In a game that a lot of pundits had going to Ohio State decisively, the Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) had to rally late to knock off the Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1) in Happy Valley.
The first half belong to Penn St as Jake Pinegar made two of his three field goal attempts to put the Nittany Lions up 6-0. That lead grew to 13-0 when Trace McSorley, who had never lost a home game, found K.J. Hamler for a 93-yard touchdown. A costly fumble late in the first half set up a short field for Ohio St and they capitalized with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Dwayne Haskins to J.K. Dobbins.
On the first drive of the second half, Dobbins would give the Buckeyes the lead with a 4-yard touchdown run. On their next drive a costly penalty would erase a field goal and on the following attempt Sean Nuemberger was way wide on his 48-yard attempt.
Penn State retook the lead when McSorley found Pat Freiermuth, who made a one-handed grab in the endzone. Ohio State would be stuffed on a fourth and one which led to a Miles Sanders 1-yard touchdown run. The Nittany Lions elected to go for two and missed on a chance to go up by 14.
The Buckeyes had the quick answer when Haskins tossed a 47-yard TD to Binjimen Victor, who did most of the work after the catch. Penn State would punt, but pinned Ohio State at their own 4-yard line. It was no matter as the Buckeyes drove down the field and got another Haskins touchdown pass, this time to K.J. Hill. OSU failed on their two point try to make it 27-26. The Nittany Lions got the ball into Ohio State territory, but a questionable run play call on fourth and five was snuffed out for a loss of two to secure the win on the road in the Whiteout.
Ohio State welcomes Indiana (4-1, 1-1) next while Penn State takes a week off to prepare for another potential ranked showdown at home, this time with Michigan State.
There's something dangerous for the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) when they travel to Ryan Field and face the Wildcats (1-3, 1-1) who jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half.
Northwestern was given a huge hole to replace in the backfield as Jeremy Larkin was forced to medically retire due a condition that affects the spinal canal in the neck. With that being said, the Wildcats ran effectively by committee getting a rushing touchdown from John Moten IV and another on the ground from quarterback Clayton Thorson. Karan Higdon finally got the Wolverines on the board with 9:14 in the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run.
The second half was a different story as the Wildcats would punt on six of their seven drives. It looked like they may escape as Michigan couldn't score in the redzone and settled for two Quinn Nordin field goals to make it 17-13 at the end of the third.
Shea Patterson and Higdon put together a drive for the Wolverines that once again brought them inside the ten yard line. Unlike their previous trips, Michigan elected to spread the field with four receivers to one side, but ran out of that formation and caught Northwestern by surprise as Higdon ran it in from five yards out to give the Wolverines their first lead of the day.
The Wildcats got the ball back with 34 seconds and were able to get to midfield, but Thorson was sacked by Josh Uche to complete the Michigan comeback.
The Wolverines host Maryland (3-1, 1-0) next while Northwestern heads to Michigan State (3-1, 1-0).
Another Big Ten game with a late comeback, but this time it would come up short as Indiana (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) held off Rutgers (1-4, 0-2) late.
Shameen Jones started the scoring for the Scarlet Knights as he caught an 11-yard touchdown from Artur Sitkowski. Stevie Scott answered for the Hoosiers with a 16-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Quarterback Patrick Ramsey added another rushing score for IU before tossing a 2-yard score that put the Hoosiers up 21-7. A late field goal pushed that lead to 24-7.
Rutgers wouldn't make their move until a Scott fumble set up a short field for the Scarlet Knights. They needed just three plays to set up a Jonathan Hillman 1-yard touchdown. Another IU turnover, this time an interception, led to a Rutgers field goal to make it a one score game. The Scarlet Knights elected to kick it deep and nearly got the ball back, but couldn't hold the Hoosiers on a fourth and one to make the rally fall short.
Indiana gets the undefeated Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0) in Columbus while Rutgers hosts Illinois (2-2, 0-1).
There was no comeback in this one as the Boilermakers (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten) put up points in every quarter to extend the Cornhuskers (0-4. 0-2) losing streak to eight games dating back to last season.
Nebraska has not seen a start this bad since 1945 and Purdue was more than happy to help them get there. The Cornhuskers committed 11 penalties for 136 yards with a turnover and watched the Boilermakers hold the ball for over 36 minutes.
David Blough threw for 328 yards and two total touchdowns while D.J. Knox had 15 carries for 87 yards and two scores for Purdue. Adrian Martinez had 323 yards passing and 91 yards rushing with two passing TDs in the loss. Devine Ozigbo ran 17 times for 170 yards and two scores in the loss.
Purdue takes the week off before facing Illinois while Nebraksa will look for their first win in the wrong place against ranked Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0) in Madison.
It wasn't pretty again for Michigan State (3-1), but the defense held CMU (1-4) to 245 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers.
Brian Lewerke had two rushing touchdowns, but just 185 yards passing with an interception.
Sparty welcomes Northwestern (1-3, 1-1) to East Lansing next.
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