)
Just a week after being upset by Minnesota, USC was about to topple Penn State. The Nittany Lions went up early with a field goal, but wouldn’t gain the lead back the rest of regulation. At halftime, the Trojans were up 20-6 thanks to Drew Allar throwing an interception and the rest of the offense just struggling to move the ball. Penn State received the second half kickoff and ended up scoring on a crazy trick play. Tight end Tyler Warren snapped the ball and then caught a jump ball touchdown pass on the same play. Penn State then got the ball back and scored again, tying the game at 20. After this, whenever USC would score, Penn State matched. Even with another Allar interception, the game didn’t get away from the Nittany Lions. Miller Moss and the Trojans’ offense had a chance late to get into field goal range and take a shot to win the game, but Penn State picked him off, ultimately getting the game into overtime.
USC got the ball first in OT, and promptly lost three yards on their first three plays. Kicker Michael Lantz, who had been perfect on the day, missed the field goal in overtime, giving Penn State a golden opportunity. After three plays, Ryan Barker attempted a 36-yard field goal and drilled it to give the Nittany Lions the overtime victory. Drew Allar looked a bit like he did last year, throwing three interceptions (to be fair, one of them was a Hail Mary). Even with those turnovers, he did still throw for 391 yards and two touchdowns. The big story of the game for Penn State was Warren, the star tight end: he caught 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. For USC, Moss threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Woody Marks gained 111 yards on 20 carries. The Nittany Lions barely survived this one.
Purdue 49 @ No. 23 Illinois 50 (OT)
Illinois took an early lead and got comfortable, but the game quickly flipped in the second half. Despite playing in his first career start, QB Ryan Browne got the Boilermakers right back in it. Early in the third quarter, Illinois took a 24-point lead. The game felt like it was over, but Purdue started chipping away at the deficit they faced. Going into the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers were only down by a touchdown. The Illini got the lead back up to 14 points, then allowed another touchdown plus the two-point conversion. They then scored again, giving them a 40-28 lead with five minutes to go. But Purdue didn’t quit. The Boilermakers scored again and were only down five, then got the ball back and took a three-point lead with under a minute to go. Luckily for the Illini, they got into field goal range and tied the game up at the final whistle. In overtime, Illinois got the ball first and scored a touchdown plus the extra-point, giving them a seven-point lead. Purdue then answered with a touchdown, but decided to try the two-point conversion to win. On that play, Browne tried to evade defenders but couldn’t and was sacked, sealing the victory for the Illini. Browne finished with 297 passing yards and three touchdowns, along with 17 carries for 118 yards in his first career start. For Illinois, QB Luke Altmyer threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns, plus he had 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown.
No. 2 Ohio State 31 @ No. 3 Oregon 32
This game lived up to all the hype. The number two team in the country against the number three team in the country in a conference matchup in the middle of the season. On the first drive of the game, the Buckeyes drove down and scored a touchdown. This wasn’t without controversy, though, as the Buckeyes hurried up to the line after a play called a catch that was actually an interception. They ran a play and it was too late to change the previous ruling, even though the replay clearly showed Oregon getting the ball. After the touchdown, the Ducks got the ball for their first drive and had to punt. On the Buckeyes’ next drive, Quinshon Judkins had the ball punched out and the Ducks recovered in prime scoring position. Two plays later, they were in the end zone. However, the extra point was blocked, keeping Ohio State on top. After a Buckeyes punt and a Ducks missed field goal, both teams each scored touchdowns back to back, with Oregon failing their two point conversion attempt. With a penalty moving the kickoff starting spot to the 50-yard line, the Ducks tried an onside kick and recovered, eventually getting a field goal and taking a one-point lead. But even this field goal drive didn’t come without its own controversy, as Oregon WR Traeshon Holden was ejected for spitting on an Ohio State defensive back. The Buckeyes and Ducks then traded touchdown drives again, giving the Ducks a 22-21 lead at halftime.
Oregon started off the second half with a punt that resulted in Ohio State taking the lead with a touchdown to Jeremiah Smith. Dillon Gabriel then drove his team down into a goal-to-go situation, but the Ducks couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-goal. Luckily for the home side, Ohio State punted on their next drive and Oregon got the ball back. Dillon Gabriel then led a big touchdown drive in which he took it in the end zone himself on a 27-yard rushing touchdown. The Buckeyes then took seven minutes off the clock on a 13-play drive and kicked a field goal with six minutes left to take a two-point lead. The Ducks followed up with an 11-play drive of their own that resulted in a field goal, putting them in front 32-31 with 1:47 to go. All Ohio State needed was a field goal to win. Will Howard quickly got his team into Ducks territory, but a pass interference call on Smith pushed the Buckeyes back. After this penalty, the clock continued to run and finally stopped with 10 seconds to go after an incomplete pass. Ohio State still had timeouts, but hadn’t used them. On 3rd-and-25, Oregon drained off six more seconds of gameplay after having 12 men on the field. With four seconds to go, Howard ran a QB draw but didn’t get down in time, giving the Ducks the win in the final seconds.
Minnesota 21 @ UCLA 17